Publication Rights:   Copyright has not been assigned to the San Jacinto Museum of History. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Library Director. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the San Jacinto Museum of History as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Citation:  [Identification of Item], Mary Davis Collection, MC102, San Jacinto Museum of History, Houston, Texas.

Creator Sketch:

Little is known of Mary Davis.  She researched the life of John M. Wade (1819 – 1870), San Jacinto veteran and early Texas pioneer, for Ike Moore, first director of the San Jacinto Museum of History.  Davis put the letters, photographs, and newspapers she collected into a safety deposit box with the instructions that they be presented to Moore when he returned from the Navy.  Davis died, probably in early 1945. When Moore was killed in action in May 1945, Davis’ niece, Mrs. R. T. Weisinger, gave her aunt’s small collection to the museum.

Bibliography:

“WADE, JOHN M.”  The Handbook of Texas Online.

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/WW/fwa2.html

Scope and Content Note:

Newspapers, correspondence, and photographs document the life of John M. Wade (1819 – 1870) and life in the communities of Montgomery and Willis in Montgomery  County and Navasota in Grimes County, Texas, during the 1880s.  Five editions of local papers including the Montgomery Journal (1881), the Willis Index (1886 – 1887), and the Navasota Tablet (1887) record rural life.  A single newspaper clipping from the Houston Post (1944) mentions John M. Wade and his founding of the Montgomery Patriot in 1845.   A letter between Mary Davis and Ike Moore summarizes her research into Montgomery County papers and her contributions to   L. W. Kemp’s sketch of Wade.  Four letters from relatives of Wade relate the little information they know concerning their ancestor.  Two photographs, one a copy of a photograph of Wade and one of his house taken during the 1890s, provide more information concerning the San Jacinto veteran.

MARY DAVIS COLLECTION, 1881 – 1887, 1943 - 1944

Manuscript Collection:  MC102

Size:  14 items

Boxes:  n/a

Inventory