Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Texas Insights

The Texas State Historical Association, in cooperation with its partners, offers Texas Insights, an electronic newsletter designed to share opportunities for Texas teachers and students while promoting effective instructional practices.

The August 2013 (Vol. IV, Issue 1) edition of this electronic publication may be read by going to: http://www.teachingtexas.org/enewsletter/august2013.

To access previous issues of Texas Insights, go to the following link: http://www.teachingtexas.org/enewsletter.

For more information about the Teaching Texas program, visit this link: http://www.teachingtexas.org/.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Floyd M. Jones, Rest in Peace

We were saddened to learn that Floyd M. Jones passed away earlier this week.  Dr. Jones was a member of the Brazos Heritage Society and served as the organization's President from February 1996 to February 1997. 

Found on the website of Callaway-Jones Funeral Home, which is handling funeral arrangements, is Dr. Jones’ obituary, which reads as follows:

Floyd M. “Doc” Jones, 84, of Bryan, Texas, met his Heavenly Father on Tuesday, August 13, 2013, at St. Joseph Regional Health Center in Bryan, Texas, surrounded by his children.  A celebration of the life of Doc will be held at Central Baptist Church, College Station, Texas, on Saturday, August 17, 2013, beginning at 11:00 AM.

Doc was born in the Harvey Community, Brazos County, Texas, on October 21, 1928, to Charles Nunn Jones and Lula Mary Floyd.  He worked as a cowboy and a dairyman prior to his service as a soldier in the United States Army from 1950-1953 and an active Army Reserve Captain from 1953 to 1961.  Doc worked as an electrician while attending Texas A&M University and graduated in 1959 with a Bachelor of Science degree and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree.

After ten years of private veterinary practice in Burleson and Brazos Counties, Doc received a Rockefeller Foundation grant to study and conduct research in Colombia which culminated in his award of one of the first two Masters of Science degrees in Tropical Animal Diseases from Texas A&M University, in 1972.  Doc then served as a USDA meat inspection veterinary supervisor and trainer, Assistant Director of the Texas Animal Health Commission, and as a USDA Field Epidemiologist.

After serving for 11 years in Latin America, Doc retired from U.S. Government service in 1989 as a Supervisory Veterinary Medical Officer and Veterinary Attache’ for the U.S. Foreign Service in Central and South America.  He was an avid militaria, weapons, and Western artifacts collector and historian.

In retirement, Doc continued to serve his community and fellow man as a volunteer with VIPS, a trustee for the Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History, and as the Latin America Representative for Christian Veterinary Mission.  Doc was a member of the Central Baptist Church Uplifters class, Sons of Confederate Veterans, and American Legion Earl Graham Post 0159.  Doc met the love of his life while stationed at Ft. Chaffee, near Ft. Smith, Arkansas, and was married for 47 years to Dolores “DJ” Murray Jones, who, as did his parents, proceeded him in death.

Doc is survived by a daughter, Liz Jones Lindley of Bryan, Texas; a son and daughter-in law, Colonel (Retired) Stephen M. and Laurie Walker Jones, of Garden Ridge, Texas; grandchildren Luke Walker Jones of College Station, Texas; and Micah Murray Jones of Laramie, Wyoming; brothers C.B. “Buddy” Jones and E.E. “Skeeter” Jones of Bryan, Texas; numerous nieces and nephews; special friends Greg and Linda Gomez of Bryan, Texas; and friends too numerous to count.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested memorials be sent to the Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History; Christian Veterinary Mission, Seattle, Washington; Central Baptist Church, College Station; or a monetary or blood donation to the American Red Cross.

Dr. Jones attended the most recent Annual Membership Meeting of the Brazos Heritage Society in February of this year.


Pictured above are, from left to right: Floyd M. Jones, Mervin Peters, and Dan Beto, at the social following the Annual Membership Meeting

Our deepest sympathies are extended to the family of Dr. Jones.

                                                                   Dan Beto, President

Friday, August 9, 2013

President’s Message

In the fall of this year the Executive Committee will be appointing a Nominating Committee, the members of which will be responsible for developing a slate of candidates to stand for election for the offices of President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer of the Brazos Heritage Society.  The election will take place at the Annual Membership Meeting, which will be held in February 2014.

All current members of the Society are eligible to serve on this important committee.  If you are interested in being appointed to the Nominating Committee, please feel free to send me an email at dan.beto@gmail.com or give me a call at 822-1273.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we need members to serve in leadership positions.  If you are willing to serve as an officer in the Society – be it President, Vice President, Secretary, or Treasurer – please let me know.

It is not too soon to begin thinking about seeking elective office in the Society.

I would like to see more members involved in the governance of our organization.  I look forward to hearing from you.

On another matter, the Society has a newly designed webpage, thanks to Vice President Isabel McPartlin and her husband, Todd.  This new website has the same address as the old one, www.brazosheritage.org.

If you have not done so, please visit the website, which is still a work in progress.  Suggestions are welcomed and may be sent to the following email address: brazos.heritage@gmail.com.

For the foreseeable future, until a sufficient number of people have been trained to input information on the new website, the Society will continue to use our electronic newsletter – Heritage Brazos – to convey information to the membership in a timely manner.  The web address for Heritage Brazos continues to be: http://heritagebrazos.blogspot.com.  

May the remainder of your summer be enjoyable.

                                                                        Dan Beto, President  

Treasurer’s Report

The following is an overview of the financial condition of the Brazos Heritage Society as of August 1, 2013.

At Prosperity Bank we have a certificate of deposit valued at $8,389.71 and our checking account at the bank has a balance of $3,501.93, for a total of $11,891.64.

For more detailed information about the Society’s financial condition, please do not hesitate to contact me at 979-229-9414 or by email at this address: mycobra@suddenlink.net.

                                                                                    Beverly Myers, Treasurer

The Astin Clothes Have a New Home

Heard-Craig Center for the Arts
For many years the Brazos Heritage Society has been in possession of clothing that once belonged to the Astin family, some of which were recently part of an exhibit at the Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History.  Unfortunately, many of the items were deteriorating and others required restoration.  Efforts to secure grant funding to restore the clothing items were unsuccessful, and the Society’s treasury lacked sufficient financial resources to pay for the restoration.

After months of review options, the society has entered into a long term loan agreement with the Heard-Craig Center for the Arts in McKinney, Texas.  This appears to be a good place for the clothing, as the Center has a number of items that once belonged to Nina Heard Astin, who was born in McKinney.  The Center plans to secure grants to restore the items and then exhibit them.

Additional information about the Heard-Craig Center for the Arts may be found at the following website: http://heardcraig.org.

                                                                                    Nat Hilliard, Past President

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Boonville Days Living History Fair 2013

Join the Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History for the 8th Annual Boonville Days Living History Fair on Saturday, October 5, 2013 at the Brazos Center, 3232 Briarcrest Drive, in Bryan, Texas, from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM.  This year also marks the 5th Annual Buffalo Stampede Half Marathon and 5K Race, which starts at 7:30 AM at the Brazos Center.  

As in the previous years, the Brazos Heritage Society will have an exhibit at this annual event.

In addition, there will be a Chuck Wagon Cook-Off on the afternoon of Friday, October 4, and continuing until noon on Saturday, October 5, 2013.

Come join in the race fun, and afterwards bring the entire family to celebrate the history of the Brazos Valley at Brazos County’s only living history fair!

For additional information about this enjoyable and informative event, visit the website for the Brazos Valley Museum for Natural History and look for the “Latest News and Upcoming Events” section; the web address for the museum is: http://www.brazosvalleymuseum.org/.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Richard Carter Park Project

A project adopted by the A&M Garden Club, which the Brazos Heritage Society supports, is to enhance Richard Carter Park in College Station, Texas, the city’s only historically significant park.  The park, acquired by the city in 1983, is the site of the Richard Carter homestead.


According to the Texas Historical Commission marker found at the park’s entrance:

In 1831, Richard Carter (1789-1863), Virginia native and War of 1812 veteran, came from Alabama and received a grant of land within the Stephen F. Austin Colony at the site of what is now the City of College Station.  He became one of the area’s wealthiest land and slave owners, raising cattle, corn, and cotton during the years before the Civil War.  Carter was appointed to the first Board of Commissioners after Brazos County was created in 1841 and helped survey Boonville, its first county seat.  Evidence of the Carter home and the family cemetery has been found in this area.

Additional information about this early settler may be found at the Texas State Historical Association’s Handbook of Texas Online at the following link:

The park, consisting of 7.14 acres, is located at 1800 Brazoswood off Earl Rudder Freeway.  Developments in the park include an Interpretive Center with displays about Richard Carter and the reconstructed original water well.  In addition, according to the City of College Station website:

There is an open play area, a discovery garden area featuring decks, seating, indigenous plants, a historical marker, and a bronze statue by Albert Pedulla.  The sculpture was installed in 1986 and symbolizes the staking of the claim by Richard Carter, which resulted in the settlement of College Station and the Brazos Valley.  The development of this park was an officially sanctioned Texas Sesquicentennial Project.  In 1991, the graves of Richard Carter, his wife, and family members were moved from an adjacent site to the park itself.  Additional lights were added in 1998.

The A&M Garden Club has received grants for the Richard Carter Park project from Texas Garden Club Projects-Arbor Day and Seeds for Life.  In addition, some donations for trees and native plants to go into the park have been received.  Other supporters of this project include the College Station Parks and Recreation Department and Keep Brazos Beautiful.

In March during Texas A&M University’s Big Event, the A&M Garden Club added verbena and muhly grass in restored beds around the Interpretive Center as this year’s Phase One.  

A fall planting will occur to coincide with the College Station 75th Anniversary celebration.  There is also the goal of replacing the signs in the Interpretive Center, which have become weathered, faded, and cracked.

Additional funds are needed to accomplish the Club’s vision.  Donations from individuals and groups will be gratefully accepted.  Checks made payable to the A&M Garden Club may be mailed to P. O. Box 443, Wellborn, Texas 77881.  The A&M Garden Club Treasurer is Mary Staffel.  Please include on the check’s memo line that this contribution is “for the Carter Park restoration.”

Additional information about this worthy project will be forthcoming.

Photographs of the Richard Carter Park may be viewed on the Smilebox below.

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Friday, August 2, 2013

Newsletter from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

The August 2013 issue of the Wildflower Wire, the newsletter of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas, is now available online.

To view this electronic newsletter, which includes upcoming events, Center news, and membership opportunities and services, visit the following link: http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/225122/1d5339f57b/606000257/549c00d3f0/.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Texas Ranger Hall of Fame Newsletter

The August 2013 electronic edition of the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame Newsletter is now available.  Found in this issue is a recap of past activities and several news items.
 
Click here to read this latest issue of the newsletter.

The Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum is located in Waco, Texas, and may be a site considered for a day trip by the Brazos Heritage Society’s Events Committee next year.

For more information about this excellent Museum about the history of law enforcement in Texas, visit: http://www.texasranger.org/