DUANE
Duane's take
The way the marker tells it — and this one was put up by the State of Texas in 1936 — we're standing across the street from a piece of ground that held a whole lot of history inside four walls. The home belonged to John Joseph Linn. Merchant, soldier, statesman, historian.
That's not me piling on the titles — that's just the man. Born in Ireland on October 25, 1798, he made his way to Texas and planted himself deep enough to become the last alcalde and the first mayor of Victoria. Think about that for a second.
Last of one world, first of another. That's a hinge point in history, and John Joseph Linn was the hinge. He served as a member of the General Council of the Provisional Government of Texas in 1835.
Then he went on to serve in the first Congress of Texas. The man had a hand in building something from scratch, and he knew it, because he wrote it all down — hence the historian part of that four-part title. He died here in Victoria in 1885.
That home across the street saw the whole arc of it. But here's where the story gets its weight. That house was a way station for men marchin' toward one of the darkest chapters in Texas history.
Members of the New Orleans Greys passed through. The Alabama Red Rovers came through too. They were entertained in that home while on their way to Goliad — to join Colonel Fannin's ill-fated command.
The marker calls it ill-fated, and there is no softer word for what was coming for those men. And while those volunteers rested under Linn's roof, the women of Victoria were busy inside those same walls, mouldng bullets for the Army. Not watching history happen — making it happen, with their own hands.
One house. One man with four titles. Soldiers heading toward Goliad.
Women casting bullets by firelight. John Joseph Linn died in 1885, and the home is gone now — just across that street — but the ground remembers every bit of it.
What the marker says
This marker faces the site (across the street) of the home of John Joseph Linn. Merchant, soldier, statesman, historian. Born in Ireland, October 25, 1798. Last alcalde and first mayor of Victoria. Member of the General Council, Provisional Government of Texas, 1835. Member of the first Congress of Texas. Died here 1885. There members of the "New Orleans Greys" and the Alabama "Red Rovers" were entertained while on their way to Goliad to join Colonel Fannin's ill-fated command. There the women of Victoria moulded bullets for the Army. Erected by the State of Texas 1936