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Saturday
March 20, 2010 Since 1922 |
To err is historical
By Wanda Orton
Contributor Published September 16, 2009 History repeats itself and so do mistakes about history.
Sometime ago I came slightly unglued when I read a newspaper article that described David G. Burnet as the first and only president of the Republic of Texas.
No, no, no.
Burnet was the first but not the last. Following him, in order of succession, were Sam Houston, Mirabeau Lamar, Sam again, and finally, Anson Jones.
When a mistake occurs in print, followed by a correction in print, you’d think that would be the last of it, period, end of story. Glad we got that straight.
But don’t count on it. Believe me, I know from experience that once wrong information gets out there, it’s in a free fall, out of control. The error can take on a life of its own, going into re-runs, written and spoken, for years to come.
I’ve seen it happen, cringing as other writers have picked up on my mistakes and I’ve repeated theirs. For example, in a number of stories, years ago I had heard or read somewhere that Dr. Ashbel Smith built the Evergreen plantation on Evergreen Road in the 1830s, and I wrote that several times in the newspaper.
No, no, no.
The original owner, San Jacinto battle hero Moseley Baker, built the plantation and named it Evergreen. Dr. Ashbel Smith, already a resident and property owner in Baytown, bought Evergreen in 1848 after Baker died
Smith had visited in the Baker home, liked its location on the bluff overlooking Tabbs Bay (then called Baker Bay), and welcomed the opportunity to acquire the 1,000-acre Evergreen plantation. Since 1840, he had been buying acreage in the area, starting with tracts from the Harvey Whiting survey. His purchases included land that in the next century would become the city of Pelly plus a big chunk of the Goose Creek oil field.
Let’s sail over to Scott’s Bay, where I should set the record straight from previous articles about the namesake of the bay.
Problem was, I got the pioneer Scotts mixed up, thinking William Scott built the home later known as the Wooster house on Mapleton on Scott’s Bay. A previous owner was named Scott, but not William. He was Garret L. Scott and, to my knowledge, no kin to William Scott.
The sturdy and stately Wooster house, which withstood countless storms through the years, was built by John Rundell in the early 1840s.
According to Margaret Henson’s book, “The History of Baytown,” Rundell grew and ginned his own cotton on his plantation that one day would become part of the Brownwood subdivision (now the Baytown Nature Center). His property was in the Nathaniel Lynch League, created in the 1820s when the Mexican government was handing out land grants to Anglo settlers. Rundell bought 480 acres in the Lynch League from the widow of Nathaniel Lynch.
William Scott, a member of Stephen F. Austin’s colony, built his home in the 1820s at the present-day location of the ExxonMobil docks and the Bay Villa subdivision. Scott died there during a hurricane in 1837.
A book by the great artist, Buck Schiwetz, erred in its description of the Wooster house, saying it “was built shortly after the battle of San Jacinto by young William Scott and in 1890 Scott’s heirs sold it to the Wooster family.”
Correction: In 1892 Quincy A. Wooster bought the house from Garret Scott, who had acquired it from the Rundell estate. The house remained in the Wooster family until it was torn down after Hurricane Carla.
Although Schiwetz was misinformed about the history of the Wooster house as I and many others have been in past years, he more than made up for it with his awesome sketch of the house. Come and see – it’s on Page 41 of the book, “Buck Schiwetz’ Texas,” published in 1960.
When the Wooster house was demolished in the 1960s after too many years and too many storms, history buffs went into mourning. What a treasure it was.
Wanda Orton is a retired managing editor for The Baytown Sun.
Contributor Published September 16, 2009 History repeats itself and so do mistakes about history.
Sometime ago I came slightly unglued when I read a newspaper article that described David G. Burnet as the first and only president of the Republic of Texas.
No, no, no.
Burnet was the first but not the last. Following him, in order of succession, were Sam Houston, Mirabeau Lamar, Sam again, and finally, Anson Jones.
When a mistake occurs in print, followed by a correction in print, you’d think that would be the last of it, period, end of story. Glad we got that straight.
But don’t count on it. Believe me, I know from experience that once wrong information gets out there, it’s in a free fall, out of control. The error can take on a life of its own, going into re-runs, written and spoken, for years to come.
I’ve seen it happen, cringing as other writers have picked up on my mistakes and I’ve repeated theirs. For example, in a number of stories, years ago I had heard or read somewhere that Dr. Ashbel Smith built the Evergreen plantation on Evergreen Road in the 1830s, and I wrote that several times in the newspaper.
No, no, no.
The original owner, San Jacinto battle hero Moseley Baker, built the plantation and named it Evergreen. Dr. Ashbel Smith, already a resident and property owner in Baytown, bought Evergreen in 1848 after Baker died
Smith had visited in the Baker home, liked its location on the bluff overlooking Tabbs Bay (then called Baker Bay), and welcomed the opportunity to acquire the 1,000-acre Evergreen plantation. Since 1840, he had been buying acreage in the area, starting with tracts from the Harvey Whiting survey. His purchases included land that in the next century would become the city of Pelly plus a big chunk of the Goose Creek oil field.
Let’s sail over to Scott’s Bay, where I should set the record straight from previous articles about the namesake of the bay.
Problem was, I got the pioneer Scotts mixed up, thinking William Scott built the home later known as the Wooster house on Mapleton on Scott’s Bay. A previous owner was named Scott, but not William. He was Garret L. Scott and, to my knowledge, no kin to William Scott.
The sturdy and stately Wooster house, which withstood countless storms through the years, was built by John Rundell in the early 1840s.
According to Margaret Henson’s book, “The History of Baytown,” Rundell grew and ginned his own cotton on his plantation that one day would become part of the Brownwood subdivision (now the Baytown Nature Center). His property was in the Nathaniel Lynch League, created in the 1820s when the Mexican government was handing out land grants to Anglo settlers. Rundell bought 480 acres in the Lynch League from the widow of Nathaniel Lynch.
William Scott, a member of Stephen F. Austin’s colony, built his home in the 1820s at the present-day location of the ExxonMobil docks and the Bay Villa subdivision. Scott died there during a hurricane in 1837.
A book by the great artist, Buck Schiwetz, erred in its description of the Wooster house, saying it “was built shortly after the battle of San Jacinto by young William Scott and in 1890 Scott’s heirs sold it to the Wooster family.”
Correction: In 1892 Quincy A. Wooster bought the house from Garret Scott, who had acquired it from the Rundell estate. The house remained in the Wooster family until it was torn down after Hurricane Carla.
Although Schiwetz was misinformed about the history of the Wooster house as I and many others have been in past years, he more than made up for it with his awesome sketch of the house. Come and see – it’s on Page 41 of the book, “Buck Schiwetz’ Texas,” published in 1960.
When the Wooster house was demolished in the 1960s after too many years and too many storms, history buffs went into mourning. What a treasure it was.
Wanda Orton is a retired managing editor for The Baytown Sun.