Merry Christmas fellow Texans and friends of Texas. Today is Christmas Day, Thursday, Dec. 25, 2014. • • • • • • =+ -+ -+-+= Texan Nimitz replaced Kimmel as commander of Pacific Fleet< On Dec. 25, 1941, in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Adm. Husband E. Kimmel was relieved as commander-in-chief of the Pacific Fleet. Texan Chester William Nimitz replaced him. The change of command took place at Pearl Harbor. Kimmels rank was reduced to rear admiral. He retired from the Navy at that rank. Nimitz, who guided Allied forces to victory in the Pacific in World War II, was born in Fredericksburg on Feb. 24, 1885. In 1994, Kimmels family attempted to have Kimmels four star rank reinstated. President Bill Clinton turned down the request, as had Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. On May 25, 1999, the Senate, by a vote of 52-47, passed a nonbinding resolution exonerating Kimmel and Army Gen. Walter Short, and asking President Clinton to posthumously promote Kimmel and others to full admiral. Senator Strom Thurmond (R-SC), one of the sponsors of the resolution, called Kimmel and Short the two final victims of Pearl Harbor. However, neither Presidents Clinton nor Bush undertook to do so. Robert Stinnett, in his book Day of Deceit (2001), claims Kimmel was deliberately kept ignorant, at least indirectly on the specific orders of Franklin D. Roosevelt, because the president and others were aware not only of Japans intent to attack Pearl Harbor, but also of the date and time. Kimmel, Stinnett argues, was given deceptive orders. His theory is rejected by most historians. • • • • • • =+ -+ -+-+= Villa may have led attack on Presidio County ranch< On Dec. 25, 1917, some 45 Mexicans, possibly followers of Pancho Villa, crossed the border and attacked Luke Brites Presidio County ranch. The Christmas holiday found the Brites and most of their workers away from the ranch. The family of ranch manager T.T. Van Neill fought the invaders, but was forced to surrender the key to the ranch store. The raiders looted the store of food, clothing and cash and stole the best horses and all the ranchs saddles. The mail stage arrived during the raid and the postman and two passengers were murdered. After several hours, neighbors and members of the Eighth U.S. Cavalry arrived and drove off the raiders. On the following morning, the raiders crossed back into Mexico. Some 200 cavalry troopers followed, killing 10 of the bandits and recovering some of the stolen goods. A few days later, Texas Rangers killed 15 Mexicans in Porvenir, in part in retaliation for the Brite Ranch raid. The Porvenir Massacre was one of the most serious acts of Ranger misconduct cited in the Texas Ranger investigation of 1919. • • • • • • =+ -+ -+-+= Also on Dec. 25 in Texas: • In 1838, Caleb Smith Ives, an Episcopal priest, celebrated the Holy Eucharist in Matagorda which is believed to be the first time it had been celebrated in Texas according to the Episcopal rite. Ives established an Episcopal church at Matagorda. He held occasional services in Brazoria and organized St. Johns parish at Victoria while he and his wife operated Matagorda Academy. • In 1839, famous trapper Kit Carson carved his name and date on a boulder at the Sawtooth Mountain Rockpile in the Davis Mountains. Carsons connections to Texas included helping foil the Snively Expedition in 1843 and leading the attack against a large number of Kiowas and Comanches in the first battle of Adobe Walls in 1864. • In 1871, the Houston and Texas Central Railroad reached Austin, making the city the westernmost rail terminus in Texas. The completion of the first railroad to the capital city marked a new era in Austins development. As the only railroad town for scores of miles in most directions, Austin was transformed into a trading center for a vast area. • In 1873, Hardin Richard Runnels, former governor of Texas, died near Old Boston in Bowie County and was buried in the Runnels family cemetery. In 1929, his remains were exhumed and reinterred in the State Cemetery at Austin. In 1857, Runnels was nominated for governor as a Democrat on the eighth ballot. Sam Houston ran as an independent Democrat. Runnels won 38,552-23,628, becoming the only person ever to defeat Sam Houston in an election. In 1859, Houston defeated Runnels. • In 1887, Conrad Hilton, who used a hotel he purchased in Texas to launch a worldwide hotel chain, was born in San Antonio, N.M. A member of his states first legislature, he served in the Army in France during World War I. He came to Cisco with the intention of buying a bank, and ended up buying the 40-room Mobley Hotel there. The hotel did such brisk business that he began to purchase and develop other units. ... • In 1914, the first motorized fire truck for the Beaumont Fire Department, was involved in an accident which resulted in Beaumont’s first fire fighter fatality. Bob Glass died in the line of duty. The American LaFrance combination Chemical and Hose Wagon containing a 40 gallon tank and 1,600 feet of fire hose arrived in 1911. • In 1949, actress and singer Sissy Spacek was born in Quitman as Mary Elizabeth Spacek. She won an Oscar as best actress for her role as country star Loretta Lynn in the 1980 film Coal Miners Daughter. She also received Oscar nominations for her roles in Missing (1982), The River (1984), Crimes of the Heart (1986) and In the Bedroom (2001). • • • • • • Texas History Day-by-Day is compiled by retired newspaper journalist Bob Sonderegger (anglebob61@yahoo). A primary source of information is Handbook of Texas Online. Your comments or additions are welcome.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 07:25:33 +0000
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