Joseph Speight and the Waco Suspension Bridge

One of the most famous landmarks in Central Texas is the Waco Suspension Bridge in McLennan County.  Waco was founded on the banks of the Brazos River just below where it is joined by the Bosque River.  For years, the only crossing nearby was Shapley Ross' ferry that connected what is now East Waco, connecting with the road extending to Dallas, to downtown Waco at the extension of Austin Avenue to the river, connecting a main route to Marlin.  It was also one of several Brazos River crossings of the famed Chisholm Trail.

After the Civil War, certain Waco residents including J. W. Speight, J. B. Earle, H. M. Hood, A. J. Buchanan, O. J. Downs and J. M. Burney held a preliminary discussion to consider a project to build a bridge to span the Brazos in Waco.  Following this discussion, they drew up a petition to the Texas Legislature to grant them a charter to undertake the project.  On November 1, 1886, a charter was granted allowing the group to build an operate such a bridge for 25 years.  The bridge could be funded as a toll bridge and would have a limited monopoly in that no other bridge could be built within 5 miles of Waco.

Speight then called a meeting to be held May 8, 1868 that was attended by himself, Earle, Downs and Burney and they resolved to create the Waco Bridge Company.  It would be stock company, funded by a subscription of 2,500 shares offered for sale to the public at $20/share totaling $50,000.  In the two weeks that followed, the initial offering was subscribed and the first meeting of the Company was held May 25, 1868.  57 individuals signed the minutes including Speight, his daughters Jessie and Sally and future governor Richard Coke.  Speight was nominated to serve as President but Coke nominated and spoke in favor of J. T. Flint who would be elected president of the company.  Initial directors were Speight, Trice, Coke and Wallace.  Coke was a distant relative of Speight's by virtue of the fact that he was married to Mary Evans Horne, whose brother L. L. Horne married Ophelia Jenkins .  It is unknown whether Coke's lack of support disappointed Speight, but there is no obvious evidence that it did.  Speight, Prather and Owens were appointed to draw up bylaws and Speight made a motion that Flint also be added to this group.  Flint opined that he felt the bridge could be built for $40,000.

Things progressed rapidly from this point with the selection of the New Jersey firm of John A. Roebling as designer of the bridge.  Flint was authorized to go to New York City to meet with the firm, set up the contract with Roebling and order the initial materials.  Engineer Thomas M. Griffith was engaged to head up the project.

The location chosen was in the same general area as the Shapley Ross Ferry boarding sites.  On the west side the connecting street was redesignated as Bridge Street.  About three acres were acquired on the east side from Earle's Waco Manufacturing Company.  Bids were let for the masonry portion of the contract and a local company named Trice Brothers was chosen as the supervising contractor.  Trice also furnished the brick and the McCrary and O'Neal company was engaged to furnish the wooden planking.  Engineer George B. Dutton who was also serving as Waco City Engineer was engaged to string the cable.

On March 15, 1869, a capital call of the last 20% of the initial stock subscription was made when it became obvious that costs were going to exceed the initial subscription of $50,000.  Flint was authorized to obtain a loan for another $15,000, which he did.  In addition, the company authorized a second subscription of stock to raise another $25,000.  Construction progressed toward its conclusion.

One expenditure noted was the approval of $13.13 for the purchase of whiskey for the bridge hands as the project neared its end.  The bridge was completed by December 1969 at a total cost of about $141,000 and the first tolls were collected January 1, 1870.  Funding came from the initial and secondary stock subscriptions and from bonds and loans.  The project included the toll house on the west side which still stands today.

Tolls were collected for a few years, but almost immediately opposition to the toll feature began to be voiced, despite the fact that the tolls were needed to pay for the operation and cost of the bridge.  The bridge company continued to own and operate the facility for more than a decade, though one by one the initial officers went on to other pursuits or left due to illness, death or other reasons.  Flint resigned in November, 1873; Coke resigned because he had been elected governor of Texas; Speight died in 1888.

Other notable events in the timeline included a petition by W. A. Taylor to extend his streetcar line over the bridge, which petition was denied.  In 1878, Thomas Griffith was reengaged to fix a sag that had developed in the cabling.  In 1884 and again in 1885, there were floods that came close to submerging the downtown area with the flood in 1885 being noted as the worst flood in the short history of the town.

Opposition to the toll feature reached its peak in the 1880s.  After discussions, effective September 1, 1889, McLennan County offered to purchase 100% of the stock of the Waco Bridge Company.  The offer was accepted and control of the structure was effectively transferred on that date. The cost to the County was equal the shareholders' investment of $75,000.  Simultaneous with the above transaction, McLennan County conveyed the structure to the City of Waco for $1 and the bridge has since been operated without tolls.

The Roebling firm would go on to complete the famed Brooklyn Bridge.  In the meantime, it completed other suspension bridges, but had the wire rope design not worked in Waco, the Brooklyn Bridge might have had to be redesigned.  To the untrained eye, the similarities between the two structures are easily noted, though the Brooklyn Bridge is clearly a much larger and more complex project.  In contrast to the Waco Suspension Bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge took 13 years to complete, at an estimated cost of $15,500,000.

Over the years, the wood planking was upgraded and replaced.  In 1913, the City replaced the older steel with higher gauge steel to handle the heavier traffic and trusses were added to accommodate pedestrian traffic.  The brick towers were rebuilt and stuccoed, giving the structure virtually the appearance it has today.  The bridge was designated in the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 on its centennial anniversary.  It was retired from vehicular traffic the following year but is still in continuous use for other traffic and events.

Note: This article draws heavily on the fine work done by the late Roger N. Conger, who obtained and studied the minutes of the Waco Bridge Company and added his own research.

© 2015, all rights reserved.

Dr. George W. Truett's accidental shooting of Police Chief Arnold

George W. Truett was the husband of the former Josephine Jenkins of Waco, the daughter of Warwick Hoxie Jenkins.  George and Josephine were introduced by Dr. and Mrs. B. H. Carroll. 

117 years ago today, the paragraph below appeared in the Bryan, Texas Eagle:

The Gun of Rev. George W. Goes Off Accidentally While Hunting.

“Dallas, Feb. 5.-J. C. Arnold, chief of police of this city, was accidentally shot yesterday near Cleburne, Tex., while hunting, by Rev. George W. Truett, pastor of the First Baptist church here. The gun of the minister was accidentally discharged, sending a load of birdshot into Captain Arnold’s leg. The wound is not considered dangerous.”

George Washington Truett (1867-1944) was the long time pastor of First Baptist Church. He was born on a farm in North Carolina. He and some of his brothers moved to Whitewright, Texas in 1889 where he joined the local Baptist church and shortly thereafter accepted a call to the ministry. He’d been educated at Hayesville Academy in North Carolina and had served as a teacher before coming to Texas and in 1891 accepted a job to serve as financial secretary of Baylor University in Waco, Texas. The school was heavily in debt and Truett is credited with raising $92,000 to pay off Baylor’s entire indebtedness. In 1893, he then enrolled as a student, graduating in 1897 with a bachelor’s (AB) degree.
He’d served as a student pastor at East Waco Baptist Church and in September 1897, he accepted the pastorate of First Baptist Church, where he would remain until his death from bone cancer in July 1944.

James C. Arnold was born and raised near Wellington, Georgia in 1851 to W. B. and Martha Arnold. He left home to accept work on a farm in Mississippi in 1866. In 1869, he moved to Upshur County, Texas to work for the a son of one of the farm’s owners who operated Camp’s Ferry on the Sabine River. Arnold worked at the Ferry until a year after it was sold in 1871. He then joined a meat contracting company that supplied beef to businesses building the first rail lines from Longview west. From there he moved to Fort Worth to be engaged in the same business, but the railroad suspended operations. He would remain in Fort Worth in the grocery business until moving to Dallas in 1874 where he would briefly work in the meat and hide business until he was hired onto the police force of Dallas.

Arnold served as a patrolman until 1879 when he was appointed deputy city marshall. He continued to rise through the ranks until he was elected as Chief in 1881. As chief he was well regarded and was reelected many times. At the time of the accidental shooting, he had been a part of the Dallas police force for 24 years.

On February 4, 1898, Truett, Arnold (a member of First Baptist church) and Rev. G. W. Banner set out in a buggy to hunt birds at the invitation of former Sheriff Boyd of Johnson County near Cleburne. In the afternoon, Truett’s shotgun accidentally discharged, hitting Chief Arnold in the leg. Truett and Banner quickly tied off a tourniquet to stop the flow of blood. They were successful in getting him to local Dr. Harris who treated the wound. Satisfied that Chief Arnold could make the trip back to Dallas on the scheduled Santa Fe train, they brought Arnold to his home at 451 Commerce Street. At first, Arnold’s condition appeared to be stable, given the wounds, but they called in a local doctor for a consultation. Arnold was given fluids to compensate for the loss of blood, but late on the afternoon of Feb. 5, he began to decline and he died at his home at about 8 PM that evening.

The official cause of death was listed as a heart attack, but Truett blamed himself for the accident and was deeply depressed at the loss of his close friend. Truett had decided to leave the ministry, but was persuaded by friends and church members to continue, which he ultimately did. Truett would later reveal that he had also received a vision of Jesus standing beside him saying “Be not afraid, George. You are my man from now on.” Truett would go on to serve as pastor of First Baptist for a total of 47 years before succumbing to cancer. When he was no longer able to preach because of his final illness, he offered to resign, but he was so beloved by the congregation that they refused to accept his resignation.

To learn more about Truett, please see George W. Truett: A Biography by Powhatan W. James and Thy Will Be Done: A Biography of George W. Truett by Keith E. Durso.

Also please see the web page below for more information about Chief Arnold: http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~jwheat/obits/obits98. 

More images from Hobbs Army Air Field, WWII

Dr. Oscar M. Marchman, Jr. was a physician at the Hobbs Army Air Field in Hobbs, New Mexico during WWII.  He was a grandson of Warwick Hoxie Jenkins.

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.

Richard Byrd Burleson (1822-1879)

Richard was the son of Jonathan and Elizabeth Byrd Burleson and was the younger brother of Rufus C. Burleson.  He was born in Decatur, Alabama and died in McLennan County, Texas on December, 1879. 

He was reported to have qualified for an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, but his father withdrew his claim on the appointment in favor of James Longstreet, the son of a poor widow, who later became one of the foremost generals in the Civil War.  Burleson graduated from Nashville University in Tennessee in 1842.  That same year, he was ordained to preach as a Baptist minister.  He served as pastor of the Athens Alabama Baptist Church for the following two years, after which he served as pastor of Tuscumben Baptist Church another four years.  Richard married Sarah W. Leigh in 1847.  From 1849 to 1855, he served as principal of the Baptist Female Institute of the Muscle Shoals Association after which he moved to Austin, Texas and served as pastor of a church there.  His wife, Sarah Leigh died in 1854 and he married Mary Frances Halbert in 1857.

His degree was in the field of science, and at the request of his brother Rufus, he became professor of Natural Science at Baylor University at Independence, Texas in 1857.  He later moved to Waco, Texas upon accepting the position of Vice President of Waco University, again joining his brother Rufus Burleson there. 

In 1874, he was selected by Governor Richard Coke to serve as a member of the first Geological Survey of the State of Texas.  The assignment of the group was to assess the mineral wealth of the state.  During his tenure, he identified oil fields near Tyler and salt deposits near Grand Saline.  Following this assignment, he returned to the faculty of Waco University, serving as a professor in the science department until his death on December 21, 1879. 

Byrd was regarded as a fine scholar in theology, botany and astronomy and was an accomplished and well regarded educator.  He was described as being frank, candid, gentle, sympathetic and tender, all qualities that served him well as a pastor and professor.  Burleson was deeply religious.  At a bedside service held shortly before his death, Richard requested that the 23^rd Psalm be read and that those gathered sing “How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent word.”  

Governor Richard Coke (1829-1897)

Governor Coke is related to the Jenkins family by marriage.  He was the husband of Mary Evans Horne of the pioneer McLennan County Horne family in 1852 and was the brother-in-law of Ophelia Jenkins Horne.  Coke was born in Virginia and after graduating from William and Mary, he moved to Waco, Texas in 1850 to practice law.   

In the tumultuous early years of Texas statehood that followed, Coke established his law practice and began to venture into public office.  Coke served as a delegate to the convention that was to vote for succession from the United States in 1961.  Shortly thereafter, the Civil War began and he joined the Confederate Army in 1862, serving as Captain in the 15^th Texas Infantry for the duration of the war.  His only known injury was on November 3, 1863 in a battle near Opelousas, Louisana.  At the close of the war, he returned to McLennan County.

Almost immediately, Coke accepted an appointment as a District Court Judge in Texas.  He was elected to the Texas Supreme Court the following year, only to be fired by Gen. Phillip Sheridan along with four other justices in an effort to advance reconstruction.   In the intervening years, there was a strong backlash to reconstruction, leading to his successful Democratic campaign for Governor in 1873, defeating the incumbent Edmund J. Davis, only to have his election ruled invalid by the Texas Supreme Court.  After several contentious months, former Governor Davis resigned and Coke was allowed to take office, serving from 1874 to 1876.

Significant accomplishments during his terms as Governor of Texas included a strong focus on balancing the state budget and the establishment of the college now known as Texas A&M University. Coke later was elected to the U.S. Senate from Texas serving in that capacity from 1877 to 1895.

He retired to his home in Waco and his nearby farm. He became ill after suffering exposure while fighting a flood of the Brazos River on the family farm near Waco in April, 1897. After a short illness, he died at his home in Waco and, after a state funeral, was buried in Oakwood Cemetery. Coke County in West Texas is named in his honor.

You might be a Daughter of the Republic of Texas

James R. Jenkins, Jr. was the father of Warwick H. Jenkins.  If you are a lineal descendant of James R. Jenkins, Jr. (1811 - 1857), you are probably eligible to be a member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.  Jenkins emigrated to Texas in April, 1836, settled at Washington-on-the-Brazos and fought in several expeditions against the Indians.  He was elected to represent Washington County in the Third Congress of the republic (1838–39).

Citations: James Milton Carroll Collection (Texas Baptist Historical Collection, Roberts Library, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary). Zenos N. Morrell, Flowers and Fruits from the Wilderness (Boston: Gould and Lincoln, 1872; rpt. of 3d ed., Irving, Texas: Griffin Graphic Arts, 1966). Annie Jenkins Sallee, A Friend of God: Highlights in the Life of Judge W. H. Jenkins (San Antonio: Naylor, 1952).

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Membership Eligibility in Daughters of the Republic of Texas:

Any woman having attained her sixteenth (16th) birthday is eligible for membership, provided she is personally acceptable to The DRT and is a lineal descendant of a man or woman who rendered loyal service for Texas prior to the consummation of the Annexation Agreement of the Republic of Texas with the United States of America on the nineteenth day of February, eighteen hundred forty-six (19 February 1846).

Proof submitted by an applicant shall include documentation on the applicant’s ancestor. Any date cited on the membership applications shall be documented. The applicant must furnish acceptable proof of her lineal descent from a man or woman who served in any of the following capacities:

(1) As a colonist with Austin’s Old Three Hundred, or any colonies authorized under the Spanish or Mexican governments before the Texas Revolution or those authorized by the Congress of the Republic of Texas.

(2) As an officer or private in the service of the Colonies or of the Republic of Texas.

(3) As a loyal resident, male or female, regardless of age, who established residence in Texas prior to the nineteenth day of February, eighteen hundred forty-six (19 February 1846). (“Loyal” shall be interpreted to mean that he or she had not been proved disloyal. A loyal resident, regardless of age, gave the service of residing in Texas and aiding in its settlement. “Service” shall be interpreted to mean “resident” or “military.”)

(4) As a recipient of a land grant authorized by the Provisional Government of the Republic of Texas. Those grants include “Toby Scrips;” head rights, first, second, third, and fourth class; preemption grants; land scrips; colony contracts; bounty certificates; and donation certificates.

Dr. George Berry Graves (1880-1915)

George Berry Graves was born December 22, 1880 in Hurst, Pittsylvania County, Virginia.  His secondary education included pharmacy, dentistry and medicine at Sewannee, the University of the South, in Sewanee, Tennessee.  Upon graduation, jobs were hard to find but in 1903 a friend of his helped him locate a job as a physician for the Southern Pacific Railroad in remotely located Valentine, Jeff Davis County, Texas.  At this writing, the town of Valentine is almost abandoned, but in those days Southern Pacific had a large roundhouse in which they serviced their railroad engines running between California and Chicago.  With the railroad business, Valentine was a village of over 2,000 people. 

Shortly after moving to Valentine, Dr. Graves was introduced to his future wife, Sarah Jenkins, at a ten day cowboy revival in nearby Paisano, Texas by Josephine Jenkins Truett and her husband, pastor Dr. George Truett who led the revival.  The young couple was married in 1910 as Dr. Graves continued to serve the employees of Southern Pacific and nearby ranching families.  In addition operating his medical office, Dr. Graves established a drug store to secure a supply of medications for his patients.  One winter night during a blizzard, Dr. Graves was awakened by knock on the door.  A local cowboy had called to ask Dr. Graves to attend to a sick rancher, and Dr. Graves obliged.  However, as a result of this event, Dr. Graves suffered a bad cold that progressed to pneumonia.  Dr. Graves had suffered from tuberculosis in his youth and he died from complications of pneumonia on June 7, 1915.

Rufus Burleson's Statue at Baylor

Rufus Burleson died in 1901.  The following year, a committee including a 30 year old Pat Neff commissioned a statue of Burleson to be placed in the quadrangle on the Baylor University campus surrounded by the four recently constructed buildings: Old Main, Georgia Burleson Hall, the Carroll Science Building and the Carroll Library and Chapel.  The sculptor chosen was Pompeo Coppini, an Italian-born artist living in San Antonio.  Later works by Coppini include the statue of George Washington on the University of Texas campus, the statue of Sul Ross on the campus of Texas A&M University, the Alamo memorial in San Antonio and the statue of Judge Baylor also on the Baylor campus.

Coppini’s autobiography, From Dawn to Sunset, relates the August 8, 1903 session when the committee and Georgia Burleson were invited to inspect the clay model for the statue.  In attendance were members of the committee, including Pat Neff, Georgia Burleson and a granddaughter of the Burlesons.  Coppini states that all he had to work from was a poor photograph and a small portrait engraving of the subject.  However, with other information that had been provided to him, he felt that he had been able to build an image of Burleson in his mind.
 
The artist also relates that he needed a subject to pose for the work and he had found an old man on the street to serve in this capacity.  In contrast to the well known teetotaler Burleson, the man was “a dissipated whiskey drinker, reduced by the habit to the level of a bum,” but that the man served his purpose.  Coppini continued: “You may think that it was sacrilegious to use such a man to help me make a good likeness of Burleson; on the contrary, it turned out to be a real inspiration to the better conception and idealization to the man who fought and taught against such a state of degeneration.  The old man [the model] seemed to be happy when he was holding the Holy Bible.”

The committee viewed the statue in silence, examining it from every angle while Mrs. Burleson and her granddaughter remained seated at a distance.  The little girl exclaimed, “Grandma, that is Grandpa!” after which Georgia let out a cry and left the room.  Coppini’s wife escorted Georgia to their bedroom and the others followed.  Coppini was concerned that Georgia was disappointed, but was assured by Pat Neff that there was no trouble at all.  Coppini relates that Neff told him that the statue was so lifelike that Georgia could not look at it any longer without breaking down.  Coppini viewed the success of this statue as a solid early step in his Texas career. (1)

 According to Martha Cooper Garrett, the granddaughter who was not named in Coppini’s account was her mother, Emma King Burleson Cooper.



(1) Looking Back at Baylor, Kent Keeth, p. 25

Georgia Burleson (1833-1924)

Georgia Jenkins was a strong willed person, like her husband Rufus.  Their relationship began in 1849 when they met at a Sons of Temperance rally in Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas when Georgia was 16 years old.  Rufus Burleson, then 10 years older and pastor of the congregation that was to become First Baptist Church of Houston, was slated to receive a silk banner from the Sons of Temperance.  The banner was presented to him by Georgia.  She evidently made a distinct impression in Rufus and later that year, he made the following entry in his diary, “My mind on one subject is fixed—my manner of life I have resolved to change—if my health and God’s providence permit—I need the sympathy of a pious and lovely woman at all times.”

The daughter of the late Pleasant Cicero and Harriett Ann Daniel Jenkins, Georgia received her secondary education at Judson Female Institute at Marion, Alabama.  Upon her return to Texas, she and Rufus married on January 3, 1853 at Independence, the ceremony performed by their long time friend Henry L. Graves, the first president of Baylor University.  The wedding took place on the Baylor campus.

 Rufus was the natural successor to Baylor President Graves and in 1951, he was selected to serve as president of the university, a post that he was to hold for ten years.  Burleson acknowledged his reliance on Georgia’s advice and counsel in his administrative decisions throughout his career.  They were well matched and Georgia is credited for influencing the expansion of coeducation at Baylor.  Ultimately a disagreement over this same issue would lead to Rufus’ departure in 1861 from the Independence, Texas university and his move to Waco to serve as president of the newer but growing Waco University.  Baylor at Independence always separated male and female students with Baylor Female College having its own board of trustees, something that disturbed Rufus.  Undoubtedly Rufus had a strong following among the professors and upon his resignation and departure from Baylor at Independence, virtually all of the instructors of the male branch of the college went with him to become professors of the Baptist supported Waco University.

 Rufus and Georgia devoted their efforts to developing Waco University.  Georgia served as matron of the second  major structure on the campus, a women's dormitory named in her honor, Georgia Burleson Hall.  Though there were strict rules of propriety for the female students, Georgia and Rufus strongly believed in coeducation which was practiced in the classrooms and in Sunday worship services.  The two universities were merged in 1887 and took the name of the Independence institution.  The men's branch of Baylor moved to Waco.  The women's branch of Baylor at Independence became Mary Hardin-Baylor and was moved to Belton, Texas.

 Rufus and Georgia were married over 48 years until his death at the age of 77 on May 14, 1901.  Following his death, Georgia continued to live in Waco until her death at the age of 90 on June 11, 1924.

  

 

Marriage of Annie Jenkins Sallee

She kept a diary, now in the Texas Collection at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, in which she shared her deepest thoughts.  Annie had a burden for Christian missions and felt called to go to China where she served most of her adult life, leaving only when forced to by the occupying Japanese Army in 1943.

Annie began her missionary work in China in 1905.  Shortly thereafter, she became reacquainted with fellow missionary Dr. Eugene Sallee, whom she had first met in Texas at a Baptist youth conference.  Annie had written in her diary that she did not want to marry, feeling that her life's mission was to carry the gospel message to the Chinese people.  Elsewhere in her diary, she disclosed that if she ever married, she certainly did not want to marry in China.  However, the young Dr. Sallee must have been quite persuasive.  After working together for a while, Sallee asked her to marry him and she ultimately accepted.  They were married in China on November 18, 1906.

During their courtship, Annie wrote in her diary that she had confided her attraction to Sallee to her sister "Sittie," Josephine Jenkins Truett.  Josephine told her that she and Dr. George W. Truett had not kissed until the day of their wedding.  Impressed by Jospephine's actions, Annie vowed not to kiss Dr. Sallee until the day of their marriage.  To the best of our knowledge there is no further mention of this vow in her diary, but knowing the resolve of Annie in other matters (despite the fact that Dr. Sallee was able to persuade her to marry him), we speculate that she probably kept this vow.

Annie and Dr. Sallee were married almost 25 years until his untimely death in the United States while on furlough in 1931.  Annie remained on the mission field in China until she was compelled to leave during World War II.

Rufus Burleson's 3/2/1893 address on Sam Houston

Rufus Burleson personally knew General Sam Houston and was asked to address the Texas Legislature on March 2, 1893 at the memorial service commemorating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Gen. Houston, the same date memorializing the 57th year of Texas Independence.  Burleson's entire address amounts to some 40 pages of his memoirs, "The Life and Writings of Rufus Columbus Burleson."  Presented below is the conclusion of his address.  His admiration for Gen. Houston is clearly evident.  At this point in Burleson's account, Houston had failed in his effort to prevent the succession of Texas from the Union, been ousted as Governor of the state that he so loved and the Civil War had begun.



GENERAL SAM HOUSTON

The last address [Houston] ever made was to a vast audience who had gathered in front of the hotel in Houston to pay their respects to a hero who had done so much for Texas.  He said: "I have been buffeted by the waves; I have been borne along Time's ocean until shattered and worn I approach the narrow isthmus which divides me from the sea of eternity.  Ere I step forward to journey through the pilgrimage of death, I would say that all my thoughts and hopes are with my country.  If one impulse rises above another it is for the happiness of these people. The welfare and glory of Texas will be the uppermost thought while a spark of life lingers in this breast."

 Under these terrible accumulations of sorrow his health speedily declined, and he died July 26, 1863, aged seventy years.

 The Houston Telegraph announced his death, and said: "Let us shed tears to his memory, due one who has filled so much of our affection. Let the whole people bury with him what unkindness they may have. Let his monument be in the hearts of all Texans."

 Thus lived "and thus, died General Sam Houston, one of the few immortal names that were not born to die." Though thirty years have passed, every year demonstrates more his profound wisdom and patriotism and causes every true Texan to say: "Oh! that America had only had a hundred Houstons, Clays and Jacksons." It would have saved her two million lives, and, including pensions, two hundred billion dollars.

 In conclusion I wish to state clearly and emphasize earnestly the seven great characteristics that made Sam Houston the hero of San Jacinto and the father of Texas:

 1. Love of Mother—His love of mother filled his whole soul and permeated his whole being. Her prayers, her faith, her counsels and her examples followed him from the cradle to the grave; followed him in city and in wilderness, in prosperity and adversity. Her influence, in connection with his angel wife, Maggie Lee, brought him back from his wanderings to duty, glory, and to God.

 2. Reverence for God and Religion—General Houston is a striking illustration of the declaration of the great Thomas Carlyle: "A strong religious sentiment is a characteristic of all great minds." He said to me : "In all my dark trials and struggles, I have always gone alone, at night, for special secret prayer. My retreat from Gonzales to San Jacinto was the most remarkable ever known in history. Every day I dreaded my own men more than Santa Anna. The great majority of the men were eager for the battle at once, and hotheaded men, not knowing the great plan of my campaign, were ready to excite mutiny, depose me, rush headlong to battle, and, perchance, make another Alamo or Goliad. Goaded to madness by these men, I sometimes raved and cursed like a madman, yet every night, when all was quiet, I went alone and spent a half an hour on my knees in prayer, though so unworthy." I never shall forget that half hour spent with him in prayer, just before he was deposed from the governorship, in 1861. It was midnight; we were all alone, and kneeling by a rock under a live oak tree, in Independence, we poured out our tears and prayers before the God of Washington and liberty, to save our country from the bloody vortex of civil war. It was this profound religious feeling, misguided, that caused him to place such confidence in the flight of eagles that were so abundant fifty years ago, in the Southwest.

 3. Unfaltering Courage, Moral and Physical—As a boy he charged amid showers of arrows and bullets the strong fortifications of the Indians, at Tohopeka or Horseshoe. There was never a moment that he would not have charged into a cannon's mouth at the call of duty. He was the peer of Alexander, of Caesar, of Washington. In the path of duty he could smile at the frowns and curses of the whole world.

 4. Profound Penetration—He read at a glance the secret motives of men. He penetrated the depths and heights and breadths of every question. He could banish all personal, all local feeling, and look at the facts just as they were, stripped of all colorings and all disguises, I have known men and grappled with them on the great questions of education and religion, from San Antonio, Texas, to Bangor, Maine, but have never known Houston's equal in profound, far-seeing penetration. Hence, while so many great men blundered, he foresaw and foretold the results.

 5. Love of Country—His love of country, like his love of mother, intensified his whole being. He could ever say, as King David: "If I forget thee, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I prefer not thee to my chief joy, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth." His great soul (while an intense Southerner) embraced our whole country, from ocean to ocean and from gulf to lakes.

  6. Republican Simplicity—He had a supreme contempt for all display and extravagance in dress, equipage and buildings. He regarded all such extravagance as criminal, not only because it wasted money, that should be used for higher and nobler purposes, but tended to bribery, corruption and bankruptcy.

  7. Political Honesty—He would sooner have put his arm in the fire than take one cent by fraud from the public treasury. He would as soon have defrauded his widowed mother as his mother country. He gave his blood, his toil, his prayers and his whole life to his mother country, and died poor, as Thomas Benton says, all honest public men should die. But, alas! how fearfully we have apostatized! Oh! whither are our millionaire congressmen driving out nation?

 But finally, let us examine still more intently what were the causes that molded and erected those seven grand, golden pillars, on which rests the fame of Houston, and from which it will grow brighter and brighter till the stars grow dim. But I entreat you to beware of that fearful delusion, that all great men like Houston, Napoleon, Newton and Columbus, were born great; that greatness was "thrust upon them," and that, "if we fail and are underlings, our stars and not ourselves are to be blamed." The true history is, all great men reach to the Alpine heights of fame and greatness by intense toil. It is a fiat of fate, "there is no excellency without great labor." I would be glad if some great painter would paint Napoleon when a boy at Brienne, lying down on the ground and drawing a map of Europe on the sand, while other boys were playing marbles or ball. These same maps on the sand guided him in his invasion of Russia. I would be glad, also, to see a painting of Sam Houston lying down by that pine-knot fire in that rude country store, committing to memory Pope's Iliad of Homer, or poring over Plutarch's Lives, while other boys were chasing foxes over the mountains. No man has a profounder sense of reliance on Providence than I have; yet Providence only helps those who help themselves. Profoundly penetrated with this great truth, let us trace the four great causes that made our Houston illustrious and will make every boy in Texas great and illustrious, who follows those same rules.

 1. First of all his mother, whom he worshiped and obeyed. Poets have asked: "What is home without a mother?" The patriot and philosopher may ask with deeper anxiety: "What is a nation without mothers?" Houston, Washington, Marion and all great men owe their greatness to mother. "A dewdrop on the baby plant may warp the giant oak forever, or nourish that baby plant into the giant oak of the forest." Oh! that the Lord would send us a Luther, a Calvin, a Wesley and a Spurgeon to arouse the world to the importance of real mothers. One such mother as Mary Washington or Mrs. Houston is worth a whole brigade of preaching or political "female brethren."

 2. The second great formative power that erected these pillars of Houston's greatness, was his dear old teacher. Dr. Anderson. This grand old man quickened into intense activity and molded all the powers of his soul. He taught him how to think, how to commune with his own soul, with books, and above all, with God, the father of light. And, next to pious mothers, our country needs great teachers, but I do not mean ''lesson hearers, time killers and salary grabbers." These are already about as numerous and about as profitable as the locusts of Egypt.

At the great National Educational Association at St. Paul I met an army of about ten thousand teachers representatives of every State in the Union; yet I fear if Socrates, Anderson, Wayland, or our own Texas Mclvenzie had been there they would have been compelled to borrow the lamp of Diogones and walk through that mighty army crying: "I seek a teacher; who can show me a teacher; a real God sent teacher?" Elijah, a teacher sent from God, is a grand model. When he would restore the son of the Shunamite mother to life he lovingly put his hands in the child's hands, his feet on the child's feet, his mouth on the child's mouth, his heart on the child's heart and prayed, "Oh, God, let this child live again." The boy was quickened into vigorous life and flew into the loving embrace of mother. So the real teacher never stands upon the stilts of normal or abnormal methods, nor clothes himself with the mantle of professional dignity, but with the tender love of a father he takes the student by the hand, places his mind, his heart and his whole being in loving sympathy with the student and thus quickens his whole being into activity. A great teacher not only seeks to make his students scholars, but true citizens and patriots and a blessing to their fellow-men, and to elevate them to usefulness on earth and glory in heaven.

 General Houston, in the last trying hours of his life, quoted the sayings of mother and Dr. Anderson more than all others, and he longed to meet that angel mother and his noble teacher in that "land that is fairer than day."

 3. The third cause forming his great character was his devotion to reading good books and the "God of Books" selected by his wise teacher. He had a profound disgust for novels and sensational reading in every form, whether in poetry or prose; books or newspapers. We all know how important to health and strength of the body is nutritious food, but, alas, how few know the importance of healthy and abundant food for the mind and soul.

 4. But the crowning glory and power of the formative influences was his firm and ever abiding faith in God as an all-wise and ever present Heavenly Father. This was his anchor of hope on the dark and stormy ocean. This was his Gibraltar when assailed by a thousand adversities. Like Luther before the Diet of Worms, he said: "On this firm rock I stand, and living or dying all will be well." Oh, that these powerful formative influences might erect seven golden pillars of character on which every young man and young woman in Texas may become a moral temple of beauty and glory.
  

 

James R. Jenkins (1811-1857)

The following was written by Rufus Burleson regarding his father in law, James Jenkins:

As James R. Jenkins was my father-in-law—suppressing all the devotion I feel for his memory—I will give the plain historic facts of his life and glorious death.

 He was the son of Capt. James Jenkins, a brave officer in the Revolutionary war, and was born in Green County, Georgia, in 1810.

 He was converted and baptized at the age of nineteen by Elder J. M. Lumpkin, the noble peer of Young Rhodes and Jesse Mercer. He became an active member for life of the Baptist Church.

 He was educated in Mercer University, at Penfield, Ga., during the presidency of Rev. Billington Sanders, who was a Cato in firmness and a Paul in zeal. " The student was not only an admirer, but an example of the firmness and honest integrity of his beloved President. In the halls of grand old Mercer he formed the lifelong friendship of Rev. Wm. M. Tryon. Rev. Noah Hill, and scores of noble spirits.

 He studied law under Gen. Hugh Haraldson in 1836, and came to Texas and settled at Washington in 1837.

 His exalted integrity, moral character and devotion to his profession placed him at once among the leading members of the Washington bar, then the most talented bar in Western Texas. He rose rapidly in the confidence of the people, and was elected a member of the third Texas Congress of the Republic.

 Political life had no charms for him, but as a conscientious Christian he saw clearly that the Texas land laws, especially the eleven-league Mexican grants, would lead to endless law suits, enriching lawyers and impoverishing the people. He clearly pointed out the dangers and the remedy. But, alas, his warnings were disregarded, either from blindness or cupidity. His wise counsels would have saved the Texas people millions of dollars and endless vexatious lawsuits. His home at Washington, and afterwards at Independence, was ever a home for Morrell and Baylor and Tryon and Huckins, and all the Old Guard, and especially for me in 1852-3.

 As a church member he was ever faithful, but for years one terrible doubt was an eating cancer on his vitals. A skeptical friend, in an argument, drew a grand picture of the boundlessness of the universe—of 75,000,000 suns, with all their attendant planets, perchance peopled with bright intelligence, in comparison with which the earth, with all its inhabitants, is but a grain of sand on the sea shore of God's immensity. 'Now, said the boastful skeptic, how absurd that the grand Maker and glorious Ruler of all these worlds would come down to earth sprinkle it with his tears, bathe it with his blood, and die on the cross for such wicked, contemptible creatures as men. His supreme reverence for God and his supreme modesty gave the infidel argument great power. Though, like Job, he could say, "I know by glorious experience that my Redeemer liveth," yet the infidel's words were sharp as a sword. One Sabbath, by what we call accident in our blindness, but in reality is God's special providence, he heard me preach a sermon on the text, Ephesians 3:10: "To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God." The grand scheme was to show that the whole boundless universe, not merely our little grain of sand, the earth, was profoundly interested and eternally benefited by Christ's death on the Cross, and that as Thermopylae, Bunker Hill and the Alamo were nothing in themselves, but only places where undying courage and patriotism were displayed, that had instructed and inspired heroes in all lands and ages, thus Calvary was the Christian Thermopylae and Alamo that displayed so wonderfully the love, the wisdom, and the holiness and justice of God that all angels, arch-angels, principalities, powers in all Heavenly places were instructed, benefited and forever blessed. This plain Bible view dispelled every doubt, and demonstrated that all infidel philosophy, falsely so called, is sounding brass and tinkling cymbals and as a dream when one awaketh.

 When he came to die, after long and painful sickness, he called me to his bedside and said: "Can it be possible that the glorious light of divine love is shining so brightly? I am passing through the valley of death, but there is no shadow, but all is full of light and glory." He called all his family around him, bade all a tender farewell, and, taking up his two little sons, Warwick H. and Rufus, in his arms, laid his hands upon them, like the dying Jacob, and prayed that they might be true men and devoted Christians and meet him at Jesus' feet in glory. Then, folding his arms across his breast, with a smile and brightness of ineffable glory radiating his emaciated features, he closed his eyes in death, or, rather, opened his eyes on the angel bands and chariots of glory that came to carry him home.

 The resplendent glory beaming on every feature seemed silently to say, "The chariots, the chariots of glory."