Welcome

Subject: Re: Welcome Sun 16 Sep 2007, 9:23 pm

Welcome, Luke.

I don't know much about barbed wire and its value, but hopefully, someone out there does.

Recently, our family was driving along and spied a relatively new metal stake fence, with its much older, parched wood-and- barbed-wire predecessor still running alongside and clinging to duty. I wondered about the age of the earlier fence, and whether its posts were of bois d'arc or oak.

Do recall reading about the 'fence wars' which came about when the ranges/ farmlands were being enclosed.

I'll look, too, and see what more can be found about the 'devil's wire' and its collectors' value.

Sincerely,

Holly
_________________
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

Joined : 21 Sep 2007 Posts : 4

Hello all:
It's nice to find another Texas History discussion group online.
I'm an avid student of the Alamo and the Texas Revolution, a member of the Alamo Society and Alamo Battlefield Association, and a contributor to the Alamo Journal and Crockett Chronicle.
I'm currently working on an annotated collection of David Crockett's correspondence with my collegue Allen Wiener that we hope to have ready for publication next year.
I also host an Alamo/Texas Rev discussion board for serious students of the period at www.alamostudies.com. Feel free to pay us a visit.
Thanks again for maintaining another good site for lovers of Texas History!
Jim

Subject: Re: Welcome Wed 26 Sep 2007, 10:47 pm

Hello, Jim. I'm sorry that noone was here to welcome you, but even though it is late .... welcome aboard!

I know very little about the Battle at the Alamo and will be sure to check your website. It also would be nice to learn what your perspective is on the authenticity of the purported final letter of Crockett -- written to his daughter -- which was bought by the state of Texas but is/ was being investigated in that regard.

Please do post here if and when you feel led. A new 'Essentials of the Alamo' thread really would be quite nice!

Holly
_________________
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

Joined : 21 Sep 2007 Posts : 4

Thanks, Holly. We'd welcome any of the members here to join us at Alamo Studies. Often someone new to the subject can help us see things in a different way. Please stop by.

I'm 99% certain the letter recently purchased is not legitimate. In my research for the book, at least 3 other institutions (one being the DRT library) held photostats of a letter from Crockett to his daughter and son in law that they thought were copies of the original Crockett holograph. None of these copies appeared to me to be in Crockett's hand, and none of the institutions could provide provenance on the items. I have not been able to find the original of this letter, and the copies held do not match the recently purchased letter in either handwriting, spelling, or word count per line.
This new letter, though a holograph rather than a photocopy, does not appear to be in Crockett's hand either.
It's possible that both these documents might be 19th century hand copies of a letter Crockett wrote to his family. So far though, it appears the Crockett original is lost.
There is of course, the possibility of fraud, and that no original in Crockett's hand exists. At any rate, there are at least 2 different copies floating around that may have originated in the 19th Century.
The earliest mention I've found of this letter is, however, a Dallas News article from 1913...

Jim

Subject: Re: Welcome Fri 28 Sep 2007, 7:19 pm

Jim, I have bookmarked your forum and will begin reading the postings. It looks like a very informative site! I'll also include a link to it on this message board.

I had only read the brief announcement concerning the State and the supposed Crockett letter. The article that I stumbled upon cited the well-formed prose of the correspondent and his lovely penmanship. Unfortunately (and I do hate to confess), I know very little of the man David Crockett .... had been left mainly with the impression of him given in the in the initial chapters of Walter Lord's 'A Time to Stand': that Crockett was a coarse frontiersman out of step with an evolving United States politics. This 'cultured' letter of his which had come to auction appeared to redeem this portrait a bit. Oh, well! Anyway, I have great respect for our early backwoodsmen, if Davy Crockett indeed was one of them Wink

Who says (other than Lord) that these fellows had no place among the movers and shakers?

It is a little surprising that the letter had not been evaluated more critically before it came into the hands of the Texas Historical Commission (I believe?). I would like to see a piece upon which it is relatively certain that Crockett's pen left the marks.

Thanks again!

Holly
_________________
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

Subject: Re: Welcome Fri 28 Sep 2007, 9:45 pm

Also, Jim, my late grandmother related to me that our Whitley family tied in with that of Jonathan Lindley, who gave his life at the Alamo. This was not a direct descent, but perhaps an intermarriage .... possibly in Illinois. I hope to learn more about Jonathan, and to track down whether our family tradition is correct (actually based upon records, which I am unfamiliar with).

Holly
_________________
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

Subject: Re: Welcome Sat 29 Sep 2007, 12:50 pm

You keep changing on me.

Subject: Re: Welcome Sat 29 Sep 2007, 1:00 pm

My son's got a barb wire plack with the different kind of wire on it. Try and look for one of those.

Subject: Re: Welcome Sat 29 Sep 2007, 10:59 pm

Subject: Re: Welcome Sun 30 Sep 2007, 6:21 pm

Hello, Victoria. You are very welcome here and I think that almost anyone would be pleased for you to call yourself a 'new Texan' Smile

I love our beautiful Victorian homes, also. The late nineteenth century brought prosperity to many Texans for the first time, and this is reflected in the scale and ornamentation of houses constructed during this period, as elsewhere. In North Texas, the grand old towns of Waxahachie and Gainesville have numerous, especially lovely homes of Queen-Anne styling.

Please share whatever and whenever you would like. I hope that you enjoy living in in your newly adopted state Smile

Holly
_________________
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

Joined : 15 Sep 2007 Posts : 4

Ok, I found some more stuff on it. THANX..................

Subject: Re: Welcome Fri 12 Oct 2007, 1:43 pm

Hello, Luke ...

I have been paying more attention to barbed wire of late and remembered that part of our backyard fence is thus constructed Wink

though not of a fancy or special type .... so far as I can tell. There is still quite a bit of barbed wire fencing extant in our area and I will be checking it out!

Sincerely,

Holly[/img]
_________________
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

Subject: Re: Welcome Wed 24 Oct 2007, 4:34 pm

Hi Victoria, welcome to Texas.

Madelyn

Subject: Re: Welcome Thu 01 Nov 2007, 11:24 pm

Hello, Luke ...

I was looking through a history of Cooke County and stumbled upon the text of a transcribed Texas historical marker within its pages. Here is what it says:

BARBED WIRE

Corner of of California and Rusk Sts. [Gainesville]

In 1875, Henry B. Sanborn came to Texas and sold barbed wire at the Cleaves & Fletcher Hardware store once located on this corner. Probably the first barbed wire sold in Texas.
_________________
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

Joined : 15 Sep 2007 Posts : 4

Cool...........THANX.