WILLIAM PHYSICK ZUBER

First Historian of Texas

William Physick Zuber had a talent for remembering the events in his life. He lived through many of the most remarkable events in the history of our nation and his state. Zuber was a German by his ancestry, a Georgian by his birth, and a Texan for eternity. During the last forty years of his life, he began writing historical articles for the Texas State Historical Association Quarterly and other historical publications.

William Zuber was born near the town of Marion in Twiggs County on July 6, 1820. His father, Abraham Zuber, Jr., came to Georgia from Pennsylvania during his childhood. His mother, Mary Ann Mann, came from South Carolina to Twiggs County in 1814 to live with her grandparents, Robert and Mollie Deshazo. The elder Zuber moved to Marion, the county seat of the infant Twiggs County, to establish a mercantile business. Abraham and Mary Ann married on February 16, 1816. They established a farm outside of town, where William was born.

The Zubers, like many other Georgians, moved to the new lands of Alabama following the end of the Indian Wars. They landed in Montgomery County, where they lived until 1824. They moved again- this time to East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. Abraham Zuber began traveling and made several trips to the Mexican state of Texas. In the summer of 1830, the Zubers once again packed their worldly belongings and moved. After a temporary stay in the District of Aes, William's family moved to Harrisburgh in Stephen Austin's colony. They kept on moving. In Brazoria, their closest neighbors were two miles away. It was in Brazoria where William began to read historical literature. After he read "The Life of Gen. Francis Marion" and "The Life of Washington," Zuber was inspired to serve in the defense of his community against Mexican oppression. One year later the Zubers moved to the future site of Grimes County, which was even more remote than Brazoria.

As the Mexican Army began to invade Texas in 1835, tensions there began to boil. William's thoughts were constantly turning to joining the local military company. His father, discounting his father's service during the American Revolution, tried to talk fourteen-year-old William from joining the militia. His mother would have no part of it.

News came to the community of Gen. Santa Anna's investment in the Alamo. Responding to the calls for help from Col. Travis, Capt. Bennett, the local militia commander formed a small company of a dozen men and boys. On the morning of March 6, 1836, the company left for the Alamo. Zuber's mother wept as she saw her son, a foot soldier in the company, on his way to what she knew would be his death. Before the company reached its destination, they heard the news of the fall of the Alamo. Capt. Bennett ordered his men to dig in and await further orders. On March 20th, Bennett's Company combined its forces with four other companies. On the 25th, the company received news of the massacre of Col. James W. Fannin and his men at Goliad. Fannin, another native of Twiggs County, was murdered after surrendering his men to Mexican forces. For the next several weeks, Zuber and his company patrolled along the Brazos River in anticipation of Santa Anna's crossing.

Just days before the showdown with Santa Anna, Zuber was detailed to care for the sick and wounded in camp. He desperately tried to find someone to take his place so that he could go into battle. Remember that he was still only fifteen years old. When Capt. Gillespie made his final decision and ordered William to remain, the young boy broke into tears.

William heard the reports of gunfire from San Jacinto on the 21st of April. He yearned to be there, in battle like the heroes in the books. Two days after the battle in which Texans defeated the Mexican Army and captured Santa Anna, William walked onto the battlefield, alone. The corpses of Mexican soldiers were strewn in the fields. The sights and smells of decaying bodies sickened him. William was allowed to peek under a blanket where Mexican General Cos was lying. After five days, the stench of death was unbearable. Zuber and his command were ordered to march to Goliad to bury the bones of Col. Fannin's command.

Zuber remained in the service for two years , protecting his home and community from Indian raids. Crops still had to be planted and harvested, so Zuber plowed with his gun lying in the row next to where he was plowing. For several years, Zuber participated in campaigns against Indian and Mexican invaders. In 1844, Zuber was astonished when he was asked to teach school in Walker County. He had very little formal education. He considered himself to be self educated. Zuber, as he had for years, diligently worked to improve his writing skills. His first published writing came in a short article in "The Galveston News" in 1855.

In 1861, at the beginning of what Zuber called "The Confederate War," the old desire to serve in the military came back. After making the necessary arrangements to protect his family, he enlisted as a private in Col. Carter's Lancers. Shortly after he left, Zuber received word that his youngest child was dangerously ill. Fearing the worst, he asked for a furlough, which was denied by Col. Carter. His captain, feeling sorry for him, detailed Zuber back to his home on a recruiting mission. Happily he found his family in good health and immediately returned to camp.

During the early months of the war, Zuber began praying with fellow soldiers. He also joined a Masonic Lodge within the regiment and achieved the degree of Master Mason in 1864. His Methodist faith and Masonic beliefs helped him to get through his second war. Zuber's Regiment, the 21st Texas Cavalry, campaigned in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Missouri for the rest of the war. Zuber's accounts of his regiment and the army's activities are some of the best ever published. While he saw action, Zuber never faced the horrific armies of the Potomac and the Tennessee. When the news of the surrender of Generals Lee and Johnston came, the Texas cavalrymen were still making preparations to continue the fight. Zuber was wounded and had half of his left "pinkie" finger amputated after the pain became too intense. Zuber returned home, unable to tend to his farm. He taught school for a while before returning to his farm.

In 1870, the Texas Legislature authorized pensions for all Texans who served in the Texas military beginning July 1, 1836. Zuber got involved in and became a leader of the pension movement. He continued to teach. In 1873, he wrote a descriptive account of Moses Rose's escape from the Alamo. In 1904, following the death of his wife, Zuber moved to Austin, where he served as tour guide in the State Senate Chamber. Despite his failing eyesight and vertigo, Zuber continued to write. He had three rules: "Write about true and interesting facts. Search out and correct your own mistakes. Search out and correct the errors of others." William Zuber, like all historians, never finished writing about everything he knew. He died on May 22, 1913 and was buried with Masonic honors in the State Cemetery in Austin. Zuber's writings were compiled by his niece, resulting in his autobiography, "My Eighty Years in Texas."