This Day in Texas History
November
This Day in Texas History
November 1, 1898 – Beulah Wallace, celebrated blues singer, born in Houston. Popular interest in her music revived in the 1970s & 80s when she recorded with Bonnie Raitt.
November 2, 1844 – Birthday of Mollie Bailey, “Circus Queen of the Southwest,” who served as a Civil War nurse in Hood’s Texas Brigade and later opened a circus in Texas in 1879.
November 3, 1793 – Stephen Fuller Austin born in Virginia. He died in Columbia, Dec. 27, 1836, while serving as Secretary of State for the Republic of Texas.
November 4, 1824 – Birthday of Jesse Driskill, cattleman and builder of the Driskill Hotel in Austin, which opened on December 20, 1886.
November 5, 1918 – Annie Webb Blanton elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction, the first woman elected to state-wide office in Texas.
November 6, 1528 – When the Spanish Narváez Expedition shipwrecked on the Texas coast, Cabeza de Vaca became one of the first Europeans to set foot on Texas soil.
November 7, 1922 – Edith E. Wilmans of Dallas was elected the first woman member of the Texas House of Representatives.
November 8, 1932 – Texas politician John Nance Garner was simultaneously elected to the vice presidency and Congress. He resigned from Congress to become 32nd US Vice President.
November 9, 1881 – The Texas State Capitol was destroyed by fire. Construction of the current Capitol was completed in 1888.
November 10, 1840 – Texas Revolution veteran Samuel McCullouch’s petition to retain his status as a free African American in the Republic of Texas was granted.
November 11, 1942 – Mexico-born Texas resident Macario García was drafted during WWII. He earned the US Medal of Honor and the Mexican Mérito Militar for his courage in battle.
November 12, 1839 – Texas President Lamar recommended that the Alabama-Coushatta peoples be guaranteed permanent occupancy of their reservation lands.
November 13, 1837 – Frederick Dawson of Baltimore was awarded the contract to build six vessels for the Second Texas Navy.
November 14, 1917 – Doris Pemberton, black reporter and civic leader, born in Nacogdoches. In 1944, she became the first black reporter to cover a state Democratic convention in Texas.
November 15, 1901 – Armel Baker was born in San Antonio. She became the first woman in the US to raise Brahman cattle, and developed the nation’s largest herd at that time.
November 16, 1973 – The third crew of the Skylab was launched by Houston-based mission control LBJ Space Center in Houston. The crew set an orbital record of more than 84 days.
November 17, 1884 – Texas cattlemen urged Congress to build a National Trail from Texas to Canada. Instead, Congress favored railroads, which ultimately brought an end to traildrives.
November 18, 1759 – Spanish Captain Ortiz Parilla reported on the Red River Campaign in which he sought retribution against native peoples for the destruction of the San Sabá Mission.
November 19, 1900 – Baylor University College of Medicine, then known as the University of Dallas Medical Department, opened with 81 students enrolled.
November 20, 1875 – The State Constitutional Convention reserved three million acres of land, the sale of which would be used for building a Texas State Capitol.
November 21, 1948 – Oil was discovered in Scurry County, marking the opening of the West Texas oil fields.
November 22, 1963 – President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas during a motorcade.
November 23, 1777 – Juan de Ugalde became governor of the Spanish province of Coahuila. His primary charge was to protect the Big Bend and Pecos River settlers from Apache attacks.
November 24, 1963 – Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused of assassin of President Kennedy, was shot and killed by Jack Ruby at the Dallas city jail.
November 25, 1850 – Texas Governor Peter Bell signed the Compromise of 1850, in which Texas received $10 million for ceding disputed western territory to the national government.
November 26, 1864 – The first battle of Adobe Walls took place when US military units attacked the Comanche and Kiowa for raiding wagon trains that violated treaty agreements.
November 27, 1917 – The first aircraft flew from Ellington Field, near Houston in present-day Pasadena. Since that time almost every type of Air Force airplane has flown from its runways.
November 28, 1749 – The Apache agreed to a peace treaty with the Spanish due to the concilatory policy of Father Fernández de Santa Ana, who oversaw missions in San Antonio.
November 29,1846 – Birthday of Mary Terrell, public library advocate and a founder of the Texas Federation of Women’s Clubs. Women’s clubs founded 70% of Texas’ public libraries.
November 30, 1836 – The First Congress of the Republic of Texas met in joint session and decided to move the seat of government from Columbia to Houston.
For more information about Texas history, explore the Texas State Historical Association Handbook of Texas Online
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