The Dancing Texican

by John Comer

This is the story of Jonas, a soldier who missed his war. My wife’s niece, Linda Gipson in Dallas, an excellent genealogist, did the research.

John and Nancy Moore, my wife’s great-great-great-grandparents, along with Nancy’s brother Jonas, left the United States and obtained a land grant from the state of Coahuila, Mexico, about 1832, in what is now Houston County, Texas.

Neither this family nor any of the other Americans moving into what was at that time northern Mexico held any loyalty to the Mexican government, even though an 1834 land record in San Augustin certified that “John Moore, a native of North Carolina of the United States of America” was “friendly to the laws and religion of the country.”

Times were troublesome in this part of Mexico. Revolution was afoot.  Sam Houston was commander of the Texan army. The Alamo fell. Houston led his small army shouting “Remember the Alamo!” to attack Santa Anna’s Mexican troops near the mouth of the San Jacinto River, near the present-day city of Houston. Santa Anna’s army was defeated. The battle of San Jacinto won independence for what would become the Republic of Texas.

And Jonas was there at San Jacinto, one of Sam Houston’s soldiers. But not in the battle. Back with the supply wagons instead. He had broken his leg the night before and missed his war.

Jonas missed the battle, but even so, his name is on the wall of the San Jacinto monument. Spelled wrong. Hale instead of Hail. And what happened to uncle Jonas is the whole point of this little essay.

Good intentions do count. It’s important to have our heart in the right place even if the body can’t be there. Disadvantaged people are valuable, even those with misspelled names. Everybody can’t be a hero at the battle front. Some will always be back with the baggage wagons. That’s okay.

The Bible says there is a time to dance. Jonas loved to do just that. Near San Augustin, Texas, is an 1854 home built by Jonas, with a stairway leading to a second floor ballroom. Can it be that Jonas’ broken leg saved him from being mortally wounded the day of the battle? In any case, he lived to dance again. Blessings do have a way of coming in unexpected ways.