This Day In Texas History - January 21

[joe817]

1856 - The Texas Know-Nothings, members of a secret political party that had tried to engineer a takeover of the Texas Democratic Party, abandoned secrecy and held their first open convention, in Austin. The Texas Know-Nothings were a group of conservative men who feared the influence of foreign immigrants, believed in strict construction of the Constitution, and argued for the preservation of states' rights. They would probably have a lot in common with today's Tea Party, except for the fact that the Know Nothings spent the first several years of their existence pretending they did not exist, rather than holding massive rallies on the Capitol lawn. Know-Nothings believed they would be more effective if neither Democrats nor Republicans realized they were under political attack, so members of the party were instructed to say "I know nothing" if ever asked about the group.

1861 - Gov. Sam Houston submits the secession resolution to the legislature.

1863 - Rebels recaptured Sabine Pass, TX. Two Confederate ships (Bell and Uncle Ben) drove away two Union ships (Morning Light and Velocity). The event is known as the First Battle of Sabine Pass.

1877 - The Mason County Courthouse was mysteriously burned down. At the time Texas Rangers were investigating a string of cattle thefts and 20 related murders in what were called the HooDoo Wars. The silence of the population thwarted any efforts for justice, and what records were kept regarding these crimes were destroyed by the fire. No one was ever charged with any of the murders. John Gladden was the only man convicted for his part in the violence, but even he was later pardoned. John Peters Ringold (Johnny Ringo) was acquited of any crimes, and left for Arizona.

1893 - The border skirmishes of the Tin Horn War came to an end when Catarino Garza and his group of revolutionists were captured in Texas.

1913 - Thomas V Munson passed away in Denison. Munson's research into vineyards, wines and grape plants led him to north Texas where grapes grow wild. In 1893, a root disease swept through the entire of France killing off hundreds of vinyards. It was Munson who was able to use the Texas grape's root stock, which was resistant to the disease, and shipping it to France, saved the nations Wine Industry. For his work, he was awarded the French Legion of Honor medal, an honor only once before awarded, to Thomas A Edison.

1917 - Leonard Harmon, posthumous recipient of the Navy Cross, was born in Cuero, Tx. In 1943, the USS Harmon was the first Navy ship named for an African-American.

1926 - While a blizzard was pounding his hometown, Clois Lyn Osborn was born in Wichita Falls. After serving in the Navy during WWII, he moved off to California, and 2 weekd before graduating from acting school, he was selected for the part of Cadet Happy on the children's television show, Space Patrol. He went on to appear in 10 movies and over 2 dozen television shows.

1942 - In Lubbock, entertainer Mac Davis was born.

1960 - Sarita Kenedy East, co-heir to the 400,000-acre Kenedy Ranch, and two friends—a Trappist monk named Brother Leo and J. Peter Grace of New York—founded the John G. and Marie Stella Kenedy Memorial Foundation. In 1948 she had willed thousands of acres of land to the Oblate Fathers and to the Catholic Diocese of Corpus Christi. The rest of her holdings were to be divided among relatives and ranch kin. But in 1960 she executed a new will leaving the bulk of her estate to the foundation. Then, shortly before her death, she named Brother Leo sole member of the foundation. Thus, by the time of her death in 1961, the ingredients were mixed for a chaotic, twenty-one-year legal process that brought forth more than 200 people claiming to be legitimate heirs. Ultimately, Brother Leo was cut out and the foundation began operations (1984) as the largest charitable foundation in South Texas.

1971 - Sid Richardson Hall on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin was dedicated. The building, adjacent to the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library, was named for oilman and philanthropist Sid Richardson, born in Athens, Texas, in 1891. He became an independent oil producer in Fort Worth in 1919 and was well established as a millionaire by 1935.

1999 - The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a ship headed for Houston, TX, that had over 9,500 pounds of cocaine aboard. It was one of the largest drug busts in U.S. history.

2008 - Dozens of residents of Stephenville reporting sighting of strange lights over the city. One person described seeing a triangular shaped object a mile across. The Air Force at first denied that they had any aircraft in the areas, but within 48 hours reversed their story claiming that there are military aircraft training flights in the area on the night of the UFO incident. To date, there has not been a satisfactory explanation.