62. Brown to Woodbury, September 18, 1835, vol. 2, 235-37, Entry 200, Record Group 49, NA.
63. Moore, “The Bowie Brothers,” 201; Notary William Boswell, R. P. Bowie v. His Creditors, vol. 18, #505, April 27, May 30, 1832, Insolvency Papers for Rezin P. Bowie, January 17, 1834, vol. 26, #69, New Orleans Notarial Archives.
64. Sparks in Ellis, Crockett, 219-20, tells the story, previously cited, of Bowie encountering Crain in a New York courtroom.
65. Moore, “The Bowie Brothers,” 201; John Hollingsworth to Mrs. S. B. Tamplet, February 26, 1894, James Bowie Biographical File, DRT.
66. It needs to be said that having James Bowie accompany Rezin on this trip is speculation, based on very circumstantial evidence. There is no question that Rezin went, as the article in Atkinson's Saturday Evening Post places him in Philadelphia on August 17 and for some days past. William Sparks in his 1879-80 article in Ellis, Crockett, says that James and Crain met in New York and Niagara several years after the Sandbar fight, but does not date the event, which he would have heard of from Rezin most likely. Hotchkiss, cited above, stated that he saw Bowie in Washington in 1832, but his recollection, which is quite accurate in general respects, could have been off by a year, for there is nothing to indicate that James visited the East in 1832. And given Rezin's failing vision, it is probable that he needed a companion on the long trip, and with Stephen dead, James would be the most logical choice. On top of all this, James quite definitely disappears from the Texas record by May and does not verifiably appear again until October 31 in Natchez, as will be seen. Thus his five-month disappearance could be explained by his accompanying Rezin.
67. Leonardo de la Garza to Lucy Leigh Bowie, August 17, 1969, Lucy Bowie Papers, DRT, quoting an undated letter of Ursula Bowie. This letter quotes only fragments of Ursula's letter and does not make much sense, nor does it say where the original letter was at that time.
68. Quoted in Walter Lord, A Time to Stand (New York, 1961), 28. Lord unfortunately offers no attribution for these quotations, so the veracity of his source cannot be judged. Certainly he did not invent conversation or quotations else-where, so it is safe to assume that he did not do so in this instance, but in the absence of a definitive source, it must be said that this quotation by Ursula, however plausible it sounds, may or may not be reliable.
69. Elve Soniat to anonymous, no date but sometime in the 1890s, Lucy Bowie Papers, DRT. As stated in an earlier note, this letter maintains that Bowie gave Ursula the emeralds as a wedding gift. However, since his will, dated October 31, 1833, speaks of jewelry he had recently bought for her and which was with his sister, it seems more likely that Mrs. Soniat merely confused a family story, and that the emeralds in fact were purchased at this time.
70. Angus McNeil testimony, Veramendi v. Hutchins, 141, Documents Pertaining to James Bowie, UT.
71. Natchez, Mississippi Gazette, August 17, 1833.
72. Last Will and Testament of James Bowie, October 31, 1833, Heirs of James Bowie v. Houston & Texas Central Railway Company, 38-40, Documents Pertaining to James Bowie, UT.
73. José Navarro to Williams, September 11, 1833, Williams Papers, Rosenberg Library; Menchaca, Memoirs, 21.
74. There has long been a debate on whether or not James and Ursula Bowie had children. The earliest known statement to that effect is John Bowie, “The Bowies,” 381-82, in which he said in 1852 that they had one child. During the testimony in the long case of Veramendi v. Hutchins, one deponent stated in 1873 that Ursula died “without children” (p 82-83), but on June 3, 1874, another deponent stated that “James Bowie had lost his wife and child by Cholera” (pp. 108-9). Yet again in testimony taken in March 1879. Menchaca said that Ursula died leaving no children (p. 125). These last two statements, of course, can be read to mean that she had no children who survived her, meaning that there might have been a child or children born to the marriage, but which died prior to or coincident with Ursula's death.
William Sparks, in his 1879-80 newspaper article quoted in Ellis, Crockett, 231, said that Bowie had one child. Caiaphas Ham, writing circa 1880, maintained that the Bowies had two children “but they both died young” (“Recollections,” UT). Lulu Nelson, of unknown origin or authority, but possibly the widow of Rezin's grandson John S. Moore, wrote a letter November 12, 1896, stating that the Bowies had one child (Lucy Bowie Papers, DRT), and Martha Bowie Burns, John's daughter, agreed in a November 6, 1900 affidavit (LaSalle County Deed Records, vol. L, 358-59, copy in Documents Pertaining to James Bowie, UT). In her later article on the Bowies she elaborated on this to state that their child was a girl (James Bowie Biographical File, DRT). Samuel Maverick at some indefinite time stated that the Bowies had two children who died with Ursula, but this can only be hearsay at best, since he did not come to Texas until 1835 (Rena Maverick Green, ed., Samuel Maverick, Texan: 1803-1870 [San Antonio, 1952]).
Secondary authors have only obfuscated the debate. Amelia Williams, “Critical Study, III,” 97n, confused the issue by publishing an imaginative mistranslation of Navarro's September 26, 1833, letter to Williams, making it say that Bowie's “children” died with Ursula, whereas the original says nothing of the kind. Then there is Clifford Hopewell. In his Bowie, x, 72, 94, 131-32, he maintains that the Bowies had two children, Maria Josepha Elve, born April 18, 1832, and James Veramendi, born July 18, 1833. His source is the International Genealogical Index of the Family History Center, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah. Unfortunately, Hopewell did not look into the nature of the information furnished him by the Family History Center. The International Genealogical Index is not a data base compiled and verified by the church's indefatigable researchers. It is, rather, simply a repository of information that people all over the world send in, and center makes no attempt to verify what it receives, nor would it be practical for them to do so. In the case of the supposed Bowie children, the information was furnished by Mrs. Diane Deputy of Sandy, Utah, and the form the submitted (Entry 84-103-0314)—and confirmed by a discussion with her in 1996—clearly lists her source for the names and birthdates of the children as Paul I. Wellman, The Iron Mistress (New York, 1951)—a novel. She did examine Wellman's papers at the University of Southern California in the hope of finding some genuine documentation on which he based the fictional names and dates, but without success. Moreover, Wellman provides only months and years for the children, and not actual dates (p 335, 349). Where Hopewell camp up with the actual dates is a mystery, but in any case it is all nonsense.
In the end this must simply be put down as an issue that cannot be resolved. For all the likelihood that John Bowie would have known if his brother had a child, or that Caiaphas Ham's intimate relations with Bowie would have put him in a position to know if Bowie had two children, or that Sparks might have heard of a child from Rezin, or that Rezin's granddaughter might have learned of one from her mother, there are still some insurmountable problems, the greatest of which is Bowie's will. Given his intense feelings of family loyalty, it seems inconceivable that if he had a child or children, he would make no provision for them in his will, while he did provide for his brother Stephen's orphans. Also, the San Fernando baptismal records in San Antonio show no entries for Bowie children, though as grandchildren of Veramendi they would certainly receive special attention from Father Garza. At the same time, in Monclova, while Ursula's death is recorded along with those of her parents and foster brother, there is no mention of any children. Hopewell speculates that the children might have been born in Monclova instead of San Antonio, and that they might have died and been buried on the road to Monclova in September 1833, thus missing the record books at the beginning and end of their lives. This is at best a feeble rationalization. If they were born in Monclova, then there should be a baptismal or christening record there, which there is not. If they died between San Antonio and Monclova in 1833, they would still appear in the burial records of the latter, for it was only a four-day trip, and a family like the Veramendis
would almost certainly have brought the bodies with them for the kind of burial equivalent to their station. Finally there is no record of Ursula ever being in Monclova except in the last days of her life.
Probably the most logical and likely explanation is that Ursula was pregnant, but had not yet given birth, when she died. This would explain the absence of a burial record for the child, and would also explain the statements by John Bowie and others intimate enough with Bowie to have known about his losing one child. After all, John Bowie's is the first record, and it was nineteen years after the fact. That would be more than enough time for a statement by James that his wife had died carrying their child, to evolve into a recollection that they had actually had a child. The only serious challenge to this theory is the Ham recollection. He is usually very accurate, confusing only chronology at times, and no logical explanation of his claim for two children presents itself.
75. Navarro to Williams, September 26, 1833, Williams Papers, Rosenberg Library, Galveston, Tex.
76. Angus McNeil testimony, Veramendi v. Hutchins, 140, Documents Pertaining to James Bowie, UT.
77. Smithwick, Evolution, 137. Mims, Trail, 55, cites a supposed soldier with Bowie in the San Saba fight saying that on their way back to San Antonio a courier brought Bowie the news of Ursula's death. This is, of course, complete fantasy. Ursula died almost two years after the San Saba fight, and there is no question that Bowie was in Natchez when he got the news. As for the Smithwick account, while Smithwick is always subject to question, there is nothing to disprove his encounter with Bowie. Smithwick was living in western Louisiana at this time, and Bowie could well have met him on his return to Texas.
Chapter 15 Travis 1833-1834
1. Davis, Travis Diary, 8, September 6-7; 11, September 13; 87, December 9, 1833.
2. Sr. Gonzales to Secretary of War, April 11, 1833, Ex XI/481.3/817, Archivo Historico Militar Mexicano, Defensa, Maxico City.
3. Travis to O.H. Allen, July 15, 1831, Lamar Papers, TXSL.
4. Davis, Travis Diary, 10, September 12; 43, October 6; 44, October 6; 87, December 7; 87, December 8; 88, December 11, 1833.
5. Ibid., 106, January 13, 1834.
6. Ibid., 107, January 16; 124, February 5, 9; 129, February 19; 152, April 5, 1834.
7. Travis and Williamson to the Governor of Coahuila y Texas, February 6, 1834, John Henry Brown, Texas, vol. 1, 319.
8. Davis, Travis Diary, 124-25, February 7, 1834.
9. Ibid., 159, April 28, 1834.
10. Ibid., 159, April 28.
11. Travis to Músquiz, May 13, 1834, in Mixon, “Travis,” 329.
12. Travis to David Burnet, May 14, 1834, Philpott Collection Catalog, item no.206.
13. Address to Ayuntamiento, and Memorial to General Congress of Mexico, April 28, 1834, Béxar Archives, UT.
14. Williamson to the Ayuntamiento of Béxar, July 14, 1834, Nacogdoches Archives, TXSL.
15. Travis to David Burnet, May 14, 1834, Philpott Collection Catalog, item no.206.
16. Davis, Travis Diary, 174, May 30; 179, June 1, 1834, Williamson document, June 2, 1834, Williamson to Músquiz, June 11, 1834, Béxar Archives, UT; Travis to Burnet, June 3, 1834, Philpott Collection Catalog, item no.207.
17. Travis to Williamson, July 14, 1834, Williamson to Ayuntamiento at Béxar, July 14, 1834, Williamson to Travis, July 14, 1834, Nacogdoches Archives, TXSL; Travis to Músquiz, July 3, 8, 9, 24, 1834, Béxar Archives, UT.
18. Travis to Henry Smith, July 24, 1834, in John Henry Brown, Life and Times of Henry Smith (Dallas, 1887), 24-26.
19. Travis to James Perry, August 11, 1834, Barker, Austin Papers, vol. 2, 1075.
20. Brown, Smith, 31-33.
21. Williamson to Smith, September 11, 1834, in Brown, Smith, 26-27.
22. Travis to Burnet, September 12, 1834, Philpott Collection Catalog, item no.208.
23. Travis to Smith, October 11, 1834, in Brown, Smith, 27-28.
24. Brazoria Texas Republican, October 25, 1834.
25. Travis to Smith, October 25, 1834, Thomas W. Streeter Collection of Texas Manuscripts, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
26. It has been common with Travis students to assume that he disliked Mexicans. Turner, Travis, 34, says without supporting the contention that Travis felt “a consuming animosity for Mexicans in general.” McDonald, Travis, does not really address the issue, but Amelia Williams asserts in “Critical Study, III,” 82, that “Travis distrusted and despised all Mexicans.” This, too, is said without supporting evidence, and one does not have to read much of Williams' correspondence before coming to the conclusion that she was, in fact, projecting her own prejudice onto Travis. As revealed hereafter, her discussion of the testimony of Travis's slave Joe displays a similar attitude toward blacks.
27. Johnson, Texas, vol. 1, 181-82.
28. Travis to Smith, November, 1, 1834, in Brown, Smith, 50-51.
29. Eugene C. Barker, The Life of Stephen F. Austin, Founder of Texas 1793-1836 (Austin, 1949), 468-69.
30. Travis to Smith, November 13, 1834, in Brown, Smith, 56-57.
31. Davis, Travis Diary, 125-28, February 11-14; 168, May 5; 173, May 21, 1834.
32. Linn, Reminiscences, 103.
33. Davis, Travis Diary, 127, February 14; 168, May 6; 184, June 19, 1834.
34. H. C. Hudson Statement, November 7, 1837, James H. Starr Collection, UT.
35. Davis, Travis Diary, 167, May 1-2;, 169, May;7, 171, May 16; 174, May 29, 1834.
36. Thomas McQueen letter, March 13, 1834, St. Martinville, Attakapas Gazette, May 10, 1834; Jonathan H. Kuykendall, “A Short Review of My Life,” Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. This memoir is written as a long letter to Dr. A. B. Castle of Lexington, Kentucky, and dated December 1, 1849. Internal evidence suggests that he recalled being only sixteen when he studied under Travis, but that is probably a false memory. A typescript of the Kuykendall memoir is in the Kuykendall Family Papers, UT.
37. Davis, Travis Diary, 169, May 7, 1834.
38. Kuykendall, “Short Review,” Bancroft Library; Davis, Travis Diary, 171, May 15; 180, June 6; 181, June 8; 184, June 18, 1834.
39. Davis, Travis Diary, 170, May 12, 1834; Kuykendall, “Short Review,” Bancroft Library; Kuykendall to A. Somerville, April 16, 1841, Kuykendall Family Papers, UT.
40. Kuykendall, “Sketches of Early Texians,” Kuykendall Family Papers, UT.
41. Davis, Travis Diary, 112, January 30; 130, February 22, 137, March 1, 151, April 3, 180, June 4, 1834; bill of sale, November 10, 1834, Philpott Collection Catalog, item no.210, Travis to Burnet, December 19, 1834; Travis to Perry, August 11, 1834, Mixon, “Travis,” 66n; Gaspar Flores to Williams, June 19, 1834, Williams Papers, Rosenberg Library, Galveston, Tex.
42. Harris, “Reminiscences, I,” 100-2, 115. Harris only identified the protagonists as “Mr. A.” and Mr. M.” but Davis, Travis Diary, 182, June 11, 1834, pretty certainly confirms that Alley and May were the men involved.
43. Brazoria Extra, March 27, 1834; William Harris to Travis, April 16, May 18, 1834; Robert Wilson to William Harris, May 8, 1834, Franklin Papers, UT; Brazoria Texas Republican, November 8, 1834.
44. Kuykendall, Sketches of Early Texians, Kuykendall Family Papers, UT.
45. Mixon, “Travis,” 64.
46. Davis, Travis Diary, 50, October 20, 89, December 14, 1833.
47. Ibid., 156-57, April 17; 168, May 6; 184, June 19, 1834.
48. Kuykendall, Sketches of Early Texians, Kuykendall Family Papers, UT.
49. B. J. Fletcher to I. C. Main, May 15, 1907, quoted in Davis, Travis Diary, 24n. Being a secondhand account by Roddy's grandson, written more than sixty years after the fact, this story may be inaccurate or embellished, especially since it portrays Travis genuinely threatening to resort to violence by pulling out his knife in a courtroom, which is decidedly out of character. On the other hand, given Travis's temperament, if he had reached that stage of blind anger, it would also have b
een uncharacteristic of him to cool down almost instantly, as the story says he did. Travis's own statement of pride in his diary when he said, “I whipped old Roddy” certainly shows some degree of rivalry, though, hence it has seemed reasonable to include a somewhat less heated version of the affair in the text (Davis, Travis Diary, 71, November 14, 1833).
50. Potter, “Fall of the Alamo,” 18.
51. Kuydendall, Sketches of Early Texians, Kuykendall Family Papers, UT.
52. Davis, Travis Diary, 172 May 20; p 182-83, June 13, 17, 1834; Harris, “Reminiscences, I” 104.
53. Brazoria Texas Republican, October 25, 1834.
54. Davis, Travis diary, 168, May 3, 1834.
55. Davis, Travis Diary, 167, May 1; 174, May 28; 180, June 6; 182, June 10, 1834.
56. Whiteside to Anthony Butler, August 2, 1832, Barker, Austin Papers, vol. 2, 830; Kuykendall to Isaac M. Pennington, April 23, 1838, William B. Travis Biographical File, DRT.
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