Subject: How many churches?
Date: Saturday, April 8, 2000
From: James Koehneke

I notice in ADPs fascinating archaeology reports the mention of a previous chapel with towers. It's said to have collapsed, before the construction of the existing historic shrine. A 1727 report also mentions an jacal used as a church and a stone tower and chapel used after that in 1724. In 1744, it said that building began on stone church and that 1756 was only a commemorative date for the present chapel.

So, now I'm confused. Was a church built and completed in 1744 with towers and all, and did that collapse? Was the present chapel begun (circa 1756), from scratch?

This idea of an elaborate completed chapel that collapsed due to poor workmanship, confuses me. How does this relate to the present-day shrine? It seems odd to have two or more major construction efforts in such a brief time.

Could the "collapsed church" refer to jacales from the earliest days, like the simple stone tower of 1724, rather than a stone church with towers? Can we surmise, that a complete church existed? If so, where was it? Was it located in the same spot?

James Koehneke
San Francisco

I think the term "elaborate" may be too strong for the earlier church construction. Think crude construction. It wasn't until the third and final incarnation of the Valero Mission that we see a more refined form of construction taking place. Let's look briefly at the history of the Mission and I think it will become clearer.

In its brief history, there were actually three different locations for the Mission. Father Olivares founded the first site for Mission San Antonio de Valero about three quarters of a league down stream (south)from San Pedro Springs on May 5, 1718. This land had been given to him by the Spanish Governor.

With the help of three Indian converts, he built this first mission of jacales or crude thatched buildings. It's thought that the government's mistreatment of the Indians was the basis for the slow start of this first mission. However, by that winter as food sources dwindled, the mission grew as some Indians of the Payaya, Jarame and Pamaya tribes arrived. You might say they were foul weather converts.

Desiring land that would be more conducive to crops and irrigation,Father Olivares chose a second location for his mission on the east bank of the San Antonio River. There, he built a stone two-story tower and used it for a chapel with priest's quarters upstairs. A cluster of jacales surrounded it. A hurricane destroyed this mission in 1724 and so the site was relocated about two blocks to the North.

By 1727, construction began on a second church. Father Miguel de Paredes reported the construction of a temporary thatch-roofed church while a new convento of stone and mortar was started. These temporary buildings were used for many years.

Earliest image of Mission Valero - ca 1730 detail of a map by Marques de Aquayo. Note that mission has no defensive wall. It is just a cluster of temporary buildings Institute of Texan Cultures

On May 8, 1744, the mission laid the corner stone of a new stone church. Unfortunately, less than five months after construction began,the stone mason at the mission, Antonio Tellos, was involved in a sordid affair involving adultery and murder. It is thought that he vandalized the construction of the new church causing it to collapse. Another record would show: "It fell to the ground because of the poor skills of the architect."

Although a new stone church replacement was under construction by the following year, an adobe hall was used as a temporary church. The construction was finally completed on the two-story covento. By that time, the compound included two long rows of thatched adobe huts. A crude "street" lined each side of the acequia.

By 1756, the second church was still under construction. It was described as being "made of stone quarried almost from the spot, [it] has solidity and perfection required for beauty and to support the vaults."

A stone carver, Dionicio de Jesus Gonzales, was hired in 1767, to carve the Ornamental Entrance to Mission San Antonio de Valero Church (Alamo Church).

In 1772, the church neared completion. It was described by Father Pedro Ramirez as being 35 varas long and 9 wide and of Tuscan workmanship. It had a transept and a very large sacristy, 12 varas long and 5 wide. The face, he said, was adorned with demi-relief and arches. By this time, most of the arches that were to have supported the dome had been built and the lavatory and baptistery as well as other rooms were completed.

The next year (1773), the pueblo received a large influx of refugees from the Spanish colony of Los Adaes, that had been driven out of East Texas by the French. The town council recommended that the mission be secularized and some of its lands be given to the refugees.

In 1779, Governor Ripperda ordered the Mission's secularization. The land, buildings, livestock and crops were to be distributed among the Adaesanos and other landless Spanish settlers. However, Governor Cabello failed to carry out this order.

By 1789, Father Lopez reported that due to the lack of manpower and resources the church could not be completed. The secularization order was carried out in 1793. A report by Antonio Salazar, and Pedro Huizar indicated that the church now had a domed roof, but that several of the columns still had not been completed.

How and when the roof of this structure collapsed is open for speculation. To be sure, the secularization and the ensuing military actions over the following years took their toll on the structure and by 1836 the Alamo church was little more than a roofless shell.

Reference: George Nelson, The Alamo--An Illustrated History (Dry Frio Canyon, TX: Aldine Press, 1998) pp. 3-11

Subject: George C. Childress
Date: 04/05/2000
From: Valerie and Kat Kaneb

If George Childress was the author of the Texas Declaration of Independence, then why isn't more information available on him? Why isn't he included in the notables or influential people of the 19th century for Texas?

Valerie and Kat Kaneb

George Campbell Childress is really one of the unsung heroes of Texas History. Perhaps he lacked the charisma of a Thomas Jefferson who authored the U.S. Constitution or the unscrupulousness of many of his Texian contemporaries, which, from an author's point of view makes him a less interesting subject about which to write. Whatever the reason, I agree that more should be written on Childress, who by the way is the namesake of the city of Childress, Texas the county seat of Childress County.

That said, we are fortunate to have the following information from the New Handbook of Texas:

CHILDRESS, GEORGE CAMPBELL (1804-1841). George Campbell Childress, lawyer, statesman, and author of the Texas Declaration of Independence, son of John Campbell and Elizabeth (Robertson) Childress, was born on January 8, 1804, at Nashville, Tennessee. His sister Sarah later married James K. Polk, president of the United States. In 1826 he graduated from Davidson Academy (later the University of Nashville). He was admitted to the Tennessee bar in 1828 and married Margaret Vance on June 12 of that year. Their son was born in March 1835, and Margaret Childress died a few months later. Childress practiced law and for a brief period (September 1834 - November 1835) edited the Nashville Banner and Nashville Advertiser. In December 1834 he made his first trip to Texas, where his uncle, Sterling C. Robertson,was organizing Robertson's colony.

After spending some time raising money and volunteers in Tennessee for the Texas army, Childress left permanently for Texas. He arrived at the Red River on December 13, 1835, and reached Robertson's colony on January 9, 1836. The following February he and his uncle were elected to represent Milam Municipality at the Convention of 1836. Childress called the convention to order and subsequently introduced a resolution authorizing a committee of five members to draft a declaration of independence. Upon adoption of the resolution, he was named chairman of the committee and is almost universally acknowledged as the primary author of the document.

On March 19 President David G. Burnet sent Robert Hamilton and Childress, whose family was on friendly terms with President Andrew Jackson, to Washington as diplomatic agents for the Republic of Texas. They were instructed to negotiate for recognition of the republic. In late May 1836 their mission was terminated when they were replaced by James Collinsworth and Peter W. Grayson.

On December 12, 1836, Childress married Rebecca Stuart Read Jennings; they had two daughters. Childress returned to Texas three times-in 1837,1839, and 1841-to open law offices, first in Houston, then Galveston. Each time he was unsuccessful in establishing a practice that would support his family. On October 6, 1841, while living in Galveston, he slashed his abdomen with a Bowie knife and died soon thereafter. On August 21, 1876,Childress County was formed and named in his honor.

Subject: Alamo Bells
Date: Saturday, April 15, 2000 12:49 AM
From: Paul R. Scott

Roger N. Conger discusses the Alamo Bell on pp.51-53 of Texas Collector: Gaines de Graffenried (Waco, TX: Texian Press, 1987).

At that time the bell was at the Nita Stewart Haley Memorial Museum in Midland. Reportedly, Anton Lockmar presented the bell to John Twohig who passed it to the de Zavala family. De Graffenried purchased it from the de Zavalas (a Mrs. Fitzhugh. He displayed it at the 1976 National Convention of the NRA in San Antonio and subsequently sold it to a Tennessee collector. From there, it went to Midland.

Paul R. Scott
Spring, TX

In 1900, several articles appeared in the San Antonio papers concerning an Alamo bell. Mr. M. Oppenheimer, a banker in Victoria, presented a bell to Adina De Zavala that had been found at Goliad. The bell was made of copper, brass and silver. The cross bore a coat of arms, a cross, the name "San Antonio" and the date "1722". It was reported to be 22 inches in height and about 18 inches in its largest diameter. There was a debate on if this was an Alamo bell or not.

In a second series of articles, dated in 1893, there is reference to an Alamo bell belonging to the Galveston Historical Society. The article noted that "This bell was cut down from a tree near the Alamo by Captain Sam Damon and taken away in a camp wagon by his order. This was after the first battle of the Alamo. Captain Damon took the bell to his plantation in Brazoria county where it was used for years for summoning the plantation hands. It was presented to the Galveston historical society by Captain Damon. The bell's history has been carefully traced back to the time when Captain Damon ordered it removed from the above referenced tree.

Kevin R. Young

Subject: Lt. Col. William Ward
Date: 04/05/2000
From: H. David Maxey

Does anyone happen to have a biography of Lt. Col. William Ward, Goliad Campaign of the Texas Revolution, at their fingertips?

In his great BOUNTY AND DONATION LAND GRANTS OF TEXAS 1835-1888, 1967,Thomas Lloyd Miller lists two "William Ward" for the Goliad Campaign. He supposes there were two in the campaign. One's heirs patented land in La Salle County, the other (if not the same man) patented land in Crockett & Edwards Counties.

Can anyone tell me where Lt. Col. William Ward's heirs settled?

Hopefully,

H. David Maxey
The Texian Web

According to research done in 1986 by Robert Davis, William A. Ward was born ca 1805, the son of planter Leonard Ward, a Revolutionary War veteran. William Ward attended a pro-Texas meeting at the Bibb County courthouse the night of November 12, 1836 and was among the first to enlist in an 83-man company of Macon volunteers. Funds for the company were raised by Dr. Robert Collins of Macon. The company left for Columbus on November 18. Ward was apparently the first man to enlist and was elected commanders of the unit, which he equipped with Harper's Ferry rifles and other equipment from the state arsenal at Milledgeville.

Ward was one of the first land owners in Macon, an ardent supporter of Nullification, and in at least some financial straits when he set out for Texas. An Alabama newspaper described him as being as "brave and dauntless a man as is known in Georgia" which is probably due to a well-publicized brawl in a Middledgeville tavern in November 1833. It was here that he was shot and nearly killed by mistake while trying to stop the infamous gambler Henry Byrom from wrecking the place.

The Georgia Battalion, which Ward commanded, was made up of several volunteer units from that state and one from Alabama, who all volunteered for service in Texas. The first company was from Columbus and under Captain William A.O. Wadsworth. The second was Ward's old company, now commanded by Captain Uriah J. Bullock. The third under Captain James C. Winn was part of the original company raised by Ward in Macon, enlarged by volunteers from Mississippi and the fourth the Alabama Greys under Captain Isaac Ticknor and from Montgomery, Alabama. Ward's Battalion was actually organized when these companies arrived in Texas at Velasco and Brazoria. They became part of Fannin's garrison at Goliad.

Ward and his men were ordered to Refugio to extricate Captain King and local families on March 13, 1836. Arriving at Refugio, they became involved with General Urrea's command, took cover at the old Mission there and fought the battle of Refugio. Ordered by Fannin to retreat, Ward attempted to make his way to Victoria, encountered Mexican troops there, and was finally forced to surrender on March 22 near Dimmitt's Landing. They were marched to Goliad and held with the rest of the prisoners. They were executed with the rest of the command on March 27, 1836.

S.T. Brown related that a Texian named McCoy, with Miller's Company at Goliad, told him that "after all the men had been shot, the time for the officers came. Colonel Ward was ordered to kneel, which he refused to do; he was told, if he would kneel, his life might be spared. He replied they had killed his men in cold blood, and that he had no desire to live; death would be welcome. He was then shot dead." (Hobart Huson, Refugio: A Comprehensive History of Refugio County, 1953, page 383)

As to where Ward's heirs settled, I would suggest getting the application and file at the General Land Office in Austin. You should get more information on who took over the land.

Kevin R. Young

Subject: Alamo Shrine of Texas Liberty
Date: 04/15/2000
From: Carl Seiler

I was wondering if the film Alamo...Shrine of Texas Liberty was more of a documentary film or one showing actual events?

Carl Seiler
Flowermound, Tx

I had the opportunity to view the 16 mm B&W print owned by Dr. Murray Weissmann at a showing of the film to members of The Alamo Society on April 3, 1999 in New Jersey. The Stuart Paton-directed 1938 two-reelers an awkward silent production that was primarily aimed at educational audiences. (A review of the film appeared in issue #113 of "The Alamo Journal.")Among the film's most interesting scenes is the the shortest line ever drawn by a celluloid Travis and the death of Crockett (a late 18th-century percussion arm fells the famous frontiersman!). The film can be secured by contacting www.windmillgroup.com

William Chemerka
Alamo de Parras

Subject: E.W. Ripley
Date: 04/12/2000
From: Roger Griffin

Thanks for your great site. My students have used it in their research.

I have a question concerning one of the documents in the archives section. In "E.W. Ripley on immigration--August 1823" the heading says that a group of people wanted to settle on the Colorado River. Note that what the text actually says is that the men wanted to emigrate from the US "into the Mexican Territory on the South Side of the Colorado of the Mississipi." Surely from the context this is a reference to the Red River, not the Colorado River of Texas. Also, note that the author does not state that the men desired to settle"on" that river, just cross to its south side so as to be in "the Mexican Territory."

Do you have any guesses as to the recipient? I am guessing either Austin or some official in the Mexican government?

Sincerely yours,

Roger Griffin
Austin Community College

I can't shed any light on this document. Do we know anything else about this Ripley? He doesn't appear in the Handbook of Texas or in the index to the Austin Papers. Your guesses are the same as mine: it is addressed either to an official of the Mexican government...or possibly to Austin.

Another place to look would be The Bexar Archives (1717-1836)--A Name Guide by Adán Benevides, Jr. If the letter was addressed to the Jefe Politico in Béxar, a copy would be in the archives,along with any response.

Gregg Cantrell for Alamo de Parras

[Gregg Cantrell is the Rupert N. Richardson Professorof History at Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene Texas
and author of Stephen F. Austin, Empressario of Texas.]

I am looking for information of H.A. McArdle's painting "Dawn at the Alamo". I have read his notes in the state archives, but I was wanting opinions about the painting and more information on McArdle himself.

Joséph Steves Koch Jr
Austin, Texas

The most helpful secondary work on McArdle would probably be Sam Deshong Ratcliffe's PAINTING TEXAS HISTORY TO 1900, published by the University of Texas Press. It contains extensive documentation, and a full contextual discussion of the painting "Dawn at the Alamo," AND of the preliminary sketch that McArdle did 30 years earlier (in the 1870s) -- a photograph of which is in the McArdle notebook that you consulted in the state archives.

There is also a good bit of McArdle material in the files of the State Preservation Board (located in the Sam Houston building adjacent to the State Archives), and some in the James T. DeShields Papers in the DRT Library at the Alamo.

My major disagreement with Sam Ratcliffe is that I believe that the evidence (which he cites in his footnotes) does NOT support the notion that McArdle's preliminary sketch went on public display in the 19th century(or any other time). From what I can see, McArdle only circulated it among friends, art teachers, advisers, and politicians, in an effort to get state funding for the eventual finished work (which of course hangs today in the Senate Chambers of the Capitol in Austin).

James E. Crisp

In Stephen Harrigan's novel The Gates of the Alamo, two sketches are presented one inside the front cover the other inside the back cover. Both are credited to Telesforo Villaseñor. Fact or Fiction?

Dan Cote
Galveston,TX

Dan,

I was the artist hired by Steve Harrigan to illustrate the endpapers of his novel. I can say unequivocally that those drawings are not contemporaneous to 1836, and were not drawn by Steve's fictional Engineer Telesforo Villaseñor. However, I am flattered that they are able to suggest such an authentic origin. (See credits on page 582).

Gary S. Zaboly

I am a John Wayne fan. For my vacation this year I am going to see the Alamo for the first time, then to Brackettville where John Wayne made his movie. How close is the movie as to what really happened?

Thank you.

Alfonso Salvaggio
Pensacola, FL

John Wayne, while an American icon and a staunch lover of the Alamo(and all Americana for that fact), made an entertaining movie but poor historical record. Don't watch The Alamo with the idea that it tells the true story of the 13-day siege. There are so many inaccuracies that it would take several pages just to list them.

I am glad you have taken the time to ask and to find what happened--but watching any Hollywood movie pertaining to the Alamo for history's sake is a total waste of time. Going to the Alamo in San Antonio is a good start in your quest for the real story. There are currently many good books with the most up to date information available: Blood of Noble Men by Alan Huffines, Texian Iliad by Stephen Hardin and Three Roadsto the Alamo by William C. Davis are just three examples.

Brackettville is a movie set. It's fun to visit and it will give the casual observer an idea of the size of the compound. Only the Alamo church replica is full scale the rest of the compound is approximately 3/4 scale. The actual compound was even bigger. Only the basic layout of the movie set is correct.

Accept John Wayne's movie(and any movie depicting an historical event) for what it is, a movie made to entertain and make money. Very few let the truth get in the way of a good story. Enjoy your visit to Texas and enjoy the real Alamo.