The Baron de Bastrop Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas met Friday, Jan. 13 at First National Bank of Bastrop. President Mariann Laughlin opened the meeting and chaplain JoNell Majors gave the invocation. After reports from officers, the Daughters were pleased to welcome new prospective member, Emily Dillon, who completed her papers and turned them in to registrar Evelyn Wolf. Emily joins members Willie Gattis, Hannah Grothues and Patti Mauck as descendents of Alamo defender, Gordon C. Jennings.

Gordon, known by his contemporaries as a kind and respectable man, was probably manning the artillery when, following a 13-day siege, the Mexican army stormed the garrison after being hurled back twice by furious artillery and rifle fire. The oldest defender at the Alamo, Gordon died before the end of an hour and a half of brutal hand-to-hand combat.

Vice-president Alyce Ferguson gave two interesting talks: the first on Republic of Texas President Mirabeau B. Lamar, a good statesman and father of Texas education, who nevertheless carried with him the prejudices of his generation. Alyce went on to speak about “Remarkable Texas Woman.” Alyce stated that women had generally been ignored in history books until the 1975 Texas Women History Project.

“When Mary Maverick’s [wife of cattle baron Samuel Maverick] writings surfaced,” Alyce said, “that’s when they started studying other women.”

Alyce cited several women such as Peggy McCormick, the owner of the land the Battle of San Jacinto was fought on. Peggy, incensed at the pitiful sight of dead carcasses everywhere, put on her pistol, confronted Sam Houston and told him to clean up his mess or else. Molly, wife of the famous Charles Goodnight, saved the buffalo from extinction by taking in several and protecting them.  She was the first conservationist in Texas.  In December 1842, Sam Houston, disliking Austin as the location of the capital, secretly ordered the Texas Rangers to remove the archives. Angelina Belle Peyton Eberly, an innkeeper, realized what they were doing and with quick thinking fired the six-pound cannon city officials kept loaded with grapeshot in case of an Indian attack. Austinites quickly responded to Angelina’s warning, and a statue of Angelina stands in downtown Austin to this day.

“What is a Texas woman?” Alyce asked. “She could do anything she was called on to do. One way or another, she would make it happen.”

The Daughter’s February meeting on Friday, Feb. 10 will feature registrar Wolf, explaining how to do ancestor research. After the March 9 meeting, Jonell Majors will give a tour of the Oak Hill Cemetery, where Dorothy Edwards will demonstrate the art of grave dousing. Dorothy is so accurate she can tell if a man or a woman is buried in an unmarked grave.