The December meeting for Calhoun County Democratic Club will be held Tuesday, December 3, 2024 at the Calhoun County Library, in the community room, 200 W Mahan St., Port Lavaca.

Social/potluck is at 5.30 p,m, and the meeting starts at 6:00 p.m.

Got questions? Concerned about democracy? Come and join us.

You can RSVP for our monthly meetings here: mobilize.us/calhouncountydemocrats/event/457242/
More info:
CalhounTXDemocrats.org

Fletcher Summerfield Stockdale, for whom the present city of Stockdale in Wilson County was named, served briefly as governor of the state of Texas in the final days of the Confederacy. Stockdale was born in Russellville, Kentucky, in 1823 or 1825; he studied law and was admitted to the Kentucky Bar. He came to Texas in 1846 where he practiced law in Anderson, Grimes County, before moving to Indianola in Calhoun County. Most citizens of Calhoun County have been unaware of Stockdale’s connection to the county, although he had served as the county’s representative in the Texas Senate from 1857 to 1861.

Besides practicing law, Stockdale was an active politician, serving as an executive member of the 1861 Secession Convention held in Austin. During the Civil War, he was an aide to Governor Francis R. Lubbock from 1862 to 1863. His support of Texas’s secession from the Union and his subsequent service in the Confederacy likely was a contributing factor in his being denied the honor of an official portrait in the Capitol.

His tenure as governor was the shortest one in Texas gubernatorial history, in that he only served from June 12, 1865 to June 17, 1865, He became acting governor after the flight of the then Governor Pendleton Murrah to Mexico after the fall of the Confederacy. Before becoming Acting Governor, Stockdale had served as Lieutenant Governor of Texas after being elected in 1863. It was this office in which he was serving when he was called upon to serve as the Acting Governor. Stockdale served in that capacity only until Andrew J. Hamilton arrived in August of 1865, having been appointed provisional governor by President Andrew Johnson. Nevertheless, Stockdale was a member of the committee that met Hamilton, escorted him into Austin, and handed him the keys to the Texas archives and the Capitol.

When he left office, Stockdale returned to Calhoun County; he remained active in politics. At one point in his political career in 1868, he was a member of the Texas Senate and, in the Constitutional Convention of 1875, he served on the committees of judiciary and land grants; he also participated in debates on the establishment of a free public school system in Texas. Stockdale was also a delegate to several national Democratic conventions and at least one state Democratic convention.

Stockdale was also active in business and had been since he came to Indianola in 1846. In the late 1860s in Indianola, he promoted the development of a refrigerator car for shipping beef. He was also the president of the Indianola Railroad and listed as assets of over twelve miles of new track completed, two locomotives and other rolling stock, depot buildings, shops, and grounds at Indianola.

Sometime after 1873, Stockdale moved to Cuero where he practiced law and promoted the Cuero Land and Immigration Company. He lived in Cuero with his second wife, Elizabeth Schleicher, whom he married when she was 17, and with whom he had three children. His first wife, Elizabeth Pryor Bankhead Lytle, died in April, 1865, before he became governor in June. He died on February 4, 1890 and is buried in Russellville, Kentucky.

In 1946, the Texas legislature ordered a painting of a portrait of Stockdale which was then hung in the gallery of Texas governors in the Capitol. For many years, Stockdale’s portrait was not displayed in the State Capital in Austin until the persistent efforts of organized advocates resulted in that portrait being hung there and Stockdale was formally recognized as a former governor in 1846 when the Texas Legislature ordered a portrait hung in the portrait gallery.

Curiously in 2016, a senior communication studies major at Texas Christian University was arrested after he broke into the Texas Capital during the renovation of part of the building and threw the portrait from the third floor, damaging it to the tune of $10,000. Tanner Graeber was the culprit’s name although his motivation for the act has not been established. The portrait has since been restored to the gallery of portraits.
Submitted by Russell Cain

A female wild Turkey
Photo credit: James St. John, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

While doing my doctoral research, I spent many days tromping around in the middle of a pine forest in Mississippi.  The pine trees were planted in rows, some with really thick plants underneath that you couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of you at a time, and some open and vibrant with flowering and fruit vines.  I saw a variety of wildlife in those woods, ranging from birds to toads to bobcats.  But the one animal that I always steered clear of was the wild turkey.

Wild turkeys used to be quite abundant in Texas, but overhunting and habitat destruction caused their numbers to sharply decline in the late 1800s.  Thankfully, turkey numbers have been largely restored in eastern Texas.
The turkey is a gallinaceous bird, meaning it is in the same order of birds as domestic poultry and other game birds like grouse.  Turkeys are easily identified, though it’s likely more people have seen one served at Thanksgiving than actually alive in the wild.  Turkeys have strong feet and legs, and short wings that allow them to fly quickly but only for short distances.  Most people know turkeys by their tail, which is well developed and creates a beautiful fan and by the wattle, the flap of bumpy red skin that hangs down off of a male’s face.  But what always worries me the most are the formidable spurs that become apparent when I get a look at a turkey’s leg.
Each physical adaptation has a purpose. Turkeys use their large tail during flight, for stabilizing, steering, and braking.  Equally as important, the tail serves another purpose – as a display for attracting mates and establishing social status and dominance hierarchies.  Wattles allow the bird to get rid of excess heat on hot days.  Wattles can also turn bright scarlet during mating displays, or blue when approached by a possible predator.  Spurs are used to establish dominance and for defense, with the size of the spur often indicating an older turkey.  Spurs are made of keratin, similar to a rhinoceros’s horn or a bear’s claws.
During the turkey’s breeding season, hormones ramp up and male turkeys can become defensive and aggressive.  Turkeys may even try to dominate or attack people they view as a threat or subordinate, and may start trying to peck, follow, and intimidate people who get too close.  And those spurs on their legs can do some damage!  Imagine being chased by a turkey; I haven’t had the pleasure yet but I’m sure it could be quite unsettling.  One of the researchers I worked with a while back said wild turkeys were one of the few things that he always avoided in the woods because of these behaviors.  Turkeys can be bold and yet easily scared, but not once they are already running towards you!
As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, see if you can find a wild turkey out in the country before you sit down to enjoy one at your table.  They really are amazing birds, even if they aren’t as vibrant in color as many of our songbirds.  Turkeys provide both economic and social value, and are predator and prey at different points in their lifecycle, which enhances ecosystem biodiversity wherever they live.  This year, give thanks for the return of one of the traditional game species, and stop and appreciate the many benefits they provide.