Hobbs Army Airfield

Above is a program from a Christmas Day dinner at the Hobbs Army Air Field in New Mexico.  Dr. Oscar Marchman, Jr. was a grandson of Warwick Jenkins and was stationed at the Hobbs NM Army Airfield during WWII.  He is listed at the top of the roster in the second image.  Dr. Marchman was a surgeon on the base and brought back with him many interesting stories about his time in New Mexico, including serving as a doctor for the base wrestling matches.

Joseph W. Speight, John C. West and the Waco Campus of Baylor University

Col. J. W. Speight was instrumental in the university's acquisition of the "old" Baylor campus (5th Street to Speight, to Seventh Street, to Dutton Street) in Waco.  Recently, we have found some information about the transactions, discussed below.

Col. Speight was born May 31, 1825 in Green County, North Carolina.  His early days were spent in Mississippi where he married Josephine Pruitt before moving to Waco, Texas in 1854.  He was a planter, civic leader and served as Chairman of the board of trustees of Waco University.  He settled south of the Brazos River.

John Camden West was born April 12, 1834 in Camden, South Carolina.  He also moved to Texas in 1854 and married Mary Eliza Stark.  West practiced law and served as headmaster of the Waco and Trinity River Classical School which became Waco University.  He settled on property that adjoined Speight's across Waco Creek.

The maps below are from a document written by T. Bradford Willis, DDS, MSD entitled "Some Notable Persons in First Street Cemetery of Waco, Texas."  See the arrow for the north-south orientation of the map.

Below is a zoomed in look of the Speight property which includes the five long tracts in the center of the map.

If Fifth and Seventh Streets are extended from downtown, the Speight properties 2, 3 and 4 roughly correspond to what was conveyed by Speight to the City of Waco and then to Baylor in 1886.  The creek that forms the border of the Speight property is Waco Creek.  Judge John C. West owned property across Waco Creek to about where Dutton Street is today.  Before the transaction, much of West's property was used as a park called Minglewood Park.  In general, West's property was bordered by Dutton Street and ran to a line near the back of Martin Hall, down to Waco Creek and to a line roughly near the back of Kokernot Hall.  The land transaction was discussed in Waco University trustee minutes of April, 1886.

West had a residence across from the corner of Seventh Street and Dutton.  The first residence burned at one point and was apparently replaced by a concrete block structure that served as West's residence.  Afterward, it served as the residence for Dr. A. J. Armstrong for many years.

At present, it is unknown exactly where the Speight residence actually sat on Speight's property.  A newspaper account from 1953 stated that "General Speight lived where historic Old Main and Burleson Halls are now located on the Baylor University campus."  The writer could have been speaking generally, but as of now, this is the only written comment we are aware of that addresses the actual location of the farm house. (As an aside, Col. Speight reportedly was in the process of being promoted to General, but became ill and returned home to Waco before the necessary paperwork was completed.)

Speight had previously sold a homesite to another family.  The location is said to be roughly where the Student Union Building currently sits.  Apparently other city contributions were made to acquire it to make up the 23 acres that comprised the initial Waco campus of Baylor University.  We believe that West and Speight first conveyed their land to the City of Waco which in turn combined them with the above mentioned homesite and donated it to Baylor University.  Waco University and Baylor University at Independence, Texas, we believe, each conveyed their assets to a new Baylor University entity about that time.  Also, construction of the buildings now known as Old Main and Georgia Burleson Hall was started, and both buildings were completed in the latter part of 1897.

Special thanks to Amanda Norman of the Baylor Texas Collection and to Charles Guittard.

"A Soldier's Prayer" by Joseph Warren Speight

A Soldier's Prayer

"Taps" have sounded and all is still,
Deep silence reigns, no light no sound
Disturbs the stillness of the camp;
The watchful sentries make their round.
Though night moves on, no sleep for me,
My thoughts are winged, they fly they roam,
Far, far away to those I love,
My wife, my children, and my home.

And here beneath my soldier's tent,
Though midnight's solemn hour it be,
There is an eye that sees us all---
My prayer ascends, O God, to Thee;
God of the faithful, of the strong,
God of the weak, God of the brave,
My native land, O God protect
My home, my wife, my children save.

At Thy behest do nations rise;
Let Thy right arm our cause defend,
The right secure, our country bless,
For this, O God, our prayers ascend;
Extend the shadow of thy wing,
Thou who seeist the sparrow's fall,
And those for whom I live,
My wife, my children, country---all.

And where the din of battle comes,
Be thou, O God, a shield and friend,
Oh, nerve my arm; be Thou our strength
Our homes, our altars to defend,
And swiftly speed the day, O Lord,
When war shall cease and peace shall reign,
When with our loved ones far away,
We'll all unite at home again.

Joseph Warren Speight (1825-1888)

This poem appeared in the Waco Morning News on 31 Oct 1911.  The article said that the poem was written on the back of a piece of discarded wallpaper and had been recently picked up in a Confederate camp. 

Judson Cicero and Warwick Jenkins - Civil War

We plan to write more about this as information is discovered but Judson Cicero Jenkins (1839-1891) was the half-brother of Warwick Jenkins.  Cicero served in the 8th Texas Cavalry along with B. H. Carroll, a name that is familiar to Texas Baptists.  After the war, Cicero practiced law with Warwick in Waco until Cicero died in 1891.  After Cicero's death, his widow Julia Dean Jenkins received a Confederate pension from the U. S. Government.  On the roster of the 8th Texas Cavalry was a W. H. Jenkins, but this was William Herndon "Bill" Jenkins, we believe, a neighbor of the Carrolls from Caldwell, Texas.

Warwick was eight years younger than Cicero, having been born in 1847.  He was 14 1/2 when the Civil War began and Warwick was living with his mother, Harriet Ann Daniel Jenkins, in Waco.  To the best of our knowledge, he joined the 15th Texas Infantry two years later and served under Joseph W. Speight.  Annie Jenkins Sallee writes that Warwick served in Company G (a cavalry unit) under Waller and within that Company, in Green's Brigade.  At this point, we have not found his name on a roster.  Though the activities of the 15th Texas Infantry are well documented, we have not yet found a great deal of personal information other than that of the officers: the Speights, Harrisons and some others.  They were all family friends and later fellow members of First Baptist Church of Waco.

Many of the families were eventually related by marriage.  B. H. Carroll married Hallie Harrison after the death of Ellen Bell Carroll, his wife of many years.  Warwick Jenkins married Jessie Speight, daughter of Joseph W. Speight.