Nineteenth-Century Holiday Treats

For many people, preparing for Thanksgiving and the upcoming holiday season means many hours in the kitchen cooking and baking (and cleaning up!). This year, you may want to add some nineteenth-century desserts to your repertoire, courtesy of Texan Anna Gibbs McKinney. Anna married Thomas McKinney in 1843; he was one of Stephen F. Austin’s “Old Three Hundred” and a prominent resident in the Republic of Texas.

Anna’s cookbook contains approximately seventy-five recipes that, according to the published edition of the book, she collected “from friends, relatives and newspapers and laboriously hand-copied” in ink. In addition to containing directions for cakes and other desserts, the cookbook also includes recipes for breads and biscuits, directions for making condiments and preserves, and a “recipe for curing meat by a New Orleans pork packer.” Mrs. McKinney also gathered other homemaking information in her book, specifically instructions for making soap and candles as well as remedies for conditions such as smallpox, mites and vermin, cancer, sore legs, bites from poisonous insects, and “nails in the foot of man or horse.”

Happy Thanksgiving, and happy baking!

Anna McKinney's recipe for soft gingerbread.

Recipes for pumpkin pie and beaten biscuits.

Instructions on making fruit cake.

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Founding of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas

November marks the anniversary of the establishment of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, which is “the oldest patriotic women’s organization in Texas and one of the oldest in the nation.”

During the summer of 1891, cousins Betty Ballinger and Hally Bryan met in Galveston to plan the creation of a commemorative association of women who were direct descendants of residents of the Republic of Texas. On November 6 of that year, sixteen women held an organizational meeting for the new group in the Houston residence of Mary Jane Briscoe. At the first annual meeting in April 1892, members changed the group’s name for a second time and adopted the name Daughters of the Republic of Texas.

Minutes of the November 6, 1891 meeting, as reported by DRT Secretary M. P. Vasmer at the first annual meeting, April 20, 1892.

The DRT initially served as a companion organization to the Texas Veterans Association, which had been established in 1873 for men who had served “prior to, during, and immediately after the Texas Revolution.” However, with their numbers dwindling to six elderly men by 1907, the Veterans disbanded and resolved that the Daughters should continue their work of commemoration and remembrance.

According to Article II of the Daughters’ Constitution, the objectives of the association are:

(1) To perpetuate the memory and spirit of the men and women who achieved and maintained the independence of Texas.

(2) To encourage historical research into the earliest records of Texas, especially those relating to the revolution of 1835 and the events which followed; to foster the preservation of documents and relics; and to encourage the publication of records of individual service of soldiers and patriots of the Republic.

(3) To promote the celebration of March 2d (Independence Day), and April 21st (San Jacinto Day); to secure and hallow historic sports, by erecting monuments thereon; and to cherish and preserve the unity of Texas, as achieved and established by the fathers and mothers of the Texas revolution.

Daughters with members of the Texas Veterans Association in La Grange, April 21, 1905.

To find out more about the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and the its history, please see:

Daughters of the Republic of Texas, 90 Years of the Daughters: History of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas

Daughters of the Republic of Texas, website

Madge Thornall Roberts, 100 Years of Custodianship

Randy Roberts and James S. Olson, A Line in the Sand: The Alamo in Blood and Memory

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Honoring Texas Veterans

Each year on November 11, Americans commemorate Veterans Day to honor those who have served in our nation’s military. Originally established to honor Americans who fought in World War I and commemorate the armistice that ended the conflict, following World War II the holiday was expanded to remember veterans of all wars.

Although the collections of the DRT Library most thoroughly document the Texas Revolution and its participants, they also include primary and secondary sources relating to all American conflicts from the American Revolution to the Vietnam War.

Portrait of Hal Irby Greer taken in France during World War I.

In honor of Veterans Day, this entry focuses on one of the approximately 198,000 Texans who served in the armed forces during World War I. Preliminary research indicates that Hal Irby Greer was born in Beaumont on October 18, 1885. He attended both Texas A. & M. and the University of Texas; the library’s copy of the 1905 Cactus, the yearbook of the University of Texas, contains a photograph of him with his fraternity brothers in Phi Kappa Psi and lists him as a member of the class of 1907 majoring in law. Greer married Catherine Lindsay “Kitty” Smith (b. 1887) in 1908. The couple had two sons before divorcing in 1917.

Certificate of appointment to the Air Service, U.S. Army, May 18, 1918.

According to obituaries published following his death, Greer was quick to enlist in the military soon after the United States entered World War I in April 1917, even though he was “past the conscript age.” Greer completed air training in Austin and Garden City, New York, before he went to France, where he may have faced additional instruction before being sent to the front. While Greer was cited for bravery in the war, he was also left permanently physically disabled, as his lungs were frozen due to exposure and high flights. Greer began receiving treatments while still in France, and when he returned to the United States following the war he spent significant amounts of time in hospitals and underwent several operations, none of which fully restored his health. Greer continued to reside in Beaumont until relocating to Houston around 1924; there he worked as an independent oil operator and oil land developer. Greer also apparently remarried, as obituaries wrote that his wife, Vallie Hubbard of Houston, had died in August 1930. Greer committed suicide in February 1936, stating in a note that his reasons were continued ill health and financial difficulties, which were presumably worsened by the Great Depression.

First page of Hal Irby Greer's letter to his mother, October 16, 1918.

The DRT Library’s collection of Hal Irby Greer’s papers (COL 896) contains photographs, letters, and other documents relating to his work as a pilot during World War I. In three letters to his mother, written from France between May and October 1918, Greer describes daily life in the 11th Aero Squadron and writes about his family. He includes details and anecdotes about training, his fellow pilots and friends, the weather, and places he visits and people he meets in France. In his letter dated September 14, 1918, excerpted here, Greer describes how he became the first member of the 11th Squadron to shoot down a German plane:

Hal Irby Greer at the gun of an airplane.

We penetrated far into Germany on a bombing trip. . .I was put out on the rear guard of the formation, and Reuben and I had our work cut out, I assure you! In the first place, we had to put up with the most severe “archie” [anti-aircraft] fire, which is terrible. First, you hear a “rack-crack,” and a smoke ball opens up in your rear somewhere, then the next one is over you, then under you, then to the side of you – all the time biting closer and closer! God! What a feeling! It’s terrible! Then, finally, you hear one “crrrrrra-S-H”! after another, and you know they’re horribly close! You can’t dodge, you just stand there and watch those ominous balls of smoke, and I steadied myself by counting them and thinking, “Well, if only one hits me from above, it will probably be in the head, and I won’t know it, so what’s the use?” Then I asked God to forgive all my past, and if it be His will to make me at least die like a man, and protect my two little boys and brother. Then the “archie” fire let up, just as we reached our objective. We dropped our bombs, those of us who carried them, and I knew something was coming! It did alright! The “Richtofen Circus” [the Jagdgeschwader 1, a German fighter unit] jumped us! Lord, but the air was full of “Boches” [German soldiers]! They dived on us over my right shoulder. . .After they shot at our leader, they wheeled and came up on our rear. They  divided up, and a bunch took each plane. Three swung around in back of me. I stood up high, so as to protect Reuben’s head with my body, and waited for them to come up. Two were to one side and beneath me, and the other was to other side and beneath me. It was curious to watch them come. They had red noses and all sorts of fantastic colors. The three of them opened up and got me in a cross fire, and I could see the bullets (tracer and incendiary) flashing all round me. I singled one out, and put my guns on him.

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Documents from Texas Elections

In the spirit of the elections held earlier this week, this entry highlights some materials in the DRT Library’s manuscript and book collections that document elections held throughout 120 years of Texas history.

Letter, Juan Martin de Veramendi, Leona Vicario [Saltillo], Coahuila y Tejas, to José Antonio Navarro, 1833 March 2, DOC 6813, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas.

Veramendi was an influential San Antonio native who in 1833 was the Governor of Coahuila y Tejas and James Bowie’s father-in-law. In this letter – which was also signed by Juan Delgado, Jose Melchor Sanchez Navarro, and Jose Maria de Goribar – he notifies Jose Antonio Navarro of his election to the Mexican Congress. Also a native of Bexar, Navarro became a “leading Mexican participant in the Texas Revolution.”

Juan Martin de Veramendi to Jose Antonio Navarro, 1833.

Letter, P. R. Lilly, Montgomery, Texas, to Chas. B. Stewart, Montgomery, Texas, 1842 February 17, DOC 9613, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas.

In this letter, Lilly announces his intention to challenge Stewart’s election as District Clerk for Montgomery County. Stewart was a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and held several political offices; he is also “credited with drawing the original draft of the Lone Star flag.”

Montgomery February 17^th 1842

Chas B Stewart Esq

Sir

As the law provides in cases of contested elections I herewith notify you of my intention to contest your election to the office of District Clerk for Montgomery County which was held on the first Monday in this month – for divers good causes, amongst those which I shall set forth in my argument are that the returns from the Montgomery box were not made in accordance with law, that non-residents were suffered to exercise the right of suffrage, which I shall make appear when permitted to [illegible] the voters names at the Montgomery box – that the returns from Crawfords, from [illegible] from Carolina and from other pecincts [sic] were not made as the law prescribes, and other causes shall be exhibited in my argument which I deeem [sic] worthy of notice as coming within the perview [sic] of the statute regulating elections – I shall submit my argument to the chief Justice on Saturday the 19^th of the present month – when & where you will please appear & make defence [sic] if any defence you have

All of which is respectfully submitted

Yours Respectfully

P. R. Lilly

First page of P. R. Lilly's 1842 letter to Charles B. Stewart.

Second page of P. R. Lilly's 1842 letter to Charles B. Stewart.

Certificate of Election, State of Texas, 1902 December 15, William Lewis Davidson Papers, DOC 11151, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas.

Signed by Governor Joseph D. Sayers and Secretary of State John G. Tod, this document certifies that, having received 300,651 votes, William Lewis Davidson was elected as a judge in the Court of Criminal Appeals.

Certificate of Election for William Lewis Davidson, 1902.

Printed handbill, “Fergusonism vs Capitalism” by Charles E. Coons, [1930], DOC 2811, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas.

This document promotes the gubernatorial candidacy of Miriam A. (“Ma”) Ferguson and attacks Ross S. Sterling, her opponent in the second Texas Democratic primary of 1930. Although Sterling defeated her in that election, Ferguson won her second term in office by defeating him and Republican candidate Orville Bullington. The central argument made by Coons in this handbill is summarized in the final paragraph of this document:

“Are you prepared to take your place in the front ranks, of this battle of the rich against the poor, the high against the low, the great against the small. Let me admonish you to resolve at once to go to the ballot box and pole your vote on August 23rd for Ross S. Sterling, multimillionaire friend of foreign corporations, or for Miriam A. Ferguson, the home loving, God serving friend of the common people.”

Front of printed handbill, "Fergusonism vs Capitalism."

Institute of Public Affairs, University of Texas. A Handbook for Texas Voters. Austin, Texas: The University of Texas, 1953.

This is a selection of pages from the 53 page Handbook. Notice the mention of the poll tax, which was used to disinfranchise African Americans and in Texas also kept Mexican Americans from voting. Poll taxes were prohibited in elections for federal officials by the 24th Amendment to the Constitution in 1964.

"Who May Vote in Texas," from the Handbook for Texas Voters, 1953.

Institute of Public Affairs, University of Texas. “Facsimile of the General Election Ballot Used in 1952” in A Handbook for Texas Voters. Austin, Texas: The University of Texas, 1953.

In addition to this facsimile ballot, the Handbook also includes reproductions of ballots used in the 1952 first and run-off Democratic primaries. This image is only of the top half of the ballot.

Facsimile ballot for the 1952 election, from the Handbook for Texas Voters, 1953.

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