The
week began at the Colleyville Rotary Club. I was invited by a former student, Mark Bauer, who now
makes his home in Colleyville. We agreed that the club members would
enjoy a program on Texas Gunslingers, which involves 19th-century life
and death conflict in the Lone Star State and a collection of replica
weapons and gun rigs. A bonus for me is the fact that my daughter, Dr.
Berri O'Neal Gormley - who is instrumental in putting together this blog
every week or so - and her family live in Colleyville. I drove up a day
early so that I could spend a little extra time with Berri, her husband
Drew, and my three youngest grandchildren, Addison, Reagan, and Nolan.
Berri also accompanied me to the lunch meeting of the local Rotary club,
and we all had a lively time.
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With Colleyville Rotary Club President, Kay Allen |
On Wednesday afternoon in Carthage,
I was invited to the First Baptist Church, which was having a blood drive competition
with a church in another community. FBC's Music Minister, David Yarborough,
thought it might stimulate donor attendance to have several local authors on
hand to sign books for those who came to donate blood. I had a fine time
visiting with Carthage friends, eating homemade ice cream provided by the
church, and signing books. I had just received the first box of copies of the
UNT Press softcover reprint of my 2006 book about the Regulator-Moderator War: War
in East Texas, Regulators vs. Moderators. It was the first time the book
had been available in more than a decade, and I was delighted that so many
readers wanted a signed copy.
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My book table at MASH BASH blood drive
at the First Baptist Church of Carthage. |
On Saturday I drove to Athens for
the annual meeting of the Awards Committee of the Otis Lock Foundation of the East
Texas Historical Association. I've been a member of this committee for a
decade and a half, and I've served as chairman for the past few years,
since the passing of Archie McDonald. We determine cash awards for book award
winners, research grant applicants, and educators of the year. We met at a
Mexican food restaurant, and before we could even order lunch we found
ourselves discussing the merits of various books that had been nominated. By
the time we finished our meals we had made our decisions, which will be
announced at the Fall Meeting of the ETHA at the Fredonia Hotel in Nacogdoches.
Scott Sosebee, Executive Director of the ETHA, was on hand to lend advice, and
aside from the committee chairman, a set of new members was present: Debbie
Liles, Jessica Wranosky, and John Lundberg, accomplished authors all.
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The Lock Award Committee, L to R: Scott Sosebee, Debbie Liles, Jessica Wranosky, State Historian, John Lundberg |
We concluded out business at two
o'clock, and I immediately began driving toward Houston. I had agreed to speak
at the annual Awards Banquet of the Sons of the Republic of Texas, Lone
Star Chapter #58, which serves Montgomery and The Woodlands. This award-winning
group is an outstanding chapter and I've twice had the privilege of addressing
them at past events. The banquet was held at a superb restaurant in North
Houston, the Steamboat House, which is richly decorated in Texana and features
an eye-catching statue of Sam Houston in the parking lot.
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A statue of Sam Houston outside the Steamboat House Restaurant |
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Texana décor dominates every room of the Steamboat House Restaurant. |
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The SRT Awards Banquet registration table |
There were almost 100 men and women
in the picturesque banquet hall. The impressive program included the tolling of
a "Passing Bell" for members who had been lost during the year, as
well as the presentation of $1,000 cash awards to Educators of the Year.
The recipients were two seventh-grade Texas History teachers from the Conroe
ISD: Penny Williams of York Jr. High, and Brenda Craig of Moreland Jr.
High. I especially enjoyed hearing a detailed recounting of the chapter's
Year in Review and the miscellany of historic activities staged by the chapter.
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Penny Adams (left) and Brenda Craig were named Educators of the Year. |
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The gathering crowd (which finally numbered nearly 100)
in the banquet room |
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Bugle tribute, Il Silencio, beautifully played by Michael D. Wilson |
In the past I had spoken to this
chapter on Sam Houston and on the San Jacinto Campaign, so we decided that for
the Banquet topic I would describe the Regulator-Moderator War. This first of a
great many blood feuds in Texas occurred in 1840-1844 during the heart of the
Texas Republic era. It was a Texan embodiment of the American Regulator
Moderator tradition that began in the 1760s and 1770s, and it produced more
casualties than any other blood feud in Texas history. And by a happy
coincidence a shipment of my books on this blood feud came in just a few days
earlier, and I was able to provide autographed copies for the SRT
members. In all it was a wonderful evening, a fitting climax to a
delightful week of Texas history events.
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Chapter President Ron McAnear |
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Holding forth about the Regulators and Moderators |
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