This Date In Texas History - January 5

[joe817]

1829 - Thomas S. Gathright was born in Monroe County, Georgia. He was the first president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now Texas A&M University).

1840 - The flagship of the Texas Navy, the Austin was commissioned. She carried a crew of twenty-three officers and warrant officers and 151 sailors and marines and was armed with sixteen medium twenty-four-pound cannons, two eighteen-pound medium cannons, and two eighteen-pound long cannons. On July 26, 1840, the Austin sailed for the Yucatán port of Sisal to assist the Federalist rebels against Mexico's Centralist government. The ship arrived on July 31, cruised the Bay of Campeche as far as Veracruz by August 23, and blockaded Tampico through October. In November she took part in the capture of the capital of Yucatán, San Juan Bautista; the navy earned for Texas $25,000 in ransom from the city.

1852 - Orange County was was created by the division of Jefferson county.

1854 - The first telegraph company in Texas was chartered. The Texas and Red River Company opened its first office in Marshall on February 14, offering patrons connections with New Orleans via Shreveport and with Alexandria, Louisiana, and Natchez, Mississippi. By 1870 there was an estimated 1,500 miles of telegraph wire in Texas.

1865 - About 100 Indians from Indian Territory raided a new settlement in Cooke County. They killed nine people and stole many horses. The raid is often referred to as the last Indian raid in Cooke County. Five years later, four brothers named Ross established a general store at the site. The first post office there was opened in 1872. According to local legend, the near-ubiquitous outlaw Sam Bass used the area as a rendezvous. The town of Rosston still celebrates Sam Bass Day on the third Saturday of July.

1941 - President Franklin Roosevelt relieved James Otto Richardson as commander of the United States naval fleet. Born in Paris, Texas, Richardson graduated fifth in his class from the United States Naval Academy. In 1940 he was made commander-in-chief of the U.S. fleet and assumed the duties of supervising the transfer of the Pacific Fleet from the mainland to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. After relieving Richardson of command, Roosevelt offered the job to Chester W. Nimitz, who declined at that time. Nimitz, also a Texan, was born in Fredericksburg, Texas, where his house is now the Admiral Nimitz State Historic Site.

1963 - Texas born Rogers Hornsby Died. During his major league careen in the 1920s and 30s, Hornsby broke one slugging record after another. In 1922, he was the first player to hit 40 homers in a season. In 1923, he went a record 13 games with 2 or more hits per game. In 1924, he attained a .424 average another record that still holds. His career batting average is only .009 behind the all time leader, Ty Cobb.

1983 - Democratic Congressman Phil Gramm, under pressure from his party for supporting the candidacy of Ronald Reagan for President, resigns his house seat. He then announced he would run again in a special election to fill his own seat, but this time, as a Republican.