As I mentioned last week, hurricane season officially began on June 1st, sending me to HEB and Market Basket to stock up on several necessities. I currently have ample stocks of Chef Boyardee Spaghetti & Meatballs and Dinty Moore Beef Stew. What’s not well-stocked is the strategic fuel reserve, and I cringe every time I’m at the pump. Hopefully, Jim Cantore and Hurakan will spare us this year.
Around this time, I usually think of Miss Jack McDonough, Postmistress of Sabine Pass (1885–1886). Her memorial is located in Magnolia Cemetery behind the firefighters’ plot. She perished on October 12, 1886, in Sabine Pass. According to family lore, she met her end after refusing to leave the post office until she counted the money and put it in a bag to take with her. Jack’s father, mother, brother, and nephew used a small boat to try to rescue her. As the father and the brother pushed the boat along, it overturned, and Miss Jack, her mother, and nephew were lost to the waves. The bodies of Adalissa (the mother) and Benjamin Foley (the nephew) were recovered, but Jack’s never was. Adalissa and Benjamin are buried in Sabine Pass Cemetery, along with many others who shared the same date. Jack’s father, Benjamin F. McDonough, survived but died two years later in Wallis, Texas. Her brother, Andrew McDonough, also survived; he erected the stone memorial to his beloved sister at Magnolia Cemetery. Their stories are also interesting, but that’s for another time.
It’s been a while since I’ve gone to Anahuac. I’ve passed it on my way to Houston, but to see a few hidden gems, you need to get off the eternal construction zone that the powers that be refer to as Interstate 10. My last trip was around Christmas 2012 when I visited the area with a friend I would call a Texas Historian, Charles Irwin. He has written a few books on Texas history, which I believe are still available for purchase at the Museum of the Gulf Coast in Port Arthur. I have more info about this at the bottom of the page. We visited Heritage Park in Wallisville and had some interesting conversations, then passed the Archie and Effie Middleton House (circa 1906). I would love to tour this house, but it was privately owned at the time. After stopping at a historic cemetery, we visited the Chambers County Historical Commission Museum. More engaging conversations ensued, but the main reason for the visit was the T.J. Chambers House.
A year before, I had taken a different street when leaving work and noticed this glorious upper window that both Stephen F. Austin and Aleister Crowley would approve of. It was definitely made in honor of the Lone Star of Texas, but the Thelemic crowd would also look at it in awe. We were fortunate to have the house opened on our visit, and it was a great experience. All the vintage furniture and the Christmas theme were perfect at the time. The story and tragic murder of T.J. Chambers are also worth hearing. This area played an important part in Texas history. It was the site of the first armed confrontation between the Anglo-Texan and Mexican troops in June 1830. The bluff where Fort Anahuac was built and defended was a site where immigrants were required to pay taxes upon arrival! (In Texas, that did not go well).
I will say this about Charles Irwin: he taught me a lot about Texas history. Yes, I knew the basics from school, but I don’t recall learning that Texas had a navy. Yes, they were poor and couldn’t pay their shipyard repair bill in the New Orleans drydocks, but Sam Houston did a pretty good job of getting things in order in the end. Or was that Stephen F. Austin? Both men are well represented in my files of Southeast Texas history, as they should be. Heck, Florence Stratton was even related to SFA by the marriage of a cousin and some fuzzy math that I don’t want to get into right now. Only the Bryan family could explain it, and this is why I need to visit the Bryan Museum in Galveston.
The memorial service at Magnolia Cemetery that we held the Saturday before Memorial Day went well. I was very impressed with all who participated—especially the young scouts and the color guard. It gives me hope for the future. I know from a reliable source that this was the first time that a Memorial Day service was performed in Magnolia Cemetery. Things are looking up, and it won’t be the last one.
We are also planning on identifying all the veterans in the cemetery. This is called the Historic Magnolia Cemetery Veteran Recognition Project. It is a massive undertaking since the cemetery has around 30,000 residents. If you have family in Magnolia and they served, please get in touch with us.
Well, that’s it for this week. Go visit Anahuac, whether you’re on the SFA bandwagon or in Crowley’s bunch.
Miss Jack McDonough:
https://www.rediscoveringsetx.com/2017/02/21/tales-from-hallowed-ground-miss-jack-mcdonough/
Rediscovering Anahuac/Wallisville:
https://www.rediscoveringsetx.com/2012/12/31/rediscovering-anahuac-wallisville/
Chambers County:
https://wallisvillemuseum.com/
Charles Irwin’s books:
Unheralded Texas Heroes ISBN: 9781935377009
The Creed Taylor Story ISBN 978-1-4675-4458-0
Peerless Texas Empresarios ISBN 978-1-4675-4760-4
Benjamin Franklin Highsmith (Alamo Courier 1836) ISBN 978-1-4675-8482-1
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