This Day In Texas History - June 11

[joe817]

1837 - On this date in 1837, with the will of the people and the Texas Congress, the Texas Navy ships, the Brutus and the Invincible set sail to do battle with the Mexican ships conducting a blockade of the Port of Galveston. President Sam Houston, had adamantly discouraged any conflict with the Mexican forces, in hopes that they might eventually accept Texas Independence, and remove all ships from the Texas Gulf Coast. But the Texas Congress was just as adamant to rid Texas of Mexican harassment of ships coming in and out of Texas ports. First, the Texas ships sailed south, capturing small Mexican vessels along the way, including the Union, Telegrafo, Adventure, Rafaelita, and the Correo de Tabasco as well as a British merchant ship, the Eliza Russell. On August 27th, the two Texas ships, reached Galveston, only to be grounded, and breaking up in a severe storm that hit. Still the Mexican ships pulled out for a time, leaving a window for supplies and men to pour into the struggling new nation.

1855 - Under cover of a river-improvements convention at Washington-on-the-Brazos, the Know-Nothings nominated a slate of candidates to run for state offices and for Congress in the August election. Dickson headed the ticket in opposition to Democratic governor Elisha M. Pease's reelection bid. Though the true purpose and actions of the convention were public knowledge within twenty-four hours of its adjournment, the participants and candidates steadfastly denied-then and throughout the ensuing campaign-that they were members of the American Order. The antiforeign, anti-Catholic secret society called the American Order, more popularly was known as the Know-Nothing movement.
[ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/waa01 ]

1865 - On this day in 1865, an estimated fifty desperadoes broke into the state treasury in Austin, one of the boldest crimes in Texas history. The robbery occurred during the chaotic period immediately after the downfall of the Confederacy in the spring of 1865. Gen. Nathan G. Shelley informed George R. Freeman, a Confederate veteran and leader of a small company of volunteer militia, that the robbery was imminent. By the time Freeman and about twenty of his troops arrived at the treasury, the robbers were in the building. A brief gunfight erupted in which one of the robbers was mortally wounded; all the other robbers fled toward Mount Bonnell, west of Austin, carrying with them about $17,000 in specie, more than half of the gold and silver in the state treasury. None was ever captured. The loot was never recovered, although some of the money was found strewn between the treasury building and Mount Bonnell. Freeman and his company of volunteers were later recognized by the state for their service in defending the public treasury, but the resolution providing a reward for their services never passed the legislature.
[ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/jct03 ]

1926 - Luling oilman Edgar Byram Davis threw a free barbecue for friends, associates, and employees to celebrate the sale of his leases to Magnolia Petroleum in what may have been the biggest oil deal in Texas to that time. He came to Texas in 1919 to manage his brother's oil leases in Caldwell County. A deeply religious man, Davis believed that he was directed by God to deliver Luling and Caldwell County from the oppressive one-crop (cotton) economy that dominated the area. He believed he would do this by finding oil, though geologists claimed there was none there. In 1922, Davis was proven correct with the discovery of the Luling oilfield. Four years later, he sold out to Magnolia for $12 million, half in cash. In addition to the barbecue, which was attended by thousands, Davis gave his employees from 25 to 100 percent of their total salaries as bonuses. He also gave the citizens of Luling a golf course, an athletic clubhouse for local blacks, various other facilities, and endowments for each. He established the Luling Foundation for the teaching of improved agricultural methods. In all, Davis donated at least $5 million to charity. Davis died in 1951 and was buried in Luling.

1936 - Author Robert Ervin Howard committed suicide in Cross Plains, apparently distraught at the approaching death of his mother. The Texas native finished high school in Brownwood and, while attending Howard Payne College, began writing his very successful heroic fantasies. Conan the Barbarian is the most widely known of his characters. Others include Solomon Kane, who fought the ghosts and vampires of Elizabethan England; Bran Mak Morn, who battled the iron legions of Rome; and King Kull, a warrior of fabled Atlantis. Describing his protagonists, Howard said, "They're simpler. You get them in a jam, and no one expects you to rack your brains inventing clever ways for them to extricate themselves. They are too stupid to do anything but cut, shoot, or slug themselves into the clear."

1949 - On this date in 1949, ZZTop drummer, Frank Beard was born in Dallas. Beard along with Billy F. Gibbons, Dusty Hill and manager Bill Mack Ham formed ZZ Top in 1969.

1965 - Torential Rains of up to 11 inches in 2 hours, struck Sanderson in West Texas on this date in 1965. Flash flooding in the area drowned 26 people and left over $2 millon in damages.

1991 - Connie Yerwood Connor died in Austin. Connor, born around 1908 in Victoria, became the first African-American physician named to the Texas Public Health Service (now the Texas Department of Health) in 1937.

[joe817]

1965 - Torential Rains of up to 11 inches in 2 hours, struck Sanderson in West Texas on this date in 1965. Flash flooding in the area drowned 26 people and left over $2 millon in damages.

Note: I don't know if this claim is still valid, noting the past 2 years of record rainfall & flooding all over the State. If anyone has more updated information, please feel free to add them. Please be sure to include a link to the article you are quoting.Thanks!

[ELB]

I never knew Conan the Barbarian was born in Texas.