Teri Thackston

January 1, 2019

Happy New Year, everyone! We had a noisy night with fireworks going off all around us, but it was exciting. I'm working on the 4th in my western series--no title, yet, but the book is about the life and love of Tabor Chandler, an emotionally wounded Civil War officer. 

September 3, 1895

On this day in 1895, the last surviving signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, died less than two weeks before his ninety-first birthday. William Carrol Crawford was a native of North Carolina. He moved to Texas in 1835, settling in Shelby County. He and Sydney O. Penington represented Shelby County at the Convention of 1836 which took place in Washington-on-the-Brazos. There, they participated in writing the Texas Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the Republic of Texas. Although all the signers are long gone, they documented in writing the spirit of independence that has continued in Texans to this day. One has only to look at the way Texans responded to the tragedy of Hurricane Harvey over this past ten days or so to see that the spirit of our early colonies is still alive and strong. May it continue as “…we fearlessly and confidently commit the issue to the decision of the Supreme arbiter of the destinies of nations.”

August 20, 1886

I’ve been fascinated by the story of Indianola, Texas for years. At one time, it was the second busiest port in Texas—after Galveston—with deep-water piers and as many as five thousand residents. But two nineteenth-century hurricanes made it obvious that it was a town that wasn’t meant to be. On this day in 1886, the town, which was located on Matagorda Bay in Calhoun County, was wiped out by the second hurricane and fire. All that remains is an old cistern and a quiet beach, along with a few written memories by former residents to inspire the imagination.



For more information, check out TexasDayByDay.com