Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-04-19
HEROES OF TEXAS.
They are Here, Those Time Worn but
Still Active Veterans.
Men Who Fought that After Generations
Might Prosper-They Can Talk Interest,"
ingly of Early Days in These Parts.

Texas.
These are the men you read of in his
tory, whose names are taking on the i'm
petus that will send them rolling down
through the ages, the founders Of ma
ton, the blazers of the trail that others
have followed to fortune and fame.
AS early as yesterday morning they
began to come in on the trains, anxious
to be early or the ground that they
might greet familiar faces and clasp
hands with the friends and comrades Of
early days. These men are old in years,
and they live largely in the past. Events
and persons of the present do not engage
their thoughts so much as the stirring
times of their early manhood, and while
they may be callous and Indifferent TO
current topics-thelr minds dwell on
their younger days-and to meet
landmark of those times
affords them the keenest pleasure.
So they are prompt at their
annual reunions. There were at least
fifty of the veterans in the city last
night and they could be easily recognized
in the hotel Hobbies.
Considering everything, time has
dealt fairly with these veterans.
Many of them have climbed q long dis
lance past mans allotted span; yet
their step Is in every instance
energetic and full of vim, and
they maintain the erect carriage
and easv bearing which their early train
ing and experiences instilled into their
frames.
There are now about 300 members
of the Texas Veterans association,
which is the remnant of the
700 who entered the organization when
it was first formed at Houston twenty
years ago. The others have passed
away Each year makes defamation
of the ranks, and
THE DEATH ROLL
is the most carefully kept arohive of the
associations The roll for this year
is long one and contains the
names OF many famous and vaIorous men
who stood foremost in the state in
many walks of life, including
the following: Hugh Anderson Stephen
w. Blount, Claudius Buster, Charles
Breaches, d. ID. Bruton, 5. n. Cham
bers, L. p. bikes, Thomas Freeman,
Greenlief Fisk, A. L. Gossett, John
Hanson, I. L. Hin, H. L. Mcintyre, Dan
Mckay, NJ. 5. Northington, George NJ.
Thomas Smith, T. J. Williams, John
White, William White, aud several 9TH
ers whose names have not yet been Of
fcially brought before the officers.
When the association " as first formed
in 1870, the membership was made of
two classes-the first class being of those
who served in the Texas army from 1920
TO 1886, and the second class of those who
served from 1886 to 1915, but death re-
duced the ranks Of the organization so
much that of late years all have been
on the same plane. There are not
now more than fifty of the
first class left to relate the deeds Of those
days. of the 700 or more who were en-
gagged in the battle Of San
Jacinto in 1886, the natal
day of Texas independence, not
more than fifty remain to tell the story.
When the veterans organized at Houston
IN 1870 Frank W. johnson was made
president; Elisha NJ. Pease, vice
president, and Austin Bryan, secre-
tary. Mr.. Bryan is the only
one OF those officers now living. A year
ago the body met at Austin and elected
Gen. w. P. Lane president,
A. Deffenbaugh, treasurer; stephen
H. Darden, secretary; j. B. Robert
son marshal, and Messrs. BIount and
Robson, vice presidents. Death has
carried away the last three during the
year.
The veterans are proud of their deeds
and their records, and are ALWAYS open
for an engagement to entertain a
listener with tales of the
long gone by, and they are
only sorry that their memories do not al
low them to give more exact details OF
events of such great Importance as those
OF which they tell. A GAZETTE man
moved around among them last night,
and heard some interesting stories.
ID. L. Kokernot OF Gonzales is eighty
FIVE years of age now, but he is well
stored with anecdotes. He has fought
lnjuns till his arms were tired, and he
laid many Mexican low on the field of
san Jacinto. When cornered By THE
GAZETTE man he said:
81 will tell you
THE STORY OF ANAHUAc.
1t was IN 1882 that l was living in
Anahuae, a small hamlet of about 800
families, on the head of the bay north
from Galveston. At that time a chap
named Bradbourn, a colonel in the MeXl-
can army, was in command of the Mexi-
can forces there. One day some OF his men
arrested three Americans, Buck Travis,
who was slaughtered in the Alamo; Pat
rick Jack, afterward judge of the court
of that district, and n young fellow
named Monroe Edwards. These fellows
were thrown into the dungeon that did
duty as the calaboose; and it was
the intention of the colonel TO
send them. to Mexico. This raised the
ire of the American portion of the vii
1age, and company Of about 100 men
under Judge Williamson (Three-legged
Willie we used to call hiIn) was formed
on the outskirts of the hamlet.
A messenger was sent TO Bra
zos explaining the situation, aud
Frank Johnson (afterward made famous
at the storming of San Antonio) and ID.
c. Hall raised another company of about
100 and came to our assistance. Frank
johnson was made chief,
and took charge of the whole outfit. We
organized at Turtle Bayou, couple
of miles out of town. The Fort which |
the Mexican garrison was supposed TO
occupy was some distance from the |
quartelle inside of the village, where |
they stayed most of the time. The am