The Baytown Sun from Baytown, Texas • Page 26

THE BAYTOWN SUN hi 'A 4 1 Lost and found Historical marker salvaged Shepherd, of the Bay Area Heritage Society, con- Ucted Jlni Schaefer, Houston Lighting Ic Power Co. district manager, regarding a marker that had been placed in 1936 near HLAP's Sam Bertron Power Plant off Miller Cutoff Road. This marker was erected in honor of Margaret McCormick, owner of the land on which the Battle of San Jacinto was fought. Mrs. Shepherd indicated that no one had reported seeing the marker for some time.

Graham Painter, manager of HLAP's public affairs department, and Schaefer went to the plant and learned that no one had seen the marker for more than two years and memories were a little fuzzy about its exact location. some of the early pictures that we had seen of the marker it had been located approximately 10 to 15 feet above water level," Schaefer said. "We could get no closer than about a quarter of a mile to the site by car and the last 200 yards had to be waded in water which was sometimes waist-deep. "There are many small patches of land down in this area with literally millions and millions of tiny fiddler crabs on the land. We also observed a large number of herons, cattle egrets and other large water fowl which I cannot name.

"When we reached the point where the marker was supposed to be it was nowhere to be found. We looked for almost a hour and finally found it to be some distance from where it was believed to be submerged. "Depending upon the tide level, it was covered with about 1 to 2 feet of water. The marker itself was about 5Vfe feet long and approximately 3 feet wide and completely covered with algae and laying flat in the water. "The writing on the surface was obscured by the algae but by scraping the marker with a stick we could tell that the engraving was still in evidence and decoration was existing on the surface.

"We took a number of pictures and marked the location with steel rod and left the marker with the crabs and algae. The only way to recover the marker was by boat, as it was very heavy and impossible to get to the location with a land vehicle "The water in this area was also so shallow so it would require a shallow draft boat." HLAP engaged the services of Tellepson Construction which maintains the company's fuel oil pipeline system and utilized a work boat that is kept at the power plant for pipeline maintenance. The salvage operation itself took approximately three hours Schaefer recalled, with the marker being safely removed cleaned by power plant personnel, and stored at the plant site "We engaged the services of our civil engineering department to research the marker and constructed a base to the specifications of the State of Texas markers." The marker itself has now been placed just inside the company's property at the Sam Bertron Power Plant at 2012 Miller Cutoff Road. For the first time in many years it is accessible to the public and becomes an active part in the heritage of the Baytown area. HISTORY HIGHLIGHTS of a Co.

in Baytown, stands at the boat while watching the McCormick Dead soldiers all over her land marker being hauled out of the water near the San Jacinto Battleground. (Photo by Graham Painter) CHARLIE DUVALL, mechanical foreman with Houston Lighting 4 Power inspects the Margaret McCormick historical marker after it was salvaged from a site that has subsided and gone under water. (Photo by Graham Painter) ON': It stands now at the entrance of the SarnTerton staff photo by Angie BraceyJ. McCormick, Houston in war of words after battle Iv.nTAMM^y-iTXi^v., Margaret McCormick, familiarly called Aunt Peggy, has been best remembered as the woman who approached Sam Houston after the battle of San Jacinto complaining about the dead Mexicans on her land. Houston supposedly said, "Madam, your land will be famed in history." To which she replied, "To the devil with your glorious history, take them dead Mexicans off my Leg (league of land).

They (will) ha'nt me (to) the longest t) day I live." The words may have been Aunt Peggy's but, the quaint and original spelling of Robert Hancock Hunter's memoirs have given them a colloquial sound which was not the way Peggy would have expressed herself as she had been born and reared in Ireland. Arthur'McCormick, an Irish barrister, says family tradition, his wife, Margaret, and sons, John and Michael, emigrated from Ireland in 1822. They were among Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred colonists and received title to one league of land on Aug. 10, 1824, on the bank of the San Jacinto River in present Harris County.

David McCormick, a well- known citizen of Brazoria County, may have been a relative of Arthur McCormick as he signed the land grant to Arthur along with Stephen F. Austin, Baron de Bastrop and Samuel Williams. Arthur employed his neighbor, Dr. Johnson Hunter, to survey his league. During the survey Arthur followed along and requested additional acreage to compensate for the swampy, low lying portions.

The extra land some 2,000 acres, was taken away later when resurveyed in 1838, to the distress of the family- Arthur McCormick, reportedly drowned while trying to swim across Buffalo Bayou in 1825. He was returning home from San Felipe de Austin, where he had been to see Colonel Austin Austin supposedly had given McCormick authority to proceed to Ireland to organize and bring a colony to Texas. Johnson Hunter sued the widow McCormick in 1827 for a medical bill and the surveying fee of the McCormick league. William Scott, early Baytown settler, joined the argument on the side of the widow. In a letter to Judge Stephen F.

Austin, Scott castigated Hunter for misrepresenting his charges and distressing a desolate widow and says "if you (Austin) have formed a good opinion of him (Hunter) you are mistaken in the man and you will better informed." Hunter, in turn, complained to Austin of the abuse and persecution of Scott. The outcome of the suit against Mrs. McCormick is not known but, Johnson Hunter sold out at Hunter's (Morgan's) Point and moved to Fort Bend County in 1829. Peggy and the boys continued to live at their home on the south bank of Peggy's lake on the McCormick league grant. A Harris County surveyor, George Bringhurst, platted the property and sketched the home about 1849.

It appears to have been a double pen log house with a fireplace in the east wall. A small rectangular plot was marked off in a marshy area bordering the lake just to the north of the house. One writer, strangely identifies this plot as a kitchen garden. Young Micheal McCormick became a courrier for the Tex- ian Army. In 1836 he was 17, an expert rider and knew the country.

One story recounts a tension filled episode when Mike was on a mission between Houston's Army and President David Bumet. He was observed by Col Juan Almonte riding in the direction of Morgan's Point. Mike knew he was being followed but he had a fast horse and he arrived at Morgan's plantation warehouse about i ooo yards ahead of the Mexicans' He shouted a warning that the Mexicans were at his heels. President and Mrs. Burnet were able to escape in a small boat and Mike turned his horse off into a heavily wooded area and escaped.

Mike was given a bounty grant of 320 acres by the Republic of Texas for his services during the revolution. He returned to the homeplace on Peggy's Lake after the war where he engaged in farming and stock raising with his mother. No mention of John McCormick, the oldest son, has been found except that he died in 1839. The 1840 census of Harrisburg County lists Margaret McCormick as owning 4,503 acres of land, two hundred head of cattle and one slave. She was considered weathy and eccentric.

Michael married Exeline PernelJ on Feb. 27, 1845, and in March that year a decision was made to partition the league between Margaret and her son Michael. In 1847 Michael began steam- boating and was either a pilot or a captain the remainder of his life. An interesting physical description depicts him as "5 feet, 11 inches tall, well-built, broad-shouldered but slightly stooped, large blue eyes, heavy eyebrows, aquiline nose, firm- set mouth and thin of visage." Margaret appears in the 1850 census of Harris County as a 62- year-old female owning real estate at $1,000. She lived alone and would not consider living with her son in Galveston.

She died when her home burned in 1854. It was rumored that she was murdered by robbers and burned in her dwelling The Civil War began and Michael was very much involved, as before, but this time on the losing side. As pilot of the Confederate steamer, "Bayou City," he engaged in the naval action which resulted in the capture of the Union steamer, "Harriet Lane," at Galveston. He was lauded for his cool courage and superb handling of the "Bayou City, "during the fight. A sardonic twist of fate occurred when Michael was drowned on Oct.

31,1874, in Buffalo Bayou near where his father had drowned 49 years previously. He had gone to Houston on business and was returning as a passenger on the steamer "Diana" when he disappeared. His body was found nine days later in the bayou. It was believed he fell overboard by accident. He was buried on the banks of Buffalo Bayou near White's Landing between Lynchburg and Green's Bayou.

Surviving Michael were his wife and two sons, John A. and Collin Pierce McCormick. Michael's death marked the passing of the last of the McCor- tnicks who had owned and lived on the land when the Battle of San Jacinto was fought. Jttin former Raylown feather, is a writer specializing in historical articles. Rededication ceremony set for marker Bay Area Heritage Society and Houston Lighting Power Co.

will rededication ceremony Sunday for the 1936 Texas Centen-. nial historical marker for the 1 McCormick homesite. The ceremony will hold al-2- p.m. at the entrance '6f Sam Bertron PoweV Plant at 2012 Miller Cutoff Road. Subsidence in the Houston Ship Channel area had result' cd in the loss of the McCor-- mick marker honoring the.

site of the home of Margaret, cggy" McCormick, a color' ful pioneer in Texas history, The marker which had sunk, into the water was retrieved by and placed at the entrance of the Sam Bertron Power Plant on the original. McCormick homesite. Light refreshments will be served after the rededication ceremony. Cutoff Road may reached from either Highway 225 or Highway 134. The facility is located on the east side of the road abouf 1 one mile from either 225 or Highway 134..