The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 97, July 1993 - April, 1994 Page: 2
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
when the deadly fever returned between 1847 and 1867, and existed un-
til the 189os. Members collected over $1,700 in 1854 and almost $3,000
in i858 for medicine, nurses, clothes, and food, as well as for the care of
orphans and for burials. The group also accepted donations of $4,000
to $5,000 during those years from other towns and cities in Texas and as
far away as New York and Boston. Fund-raising methods included a the-
ater production by members. Directors in different wards helped locate
the needy, while members with some immunity after surviving earlier
epidemics aided in caring for the sick. Members sent some funds on to
smaller communities, where they also stimulated the formation of
Howard Associations. Thus a temporary network of communities exist-
ed.2
New community efforts and further cooperation among towns result-
ed from the Civil War. By the late summer of 1861, Austin and other
communities began to form soldiers' aid societies to assist families and
disabled veterans. A relief society of Galveston women tried to sustain a
hospital for soldiers and by the fall of 1862 provided aid for 168 families
on the island. In 1865 a statewide project organized a network of almost
forty soldiers' homes, where men on leave could rest at night while trav-
eling to and from their homes." The end of the conflict relieved the
need for wartime assistance activities. Yet lasting results of the war re-
mained, such as orphans left by soldiers who died in the fighting.
An appeal in 1866 called for funds to establish "for the children of all
deceased and disabled Confederate soldiers of our State . . . the 'Or-
phans Home' at Bayland." Professional men, merchants, and political
figures such as William Pitt Ballinger, Ashbel Smith, and T. W. House
led the effort, along with women from prominent families such as the
Bryans. As Civil War orphans matured, the home became a Houston
community institution accepting a new generation of homeless children.4
2 Howard Association, Secretary's Records, Aug. 22, Oct. 6, 1854, Nov. 7, 1859 (Rosenberg Li-
brary, Galveston); Constztutzon and By-Laws of the Howard Associatzon of Galveston (Galveston: Civil-
ian Office, 1854), 7, 11 (quotation); Galveston Daily News, Sept. 3o, Oct. 6, 1870; Galveston
Weekly News, Sept. 13. o20, 27, 1853, Sept. 5, 1854, Sept. 14, 21, Nov. 2, 1858; W. and D. Richard-
son, Galveston Dzrectory for 1859-6o (Galveston: W. and D. Richardson, 1859), 86; Peggy Hil-
dreth, "The Howard Association of Galveston: The 185os, Their Peak Years," East Texas Historical
Journal, XVII, No. 2 (1979), 33-43.
s Ernest W. Winkler and Llerena Friend (eds.), Check List of Texas Imprnts, Volume II,
1861z-876 (2 vols., Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1949, 1963), 34; Galveston Tn-
Weekly News, Oct. 17, 1861; Galveston Weekly News, Sept. to, 1862,Jan. 11, 18, Feb. 1, 1865.
4 H. P. N. Gammel (comp.), The Laws of Texas, 1822-1897 (lo vols.; Austin: Gammel Book
Co., 1898), V, 1257-1259, VII, 1 105; Winkler and Friend (eds.), Check List of Texas Imprnts, 341,
446; Galveston Tri-Weekly News, Sept. 3 (quotation), 7, Dec. 9, 1866; Alice Bruce Currlin, Commu-
nity Welfare: Houston, Texas (Houston: Community Chest and Council of Houston and Harris
County, 1946), 55.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 97, July 1993 - April, 1994, periodical, 1994; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117154/m1/30/?rotate=90: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.