True stories of old Houston and Houstonians: historical and personal sketches / by S. O. Young. Page: 83
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HOUSTON AND HOUSTONIANS 83
state. He was a progressive, all right. He came to Texas in
1828 and settled down about Harrisburg.
He was a man of great energy and enterprise. His boats
were the first to come up Buffalo Bayou and he made the first
permanent improvements at Harrisburg, establishing quite an extensive
manufacturing plant there. He had a sawmill, a blacksmith
shop, a wagon and wheel shop and had several good houses
for his workmen.
When the revolution broke out he contributed largely to the
cause, and Santa Anna made him pay dearly for his patriotism,
for he burned up everything he could lay his hands on.
The war ruined him, but he would not stay ruined, and while
the Republic of Texas and the State of Texas, with the proverbial
ingratitude of republics, failed to reimburse him for his
losses, he succeeded in making what was considered at that time
to be a modest fortune before his death.
I am not certain, but it is my impression that the body of
"Honest Bob" Wilson lies in or near the old Catholic Cemetery
down in the Second Ward. I have not been there for many
years, but I am almost certain that there ts a marble shaft
erected over his grave.
JOE TYRAN AND HAMP COOK.
NE afternoon recently I was in a book store on Main Street
when a gentleman who is a candidate for a county office
came in. The book man asked him how his campaign
was coming on and the candidate assured him that he had everything
going his way and that there could be no doubt of his triumphant
election. He said he had a majority of the votes
pledged to him already and that they were coming his way all
the time. He was absolutely confident of his election.
After he went away the book man told me that the chap would
come out about fourth in the race. I don't know anything about
local politics, nor about the candidates, either, but from what I
know of elections in the past it will not surprise me if the book
man's prediction proves to be true. I could never understand
why it is so, but it is true, nevertheless, that so soon as a man
becomes a candidate for office he is seized with a species of
insanity which may be called cacoethes credenti, or, in plain
English, he becomes a sucker and believes everything that the
voters tell him. He may be a hard-headed business man and one
who weighs everything and gives it its true value, but when he
becomes a candidate he reverses his methods and becomes the
most credulous being on earth. It is strange, but it is true. Perhaps
the candidate loses no advantage by becoming that way,
for each one of his opponents is equally guilty.
About the most amusing case of this kind of credulity that
ever came under my personal observation occurred several years
ago here in Houston. The Harris County Democratic convention
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Young, Samuel Oliver. True stories of old Houston and Houstonians: historical and personal sketches / by S. O. Young., book, 1913; Galveston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth24646/m1/83/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.