Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommandant's House Chronology 1909 - 1987 COMMANDANT'S HOUSE CHRONOLOGY 1909 House built 1916 O. F. Chastain, Professor of History occupant 1917 James C. Nagle, Dean of Engineering occupant 1923 -25 CoI. Charles Christopher Todd '97 occupant 1925 Lt. CoI. F. H. Turner occupant 1927 Col. Charles J. Nelson occupant 1932 CoI. Ambrose Robert Emery, Dept. Head & Professor of Military Science & Tactics (not a commandant) occupant 1938 -39 Col. (later Maj. Genl.) George F. Moore occupant 1940 -52 Used during some of this period as classroom space and as a soil test lab fL 1952 Sold to W. M. Dowell head tennis coach and moved to 3231 E. Bypass. Occupied by Dowell family until Mrs. Dowell moved to Houston after Mr. Dowell's death. Rented since that time. 1987 Donated to the university for use by the Center for Historic Resources HISTORY OF THE COMMANDANTS HOUSE* The white two -story Queen Anne house located at 420 Throckmorton St. which came to be called the Commandant's House was built in 1909. Because of the distance from the town of Bryan and the lack of houses available in the area, housing was built for the faculty and staff on the campus. The first five houses were built on Throckmorton Street in 1876 and by 1919 there were ninety -eight houses on the campus. This number grew to one - hundred and ten in 1939 when the Board of Directors decided that because adequate housing was then available in College Station that campus houses should be disposed of as they became vacant. This house was referred to as Residence #405 in campus records. Campus housing was administered by the Campus Housing Committee which had considerable political sway since there were established categories of houses, and as a professor rose through the administrative ranks he was entitled to more attractive housing. This policy resulted in frequent shifts from house to house by the faculty. Some houses were designated for specific officials but the office of Commandant of Cadets does not seem to have been one that entitled the holder of that position to a specific dwelling. However, because of his status one can safely assume that he would be assigned one of the better homes. Most of the residences were of wood construction and were solidly built but utilitarian rather than elaborate. The Commandant's House can be classified as Queen Anne style with neo- classical features. Other campus residences were in other popular styles of the period such as Cottage, American Four - Square and Bungalow. The first occupant of whom there is a record was O. F. Chastain, a Professor of History, who lived in the house in 1916 but who had to relinquish it to James C. Nagle when he returned to the post of Dean of Engineering after an absence of three years serving on the State Board of Water Engineers. Nagle had been named Head of the Department of Civil Engineering and Physics in 1892 and in 1911 was named Dean of the School of Engineering. Nagle after whom Nagle Hall is named was very popular with the student body and with his colleagues. The 1910 Longhorn was dedicated to him, and it described him as being: patient and skillful in the classroom and in field practice; abounding in the virtues of hospitality and wholesome good - fellowship; the generous, constant friend of all A. and M. men ... a sane, honest, plain man - -a big - bodied, big brained, big- souled man - -who has won, and will hold forever, our esteem and love. From this account it can be imagined that the house was probably the scene of many warm and pleasant faculty- student gatherings during his tenancy. The first recorded commandant to occupy the house was Colonel Charles Christopher Todd '97 who served as commandant from 1923 through 1925. Todd, who came from San Antonio, fought in both the Spanish- American War and in World War I. He had been the validictorian of his class and also had delivered the memorial address for Sul Ross in 1898. He became a successful lawer and was a prominent figure in two of the most divisive episodes in A &M history. The first was the "Great Student Strike" of 1908 against President Henry Hill Harrington. This began when the president quarant4ned a popular professor and his family because one of his grandchildren contracted whooping cough. This was often a fatal condition during that period, and Harrington had lost a child to it in the previous year. It was said that it was his and his wife's fears for their one remaining child which caused him to take the action he did. The professor, Charles Hutson, was popular with the student body and this action disrupted his teaching schedule. Another factor which aroused the students and caused them to boycott classes was that his son was a member of the Corps, and the president's action was taken as an affront to the Corps. Todd was one of the investigators appointed by the alumni association to look into the situation in an effort to return the school to normal. At the hearing which followed the investigation Todd presented thirteen charges against Harrington and his conduct in office to the Board. The Board considered the charges but decided to support Harrington which led to the resignation of five employees including Charles Hutson. However, later that year Harrington resigned, and peace returned to the campus. The second controversy in which Todd was embroiled was that which developed during the Great Depression over the wish of young women residing in the area to attend the school since because of the economic situation they could not afford a college education unless they could live at home. A legal action was begun in Bryan District Court in 1933, and the plaintiffs retained Todd, who was by then a prominent jurist, to represent them. The judge, however, rejected his arguments that A &M was being discriminatory and ruled that the Board of Directors were within their rights in restricting admissions, and the case was lost. Todd was well ahead of his time. Women were not to be admitted to the university until 1963 and then on a limited basis. The most famous commandant to live in the house was undoubtedly Colonel George Fannin Moore '08. He was commandant from 1937 through 1940 when he left to enter active service with the approach of World War II. He selected thirty -five graduating Aggies to accompany him to his new post in the Philippines. When the Japanese invaded in December 1941 the American forces retreated to the Bataan Peninsula across the bay from Manila, but after a long siege Bataan fell in 1942. The survivors crossed to the American fortress of Corregidor commanded by General Jonathan Wainright. The Aggie Muster tradition began there. On San Jacinto Day twenty -five Aggies including Moore celebrated by singing Aggie songs and reminiscing about their days at A &M. This was interrupted by a Japanese bombardment. This group formed the Corregidor Chapter of the Former Students Association. Within days all had been killed or captured. In 1943 the first Muster was held on the campus, and as the names of the heroes of Corregidor were called, a friend responded "Here!" to demonstrate that they lived on. Moore was captured and interned in a Japanese prison camp until the end of the war. In recognition of his conduct General MacArthur sent the following letter to the Houston Post: .. .Texas A & M is writing its own military history in the blood of its graduates not only in the blood of its graduates, not only in the Philippine campaign, but on the active fronts of the Southwest Pacific. Texans daily emblazon the record with outstanding feats of courage on land and on the sea and in the air. No name stands out more brilliantly than the heroic defender of Corregidor, General George F. Moore. Whenever I see a Texas man in my command, I have a feeling of confidence. Moore received the Distinguished Service Cross and Distinguished Service Medal and was promoted to the rank of major general. Moore never fully recovered from his three -year experience as a Japanese prisoner of war. He committed suicide in 1949. In his memory the Corps created the Moore award which is wom proudly by the unit of the Corps judged to be the most outstanding each year. No records have been found to tell us about the occupants of the Commandant's House after Moore. People who were on the campus in the late 'forties and early 'fifties remember that for some of the time during that period it was used for classrooms and as a soil test lab. In 1952 the house was sold to the head campus tennis coach and a professor of physical education, W. M. Dowell for $555.55. It was cut in half, and both halves were trucked tc its present location on the East Bypass where it was reassembled. The chimney and the porches which had been on the south side of the house were removed in the process of moving and never replaced at the new location. The Dowell family enjoyed living in the house which was considered to be out in the country during the time they lived there. It was reached via Texas Avenue until the building of the Highway 6 Bypass. Only minor alterations were made on the house by the DowelIs and subsequent tenants, and it appears to be structurally sound. Therefore, there are no major obstacles to restoring it to its original appearance, and the porch and chimney could be reconstructed. After the death of Mr. Dowell, Mrs. Dowell lived there for some years until she moved to Houston. Mrs. Dowell then rented the house primarily to students at the university. Mrs. Dowell's daughter Susan Clancy and her husband, Danny, hearing that the Center for Historic Resources was seeking a historic house to restore and move to the campus and that the former Commandant's House was one that had been considered, generously offered it to the university for this purpose in October of 1987. This gift was accepted by President Vandiver with the stipulation that adequate funding had to be raised to move and restore the house and provide for its maintenance. L `Information for this historical sketch was obtained from a report done in 1987 for Architecture 646 by John Evans, Glenn W. Franklin, Maggie Mottesheard and Katherine Williams, the minutes of the campus housing committee, faculty- student directories, Bryan - College Station city directories, published histories of the university, yearbooks, and interviews with individuals who lived in the house or remember it when it was on campus. :, 1, `/ er71A��ce /5Z7727 caypAr r — —I -', i -- - - - - -- - - - 8 Ad= 1 _ ligium Pr .. 1 . II de? 5'Yafira2m - f - /frchin2 /� . . iY /hg 1 _,.. — . I; 1 I SVDrale ■ , 25afil 1 ;f I '.- ii iii. - OZWIZI . --": • I I - `I 1)/red Gh /vise 240 sf 2/0 sf _ MINS t . . R 1\ . .• l i t x . ■ fecre7`5 1 Cor 1 fides etc. .. avna'iL)/p/a I 1 1 230 - 1 �ssf I I i 1 1 ; e l -- 1 • 0 5 /o f C C/-/ / -%/- dawe / /'/ sra i v - - = - -- I t_- w 1 I (..„ \ I Staf sisf 1�1 ✓ \\ 1 BB '1 ' _ , 11 1 51151.11t , 1.. w In 1 1 . sy,,,,, ! if . ) ..„ _, � -- - - - ■ -- / _ pw -- - -1 1 / / ■ ` 1 1 , ,���ar2�l� G O 7c ar _25.7 - siSfa /if - - - -- -- - -- I ; I al P/Iearr li i .. , 22 s I kr ' \ i , \ 4 ' � J / e rea' D�frc� � 290 ' . , ,, N " N„ 0 k2 fee C. CI / TffF 1oivel/, ise /ec /7 or? (vv fie pli. , /1111 0 /ivy- . .. Ilia 1 i /6 ?a7//4/9• - -; .- r1 i -,� 1 e9K . ________. i ......________. 0, ��c . 62-7-/hil I I I i I I / I J A z • ,_,I. . . 1. . . /77,217es i 1 . 1 • I I i C/ / 7 4....1s4-4,\J7--- /9Co .sue • • .. O ,,,.. • N CAMPUS . . • . - • ,, , ,...,‘ ,.. „..**,.. -- j � A&M Center Joins With Texas Historical Foundation , Texas A &M's Center for Historic -f4.! ` Resources, created in September 1986, has joined forces with the Texas F Historical Foundation to discover and '', preserve significant elements of Texas' ' : ,' Es _ , s heritage. Soon the Center may be `" +- , 1 � = � ,, R ? headquartered in the former "Comman- ` - - - -- • - •_. dant's House," which has been offered for X111 - relocation back on campus. .:; ^ — . �_ - },, 11 11 j t `. The e merger will allow the Foundation I I • ' 1 1 t 11 i to assist the Center in developing funding ) i ` ' .� _� specific projects of merit and permit I. fors ' P P J Pe t 1.- -a , . the Center to help the Foundation by ' 7: '.x.v _ identifying and evaluating projects. ID Projects already underway include: The Dowell House, sometimes referred to as the "Commandant's House." • Preparation of recommendations to the National Park Service for preserving some the Physical Education Department and having such information is asked to of the adobe structures at Fort Davis coached the A &M tennis team from contact Gordon Echols, c/o College of National Historical Site in Texas' Big 1947 to 1957. Architecture and Environmental Design, Bend. The house was built in 1909 and was Texas A &M University, College Station, • An archaeological search for the site of the home of numerous commandants TX 77843. He can also provide the 17th century Spanish outpost Presidio of A &M's Corps of Cadets including information about joining the Texas Teran, in the area of the Neches and Maj. Gen. George E. Moore '08, the Historical Foundation. Angelina Rivers. commander of Corregidor who led a The cost of moving and restoring the • Continued archaeological research, handful of Aggies in that famous Aggie house is estimated at $400,000 and altemate plans for the park entrance, and Muster conducted under enemy guns in furnishings and interiors could cost programming for expansion of the 1942. It originally faced west on a site another $50,000. It is also hoped that a museum at Washington-on-the--Brazos east of Guion Hall (now the Rudder $100,000 endowment can be established State Park. Auditorium complex) and next to the to provide for continuing maintenance. Gordon Echols, director of the Center, Trigon (A &M's military science is a professor of urban and regional building). Center officials want to A &M Students p Partici ate planning in A &M's College of Archi- relocate the house as close to the original tecture and Environmental Design. He site as possible. In Japan -U.S. Conference hopes there will eventually be an Chris Carson '55, a principal in the This summer two Aggies will , endowed chair in historic preservation at San Antonio architecture firm of Ford, participate in the 40th annual Japan - Texas A &M. This would require a gift of Powell and Carson, is chairman of a America Student Conference. It will $500,000 that could be matched by the committee given responsibility for be the second conference for Troy D. University. funding the move and restoration. Miller, a senior economics major from The former "Commandant's House" Serving with Carson on the committee Richardson, and the first for l:evin C. has been offered to the university by are Mrs. John Blocker of Houston and Whelton, a senior finance major from• Danny Clancy '64 and his wife, Susan, Mrs. Renee Vandiver, wife of A &M Houston. • who grew up in the house after it was President Frank Vandiver. The committee Some 40 delegates from each country moved from campus in 1952. Susan's is looking for photographs and other will pursue the theme "Historical father, the late W.M. Dowell, taught in descriptions of the house. It is thought Reflections: Creating Direction for that the house had a porch on three sides Mutual Understanding." Their itinerary and perhaps three chimneys. Anyone will take them from Dallas, where the Dallas A &M Mothers' Club is arranging 14 ' OH 1 f X-a..a ar n Ni i,:;,