Texian Macabre: A Melancholy Tale of a Hanging in Early Houston

Mandred Wood may have caught a glint off the Bowie knife that sank into his belly - but probably not. On the afternoon of November 11, 1837, he had exchanged "harsh epithets" with David James Jones, a hero of the Texas Revolution. When words failed, Jones closed the argument with his blade. Such affrays were common in Houston, the fledgling capital of the Republic of Texas. This one, however, was singular. Wood was a gentleman and Jones a member of a disruptive gang of vagrants that the upper crust denounced as the "rowdy loafers." Jones went to jail; Wood went to his grave. In the weeks that followed, the killing resounded throughout the squalid, verminous city that one resident described as the "most miserable place in the world." Stephen L. Hardin's suspenseful and witty narrative reads like a contemporary page-turner, yet all is carefully documented history. He entwines the murder into the story of the sordid city like the strands of a hangman's rope. It is an astonishing tale peopled by remarkable characters: the one-armed newspaper editor and political candidate who employs the crime to advance his sanctimonious agenda; the Kentucky lawyer who enjoys champagne breakfasts and collecting human skulls; the German immigrant who sees rats gnaw the finger off an infant lying in his cradle; the Alamo widow whose circumstances force her to practice the oldest profession; the sociopathic physician who slaughters an innocent man in a duel; the Methodist minister horrified by the drunken debaucheries of government officials; and the president himself - the Sword of San Jacinto - who during a besotted bacchanal strips to his underwear. Skillfully conceived and masterfully written, "Texian Macabre: A Melancholy Tale of a Hanging in Early Houston" will transport readers to a lost time and place.

About the Author :
STEPHEN L. HARDIN has been a historical consultant on several motion pictures including the 2004 production of The Alamo. His book Texian Iliad won the T.R. Fehrenbach Book Award and the Summerfield G. Roberts Award. He is chair of the department of history at Victoria College in Victoria, Texas.

Review :
""Texian"" Macabre" is one of the best books ever written about life on the Texas frontier. Stephen L. Hardin is a rare combination of scrupulous historian and high-spirited storyteller, and his account of the early days of Houston is alive with vivid characters, gruesome incidents, and mordant insights. This is a marvelous narrative from a peerless authority." --Stephen Harrigan, author of "The Gates of the Alamo"--Stephen Harrigan, author of The Gates of the Alamo "In Hardin's fascinating "Texian Macabre", readers stroll through early Texas history as if they had actually been living during the time period shortly after the Texas Revolution. . . Readers of Texas history and individuals with knowledge of Houston will find this book to be mesmerizing." -;/div>--Janet K. Turek "Review of Texas Books " "Erudite and entertaining in equal measure, "Texian"" Macabre" is bound to become a classic in the historiography of the Texas Republic. The book splendidly re-creates early Houston with scenes that will long linger in the reader's memories. Hardin not only richly contextualizes the hanging of the unfortunate David James Jones, but also teases out information on the elusive perpetrator and his fellow roughs and rowdies from an impressive variety of obscure (and often opaque) sources. But while Hardin brings to life scores of early Texan personalities in vivid detail, it is above all the crude and ambitious city of Houston, with its denizens high and low, that emerges as the main character of this drama. Finally, anyone doubting the appropriateness of the term "macabre" to describe this story will be set straight in Hardin's climactic chapter, as the author graphically describes the indignities visited upon the bodies of both the living and the dead--especially poor David James Jones, who killed the wrong person at exactly the wrong time."--James E. Crisp, author "Sleuthing the Alamo: Davy Crockett's Last Stand""and""Other Mysteries of the Texas Revolution"--James E. Crisp, author Sleuthing the Alamo: Davy Crockett's Last Stand "Texian Macabre is one of the best books ever written about life on the Texas frontier. Stephen L. Hardin is a rare combination of scrupulous historian and high-spirited storyteller, and his account of the early days of Houston is alive with vivid characters, gruesome incidents, and mordant insights. This is a marvelous narrative from a peerless authority." --Stephen Harrigan, author of The Gates of the Alamo--Stephen Harrigan, author of The Gates of the Alamo "Erudite and entertaining in equal measure, Texian Macabre is bound to become a classic in the historiography of the Texas Republic. The book splendidly re-creates early Houston with scenes that will long linger in the reader's memories. Hardin not only richly contextualizes the hanging of the unfortunate David James Jones, but also teases out information on the elusive perpetrator and his fellow roughs and rowdies from an impressive variety of obscure (and often opaque) sources. But while Hardin brings to life scores of early Texan personalities in vivid detail, it is above all the crude and ambitious city of Houston, with its denizens high and low, that emerges as the main character of this drama. Finally, anyone doubting the appropriateness of the term "macabre" to describe this story will be set straight in Hardin's climactic chapter, as the author graphically describes the indignities visited upon the bodies of both the living and the dead--especially poor David James Jones, who killed the wrong person at exactly the wrong time."--James E. Crisp, author Sleuthing the Alamo: Davy Crockett's Last Stand and Other Mysteries of the Texas Revolution--James E. Crisp, author Sleuthing the Alamo: Davy Crockett's Last Stand "In Hardin's fascinating Texian Macabre, readers stroll through early Texas history as if they had actually been living during the time period shortly after the Texas Revolution. . . Readers of Texas history and individuals with knowledge of Houston will find this book to be mesmerizing." -;/div>--Janet K. Turek "Review of Texas Books " "Erudite and entertaining in equal measure, Texian Macabre is bound to become a classic in the historiography of the Texas Republic. The book splendidly re-creates early Houston with scenes that will long linger in the reader's memories. Hardin not only richly contextualizes the hanging of the unfortunate David James Jones, but also teases out information on the elusive perpetrator and his fellow roughs and rowdies from an impressive variety of obscure (and often opaque) sources. But while Hardin brings to life scores of early Texan personalities in vivid detail, it is above all the crude and ambitious city of Houston, with its denizens high and low, that emerges as the main character of this drama. Finally, anyone doubting the appropriateness of the term "macabre" to describe this story will be set straight in Hardin's climactic chapter, as the author graphically describes the indignities visited upon the bodies of both the living and the dead-especially poor David James Jones, who killed the wrong person at exactly the wrong time."--James E. Crisp, author Sleuthing the Alamo: Davy Crockett's Last Stand and Other Mysteries of the Texas Revolution -- James E. Crisp, author Sleuthing the Alamo: Davy Crockett's Last Stand