Lady Liberty in New York Harbor

When someone says “Lady Liberty,” they usually know that reference is made to the Statue of Liberty that raises a torch high above the harbor at Ellis Island in New York at a location now named Liberty Island.

     June 19, 2016 marks the 131^st anniversary of the statue’s arrival in New York Harbor from France, for it was on that date in 1885 that the 214 crates bearing the disassembled giant statute created by French sculptor Frederic August Bartholdi were unloaded from the French frigate “Isere.”

     The Statue of Liberty was a joint effort between the United States and the French governments. The idea came about soon after the end of the U. S. Civil War in 1865. The French government proposed making the statue if the United States government would build the base and pedestal. The total effort was to be a commemoration of the friendship between the two countries that had existed since before America won her freedom from Great Britain following the American Revolution. The proposal coming so soon after cessation of the Civil War was France’s congratulations that this country would make amends and reestablished a United States.

     Raising funds for such a massive project was not easy either in America or France. Money was raised in the United States for the giant base and pedestal by various benefits like theatrical performances, art exhibitions, auctions, and prizefights. Joseph Pulitzer used the editorial pages of his paper, “The World,” to criticize the rich for not donating to such a worthwhile cause and to challenge all to give for the pedestal’s erection. Monies came in and the pedestal was finished in April, 1886. In France, money had been raised through a lottery, public fees, and various forms of entertainment.

     To help sculptor Bartholdi with the work, the designer of the famed Eiffel Tower in Paris, Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, was enlisted to create the skeleton of the monument. Sculptor Bartholdi designed the “skin” to go over the skeleton, made of copper and fashioned in such a way that the skin would actually “give” (or expand and contract), a condition needed for the statue’s preservation in the strong winds of New York Harbor.

     Although the crates containing the statue materials arrived on July 19, 1885, it actually took four months of intensive work to assemble both the pedestal accoutrements and the statue and its framework packed in 214 crates. On October 28, 1886, the magnificent lady was completely reassembled, ready for presentation, and a dedication service was led by President Grover Cleveland with thousands watching the impressive rites.

     Lady Liberty, looming aloft in New York Harbor, has been the inspiration and symbol of hope for millions of immigrants seeking freedom and a new way of life in America. In 1883, before the concept of a statue and a freedom monument was agreed upon by France and America, Emma Lazarus wrote a poem as a part of a fund-raising contest. Entitled “The New Colossus,” words of the sonnet were selected to grace the entrance area to the pedestal. The words have inspired visitors to the monument since 1886. The most quoted lines of the poem are

“Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free;

The wretched refuge of your teeming shore;

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me.

I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

     Several renovations and improvements to the Statue have been made during the years, the most extensive in 1986, the 100^th anniversary of its dedication. At times it has been closed as repairs and improvements have been made . Bedloe’s Island was renamed Liberty Island in 1965. In 1965, more than a decade after it was closed as a federal immigration station, Ellis Island became a part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument.

     Today, the Statue of Liberty is termed to be the most recognized symbol of freedom anywhere in the world, and the world’s most outstanding landmark.

(Published in “The News Observer, Blue Ridge, GA. June 8, 2016. ©2016 by Ethelene Dyer Jones. All rights reserved.)

Another Battle Cry: “Remember Goliad!”

Unknown to Colonel James Walker Fannin, Jr., General Santa Anna overruled the surrender agreement made by General Urrea. Santa Anna declared it was a “war to the death” and ordered execution of all captives.

     On Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836, Fannin’s men were marched in file formation in three lines to a peach orchard adjoining the Presidio. They were shot at close range and bayoneted by Mexican soldiers. About fifty tried to escape by running for cover and jumping into the San Antonio River. They were targets for Mexican sharpshooters. Only one or two survived to tell the gruesome story.

     Following execution of his 342 men, guards brought Colonel Fannin, strapped to a chair and blind-folded, into the courtyard at the Presidio. He was shot.

     Bodies of the massacred soldiers were stirpped, piled in a large heap in a field outside the Presidio, with Colonel Fannin’s body at the top. A bonfire was lighted and the bodies burned.

     Of the 343 men killed that day, 141 of them were former Georgians. They had gone to Texas to claim land and make homes. They became martyrs in the Texas War for Independence.

     Called the darkest day in Texas history, the Goliad massacre of Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836, succeeded in adding one more rallying battle cry to the Texans’ repertoire. “Remember Goliad!” Combined with “Remember the Alamo!” this new cry spurred patriotism and determination.

     Amazingly, only one month after the massacre at Goliad, on April 21, 1836, General Santa Anna met defeat at the Battle of San Jacinto. That battle lasted only fifteen minutes.

     Texas became a free republic. A little more than nine years later, on December 29, 1945, Texas was annexed as a state in the United States of America.

     Today, visitors to the Alamo, Goliad, Fannin and Coleto Creek see these places and wonder at the sacrifices in suffering and blood that earned Texas its independence. The museums and monuments, programs and printed guides give mute evidence of the price paid for Texas’ liberty.

     At Goliad, a monument and cannon honor Colonel James Walker Fannin, Jr, Hero of Goliad. At Presidio la Bahia, visitors cans see the rooms where Fannin and his men were captives. Nearby, a huge granite stone bears the names of the 343 men who were massacred, burned, then buried in a common grave when their charred remains were interred on June 3, 1836. A solemn pageant is held yearly on or near March 27 to honor these men.

     In the town of Goliad at the Corner Souvenir Shop, we met and talked to Dorothy Simmons, a mover and shaker behind the pageant held each March to commemorate the massacre at Goliad. In her, we found a kindred spirit, a history-lover, one who appreciates and honors those who pledged and gave “their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor” for the cause of freedom.

     Even the leaves of “The Hanging Tree” on the lawn at the Goliad County Courthouse whispered a rustle of peace to us, a testimony to a young man from Georgia, who, at the age of 32, gave the supreme sacrifice for the freedom of Texas.

     After our trek into Texas history, I have a greater appreciation for Colonel James Walker Fannin, Jr., Fannin County’s namesake. I hope his story gives you a sense of pride and patriotism, too.

[©2015. Ethelene Dyer Jones. First published in The News Observer, Blue Ridge, Georgia, August 19, 1992, Section A, Page 4.]

Coleto Creek and Capture

Preparing to meet General Jose Urrea and his Mexican Army, Colonel James Walker Fannin, Jr. tried to reach a wooded knoll near Coleto Creek which would give his small army of 400 better advantage. Due to press of time and lack of reinforcements, he decided to fortify in the open prairie.

     He formed his 400 men into a hollow square with ammunition and baggage in the center. About 2,000 Mexican soldiers surrounded Fannin’s men on all sides. The first day’s defensive fighting saw six fatalities and forty wounded among Fannin’s men. The Mexicans lost 300, with 350 wounded. During the cease-fire at night, Fannin directed his men to work on entrenchments.

     By daybreak, the roar of cannon gave evidence of Mexican reinforcements. Fannin’s men, although they had cannons, could not fire because they had no water to swab the guns. Their ammunition was very low.

     Despite the great odds, the Mexicans were first to raise a flag of truce. Colonel Fannin agreed to terms of surrender that would spare the lives of his remaining 342 men in exchange for Mexican prisoners of war.

     On Sunday, March 20, 1836, General Jose Urrea imprisoned Fannin’s regiment at Presidio La Bahia at Goliad. The fort had a rich history. Established in 1721, it had served as a Spanish mission and fort during French incursions.

     On October 9, 1835, Captain George Collinsworth had attacked the Presidio and captured it from the Mexicans. Texas’s first Declaration of Independence was signed there December 20, 1835. It was recaptured by the Mexicans and became the prison where Fannin and his men were held.

     For a week the captives were subjected to hard labor with nothing to eat but raw beef of inferior quality. Many of the men were wounded and sick. Fannin himself suffered wounds of battle. The captors showed little compassion.

     Captives from other Texan units were also held at the Presidio. From memoirs of one of the prisoners who escaped, Colonel James Wood of Captain William P. Miller’s company, an account of the battle near Coleto Creek has been preserved.

     Colonel Wood emphasized in his diary that Colonel Fannin surrendered because he wished to spare the lives of his remaining men. No other recourse was possible, outnumbered and surrounded as they were by Urrea’s forces.

(Next: Another Victory Cry: “Remember Goliad!”)

[©2015. Ethelene Dyer Jones. First published in The News Observer, Blue Ridge, Georgia, August 12, 1992, Section B, Page 5.]

Fannin, Hero of Goliad

James Walker Fannin’s honorable discharge from the Texas Volunteer Army occurred November 22, 1835. He lost no time, however, in seeking to continue enlisting men for the regular army. On December 7, 1835 he was commissioned by General Sam Houston as a Colonel in the Texas Army. The General Council of Texas immediately appointed Fannin to the task of seeking reinforcements and supplies.

     The next major battle was the Siege of Bexar waged December 5-9, 1835. Benjamin Rusk Milam commanded the Texas troops. The freed Negro, Hendrick Arnold, was scout and guide for the siege. Colonel Milam lost his life when a rifle ball hit him on December 8.

     The 300-men strong Texas regiment kept fighting and defeated Mexico’s General Martin Perfecto de Cos. On December 9 a white flag of surrender flew from Military Plaza in San Antonio. In papers of capitulation, General Cos turned over the store of arms, ammunition, supplies, money and public property in San Antonio to the Texans. Cos and his Mexican Army retreated south of the Rio Grande River.

     The supplies confiscated from Cos were added to the store Fannin had already accumulated. These were stored for future use, for the major battles of the war lay ahead.

     Still in service as an agent for the Texas General Council (the provisional government), Fannin continued to recruit soldiers. He was Colonel for the volunteers in the Matamoros Expedition of January, 1836. That exploit did not materialize because Fannin’s forces were no match for the Mexican Army under General Jose Urrea.

     Fannin’s charge from February 12 through March 12, 1836 was as commander-in-chief of the army stationed at Goliad. Fannin worked to strengthen fortifications and supplies at Goliad. {Note: In the first article in this series, I mentioned that my husband and I took a trip to Texas to seek out information about Fannin County’s namesake. We visited Fort Goliad and examined the account in pictures and narration of Fannin’s work at the fort.]

     Meanwhile, the Battle of the Alamo began at San Antonio on February 23, 1836. It raged for thirteen days. Lt. William B. Travis wrote on Feburary 23, 1836: “I shall never surrender or retreat…Come to our aid with all dispatch.”

     Fannin received orders to reinforce Travis’s regiment, consisting of 189 men. He did not respond because of the impossible situation. The Mexican Army surrounded the Alamo, and Fannin did not have forces strong enough to break the lines. Should his hesitancy to respond be considered cowardice? Or was his decision based on common sense?

     Fannin’s men were already tired and overextended in trying to quell skirmishes east of San Antonio around Mission Refugio. His previous experience as a scout gave him knowledge of the strength of General Santa Anna’s forces. His hands were therefore tied and he could not help Travis at the Alamo. His regiment remained at Fort Goliad.

     On March 6, 1836, Mexican forces scaled the walls and entered the fort at the Alamo. After ninety minutes of fierce fighting, all the Texans were annihilated except some women and servants who were there to do cooking and readying supplies for the army. Mexico’s losses were estimated at 1,600 men. Texas lost some famous warriors in the Battle of the Alamo: William Travis, David Crockett, James Bowie and James Butler Bonham.

     A new battle cry, “Remember the Alamo,” spurred the Texans to redouble their efforts. The Mexican Army advanced eastward toward Goliad.

     On March 19, 1836, cavalry scouts notified Colonel Fannin that a large Mexican force under General Urrea was near. Fannin’s small force of about 400 men began to prepare for the inevitable battle. There would be no escaping it at that juncture.

(Next: Coleto Creek and Capture)

[©2015. Ethelene Dyer Jones. First published in The News Observer, Blue Ridge, Georgia, August 5, 1992, Section B, Page 4.]

The ‘Lexington Shot’ of Texas

Colonel James Walker Fannin, Jr. led his Brazos Guards to Gonzales where other Texas units were preparing for attack against a Mexican fortification. On October 1, 1835, the first shot of the Texas War for Independence was fired. Ironically, the shot came from a cannon called the “Come and Take It” which had been loaned to Texas settlers by the Mexican government as a defense against Indian attacks.

     This came to be known as the ‘Lexington Shot’ of Texas, recalling that the first shot of the American Revolution was fired at Lexington.

     On October 6, 1835, Fannin was one of a committee that approached General Stephen F. Austin asking for aid and reinforcements for the troops at Gonzales. Austin complied, moving the major portion of the Texas Army toward that site and nearby Bexar. General Austin then sent Colonel Fannin and Colonel James Bowie as scouts to determine conditions between Gonzales and Bexar. They were also to secure food, ammunition and other supplies for the Texas Army.

     Fannin and Bowie selected Mission Conception (Mission Nuestra Senora de la Purisima Conception, founded by Franciscan Friars in 1731) at San Antonio as the campsite for the Texas Army.

     Fannin’s Brazos Guards and other Texas regiments moved to the mission, setting it up as a regular fort. From there, the Battle of Concepion was fought on October 28, 1835.

     Victories in these first battles gave the Texans the stamina and patriotic fervor needed to press forward against the Mexican Army. With great exhilaration they received word of the “Declaration of Causes” signed November 7, 1835 by the “Consultation of the Chosen Delegates of All Texas” headquartered in Austin. It is noteworthy that the first battles were fought in advance of the official document declaring grievances.

     Three days later, on November 7, 1835, Fannin received orders from General Austin to cut a Mexican supply route between Laredo and San Antonio. Fannin moved the Brazos Guards, fully intending to comply to the command. However, seeing that his troops were gravely outnumbered, and receiving no reinforcements, he ordered his men to return to headquarters.

     Evidently the retreat was counted as a wise maneuver, for on November 13, Commander-in-Chief Sam Houston offered James Walker Fannin, Jr. the post of inspector general for the regular army.

     Fannin declined the appointment and was honorably discharged from the Texas Volunteer Army. Would there be a come-back for this soldier from Georgia?

(Next: Fannin, Hero of Goliad)

[©2015. Ethelene Dyer Jones. First published in The News Observer, Blue Ridge, Georgia, Wednesday, July 29, 1992, Section A, Page 6.]

Col. Fannin and the Brazos Volunteers

Continuing biographical information on Colonel James Walker Fannin, Jr., namesake of Georgia’s county of Fannin, formed in 1854, this narrative proceeds with the account of his service in the Texas War for Independence and the Brazos Volunteers of which he was regimental commander.

     Why did the transplanted Georgian, James Walker Fannin, Jr., take such an interest in the Texas War for Independence? How did this settler in the Brazos Valley of Texas get volunteers for his regiment?

     A review of Texas history provides an immediate insight to both questions.

     When Fannin moved to Texas in 1834, Texas was still under Mexican rule. After 300 years under Spanish colonial rule, Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821. From 1821 through 1836, Mexico had thirteen different presidents. With such instability in Mexico’s government, intrigue was on every hand. Ambition motivated aggression Times were perilous.

     From 1821, Mexico continued the policy of Texan colonization, allowing immigrants from the eastern United States to take land grants and settle in Texas territory. Settlers had to take an oath of allegiance to the Mexican government.

     In 1824, Mexico redefined its territories. Texas lost its former standing as a full-fledged territory and was linked with Coahuila. The capital was moved from San Antonio to Saltillo. Coahuila was allowed eleven representatives. Texas was allowed only one.

     Year by year, rumbles of discontent grew louder. Settlers from Georgia and other eastern states on Texas soil remembered fathers and grandfathers who had fought in the American Revolution. They chafed under Mexico’s domination. With continued abuses from Mexico, the situation grew to fever pitch.

     In 1830, Mexico decreed that no further immigration from the eastern United States would be allowed. At stake under the new law were farmlands and plantations of many Texans.

     Into that hotbed of discontent, and defying Mexico’s ban on further settlers, James Walker Fannin, Jr. moved to Velasco in the fall of 1834 and claimed plantation lands in the Brazos River Valley near present-day Brazosport and Columbia. His partner was Joseph Mims, another Georgian transplanted to Texas.

     Less than a year after Fannin and Mims settled in Texas, Fannin was appointed on August 20, 1835 by the Texas Committee of Safety and Correspondence of Columbia to solicit influence for “The Consultation of the Chosen Delegates of All Texas.”

     This committee met at San Felip de Austin in the fall of 1835. The avowed intention of the Committee was to draw up an official paper listing grievances against General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the military despot of Mexico. His encroachments and abuses completely ignored the freedoms for its territories promised in the Federal Constitution of Mexico passed in 1824.

     Fannin did not lose any time after his appointment but moved immediately to enlist an army. On August 27, 1835, he drafted a letter to a U. S. Army officer in the east with two requests: (1) Financial Aid for the Texas Army; and (2) West Point officers to command it.

     He began to gather his own army known as the Brazos Volunteers or the Brazos Guards.

With extreme unrest against Mexico’s policies, and with freedom as their primary desire, volunteers began to sign up for the regiment Fannin headed. In September 1835, he pledged money for an expedition to capture the Mexican ship, “Veracruzana.” The exploit was unsuccessful but that did not deter Fannin’s efforts. He directed his energies toward continuing to build up the Brazos Guards.

(Next: The ‘Lexington Shot’ of Texas)

[©2015. Ethelene Dyer Jones. First published in The News Observer, Blue Ridge, Georgia, Wednesday, July 22, 1992, Section A, Page 5.]

Who Was James Walker Fannin, Jr?

Fannin County was created by an act of the Georgia Legislature at its 1853-1854 session and approved by the official signature of Governor Herschel V. Johnson on January 21, 1854.

     Fannin County was formed from land in both Gilmer and Union Counties, each of which had been created in 1832 from portions of what formerly was a large area of land from which the Cherokee Indians had been removed prior to and during the Trail of Tears.

     Fannin County was named for Colonel James Walker Fannin, Jr. Who was this man for whom Fannin County was named?

     For those among us with a bent toward history, we sometimes go out of our way to chase down historical clues. Such was the case when my husband, the Rev. Grover D. Jones, and I made a trip to Texas. We went there on a search for Fannin County history. We were picking up facts about Fannin County’s namesake, Colonel James Walker Fannin, Jr. Our trek yielded interesting tidbits of history and was a pleasurable pursuit.

     We knew in advance of the trip the basic facts about James Walker Fannin, Jr. He was known as “The Hero of Goliad” because of his contribution militarily to the Texas War for Independence against Mexico. His record stood him in good favor with Georgia legislators in January, 1854 when they considered a name for the new county established in North Georgia from Gilmer and Union.

     Born on January 1, 1804 in Georgia, son of Dr. Isham Fannin, he was adopted by his maternal grandfather, James W. Walker. That explains the “Walker” as his middle name, and why he sometimes went by the last name, “Walker.”

     At the early age of 15, July 1, 1819, he entered West Point Military Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He studied there two years, withdrawing in November, 1821.

     He married Minerva Fort on April 24, 1828. They had two daughters, Missouri (b. July 17, 1830) and Minerva (b. in 1832). He lived in Troup and Twiggs Counties in Georgia, tending plantations. He owned slaves.

     In 1827 he established one of the first ten stores begun in the new trading town of Columbus on the Chattahoochee River in Muscogee County. He served in various city and county government offices there, and was the brigade inspector of the Georgia Militia at Columbus.

     Fannin had a close friend in Columbus, M. B. LaMarr, publisher of “The Columbus Enquirer” newspaper. Fannin and LaMarr left for Texas in the fall of 1834. Their joint enterprise was a slave-trading business, fed by the large plantations established on land grants received by settlers to the Brazos River section of Texas.

     Evidence in letters from Fannin indicate that he was successful in his business. In 1834 he wrote: “My last voyage from the Island of Cuba with one hundred and fifty three succeeded admirably.”

     He jointly owned a large plantation on the Brazos River near Valesco with Joseph Mims, another Texas settler from Georgia. Fannin had thirty six slaves there. The rich black soil grew pecan trees, peach trees and cotton. Longhorn cattle grazed the grasslands. All seemed in readiness for a peaceful and prosperous life along the Brazos River.

     But forces were at work to interrupt the serenity of Texas settlers from Georgia and other southeastern states. Fannin’s military training and his love for freedom combined to make him an apt candidate to enter the Texas War for Independence. That he did, with gusto.

(Next: Colonel James Walker Fannin and the Brazos Volunteers).

[©2015. Ethelene Dyer Jones. First published in The News Observer, Blue Ridge, Georgia, Wednesday, July 15, 1992, Section A, Page 23.]