Texas history fascinates me. Most people interested in its past, key in on events like the battle for the Alamo, and the one for San Jacinto. But its history entails so much more than those two events. I am starting to get into the powerful history of East Texas myself. For instance, entrance into Texas overland usually came through Nacogdoches – and Spain/Mexico was first challenged for land rights there – the Fredonian Revolution. East Texas played a major role in the filibustering years (including the Burr Conspiracy) to split this fertile region from the United States. The Trinity River became a highway into the interior of the state. Did you know that Stephen F. Austin’s original colony was supposed to be off the Trinity River – not the Brazos – but the ship carrying colonists missed the Trinity and landed at the Brazos staking their claims to land before Austin arrived to correct the situation. Texas is the only state in the U.S. that was once a nation.
Recently, I’ve been reading Emma R. Haynes’ “The History of Polk County, Texas.” She wrote this book using many resources – including oral histories. I have to read it slowly, because she skips around events and every now and then, drops in a little gem of information that seems incredulous. Like on page 43 in her chapter on Drew’s Landing, she wrote (referring to Charles Gusta Fitze):
“Some time after the Civil War he moved to Drew’s Landing. He became acquainted with William Goodrich, an Episcopal Minister of New York, and his family who visited in Polk County. He was later Goodrich’s agent in looking after his eleven leagues of land. Samuel Morse, the inventor of the telegraph, was a nephew of Goodrich and also visited here. Will Fitze now living in Houston remembers these people. Morse was much of a dude, dressed in knee breeches and very much in style.”
So did Samuel Finley Breese Morse, the inventor of the telegraph, really visit Polk County, Texas? That part of the historical gem is probably true – his description in the history is appropriate and he did offer his invention to Sam Houston – but the only William Goodrich who appears in Samuel Morse’s family tree is his son, William Goodrich Morse. There’s nothing to say Morse did not know the William Goodrich of Polk County – but he wasn’t related.
That being said, Samuel Morse and his invention, the telegraph, do have strong ties to Texas. In fact, Morse offered his invention to the Republic of Texas in 1838. (He applied for a patent for the invention in 1837.) Somehow, Morse’s letter forwarded to the officials of the Republic ended up filed away unnoticed. Texas did not take him up on his offer and Morse withdrew it 20 years later giving the title of his invention to the United States.
Texas (as a state) finally adopted the telegraph. And if you go to the 100 block of North Washington Street in Marshall, Texas, today, you can find a life size bronze statue reminding onlookers of the historical significance of this East Texas town. The statue stands on the exact spot where the first telegraph office in the state opened February 14, 1854. The Texas and Red River Company opened the Marshall office and strung wires all the way to Shreveport. In that same year, another line connected Marshall to Houston. By 1870, there were about 1,500 miles of telegraph across the Lone Star State.
A model of Samuel Morse’s telegraph – referred to as a prototype instrument – is kept in the Texas State Archives in Austin.
