The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 14, July 1910 - April, 1911 Page: 329

                                
Notes and Fragments

329

SOME MEMORIAL LEGISLATION BY THE THIRTY-SECOND LEGIS-
LATURE-
1. Monument to Stephen F. Austin: Among the first meas-
ures introduced in the House of Representatives of the Thirty-
second Legislature was a bill by Hon. A. T. McKinney "to pro-
vide for the erection of a monument over the remains of General
Stephen F. Austin, in the State Cemetery at Austin, Texas."'
The bill, carrying an appropriation of $10,000 for this purpose,
was passed by the Legislature and approved by the Governor.
2. Monument to Mrs. Elizabeth Crockett:       Senators Lattimore
and Ward introduced a bill in the Senate "to provide for the erec-
tion of a monument over the remains of Mrs. Elizabeth Crockett,
the wife of David Crockett, in the cemetery at Acton, Hood
county, Texas." This bill carried an appropriation of $2,000 and
has received the Governor's approval.
The following extracts from Senator Ward's address in support
of this bill give a brief history of the family of David Crockett
after his death at the Alamo:
Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Senate:
Possibly it may not be out of place for me to explain to this
Senate why I am one of the proponents of this measure, asking for
an appropriation of $2000 for the erection of a suitable monument
to the memory of Mrs. Elizabeth Crockett, the wife of Col. David
Crockett, one of the heroes who sacrificed his life at the Alamo.
I will say that I was a student of Texas history when a schoolboy.
I remember well when I entered Granbury College in the fall of
1880, and it was there I learned that one of Granbury's citizens,
Robert Patton Crockett, was the son of David Crockett. Nat-
urally I felt like making his acquaintance and I found him resid-
ing near the banks of the Brazos river, manager and keeper of the
toll bridge that spans the river, and I would often visit him, see-
ing that he was ready, and that it was a great pleasure for him to
entertain college boys; he would relate many incidents of his fath-
er's career as he had learned them when a boy. .
It may not be out of place for me to state here some history of
the family of David Crockett that I obtained from the many talks
that I have had with the son, Robert Patton Crockett, and his chil-
dren, the grandchildren of David Crockett. His grandchildren,
viz.: Mrs. iM. M. Parks and Mrs. T. H. Hiner now reside in Hood
county; Mr. Ashley W. Crockett resides in Glen Rose, Somervell
county, and a granddaughter, Miss Dolly, is married and lives in
'For an account of the removal of the remains of Stephen F. Austin
from Peach Point to the State Cemetery, see page 182 above.