I’ve been away for a while, and the break has been a needed rest. I make no money from this blog, but I still think it’s important to present an accurate history of our region, to share news about what the Texas Historical Commission is doing, and to occasionally indulge in things that have nothing to do with SETX—like Sensha-dō (戦車道) and Yukari Akiyama (秋山 優花里).
When I started Rediscoveringsetx.com in 2012, my goal was to support every museum in Southeast Texas. But over the last 13 years, some museums have closed, and others—usually the ones with money—hired social media experts and are now fully capable of promoting themselves. They don’t need me to shill their history anymore, and honestly, that’s a good thing. Still, you can find photos of the ones that closed on my Flickr page:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/25032584@N05/albums
After that era, my focus shifted to researching specific topics from regional history. Some of these stories will show up later. I will say this: historical research is not a 1970s crime-solving TV show where everything wraps up in an hour. Proper research takes time. You can make up answers—as some historians do—but most people prefer the truth. And the truth doesn’t show up on a weekly schedule.
In more recent years, this blog has mostly been my thoughts and ramblings about our history and whatever else I care about. Again, I’m not making money, but at least the history is good. Maybe not as good as the “experts” on Facebook who insist there were slave quarters inside the Phelan Mansion constructed in 1928—but hey, that’s Beaumont and Facebook. Knock yourself out. Yes, you can even find it on Ancestry. As the Russians say: доверяй, но проверяй — doveryay, no proveryay — Trust but verify.
So, what have I been doing during my time away? Besides vegging out on Japanese baseball—my personal delicacy ever since I learned about the Curse of the Colonel—I’ve been doing what I hope my kids will do when I die: going through all my research files and digitizing everything.
Every file cabinet is being checked. Every paper copy is being digitized and sent to the Jefferson County Historical Commission (JCHC). The physical papers will then be passed along to whoever wants them—or thrown away. I have no hope that anyone else would come along and preserve this stuff. I’m doing them a favor. You’re welcome!
The first drawer alone took 38 hours to complete. I’ve now finished the first file cabinet and am moving on to my Florence Stratton files. Most of that research is already digitized and shared with people who can take it further than I can. My regional history books will be an own ongoing project as well. It’s amazing how valuable some of these books have become—and even more amazing how often people throw them away.
For example, I found my copy of Sapphire City of the Neches by W.T. Block on the floor of a house in Port Neches that had been auctioned. It was lying next to Down Trails of Victory: The Story of Port Neches-Groves High School Football and a Fats Domino record. The house had already been cleaned out, but somehow these survived. The last time I checked (a few years ago), an autographed copy of W.T. Block’s book was going for around $400. The other book? I didn’t check—everyone who cares about PNG football already owns it. Kudos to W.T. Block’s son, who saw the collector prices and wisely reissued the books on Amazon at reasonable prices.
Working through these files has brought me back to moments of discovery, and to histories people shared with me over the years—or that I uncovered myself. I’ve been rediscovering favorites from the blog, RediscoveringSETX.com, and it’s been fun.
The Rowley Family
One reason the first drawer took so long is the Rowley family. I spent countless hours on their history after a chance moment at Greenlawn Cemetery, where I saw Virginia (“Gene”) Rowley’s headstone with its poem and photograph. It was a somber moment—and I learned someone had created a 12-minute film taking “creative liberties” with the family’s story. That didn’t sit well with me. I care about facts, not someone’s L.A. dream script. Gene deserved to have her story told correctly.
A family member later reached out to me about my post on Gene, her father’s suicide in 1934, and her accidental death in 1942 in San Antonio. Gene died in an auto accident while working at Kelly Field as a radio operator. They confirmed much of my research and shared new details about her siblings, Vera and Jerry. That cracked open an entirely new story.
Vera (known as “Dido”), Jerry, and Jerry’s wife Evelyn formed The Rowley Trio, performing with the likes of Johnnie Horton and even George Jones. Despite their family’s tragedies, both Dido and Jerry built successful careers. Dido went even further by joining Don Mahoney’s children’s TV show in Houston—Don Mahoney and Jeanna Clare with their Kiddie Troupers. It was like a local Roy Rogers and Dale Evans show.
I never would have uncovered all of this without help from a family member. Thank you, Ben Rowley.
Evelyn Keyes
One of my favorite exhibits at the Museum of the Gulf Coast is the display on Evelyn Keyes. She left Port Arthur at age three but never forgot her connections here. Her display is beautiful—and if you look closely, you’ll notice the Genie lamp from A Thousand and One Nights (1945) is hollowed out. When she died in 2008, she requested that some of her ashes be placed inside it.
Years ago, when Sarah Bellian was Coordinator, I visited the museum looking for information on Bessie Reid, a birder and author of The Legend of Kisselpoo. While Sarah printed the info, I asked how Evelyn liked being moved from the first floor to the second. Right then, the printer froze. I said, “Well, I guess she doesn’t!”
Blanche Morgan
People have shared many histories with me over the years, but Blanche Morgan’s story needed to be front and center. Imagine this: your mother is sickly in Iowa, the doctor says she needs a warmer climate, and your dad sees a sign in Kansas City that the Kansas City Southern Railroad (KCS) will take you to paradise. What could go wrong?
(Answer: quite a lot.)
I’ll post the link below, but I’ve never been a fan of Arthur Stilwell. The only reason Port Arthur exists is because of John Warne Gates. Stilwell, in my view, was all hat and no cattle. He also lost investors a fortune trying to build a railroad to the Pacific through Mexico.
For the record, I did accidentally acquire an autographed copy of Stilwell’s Confidence or National Suicide? This is why you don’t leave things in your online cart if you don’t want to buy them. But I digress.
Til next week, I’ll leave you with the Hanshin Tigers Curse (呪い / のろい) — The Curse of the Colonel
The Hanshin Tigers Curse was a long-running superstition blamed for the team’s decades of struggles after their 1985 Japan Series championship. The curse centered around an unusual event involving a statue of Colonel Sanders, the mascot of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
How the Curse Started (1985)
After the Tigers won the Japan Series in 1985—led by star slugger Randy Bass—ecstatic fans in Osaka celebrated along the Dōtonbori Canal. Tigers fans are famously intense, and the city basically exploded with joy.
During the celebration, fans began pulling people into the street who resembled players to jump into the canal in their honor. But no one resembled Randy Bass, the team’s bearded American MVP.
So what did they do?
They grabbed a full-sized Colonel Sanders statue from a nearby KFC, declared it their Randy Bass “look-alike,” and threw it into the canal.
That’s the moment the curse supposedly began.
After 1985, the Tigers went through:
- 18 consecutive losing seasons (1986–2003)
- Multiple last-place finishes
- A long list of near wins that collapsed at the final moment
- A reputation for heartbreak comparable to the Chicago Cubs pre-2016
Fans believed the team would never win another championship until the Colonel was recovered.
People searched the Dōtonbori Canal for years, with no luck. The statue was considered lost forever. But in 2009, construction workers dredging the canal recovered the upper body of the statue, later the right hand, and eventually most of the remaining parts. It was reassembled and returned—with ceremony—to a local KFC.
Even after recovery, the Tigers did not immediately win a championship.
However, things did improve. They made the Japan Series again in 2014, and claimed their first Central League pennant in 18 years in 2023, and finally winning the Japan Series, ending the curse in most fans’ minds
For Tigers fans, the 2023 win was a massive cultural moment—some said it felt like “Osaka was released from a 38-year spell.”
Blanche Morgan : https://www.rediscoveringsetx.com/2014/04/16/blanches-journey-an-early-look-at-life-in-port-arthur/
Evelyn Keyes:
Gene Rowley:
The History of the Curse of the Colonel:
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