​Founding of Texas Society United States Daughters of 1812

Texas Society U.S.D. 1812 History 1903 - 1980

On Sunday, April 27, 1902 a “Federation Special” train carrying “Federation Special” club women and their husbands from New York and New Jersey was to pass through and make a brief stop-over in Austin. Ten special Pullman cars of club women had also departed for the Biennial meeting in Los Angeles. A Call meeting of those club women still in Austin resulted in provisions of suitable entertainment for the visitors.

It was arranged for these travelers to be given a drive thru the City of Austin with a view of the Capitol and the University of Texas and a stop at the Elizabeth Ney Studio, where refreshments would be served.

Local Presidents of the various organizations represented by the “Federation Special” were to meet and visit with these representatives. The Delegates of the various Clubs on the train were notified to look for their special greeters during the train stop in Austin.

One of the club women on the train was Mrs. William Gerry Slade, representing the newly chartered National Society United States Daughters of 1812. At this time there was not an 1812 organization in Texas, but Mrs. Z. T. Fulmore (Luella Robertson), a prominent club woman of Austin, was selected to greet Mrs. Slade. Mrs. Fulmore graciously made the greeting and presented a bouquet of flowers to Mrs. Slade. The few hours visit and discovery of mutual interests made these women firm friends. Organization of the Texas Society was the happy result!

Mrs. Slade, in her capacity as Organizer for the National Society believed the local Chapter should be the basis for the State Organization, with the State under control of the National by appointees from the President National until such time as qualified members could take control.

Following Mrs. Fulmore's appointment as the Organizer for N.S.U.S.D. of 1812 in Texas, the first meeting was held in the home of Mrs. J. E. Howze in Austin on June 9, 1903. Mrs. Fulmore had asked eleven ladies, who she thought were eligible, to this organizational meeting. These ladies were:

• Mrs. Z. T. Fulmore (Luella Robertson)
• Mrs. Fred A. Scott (Bird Cochran)
• Mrs. G. B. Stowe (Naomi Perry}
• Mrs. Cone Johnson (Birdie Robertson)
• Mrs. George W. Massie (Mary Eilers)
• Mrs. Alonzo T. McKean (Laura Eilers)
• Mrs. Howard H. Taylor (Mary Perry)
• Mrs. George L. Walton (A. M. Moore)
• Mrs. J. H. Langsford (Chloe Leigh Taliaferro)
• Mrs. Elton Perry (Lucy Smith)
• Mrs. T. A. Brown (Mary Robertson)
• Mrs. J. E. Howze (Rosa A. Woolsey)

Other names were added to this group of twelve women during the next few years, but these twelve were our proud beginners!

This group elected Mrs. Z. T. Fulmore as President or Regent, and she was to invite and guide qualified ladies to membership in the Oliver Hazard Perry Chapter of Texas. This group functioned as the Texas Society, with the Oliver Hazard Perry Chapter being formally chartered November 9, 1907, four years after the Chapter's organization.

CHARTER MEMBERS OF THE TEXAS SOCIETY

• Antoinette Wells Steele (Mrs. Britton Davis)
• Luella Robertson (Mrs. Z. T. Fulmore)
• Bird Cochran (Mrs. Fred A. Scott)
• Naomi Perry (Mrs. G. B. Stowe)
• Birdie Robertson (Mrs. Cone Johnson)
• Mary Eilers (Mrs. George W. Massie}
• Ella Florence Fulmore (Mrs. W. C. Harllee)
• Laura A. Eilers (Mrs. L. E. McKean)
• Lolla E. McKean (Mrs. H. L. Marks)
• Mary Perry (Mrs. Howard H. Taylor)
• Amanda M. Moore (Mrs. George L. Walton)
• Ella Wiley (Mrs. Elijah Price Smith)
• Chloe Leigh Taliaferro (Mrs. J. H. Langsford)
• Fannie Morris Taliaferro (Mrs. Lee Mays Taylor)
• Mary Lee Horton (Mrs. Sidon Harris)
• Mattie Crutcher (Mrs. Charles F. Dickinson)
• Lucy Smith (Mrs. Elton Perry)
• Dora M. Fagan (Mrs. Henry Hart Neill)
• Victoria Shannon (Mrs. Edwin Moore)
• Alice Yturbide (Mrs. Edwin Bruce)
• Mary Robertson (Mrs. T. A. Brown)
• Annie Hill (Mrs. Henry Oscar Barthold)
• Rosa A. Woolsey (Mrs. Joseph E. Howze)
• Ida Boyd (Mrs. Joseph W. Robertson)
• Susan Farrow (Mrs. Thomas M. Bossom)
• Pauline Castleman (Mrs. Jourdon Walford Morris)

Fulmore Luella Robertson

War of 1812 Monument, Texas State Cemetery, Austin, TX

Plot of Mrs. Luella R. & Zachary T. Fulmore Oakwood Cemetery, Austin, Travis, TX

Society Marker at Mrs. Fulmore's Plot Oakwood Cemetery, Austin, Travis, TX; Plot: Sec 2, Lot 824

​Berry Springs Park Texas State Historical Marker in Georgetown

​(1786-1866) A native of Kentucky and veteran of the War of 1812, John Berry moved in 1816 to Indiana. In 1827 he brought his family to the Atascosito District of Texas. Mexico awarded him lots in Liberty and Mina (Bastrop) when those towns were founded. Berry's oldest sons, Joseph (1811-1842), John Bate (1813-1891), and Andrew Jackson (1816-1899), served in the Republic of Texas Army. All three were Texas Rangers before and after the War for Independence (1836) and in the Battle of Plum Creek (1840). Joseph was the first casualty in the Mier Expedition (1842), and John Bate was in Perote Prison for a year. A Williamson County pioneer, John Berry settled three miles northeast of Georgetown in 1846. He built a blacksmith and gun shop and a spring-driven grist mill near Berry Creek. Berry had 18 children by his three wives: Betsy Smeathers (d. 1818), daughter of pioneer Texan William Smeathers (Smothers); Gracie Treat (d. 1830); and Hannah Devore (1812-1904). Five sons and three sons-in-law served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War (1861-1865). Berry died at age 80 and was buried near his home. His descendants include a great-grandson, Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier in American history. (1978)

John Berry's Mill Stone closeup, Georgetown, TX

Point Isabel Lighthouse

Built 1852 * Retired 1909
Build of brick brought from New Orleans by schooner, the beacon’s 16 mile range guided ships into the harbor and to the Rio Grande, brining commerce to SW Texas. Darkened during the civil war, it was used as a lookout by both Union and Confederate Forces, and again during World WarI.
Placed in Honor of The American Merchant Marine
United States Daughters of 1812, Texas Society
Coryne Aston Bogggs Chote, State President
9 February 1992

08 APRIL 1956
"I SHALL NEVER SURRENDER OR RETREAT"
ABILENE, TAYLOR COUNTY, TEXAS
“I SHALL NEVER SURRENDER OR RETREAT”
TRAVIS, EDWARD, JAMES, GEORGE, SONS OF ANSON TAYLOR
DIED AT THE ALAMO

MARCH 6, 1836
TAYLOR COUNTY WAS NAMED FOR THESE GALLANT MEN ERECTED BY THE JOHN HUDNALL CHAPTER OF THE U.S. DAUGHTERS OF 1812 WITH THE CO-OPERATION OF THE TAYLOR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT

1955
One of the first projects of the John Hundall Chapter was to place a Historical Marker on the Courthouse grounds honoring the man for whom the County was named. Since no record had been left of the naming of the County when it was created on February 1, 1858 from parts of Bexar and Travis Counties, considerable research had to be done. The County was finally organized in 1878 and Abilene was made County seat about 1881.
In 1952, the John Hudnall Chapter went to work to get the County legally named. Chapter President Miss Tommie Clack and Chapter Historian Mrs. Dallas Scarborough presented a petition to Judge Reed Ingalsbe asking permission of the Commissioners Court of Taylor County to get the matter before the Texas Legislature, so that the County could be legally named for three Taylor brothers, sons of Anson Taylor of Liberty, TX, who had died in the Alamo. Senator Harley Sadler introduced the bill in the Senate, and Representative Truett Latimer in the House, and the bill passed, Thus Taylor County was legally named.
Mr. Lincoln Borglum, the famous sculptor of Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota, was selected to design the monument. It is a trapezoid-shaped, pink granite marker with a bronze plaque in the shape of Texas mounted on the front center of the marker. In the center of the plaque is a bas-relief of three male figures standing behind a wall in the Alamo. The figures are portraits of Edward, James and George Taylor. The figure on the left stands facing the wall. In his proper left hand he holds a rifle, the barrel of the gun rests on the ground. The center figure is kneeling on his proper left knee. He also faces the wall, his torso turned slightly to his proper right. In his proper right hand he holds a rifle. The figure on the right is standing in proper left profile, facing the other two. He is loading a rifle. His proper right leg is propped up on a step. The granite marker stands on a concrete base.
The monument was dedicated April 8, 1956 and unveiled by Mrs. A. M. Ewing and Her sister, Mrs. Ira F. Muse of the Hudnall Chapter. It was presented to the Taylor County on the 75th Anniversary of its founding. This project was started in 1952 and completed in 1956, a truly remarkable achievement.

War of 1812 Monument, Texas State Cemetery, Austin, TX

Soldiers of War of 1812 Dedicated Tree

On the south side of the Alamo chapel, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library is located along the inside of the outer wall marking the boundary of the Alamo compound. At the left front corner, in front of the entrance to this library, is a huge live oak tree dedicated to “the Soldiers of the War of 1812 who fought for Texas liberty.” The marker is a red granite block about 2 feet tall with an arrowhead shaped bronze plaque attached. It is located at the base of a now very large live oak tree. The dedication marker reads:
U.S.D. 1812
THIS TREE DEDICATED
IN HONOR OF THE SOLDIERS
OF THE WAR OF 1812
WHO FOUGHT FOR
TEXAS LIBERTY
MARKED BY THE
CAPT. AUGUSTUS JONES
CHAPTER U.S.D. 1812
MARCH 16, 1935

18 MAY 1949
TARRANT COUNTY HISTORICAL MARKER — COURTHOUSE LAWN 
​FORT WORTH, TARRANT COUNTY, TEXAS
​After its formation in March 1948, the General Edward H. Tarrant Chapter hosted an open meeting, attended by the Tyler and Dallas Chapters where Mrs. F. B. Ingram of Cavet Chapter and 4th Vice-President National gave the program. The Chapter's first major project was to raise funds and place a Memorial Marker to General Edward H. Tarrant on the Courthouse lawn in Fort Worth.
On May 18, 1949 the Chapter participated in placing a Memorial Monument to General Edward H. Tarrant on the Courthouse lawn in Fort Worth, Texas. The Tarrant County Historical Society and business leaders had joined in financing the Monument. USD1812 national, state and chapter officers attended the dedication.

15 MAY 1932
GEN. EDWARD H. TARRANT - PIONEER'S REST CEMETERY
FORT WORTH, TARRANT COUNTY, TEXAS