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Joe?
Sept 4, 2010 17:41:35 GMT -5
Post by jesswald on Sept 4, 2010 17:41:35 GMT -5
You'll all be excited to hear that I obtained a copy of Travis' will from Texas Archives. I had noted that Davis said that Henry Smith was named the executor in the will, and later on said that John R. Jones acted as the executor. This seeming contradiction is explained: the will named Smith as executor, with Jones as alternate in case Smith can't or won't serve. So now the question is, why did Smith back out? What was Henry Smith up to in the months following the Convention that prevented him from executing the will of his old friend? Anyone have a clue? Jesse Waldinger
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Joe?
Sept 4, 2010 21:39:18 GMT -5
Post by Allen Wiener on Sept 4, 2010 21:39:18 GMT -5
None, Jesse, but Smith strikes me as a really odd duck. No telling what he was thinking or doing. Kind of like Boo Radley.
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Joe?
Sept 6, 2010 21:12:59 GMT -5
Post by jesswald on Sept 6, 2010 21:12:59 GMT -5
Thank you for the input, Allen. Do you, or anyone, know the best source of information about Henry Smith? In my playlet about Joe I was using Jones as a character, but if Smith is really more interesting, maybe I'll switch. Heck, if he's anything like Boo Radley, I'll change Joe's name to Atticus Finch. Anything it takes to sell the piece, as Tucker would say. Jesse Waldinger
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Joe?
Sept 6, 2010 21:45:45 GMT -5
Post by sloanrodgers on Sept 6, 2010 21:45:45 GMT -5
You could also give Joe a more Irish cast in your production with Joe's mode of transportation. The Aug. 12, 1837 Telegraph and Texas Register states that he fled Mr. Jones' property on a small bay horse apparently named Shannon.
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doc
Full Member
Posts: 88
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Joe?
Sept 7, 2010 9:35:19 GMT -5
Post by doc on Sept 7, 2010 9:35:19 GMT -5
Jesswald: These should get you started.
John Henry Brown, LIFE AND TIMES OF HENRY SMITH, THE FIRST AMERICAN GOVERNOR OF TEXAS (Dallas: Aldridge, 1887).
Henry Smith, "Reminiscences of Henry Smith," OUARTERLY OF THE TEXAS STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION, Vol. 14 (July 1910).
By the way, early volumes of the QUARTERLY are now available online.
I hope this helps.
Doc
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Joe?
Sept 7, 2010 15:38:57 GMT -5
Post by jesswald on Sept 7, 2010 15:38:57 GMT -5
Thank you for the leads. I was able to read Smith's reminisces on line. Quite entertaining and colorful. They end with the Convention, unfortunately, and I'm looking to figure out what was going on with him in the months following Travis' death. With some skepticism I have ordered the 1887 Brown biography on Amazon. I wouldn't be surprised if he too has little to say about what Smith was doing between the time he was supplanted by the Convention and the time he joined Houston's government in the fall of 1836. All this for a fifteen minute play that is unlikely to get an audience. And no one, present company excepted, is going to give a fig whether the character is named Smith or Jones. But I want to get it right. If I'm not able to determine what actually happened, at least I want to depict a scene that might have happened. In a sense, I think that's what this forum is all about.
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Joe?
Sept 16, 2010 12:39:06 GMT -5
Post by jesswald on Sept 16, 2010 12:39:06 GMT -5
I received Brown's 1887 biography of Smith, which is not up to modern scholastic standards, being largely a compendium of letters to and from Henry Smith. As feared, there is basically nothing between March and September 1836. There are a couple of clues, however, as to why Smith may have passed on the opportunity to serve as Travis' executor. Brown says that Smith was delighted to pass the torch in March of 1836, when he was relieved of the office of Governor in favor of the new government. His joy was, I suppose, short lived, for in the fall he was tapped for Houston's cabinet. Then, in 1837 he tried (unsuccessfully) to resign as Secretary of the Treasury, explaining to President Houston that for the last few years he has devoted all his time to public affairs, and that with his burgeoning family, he needs time to tend his farm. Later on he delined to run for Vice President. My take is that, like Washington and Jefferson, Smith felt an obligation to serve the public, but he was at heart a family man, looking forward to retirement. I don't know if he would have been entitled to a commission if he served as Travis' executor---I suspect the answer is yes, but it would be a percentage of the estate, which was not worth much---but in any event, chasing down creditors and paying off Alabama debts would have been time consuming, to say the least. The will states that all debts should be paid within two years. Smith would have been kept pretty busy. There's also the possibility that he accepted the executorship at first and only changed his mind in the fall of 1836, upon being selected for the labor-instensive Treasury post. John Rice Jones, as Postmaster General, might have had more free time, and picked up the ball then. None of this sparks the muse as far as drama is concerned. My inclination is to retain Jones as the key character in my short play. It is almost finished, and I would love to share it with the Forum members soon. But I don't know how to do that. I love seeing all the artwork that can be posted. How do you post a play? Jesse Waldinger
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Joe?
Mar 14, 2012 11:42:17 GMT -5
Post by sloanrodgers on Mar 14, 2012 11:42:17 GMT -5
Recently, I bought a copy of Travis' Diary, which was published in 1966 and discarded by William B. Travis High School here in Austin. Within Travis mentions his Shannon horse, which Joe borrowed below in 1837. Was Shannon the name of the horse or was this a type of horse or breed? www.texasslaveryproject.org/sources/TTR/display.php?f=TSP0081.xml
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Joe?
Dec 26, 2013 18:17:24 GMT -5
Post by Riley Gardner on Dec 26, 2013 18:17:24 GMT -5
Any word on the Joe bio? Really looking forward to it.
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