Texas Journal of Genealogy and History, Volume I, Fall 2002 Page: 16
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turned politician and Democratic jour-
nalist. The girl lived in Green's home-
town of LaGrange with her six siblings,
where she enjoyed not only the attention
of Captain Green but also Lieutenant
Colonel Walker. She delayed her final
marriage decision when both her suitors
left for Mexico. Green returned from
Monterrey to renew his campaign to win
Miss Chalmer's heart, Walker returned
to Mexico to die a hero's death. Green
had picked home and family over mili-
tary glory, and the first of many children
followed within a year. Among politi-
cians and the elite in Austin, Green's
home soon became a center of the city's
social life. Mary ruled her home as a
queen, where one observer described
her as "young, clever, and imminently
and decidedly Texan. She was witty and
sarcastic and many were afraid of her
criticisms. She dressed well and enter-
tained delightfully."21 In 1850, Mary's
mother died leaving six orphans, and
Green adopted them all. Although his
clerkship of the Supreme Court kept
him traveling for many weeks at a time,
he earned the reputation for being a lov-
ing father for his growing family-six of
whom were his, and six of whom were
actually in-laws.When the crises of secession came,
Green's mind was clear and his duty ob-
vious. The forty-seven year old former
ranger left his job while the Supreme
Court was in session in Tyler to travel to
Austin and to again offer his sword to
Texas. In the course of his military re-
tirement, he had observed with growing
interest the sectional crises. "The battle
for the right to govern ourselves and
control out own institutions had to be
fought with the fanatics of the north at
some time, and I expect it had as well
be by us as our children," he wrote. "We
are no doubt better prepared for the
fight than our children would have been
and will bring more nerve to the conflict
that they would as the injuries received
from the nasal twanged, self righteous,
witch killing fanatics are more recent
and fresh with us."
Tom Green had written those senti-
ments when secession was new, war
fever was upon the land, and no shoot-
ing had actually occurred but he un-
derstood what was expected of him as
a Texan. His early beliefs and military
experience remained firmly rooted. In
September, 1861, when preparing for
the New Mexico Campaign, his first of
the war, he had written a letter to easethe concern of his father, who had im-
plored his son to remain behind and
care for his sizable brood. "Your re-
marks about the propriety of remain-
ing at home by me during this war has
been more maturely and deliberately
considered than any subject that has
ever been before me," Green had writ-
ten from his home in Austin. "The
Whole State of Texas expects me to
take a part in this war, and I would
feel that I had more grievously disap-
pointed my friends and the people of
the state if I had remained at home
while the war was raging. No man in
the state has stronger ties at home
than I have," he wrote.
Green also knew that his position in
the state carried with it a grave responsi-
bility, much as it had during the days of
the Republic. Real Texans answered the
call to arms, even forty-seven-year-olds
with large families. "No man is looked
to with more to show his hand in this
struggle," he informed his father. "I
would go into the service if I positively
knew that the first shot fired would kill
me. I am determined to bequeath to my
children a name they will in all future
time be proud of."Notes
1. John J. Linn, Reminiscences of Fifty Years in
Texas (Austin: State House Press, 1986), 213.
2. As qutoed in Mark E. Nackman, "The Making
of the Texan Citizen Soldier," SWHQ 78 (3), 231-
233
3. Mark E. Nackman, "The Making of the Texan
Citizen Soldier," SWHQ 78 (3), 235
4. James T, DeSheilds, ed., Border wars of Texas
(Austin: State House Press, 1993), 264-268
5. James T, DeSheilds, ed., Border wars of Texas
(Austin: State House Press, 1993), 308-312
6. Frank X. Tolbert, The Day of San Jacinto
(Austin: Pemberton Press, 1959), 151.7. Joseph Milton Nance, Attack and Counter At-
tack: The Texas Mexican Frontier, 1842 (Austin, UT
Preee, XXXX), 67, 93.
8. Nance
9. Nance, Haynes
10. Nance, 441.
11. Dudley G. Wooten, ed., A Comprehensive
History of Texas (Austin: The Texas State Historical
Association, XXXX), 18.
12. Tom Cutrer, Ben McCulloch and the Frontier
Military Tradition (Chapel Hill: University of North
Carolina Press, 1993), 3-4
13. As quoted in Henry w. Barton, Texa Volun-teers in the Mexican War (Whichita Falls, Texas:
Henry W. Barton, 1970), 44.
14. As quoted in James Kimmins Greer, Colonel
Jack Hays: Texas Frontier Leader and California
Builder (College Station: Texas A&M University
Press, 1987), 135.
15. Greer, 140; Barton, 56.
16. Greer 141
17. Greer, 145
18. Faulk, 28
19. Faulk, 29
20. Green, Hays, 154-155
21. SAN ANGELO STUFF?16
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Howard Payne University. Texas Journal of Genealogy and History, Volume I, Fall 2002, periodical, 2002; Brownwood, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth599838/m1/19/: accessed May 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Howard Payne University Library.