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SAN AUGUSTINE,
TEXAS
"The Cradle
of Texas"
San Augustine County Seat, East
Texas
US Hwy 96 & Hwys 21, 147
19 miles S of Center
27 miles NE of Hemphill
32 miles E of Nacogdoches
Population:
2,475 (2000) 2,337 (1990)
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History
in a Pecan Shell
San Augustine's history predates the revolution. As early as the 1540s,
European visitors were getting lost in the pines around San Augustine.
In 1691 the Old San Antonio Road (as it was later called) was cut
by Domingo Teran de los Rios. The Mission
Nuestra Senora de los Dolores de los Ais was established
in 1717, has been restored and is one of San Augustine's major attractions
today. You might find "Mission Dolores" easier to remember.
As Anglo migration to Texas increased in the early 1800s, San Augustine
was the site of the customhouse and a stopover for everyone entering
Texas. It soon became the most civilized place around, and its early
history shows it to be the birthplace of several colleges and the
first churches (in Texas) of several denominations were opened here.
Sam Houston was a frequent visitor and Texas' first governor
now sits (as a statue) on the courthouse lawn of his former residence.
His name was J. Pinckney Henderson, but you already knew that.
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Here's
the place that saw it all, the San Augustine County Jail.
TE photo
More Texas Jails
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A 20th Century
History
The Feud
San Augustine was also the scene of one of the more interesting feuds
in Texas history. It's roots were in the 1890s, but things didn't
really get going until the Spring of 1900 when Lycurgus (Curg) Border
stirred things up in the Wall-Broocks-Border feud. Curg, who
was a handsome man and a good dancer until he was partially crippled
in a shooting, shot Sheriff George W. Wall, who died a few days later.
Curg Border was elected sheriff in 1902 and served until he was suspended
in 1904 by the district judge. W.S. (Sneed) Noble took over
the sheriff's duties and found himself caught up in the feud. Sheriff
Noble shot and killed Curg Border in May of 1904. (This information
is from Texas County Sheriffs by Sammy Tise). |
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A detailed account of this feud can be found in C.F. Eckhardt's
Tales of Badmen, Bad Women and Bad Places: Four centuries
of Texas Outlawry 1999 Texas Tech University Press |
Order
Here
Tales of Badmen, Bad Women and Bad Places |
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Excitement flared
up again in San Augustine just before Christmas in 1934. Four men
were shot in a hardware store and not too much was done about it.
Texas Ranger Leo Bishop was sent in and he found the town to be
under the control of a lawless element. After few months, Leo and
partner Dan Hines had banished the main villain and made the rest
behave. The people of San Augustine presented both Rangers with
fancy pistols as token of their appreciation in 1935.
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incident is covered in detail and fine story-telling form under the
chapter Leo Bishop and the San Augustine Crime Wave in Just one
riot: Texas Rangers in the 20th Century by Ben Proctor, Eakin Press
1991 |
Order
Here
Just one riot: Texas Rangers in the 20th Century |
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Nearby
Attractions
Angelina National
Forest - 11 miles south on Texas 147 to entrance.
Sabine National
Forest - 5 miles east on FM 353 to entrance.
Sam Rayburn
Lake
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fish/infish/lakes/rayburn/lake_id.htm
Toledo Bend
lake
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fish/infish/lakes/tolbend/lake_id.htm
San Augustine Tourist Information
San Augustine
County Chamber of Commerce 611 West Columbia St. San Augustine, Texas
75972 Phone: 936-275-3610 Website: www.sanaugustinetx.com |
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The
only vertical sundial in East Texas.
TE photo |
San Augustine
History
San
Augustine Chronicles ("All
Things Historical" Columns)
Man
with a Method
by Archie P. McDonald
"Long before winning fame and martyrdom at the Alamo, William
Barret Travis wrote to tell Methodist leaders in the United States
how badly Texas needed their attention. Samuel Doak McMahon held
the first meeting of Methodists in Texas in his home, located ten
or so miles east of San Augustine, in 1832, but the arrival of Littleton
Fowler in 1837 was the first authorized Methodist activity there..."
Ben
Ramsey
by Bob Bowman
Scrolling
Through History
by Bob Bowman
The search system -- which has brought unbridled joy to genealogists
and historians -- is believed to be the most comprehensive county
archive system in Texas.
A
Soldier's Story
by Bob Bowman
Milton Irish's letter, printed in the Lincoln Patriot at Waldoboro,
Maine, on February 10,1837, has become a classic story of a simple
soldier involved in the momentous events that gave birth to Texas
the year before. In a few months, Milton -- an ancestor of Jack
Irish of Lufkin -- found himself involved in the Siege of Bexar,
the battle that preceded the fall of the Alamo, and barely escaped
with his life during the massacre of Texas prisoners at Goliad.
Outlaw
with two faces
by Bob Bowman
In July of 1888, Rupert P. Wright, dressed in rags and one eye blinded
by his own hand, pleaded for mercy on a charge of bigamy before
an Arkansas judge. To those who knew Wright, his appearance and
demeanor were far removed from the days when he was a prominent
newspaper editor, attorney, and aspiring legislator in Little Rock.
But they would soon learn that he was also an escaped murderer,
forger, arsonist and jail breaker named Pete Loggins from East Texas.
Webster's
Buck
by by Bob Bowman
The San Augustine Tribune, publisher Webster Hays and hist buck.
Drug
Store Centennial by
Bob Bowman
A fountain drink known as "The Grapefruit Highball."
The San Augustine Drug Store will in May (2004) celebrate a hundred
years of doing business at the same location in downtown San Augustine.
The
Church Lights by Bob Bowman
Each time I visit Christ Church Episcopal in San Augustine, I am
reminded of Murphey's story and the electric light chandeliers former
U.S. ambassador Ed Clark bought and installed in the church
in 1991 to honor his wife Anne Metcalfe Clark.
San
Augustine
by Archie P. McDonald
The
First Governor of Texas
by Archie P. McDonald
McMahan's
Chapel
by Archie P. McDonald
Nuestra
Senora de los Dolores de los Ais Mission
by Archie P. McDonald
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Three-term
San Augustine
Sheriff Nathan Tindall is
a frequently mentioned sheriff in
THE TEXAS SHERIFF:
LORD OF THE COUNTY LINE
by Thad Sitton
University of Oklahoma Press, Norman 2000 |
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San Augustine
Texas Forum
Shooting
of Rangers in San Augustine County
In July 1918, a squad of Texas Rangers was sent to San Augustine
county to round up deserters from the army. Two Rangers went to
the farm house of Samuel Williams to recover his son Sam Williams
and Daniel Evans. In a gun fight early in the morning, Ranger White
was killed and the other Ranger wounded. A massive manhunt pursued...
more - John D Carrell,
Mesquite, Texas, October 25, 2006
To
share history or photos of San Augustine, Texas, please contact
us.
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