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October 5, 2014
WOLF CREEK HERITAGE MUSEUM NOTES by Virginia Scott MUSEUM NOTES A good week and our second antique car arrived. We are awaiting our wall panels before arranging the new exhibits. Once they are in place we can start making our new exhibits. Our train should be coming home soon also. The parking lot is completed and you should not have any problem finding a place to park. With our newly surfaced hwy 305 and our new parking lot, we are ready for winter. Our quarterly board meeting is Thursday, October 9 at 2pm. Public welcomed. The agendas should be posted at courthouse and post offices. Things are looking good for our fundraiser on October 18th. The museum will be open from 4 pm to 6 pm for anyone who wishes to tour before the event. The event will be at the school with the silent auction starting at 6 pm to 7 pm, dinner served from 6:30 to 7:30 pm followed by the entertainment by R.J. Vandergriff and a live auction. It should be an entertaining and enjoyable evening so please join us. HISTORICAL MUSINGS Continuing with the observation of Texas Archive Month, did you know that there was an archive war in Texas? I did not. In 1842, when Texans were fighting Mexico Sam Houston feared that Austin would fall to the enemy and ordered the state archives removed to Washington-on-the-Brazos. He ordered Colonel Thomas I. Smith and Captain Eli Chandler to remove the public archives and government stores to a place of security. Smith led more than 20 men and 3 wagons into action the morning of December 30, 1842. The men were almost finished when they were noticed by Angeline Eberly, owner of a nearby boarding house. Eberly ran to Congress Avenue, where a 6-pound howitzer was situated. She turned the small cannon toward the General Land Office, and fired it. Although some shot hit the Office, there was no real damage and no one was injured. Smith and his men left quickly. They were accompanied by two clerks from the General Land Office, who were tasked with ensuring the records were not harmed or modified. In Austin, Captain Mark Lewis gathered a group of men to retrieve the archives. Lewis's men reached Smith's encampment in the middle of the night. They were undetected, as Smith had neglected to post guards. On the morning of December 31, the records were returned to Austin. It is uncertain as to whether Smith's men took them back or if the Austin group took custody of the records and transported them. The Texas House of Representatives formed a committee to investigate the attempted transferal of the archives. The committee admonished President Houston for his actions in trying to move the capital from Austin with the approval of Congress. The senate issued a resolution encouraging Houston to move the governmental agencies back to Austin. Nevertheless, the legislature and government offices continued to run from Washington-on-the-Brazos. Former President Lamar received a letter in March 1843 that said the town of Austin was almost deserted; most businesses were closed, but the archives were still present. On July 4, 1845, a convention met in Austin to consider the annexation of Texas to the United States. At that time, the government records created in Washington-on-the-Brazos were transferred to Austin, creating a single archive. A statue of Angelina Eberly was erected in 2004 in downtown Austin. |
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