Vol 22 No. 08 - May 1945

Thomas Jefferson Latham

By T. C. Richardson

Thomas Jefferson Latham, was a resident of Texas for seventy years. He was born in Arkansas in 1826, and moved with his parents to Texas at the age of eight, crossing the Sabine river on Christmas day of 1834. His parents settled in Sabine county and began the making of a home in what was then a very sparsely settled country. He had served in the Texas Frontier Regiment for protection against the Indians during the first part of the Civil War, but transferred to the Confederate service in its latter years. At its close he was on detached service collecting horses for the Confederacy in Hamilton, Coryell, and adjacent counties. Arriving at Austin with a herd for delivery, he learned of Lee's surrender, and the Major turned the horses loose to find their way home, and joined his family in Coryell county. Thus he never surrendered. Here is his story.

Mentions: Monclova * Coahuila * Fort Jessup * The "Runaway Scrape," * Gaines' Ferry * Jimmie Gaines * Mangum, Oklahoma * Moses L. Parker * Hannah Parker * brother, Beverly * the Dove creek Indian fight * brother, Ambrose * Liberty Hill, Williamson county * Hannah Latham * Frank Hopson * Tom Middlebrook * Ballinger * Albert Latham * Martha Latham * William Sartor * Sarah Elizabeth Latham * A. J. Richardson * Frank Jackson Latham * Mollie Baggett * Thomas Morgan * Minnie O'Neal * Nicholas Murchison * Virgil S * Fannie Bevers * Edna * Gus Powers * Abe Large * T. M. (Bud) Payne * James D. Latham * Adolphus W. Latham

The Beginning Of Custer City

By Colonel Harry Young

Account describing early history and events that occurred in the beginnings of Custer City, OK.

Mentions: Mr. Jones, Mart Gibbons, Charley Smith * French Creek * Sam Gaylord * Keiffer * John Burrows * a man named Farnum * Tom Milligan * Fort Laramie * Eureka

Ben Milam's Monument

By Colonel M. L. Crimmins.

Historical details surrounding the establishment of the Ben Milam Monument in Milam Square, San Antonio.

Mentions: Bonnie MacLeary was the sculptor, and Donald Wilson the architect * West Commerce Street * Santa Rosa hospital * the DeZava la Chapter Daughters of the Heroes of Texas * Marble Falls, Texas * General Martin Perfecto de Cos * Alazan Creek * John McGuffin * the farcial "Grass Fight." * Samuel A. Maverick, John W. Smith and P. B. Cooke * Colonel Edward Burleson * Wolff & Marx * Col. Frank W. Johnson * the Veramendi Palace * the Clegg Building * John H. Smith * Soledad Street * the de la Garza House * the old "Campo Santo," * Alamo Lodge A. F. and A. M.

How The Greatest Museum In The South Was Built

By J. Marvin Hunter

Mentions: Mr. Wolf's place * Stephenville Texas * J. A. Miller * Creed Taylor * Governor James V. Allred * George Johnson * Mrs. A. E. Davenport * John Albert Miller * "Carot's Village Street," * Charles Schreiner * John James * Charles de Mantel * Charles Gersdorlf * Dr. Leonidas Hudspeth * Captain Jack Phillips * Chas. Eckhart * William Curtis * Ira D. Henry * Mrs. Louisa Gordon * the Gordon ranch in Kimble county * Dr. T. F. Hung * Ira D. Henry

Trinidad Jaso, Ranch Cook

By Ruth Dodson, Mathis, Texas.

Account of Trinidad Jaso, frontier ranch cook during the decade of the 1870s, when thousands of cattle were gathered out of the brush and off the prairies of Texas and driven to northern markets. Trinidad could not qualify as a vaquero—a cowhand—but since each outfit had to have a cook, he went in that capacity. Until Trinidad was an old man, he cooked at many of the ranches over the part of country in which he lived, the country along the west side of the Nueces river. Here is his story - a story of the swollen rivers he had to get his chuck wagon across; the frightful storms they experienced and above all else the fierce Indians they encountered on their way through the Indian Territory. Mentions: Mrs. Martin Culver * Mr. and Mrs. Swift * Pedro Zambrano * Penitas

Officiated At Two Hangings

By J. B. Gillett, Ex-Sergeant Company D, Texas Rangers.

Account of J. H. Comstock who was for sometime county sheriff of Menard county, Texas, and especially two notable public hangings over which he presided.

Mentions: D. W. Roberts * James H. White * Fort Davis * Ysleta * El Paso county * the Texas & Pacific railroad * the Guadalupe mountains * Mrs. Marsh * George W. Baylor's rangers * Capt. Thacher * the notorious Dallas Stoudenmire * Capt. James White * Ed H. Seotten * 'W. P. Raynor * W. H. Wheat, George Harris

The Doctor's Indian Stew

By J. Marvin Hunter.

An eccentric character of the very early days in San Antonio was a Dr. Weidemann, who has been described as a Russian scholar and naturalist, an excellent physician and surgeon; a highly cultivated man, who spoke many languages, and had a penchant for macabre science and medicine made from the severed heads of defeated Indian savages. Here is the strange tale. Mentions: the Chavez place on Acequia Street, now Main Avenue * Main Avenue High School * Mrs. Mary A. Maverick * Mrs. Higginbotham * Peach Creek, near Gonzales

Indian Attack Near Uvalde

Account of an attack that occurred in July, 1855, when Comanche Indians surrounded the hose of a man named Westfall, who lived 35 miles below Uvalde on the Leona, his only companion being a Frenchman named Louie, and his dog, "Ketchum." The brutal attack is described in this story.

Mentions: Fort Inge * Messrs. Black & Stratton * Henry Livering * Big Foot Wallace * W. W. Arnett