The Bryan Daily Eagle (Bryan, Tex.), Ed. 1 Sunday, June 24, 1962 Page: 1 of 75
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Rescuing Texas History, 2019 and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Private Collection of Mary Newton Maxwell.
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The B ryan Daily Eagle
Serving Bryan - College Station and the Brazos Valley Since 1876
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, SUNDAY, JUNE 24. 1962
TWENTY FOUR PAGES THIS SECTION
Library’s History Colorful
TEXAS HERO’S LAND GRANT
7
CENTENNIAL EDITION
*
Ransom L. Smith settled in Brazos County, and one of
his granddaughters, Mrs Dallas R. Andrews, now lives
in Bryan.
Started' By
Carnegie,
Local Club
4
,,
be-
companies
ending
and
the
|gg
Texas hero William Berry Smith was given this land
grant, dated 1837, for his service in the bitter struggle
to win Texas’ independence from Mexico. His son,
(Editor's Note: Much of the
following material was taken
from a talk on the history of
Hood's Brigade and the or-
ganization of its veterans
which emerged after the War
Between The States. The talk
was given in the court room
of the Bryan courthouse on
the night of May 21, 1962. by
one of America's foremost au-
thorities on the Civil War.
The speaker's name: Col.
Harold Simpson, who is pre-
sently comptroller of the 12th
Air Force stationed at James
Connally Air Force Base near
Waco, Texas.
Col. Simpson, who graduat-
ed from the University of
Illinois in 1940, has been
studying the Civil War for
some 34 years, and he has a
library of over 600 books on
the subject. He is author of
a book, "Brawling Brass," in
which he presents various
argument occurring between
top officers in both the Con-
federate and Union forces,
and he is presently working
on an intensive study of the
Hood's Brigade, for a longer
book io be published next
year.)
Col. Simpson started with the
general organization of Hood’s
Brigade in the War. The Bri-
gade contained the only Texans
that went to Virginia and fought
with Gen. Robert E. Lee, in the
early days of the war,
ginning with five
straggling east, and
with units from Arkansas
Georgia, combined with
Texas units-
First commander of the
Brigade was Louis T. Whigfall,
who after a few months was
given the choice of returning
to his previous profession in
political life, oi’ resigning com-
pletely from any leadership
positions. His record was one
of incompetence, and he re-
a&MufiSSah J
At the turn of the century in
Bryan there was no public free
library. Only a small rental li-
brary, located on the second
floor of the James and Foun-
tain Drug Store was available.
An outside stairway led to the
meager book selection.
But two years later, under
the urging of the Mutual Im-
provement Club, later to be-
come the Woman’s Club, the
Carnegie Foundation granted
Bryan $10,000 with which to
build a free public library.
It was Mrs. G. M. Brandon
and Mrs. Rose Fountain Howell,
members of the MIC, who spur-
red action by contacting T. W.
Stewart, a friend of Carnegie.
A few months later, on May
9, 1902, the city council passed
an ordinance accepting the do-
nation and making plans for the
’ 1 ibrary.
Two aidermen, T. A. Searcy
and W. R. Johnston were nam-
ed as representatives of the city
in negotiating details for the
library.
Requirements of the donation
specified the city was to fur-
nish a suitable location and
plot of land for the proposed li-
brary and agree to maintain the
library.
The structure was built on
the City Park land donated by
the city. It was completed and
dedicated in the fall of 1902 and
members of the first library
board were announced.
Those chosen to serve on the
board were: Mrs. W. S. Howell,
Mrs. G. M. Brandon, Mrs. M.
W. Sims, Mrs. L. L. McInnis,
Miss Lillie Wilson, F. M. Law,
Dr. P. M. Raysor, Capt, W. E.
Saunders and J. H- Allen.
The board was set up to be
re-appointed every two years.
Until 1952 the library oc-
cupied only the bottom floor of
the two-story brick building.
The second floor was used as an
auditorium for meetings by
various kinds. The Bryan Lit-
tle Theater at one time held
rehearsals in the library’s faci-
lities.
Also, many church congre-
gations used the auditorium as
a temporary meeting place.
The two world wars saw the
top floor used for service or-
ganizations and the Red Cross.
Nine years ago the second
floor area was made into a
children’s reading room.
Miss Mattie Watkins was the
first librarian, serving for five
years- Next was Miss Lillie
Wilson, who held the post for
several years.
'Die third librarian, Miss Wil-
lie Rogers devoted more than
20 years to the development of
the library, as its head.
Then, Miss Margaret Sims
took the job, and her service
for two years saw the library
completely redecorated and a
(See EIGHT, Page 6)
Colorf ul Talk Given by Author
turned to the Confederate Con-
gress where he became the main
foil of President Jefferson Davis
throughout the war.
He was replaced by John
Bell Hood, a gallant profession-
al soldier from Tennessee whose
leadership* and adoration caused
his name to remain with the
Brigade, even after he had left
it. Hood had a remarkable ser-
vice record, entering as a first
lieutenant in the early part of
the war, and climbing up the
ranks quite promptly.
Before the war was over,
Hood was a four-star general;
he had command of Hood’s
Brigade until he was trans-
ferred to command Confederate
forces in Tennessee, as the war
progressed.
General Hood was replaced
by a man named William T.
Wafford, who was followed by
Jerome B. Robertson, a doctor.
Others commanding the Bri-
(See SEVEN, Page 2)
General John Bell Hood was
born at Owensville, Ky., June
29, 1831. The son of a physician,
young Hood won an appoint-
ment to West Point when he
was 17, graduating with a com-
mission in 1853. He was initially
assigned to duty in California.
In California, Hood met the
quartermaster of his unit, a cap-
named^U. S. Grant.
years he was
io the newly
Second Cavalry, com-
manded by Col. Albert Sidney
Johnson. Second-in-command
wa^Lt. Col. R. E. Lee. The
secbAd had various assign-
mei’ns, winding up in Texas to
Indians.
Hood then received orders at-
taching him to the permanent
post at West Point as chief of
cavalry.
The young officer rejected the
Hew duty because of rumblings
(See SIX, Page 5)
General Hood Hood’s Brigade History Told;
Had Bright
Career, Life
Upcoming Pages
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The Bryan Daily Eagle (Bryan, Tex.), Ed. 1 Sunday, June 24, 1962, newspaper, June 24, 1962; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1313714/m1/1/?q=Booker+Washington+principal: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Private Collection of Mary Newton Maxwell.