Travis County Commissioners Court
October 27, 2009,
Item 3
3.
accept donations and approve proclamations expressing sincere gratitude regarding the following: a.
portrait of william b.
travis from ms.
sally mauck; and b.
antique clock from the united daughters of the confederacy museum.
>> good morning.
>> good morning.
>> good morning, judge, Commissioners, I'm steven broberg director of management communication resources, I have have me today christie the Travis County archivist.
judge, would you like to read the proclamation?
or --
>> I sure will.
>> oh, great.
>> it reads whereas the heirs of with himmal b.
travis the alamo legend for whom our county is named have arranged to produce a copy of the travis portrait that hangs in the alamo and whereas ms.
sally mauk, close enough?
>> yes.
>> representing the dw stallworth family has also arranged to have the portrait framed at no expense to the taxpayers, and whereas Travis County is delighted and grateful to accept the donation of this framed portrait of william b.
travis, now therefore the Travis County Commissioners court hereby acknowledges and accepts the donation of william b.
travis' portrait and expresses its sincere gratitude to the family for its generosity and move approval.
>> second.
>> thank you, I think christie has some comments regarding this them.
i think thad will act the unveiler and we will get a chance to look at it.
>> this is a reproduction of a portrait of william b.
travis, ms.
sally mauk is a member of the family and was here during Travis County history day this summer.
she has very generously offered this to us, also had it framed and in the same style as the one hanging in the alamo.
so we are very grateful to her and the the stallworth family.
i wanted to mention, too, she also loaned us his original gun barrel owned by travis as a child, currently on display in the third floor of the courthouse, along with other displays about the history of Travis County and the life of william b.
travis.
>> that's a a loan.
>> so far, judge.
>> there are amazing things on display in the third floor.
i would encourage anyone watching, it would be a great school field trip.
it's really -- it really gives you a sense of Texas history.
>> thank you,.
>> there is also a proclamation regarding the clock.
>> yes, sir.
>> it reads whereas the united daughters of the confederacy museum has offered to donate a historical artifact of special significance to Travis County, namely and -- technique clock, and whereas this clock was for a time displayed in the Travis County courthouse built in 1876 and eventually found its way to the collection of the udc museum.
and whereas the staff of the Travis County archives is delighted and grateful to accept the donation of this clock.
now therefore the Travis County Commissioners court hereby acknowledges and accepts the donation of the historic antique clock and expresses its sincere gratitude to the united daughters of the confederacy museum and I move approval.
>> second.
>> thank you, judge.
this is --
>>
>> [inaudible - no mic]
>> I know.
i thought that we would do both of them together.
>> okay.
>> we won't get too far in front of you, ms.
porter.
>> this is -- there's an interesting story attached to the clock.
it was mid August, after our most recent Travis County history day, that I received a call from a woman named barbara gilbert in dallas.
she's on the board of the Texas daughters of confederacy museum in dallas.
they were planning an auction for the next weekend and it included an array of swords from the civil war.
and they also found this clock that was in their warehouse and it had been in their warehouse for years.
even decades.
and they were intending to auction off this clock as part of the whole group.
they opened up the clock, inside was a little yellowed index card that read: this clock was once part of the Travis County courthouse.
if you have any questions, please call mcguire's clocks in Austin.
well, to make a long story short, the daughters wanted instead of auctioning it to donate it to Travis County.
we retrieved the clock, we took it to mcguire's clock.
mr.
mcguire is still working and he remembered working on this clock in the 1970's.
now, the interesting part of this is that this is not from our current courthouse.
this is from the courthouse that was before our current courthouse.
>> that burned?
>> exactly.
what we have here is a calendar clock.
you notice the two dials, one is for the time, one is for the day and the date.
it was made sometime between 1875 and 1880.
it should also be noted that the clock has some monetary value.
e bay recently had an auction where one just like it went for about $7,000.
so this donation is particularly generous on the part of the daughters and I'm so very gratified that they would -- that they would donate it to us.
now, lastly, I would also like to point out that the Travis County history day seems to be giving us some dividends.
our first Travis County history day was regarding the hemanm marian sweat courthouse, we now have a clock from an earlier courthouse.
regarding william b.
travis's anniversary of his birth, now we have a portrait.
next year we're considering doing a program related to the original spanish land grant.
of course we are hoping
>> [laughter] maybe some donations will be applied.
so in closing, this old clock is back where it belongs.
it's home.
we're very gratified to see it and have it.
>> for those running short of cash, if we remind them these will be under lock and key at the county.
>> indeed.
>> okay.
all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
ms.
mauk, ms.
stallworth?
>> not everybody could be here today, but we'll certainly pass on the resolutions to them and pass a tape of today's program so that they can see how gratified we all are.
>> thank you.
these will be owned by the people of Travis County 911 deed j.
>> enjoyed and appreciated, I'm sure.
>> thank you so much for your work on this.
>> [ applause ]
The Closed Caption log for this Commissioners Court agenda item is provided by Travis County Internet Services. Since this file is derived from the Closed Captions created during live cablecasts, there are occasional spelling and grammatical errors. This Closed Caption log is not an official record the Commissioners Court Meeting and cannot be relied on for official purposes. For official records please contact the County Clerk at (512) 854-4722.
Last Modified:
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 1:40 PM
