Madge Thornall Roberts and The Star of Destiny

Subject: Madge Thornall Roberts and The Star of Destiny Mon 03 Dec 2007, 7:01 pm

A wonderful gift to the students of Texas' past during the 1990s was the publication of the edited correspondence of Sam Houston, and of Sam and Margaret Houston. The bearer of this gift was a hard-working, generous woman, who is devoted to the history of her state. The University of North Texas Press provides the following as her biography:

"Madge Thornall Roberts, with degrees from Southwestern University (in Georgetown, Texas) and Trinity University (in San Antonio), spent thirty-five years as a teacher in the classroom. As a child she played in her great-grandparents' home in Independence, Texas, which had Santa Anna's saddle in the upstairs hall and the San Jacinto sword over the mantle, and where she kept her doll's clothes in the doll's chest which had been Margaret Lee's. Trunks of documents sat unattended in the barn for nearly forty years. When the house was sold some of the papers were burned but what remained were divided among the descendents. Madge Roberts has gathered these documents and woven the story into 'Star of Destiny,'" which is the volume of correspondence chronicling "The Private Life of Sam and Margaret Houston."

Here is a link to amazon.com's offerings of these wonderful books:

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Madge%20Thornall%20Roberts&page=1

And some very happy news for 2007-2009, as Mrs. Roberts serves as President General of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas:

http://drt-inc.org/

By the way, does anyone know how 'Star of Destiny,' the book which contains the personal correspondence of General and Mrs. Houston, came by its name?
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The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

By the way, does anyone know how 'Star of Destiny,' the book which contains the personal correspondence of General and Mrs. Houston, came by its name?

Well ... this page tells the story .... Like a Star @ heaven

http://www.texasdar.org/chapters/StarDestiny/
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The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

We probably all are familiar with the face of Sam Houston, but what of that of Margaret?

http://www.shsu.edu/~smm_www/FunStuff/Album/A12.html
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Margaret Lea Houston was a poetess ~ expressing sentiments through her pen clearly, tenderly and with little restraint ~ as Victorian women were wise and wont to do. These lines she composed while still living in Somerville, Alabama .... following her first meeting with Sam Houston, hero of San Jacinto and first president of the Republic of Texas.

Lines To A Withered Pink

Why have I sought thee out -- loved flower?
To gaze upon thy radiant bloom?
Or doth some tranquilizing power
Breathe in thy rich perfume?

Ah no, thou art a withered thing
Thy perfume long since gone!
Say then what magic yet doth cling
Around thee, faded one!

'Tis true, no beauty now doth dwell
within thy leaflets sere
But -- ah -- for me a holy spell
Doth ever linger there.

He placed thee in my hand, that friend
Who now doth distant roam,
I took thee, little thinking then
How dear thou wouldst become.

That joyous eye, upon my brow
The fresh young leaves I wore
Thou wert beauteous then 'tis true, but now
Poor flower, I love thee more.

Although thou are a blighted thing
E'en in thy lone decay
Thy form doth recollections bring
Of bright hours passed away.

Time onward flies and swift advance
Thy years when friends are few
The years when I shall live perchance
Like thee, to wither too.

Thou sweet memento! Gentle flower!
Say will he cherish me.
And love thee too in that dark hour
As now I cherish thee?

~~ Margaret Lea
May 31, 1839

Margaret Lea and Sam Houston were married on May 9, 1840. They lived together until General Houston's death on July 26, 1863, and brought into the world eight children. Theirs is one of Texas' great love stories I love you

(poem taken from, 'The Sam Houston Memorial Museum Quarterly,' Spring, 1970; Volume I -- Number 3)
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The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

She was a really beautiful woman and her poem is touching. So we got the lone star from Sam & Mrs. Houston's courtship?

Madelyn

Subject: "You are the Light of My Path ...." Thu 06 Dec 2007, 12:03 am

June 4, 1842

You are the light of my path, and the sunshine of my hopes! or rather you are the star of my existence. You lend light to my Hopes as "the bright star of Sommerville" gave lustre to our western horizon! In Texas we have again gazed upon its sweet brilliance. May it long shine in peerless purity, and render bright the twilight of life's evening....

[ I ] wish you would give me your calm and solemn opinion as to my commanding in the approaching invasion. I wish to know something from you, while absent, on this important matter.... To be sure I hope kind heaven will grant us many interviews before such should be the case, but I should like to know what you think while Texas is far from you....

---President Sam Houston to his wife, Margaret, who was away visiting family in Alabama ... as war loomed with Mexico

Taken from, 'Star of Destiny: The Private Life of Sam and Margaret Houston,' by Madge Thornall Roberts. University of North Texas Press, 1993; pages 84 and 85.

Mrs. Roberts is the great-granddaughter of Sam and Margaret Lea Houston.
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves