Library Welcomes DRT Members Attending Annual Convention

DRT members pose with Cataloging Librarian Beverly Ewald and the Angelina Dickinson petticoat.

Last Thursday, members of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas attending the organization’s annual convention in San Antonio were treated to an afternoon at the Alamo. The event included a tour of the Alamo church and Long Barrack museum, a living history presentation, a reception in Alamo Hall, and an Open House in the Library.

Daughters who visited the Library were able to see rare and one-of-a-kind Texas treasures from the collections, including documents, photographs, and ephemera related to the history of the Texas Veterans Association, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, and the Alamo. Behind-the-scenes tours of the Library were available, and many DRT members also used their visit as an opportunity to conduct research.

The Library is open on an equal basis to all researchers, and DRT members are always welcome to come use the collections for projects relating to Texas genealogy and history. Members unable to visit in person are encouraged to search the online catalog from home and contact the Library with their research questions; staff members can provide information about resources, conduct limited research, and make and mail photocopies of Library materials.

DRT members who visited the Library were able to see and use collection materials and converse with staff members.

Ann Shafer and her husband examined letters written by her ancestor, John Fisher Armstrong. The documents are part of the Armstrong family papers, which were donated to the Library by Ann's mother.

Several DRT member who visited the Library conducted research.

The Daughters of the Republic of Texas: 105 Years of Alamo Custodianship

Last week marked the 105th anniversary of the legislation that granted the Daughters of the Republic of Texas custodianship of the Alamo. The act, entitled “Providing for the Purchase, Care, and Preservation of the Alamo,” passed the Texas House of Representatives on January 23 and the state Senate on January 24th before being signed by Governor Lanham on January 26th, 1905.

Clara Driscoll, who, with Adina De Zavala, led the DRT's efforts to acquire the Alamo. (SC96.002)

The legislation appropriated $65,000 to Clara Driscoll, who had advanced that amount in personal funds to cover a DRT fund-raising shortfall and to purchase the Alamo convento (today the Long Barracks museum) in her own name. The act also placed title to the convento in the name of the State of Texas; turned custody of the property to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas; and transferred custody of the Alamo church, which the state had purchased in 1883, from the City of San Antonio to the DRT.

The legislation stated, in part:

Section 3: Upon the receipt of the title to said land [the convento], the Governor shall deliver the property thus acquired, together with the Alamo Church property already owned by the State, to the custody and care of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, to be maintained by them in good order and repair without charge to the State, as a sacred memorial to the heroes who immolated themselves upon that hallowed ground.

Several months after the Act was approved – on September 5, 1905 – Clara Driscoll transferred the title to the convento building to Texas; one month later, Governor Lanham conveyed it and the Alamo church to the DRT.

Alamo Plaza looking south, circa 1907. The Alamo church, on the east side of the plaza, is beyond the photograph on the left. It is obscured by the old mission convento, which merchants Charles Hugo and Gustav Schmeltzer purchased in 1880 and operated as a wholesale warehouse and grocery. (SC8317.4)

 

The 1905 legislation followed decades of efforts to preserve the Alamo and a five-year campaign on the part of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, led by Adina De Zavala and Clara Driscoll, to raise money for the preservation of the Alamo. Development of downtown San Antonio began in earnest following the Civil War. Photographs (like the one above) and maps (like this 1904 Sanborn map of Alamo Plaza, available as a PDF document) show the Alamo surrounded by commercial structures by the late 1800s and early 1900s. Additionally, the Alamo church was in deplorable condition following years of being repurposed, neglected, and damaged. San Antonians feared that the site would eventually be demolished altogether.

The Alamo church and the Hugo & Schmeltzer building (the old mission convento) in an undated photograph, circa 1877-1912. (SC95.044)

A photograph from the late 1800s showing a saloon immediately to the south of the Alamo church. (SC13523)

 

At the fourteenth annual meeting of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas – held in La Grange, Texas, in April 1905 – Second Vice-President Cornelia Branch Stone of Galveston described the Daughters’ efforts in the weeks prior to the passage of the “Alamo Purchase Bill.” Speaking on behalf of the absent Clara Driscoll, Stone reported that

the committee were [sic] well received by the Senate and House of Representatives, where they found many warm supporters of the measure. Miss Driscoll and Mrs. Stone addressed the Committee on State Affairs in both houses, and Miss De Zavala spoke to the House Committee on State Affairs, as the Alamo Purchase Bill has been referred to this committee. Every courtesy was shown by the two committees, and unanimous endorsement was given to the bill. The Senate was unanimous in support of the bill, and while there was some opposition in the House, the bill had so many strong supporters it was passed by a large majority. Those who most conspicuously advocated this measure were Speaker Seabury, Messrs. Kyle, Glen, Blount, Brelsford, Onion, Robertson, Hudspeth, Judge Terrell and others. [Sam Ealy Johnson, father of President Lyndon B. Johnson, was another supporter of the bill.] Mrs. Looscan and Miss De Zavala were present at the final passage of the bill. Mrs. Stone and Miss Driscoll, having been assured of its safety, left Austin after having spent a week there. The committee did good work, and were [sic] constantly advised by Judge Clarence Martin, whose wise counsel was of great value.

Adina De Zavala in 1924. (SC95.316det)

In another address to the Daughters assembled in LaGrange, Cornelia Branch Stone asserted that the legislation would “require renewed activity on our part to meet [the] demand” placed on them. This, indeed, has proven to be the case in the 105 years since the state granted custodianship of the Alamo to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.

Click here for a full citation of the documents and images included in this entry.

For further reading, DRT Library:

The general collections of the DRT Library contain books, annual meeting proceedings, vertical files, photographs, and other materials that document the history of the DRT and its custodianship of the Alamo. Additionally, the library also has several archival collections of personal papers and scrapbooks by, to, and about women who held leadership positions in the organization. Additional information about these materials can be found by searching the library’s online catalog. A few resources that describe the context of the DRT’s early preservation efforts and custodianship are listed below.

Preservation Pioneers: The Daughters of the Republic of Texas compiled by Laura T. Beavers

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

Saving San Antonio: The Precarious Preservation of a Heritage by Lewis F. Fisher

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

100 Years of Custodianship by Madge Thornall Roberts

“Alamo History Chronology,” a timeline compiled by the staff of the DRT Library

For further reading, other institutions:

Several other Texas repositories contain archival collections of personal papers by, to, and about early leaders of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. Many of these collection, such as the Adina De Zavala papers at the University of Texas at Austin, can be found by searching Texas Archival Resources Online (TARO). Others, such as the Adele Briscoe Looscan papers at the Albert and Ethel Herzstein Library and the Adina De Zavala papers at the University of the Incarnate Word, can be found through Internet search engines.

The Alamo and DRT celebrate Texas Independence Day

The Alamo and the DRT commemorate Texas Independence Day with a ceremony in Alamo Plaza.

On Monday, March 2, the Alamo and the DRT celebrated Texas Independence Day with a ceremony in Alamo Plaza. The ceremony, held by the Alamo Mission Chapter of the DRT, featured a speech from DRT Library Director Leslie Stapleton. Mrs. Stapleton spoke about the library’s history and collection. Specifically, Mrs. Stapleton discussed the great primary sources that the library has in its archives.

Leslie Stapleton, DRT Library Director, speaks about the library's history and collection.

Among the one-of-a-kind documents is a letter written by Alamo defender Daniel William Cloud on December 26, 1835 to his brother, John B. Cloud. A lawyer from Kentucky, Daniel William Cloud joined David Crockett’s Tennessee Volunteers to help in the fight for Texas Independence. He describes what many of these young men might have been feeling when he writes,

If we succeed, the Country is ours. It is immense in extent, and fertile in its soil, and will amply reward all our toil. If we fail, death in the cause of liberty and humanity is not cause for shuddering. Our rifles are by our side, and choice guns they are, we know what awaits us, and are prepared to meet it.

This letter was donated to the library by the Cloud family in 1979. Click here for a previous post about the Cloud letter.

Another great document in the collection is a letter written by Abishai Mercer Dickson written to his wife from New Orleans on December 29, 1835 on his way to Texas. He writes to her,

My Dear, my lips have not been wet with spirits of any description since I left you and I do hope they never will again and I think this trip will not only wean me entirely from it but will give me a new constitution.

He closes the letter by writing:

I have some hopes of making a little fortune. I feel more anxious than I ever did.

Dickson joined the Alabama Red Rovers and served under Col. Fannin at Goliad, where he was killed by the Mexican army along with more than 340 other Texan soldiers.

Lastly, another unique document in the collection is Samuel Augustus Maverick’s copy of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Maverick was an early Texas land baron, legislator, and leading citizen of the Republic. He lived at the corner of Alamo Plaza and Houston Street and played a large role in the Siege of Bexar in December 1835. He was chosen as one of two representatives from the Alamo to go to the independence convention on March 1, 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos.

Maverick left on March 2 but did not arrive at the convention until March 5. By that day, the Declaration had already been drafted and adopted. Maverick printed his name as well as the names of the other late arrivals to his broadside copy of the Declaration. Although one thousand broadside copies were originally printed, today only thirteen are known to exist. The DRT Library is fortunate to have two of these known copies. Click here for a previous post about the Maverick copy of the Declaration of Independence.

After the ceremony, Mrs. Stapleton invited all guests to visit the library, which is not usually a browsing collection, to view these and other special primary sources from the library’s collection.

Library visitors look at items on exhibit from the collection.

Dedication of the DRT Library

On December 2, 1950, members of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and honored guests gathered to dedicate the new wing of the DRT Library. Since the opening of the library five years previously, the collections had been housed in Alamo Hall. The new wing, designed by architects Atlee B. and Robert M. Ayres, was built on the west side of the former city fire station; contemporary patrons know it as the library’s reading room.

Speakers at the ceremony, as listed in the "Dedication Program," December 2, 1950.

The history of the DRT library began several years before the dedication. The charter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas states that one objective of the organization is 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.” Beginning in the 1920s, several donations were given to the Alamo for a library. Mrs. Leita Small, custodian of the Alamo, noted in 1928 that:

“We are planning to make an appeal for old Texas publications that we might have a collection for the Alamo…I am continually called upon for historical data, and it will be a great help to have books and allow visitors to get the data they want from them. It is surprising the number of people who come to the Alamo for all kinds of information. When San Antonians cannot answer questions asked by strangers, they immediately refer them to the Alamo.”

Dr. William E. Howard. (CN95.49)

San Antonio native and Dallas physician William Eager Howard provided the nucleus of the library’s collections, as he donated his private collection of Texana materials to the DRT in the late 1930s and early 1940s. On October 12, 1945 the library in Alamo Hall opened with the William E. Howard Collection. Mrs. Small, at that time Chairman of the William E. Howard Library Committee, described the arrangement of the library at that time:

“The front room of Alamo Hall holds the Texana Collection, the next room a case of very rare books…also…the collection of Civil War books. In the third room are the United States and miscellaneous books, and in the small fourth room is the western collection. Many paintings are hung in these rooms which make them attractive.”

During its earliest years, the library was open three days each week. In 1948, the library was allotted an annual budget of $150.00, and the following year its collection was comprised of 2,304 books, 213 pamphlets, 37 manuscripts, 69 rare documents, and 62 Spanish documents.

Portrait of John King Beretta by Lonnie Rees, which now hangs in the DRT Library reading room. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John Ward Beretta. (SC05.054)

Portrait of Sallie Mills Ward Beretta by Lonnie Rees, which now hangs in the DRT Library reading room. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John Ward Beretta. (SC05.055)

After the Texas legislature denied a request from the DRT for funds for the construction of a new library building, Mrs. Sallie Ward Beretta donated $30,000 so that the organization could add a wing to Alamo Hall. Mrs. Beretta wanted to honor the memory of her late husband, Mr. John King Beretta, who had been a close friend of Dr. Howard’s. Mrs. Beretta’s generous gift made possible the wing that was dedicated in 1950 and that remains the heart of the library.

Presentation Address by Mrs. John King Beretta, as reprinted in the "Dedication Program," December 2, 1950.

Second page of Mrs. John King Beretta's Presentation Address.

Click here for a full citation of the documents and images included in this entry.

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

Click here for a full citation of the documents and images included in this entry.