Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, Volume 10, Number 1, January 2000 Page: 61
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Consider the Lily: The Ungilded History of Colorado County, Texas
and probably elsewhere. The Alleyton black school was conducted by Alex F. Kinnison,
who also served as a county commissioner.78
When Robert P. Tendick returned from the legislature in 1873, he was ap-
pointed postmaster, but otherwise retired from politics and concentrated his attention on his
store in Columbus. In 1874, he moved it to a larger building on Spring Street. Soon, his store
was the best in town. His success stemmed in part from the presence of the post office next
door, but also from his commitment to low prices and high sales volumes, a practice which he
introduced to the county, and which he encouraged other store owners in Columbus to
follow. In 1875, when most other stores in the county were operated by their owners and
perhaps one clerk, his store employed a manager and five clerks. In 1876, he spent six
weeks in the northeast, buying goods for the store, and for a new enterprise, a wholesale
distribution house that he opened near the railroad depot. His success led to the complete
rehabilitation of his public image. In 1871, the Colorado Citizen had called him "an adven-
turer, who by fraud, occupies a seat in the State Senate" and had added, "I would suggest to
this swindler ... that there is a vacant cell in the State penitentiary awaiting him." Five years
later, and under new editorial guidance, the newspaper lauded him for doing "more than
anybody we know of in this town to revolutionize the mercantile business." 79
78 Colorado Citizen, August 6, 1874, September 17, 1874, March 18, 1875, August 12, 1875,
August 19, 1875, August 26, 1875, September 23, 1875, November 16, 1876, January 18, 1877, December
13, 1877; Gammel, ed., The Laws of Texas, 1822-1897, vol. 8, pp. 811, 1035-1046; Samuel D. McLeary,
"School in Osage," in Hinton, Weimar, Texas First 100 Years 1873-1973, p. 286. The original directors
of the Colorado Institute were William S. Delany, Rowan Green, Robert H. Harrison, Jahu W. Johnson,
C. O. Nelson, Robert E. Stafford, James LeeTaylor, Exum P. Whitfield, and George Witting.
It will be remembered that what became Hermann Seminary had started out as Hermann
University. On August 10, 1870, the legislature incorporated a second Hermann University, this one to
be organized in Comal County, and assigned the league of land that had been designated for the
original Hermann University to it. Naturally, this created a problem, for an earlier legislature had
already given the league to Hermann Seminary. Perhaps for this reason, little more than a year later, on
November 1, 1871, the legislature revoked the charter of the second Hermann University (see Gammel,
ed., The Laws of Texas, 1822-1897, vol. 5, pp. 256-258, vol. 6, pp. 635-636, vol. 7, p. 164).
79 Record ofAppointment of Postmasters 1832-September 30, 1971, National Archives
Microfilm Publication M841, Roll 122; Colorado Citizen, October 5, 1871, July 16, 1874, December 23,
1875, April 13, 1876, June 1, 1876, October 12, 1876. Tendick became postmaster on September 22, 1873
and held onto the post until he resigned in early 1883. On January 1, 1879, he conveyed his store to
John A. Tendick and George W. Hoeffert, who operated it until it failed in November 1881. Robert
Tendick opened a bank in April 1879. However, his wife's health began to decline, and, in mid 1880,
acting on the advice of physicians who thought the climate might help her, he moved to San Antonio.
She died there, at the age of 33, in February 1881. He remained in San Antonio, becoming vice
president and manager of the San Antonio Brewing Association, and died there, quite wealthy, on
November 3, 1888 (see Colorado Citizen, December 26, 1878, April 10, 1879, February 17, 1881,
February 24, 1881, November 24, 1881, February 8, 1883, November 15, 1888, September 24, 1891).
61
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Nesbitt Memorial Library. Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, Volume 10, Number 1, January 2000, periodical, January 2000; Columbus, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth151408/m1/61/?q=nesbitt%20memorial%20library%20journal: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Nesbitt Memorial Library.