The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 15, July 1911 - April, 1912 Page: 153
382 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Destruction of Historical Archives of Texas 153
Gillet was aroused by [the] noise of fire close to him. He rushed
[from] his room and discovered the adjoining [room] containing
the archives of the Adju[tant] General's Department in flames.
The win[dow] shutter was open and had been, no doubt, [force]d.
At this point it is supposed the in [cendiar]y entered and fired
the papers in the [said] office. All the army rolls, in fact every
[impo]rtant paper in relation to the military affairss of Texas,
were consumed. There is [no m]eans to procure duplicates.
The burn [ing] of no other archives could have been a [grea]ter
loss to Texas. It will open the door [to th] e defrauding of many
persons of their [just] rights. Maj. Gillet made a rather nar [row]
escape himself-a few more minutes [woul]d have sufficed to
envelope his sleeping [apar] tment in flames. He lost all his
house[hold] and kitchen furniture-barely escaping [with] the
clothes by his bedside.
[Pr]ovidentially there was little breeze else [the] fire would
have spread.
[T]he incendiary who committed this attro[cious] deed, was,
it is supposed, implicated in [the] forging transactions brought
to light a [few] months since.
[T]wo years ago Maj. Gillet called the at[tenti]on of the leg-
islature to the propriety of [placi]ng these important papers in a
fire proof buildingn. Just then they were seized with [a ke]en
fit of economy and refused. They [can] now see the result of
their unwise parsi [moni] ousness-'Pennywise-pound-foolish.'
Early on 'Thursday morning last, the office of the adjutant gen-
eral was discovered to be on fire, and in a short time the whole
building was enveloped in flames. Gen. Gillett was barely able to
save a few clothes. All the records of the office, and a large num-
ber of important papers filed in the cases of applicants for relief
are destroyed. It will be necessary for the legislature to make
some provision for the identification of the claims proved by the
records in this office. There is no doubt that the fire was the
work of an incendiary. Gen. Gillett had carefully avoided having
any fire kept in his room for some time past. The window of the
office was found open, and the fire appeared to have been built on
the floor. It is very likely that it was the work of some parties
implicated in the charge of forgery, in whose cases the evidence of
guilt was to be found in the Adjutant's office. We hope some clue
may yet be found for the discovery of the offenders. The Gazette
office was immediately opposite the building destroyed, and had a
North wind been blowing, we should have been burnt out, and
also the block in which are situated the Hall House and Metro-
politan.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 15, July 1911 - April, 1912, periodical, 1912; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101056/m1/158/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.