The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 1, July 1897 - April, 1898 Page: 286
334 p. : ill., ports., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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286 Texas Historical Association Quarterly.
day as I was playing under a tree before the door I heard my name
called and looking up saw aunt and sister alighting from a carri-
age at the gate. I was so surprised and overjoyed that I cried in-
stead of laughing-the only time I remember shedding "tears of
joy;" but had I known the cause of their coming, tears would not
have been out of place; it was the news of the fall of the Alamo.
After a perilous delay, father returned from the army to remove
his family, and when we crossed the Brazos we heard the drums in
Santa Anna's army at San Felipe.
The next school which I remember was at our own house in 1837.
Miss McHenry taught a boarding school for girls and mother at
the same time a class of boys. There were in all twenty or more
lodged and boarded as best we could in our unfinished cabins in
the wilderness. A brave and cheery little company,
"Whom, borne on fancy's eager wing
Back to the season of life's joyous spring
I pleased remember."
If I were a poet I would echo their laughter and portray their
plays in a volume which should perpetuate their little history and
the fragrance of the primeval wilds would be wafted through its
pages.
The studies were of every grade. The pupils were carefully in-
structed in the art of reading well, and as a help to that end were
encouraged to memorize verses, some of which I can still repeat from
hearing them recited so long ago. I remember also hearing them re-
cite their grammar and spelling lessons, but of course I could not
tell how well. Had the school been sustained so that adequate ac-
comodations could have been provided, it would probably have had
a notable influence in the country. But it did not prove financially
successful, and after two or three sessions it was discontinued.
I have a vivid recollection of learning the alphabet when I was
about four years old, and mother, who was my teacher, also re-
membered the difficulties of the task. The letter t, of the minor
type, was the greatest stumbling block. I called it p, and remem-
ber that I thought it was meant for a picture of a pig. The letter
s I learned at once, because I thought it was a picture of a snake,
and I knew that creature hissed. Men of science gathering data
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 1, July 1897 - April, 1898, periodical, 1897/1898; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101009/m1/312/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.