N.HERNANDEZ (Baja California? c.1820?)
Re: N.HERNANDEZ (TEXAS 1835 TAX STAMP)
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::: MYSTERY SOLVED. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Re: N.HERNANDEZ (Texas 1835 Tax Stamp)
::: The two dots after the letter "N" may have been symbolic of the dots on the Mexican Silver coins and have a long history on Mexican silver coins:
::: The hallmark must be a tax-stamp on silver items used during the very brief period of time 1834-1835 when General Santa Anna declared himself a dictator and GIL HERNANDEZ was vigorously enforcing the customs duties at the customs house in Galveston :::::: It's quite a luxurious piece of silver, especially given that only 10% of all transactions in Texas were using silver coins to settle debts at that time, barter was the overwhelming way to settle debts in this region of Texas circa 1835. ::::::::
:::: Unless a minor miracle happens and an obscure letter is discovered in a Texas archive, the mystery has been solved. ::::::::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: END ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
::: The hallmark must be a tax-stamp on silver items used during the very brief period of time 1834-1835 when General Santa Anna declared himself a dictator and GIL HERNANDEZ was vigorously enforcing the customs duties at the customs house in Galveston :::::: It's quite a luxurious piece of silver, especially given that only 10% of all transactions in Texas were using silver coins to settle debts at that time, barter was the overwhelming way to settle debts in this region of Texas circa 1835. ::::::::
:::: Unless a minor miracle happens and an obscure letter is discovered in a Texas archive, the mystery has been solved. ::::::::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: END ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Re: N.HERNANDEZ (Baja California? c.1820?)
(coda just to highlight the "two dots" details:)
(coda just to give a better comparison of the Sidney Sherman Napkin Ring Monogram and the "JAS" Monogram on the [N:HERNANDEZ] bowl:)
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: END OF CODA :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
(coda just to give a better comparison of the Sidney Sherman Napkin Ring Monogram and the "JAS" Monogram on the [N:HERNANDEZ] bowl:)
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: END OF CODA :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Re: N.HERNANDEZ (1835 Texas)
(addendum of letters mentioning GIL HERNANDEZ tax assessor stationed in Galveston TX 1835)
(the papers of JAMES AUSTIN SYLVESTER in the Rosenberg Library, Galveston TX were made available to me and I cannot thank them enough for the opportunity to look at such wonderful pieces of Texas history but unfortunately the last will and testament of JAMES AUSTIN SYLVESTER was not among the papers and no mention of a silver bowl was made in any of the papers)
(the papers of JAMES AUSTIN SYLVESTER in the Rosenberg Library, Galveston TX were made available to me and I cannot thank them enough for the opportunity to look at such wonderful pieces of Texas history but unfortunately the last will and testament of JAMES AUSTIN SYLVESTER was not among the papers and no mention of a silver bowl was made in any of the papers)
Re: N.HERNANDEZ (Baja California? c.1820?)
Maybe I figured this out:
NOAH TURNER BYERS(1808-1888) was a pioneer Baptist preacher, who moved to Texas in 1835 from Georgia where he established a gunsmith and blacksmith shop at Washington-on-the-Brazos. In 1836, Sam Houston appointed Byars armorer and blacksmith of the Texas army. He also served as sergeant-at-arms to the Texas Senate from 1837 to 1841 and as armorer and blacksmith to the Indians. Byars was associate judge of Travis County from 1839 to 1841 and was elected for another two-year term but declined to serve because of his ordination in 1841 to the Baptist ministry.”
The closest match I have made to the border of the [N:HERNANDEZ] bowl comes from MOSES EASTMAN working in GEORGIA circa 1835. (See previous posts for border comparisons).
When NOAH TURNER BYERS moved from Georgia to Texas in 1835, he was carrying this silver bowl with him. The year 1835 fits perfectly with the time that ANTONIO GIL HERNANDEZ was enforcing the tax-duties at the Galveston Customshouse. After around April 1835 the situation deteriorated and ANTONIO GIL HERNANDEZ was no longer able to counter the smugglers, and some really dangerous incidents were taking place between the Mexican Soldiers and the Texan Merchants importing goods into Nacogdoches.
In 1836, NOAH TURNER BYERS was appointed armorer and blacksmith of the Texan Army. Who else would Sidney Sherman give Santa Anna’s Silver Saddle to, in order to be melted down into napkin rings? Of course it would be the armorer and blacksmith of the Texan army. It makes perfect sense. It had to have been NOAH TURNER BYERS who put the engraving “J.A.S.” in honor of JAMES AUSTIN SYLVESTER capturing General Santa Anna after The Battle Of San Jacinto.
I think NOAH TURNER BYERS melted down General Santa Anna’s Silver Saddle and made it into napkin rings (and a fork and a ladle). I think NOAH TURNER BYERS engraved both the Napkin Ring and The [N:HERNANDEZ] bowl.
When I put UV fluorescence in the bowl, there is a lot of UV fluorescence. These UV lights are what hunters use to track blood because the iron particles in hemoglobin fluoresce under UV light. I have never seen another piece of silver show UV fluorescence like this. But, if this bowl was made in a blacksmith's shop, that would explain the UV fluorescence. There would have been iron in the crucible used to melt the 12 Silver Dollars (Approximate Weight) to make the bowl. There would have been iron particles in the air. And there would have been iron particles on the tools used to make the silver bowl.
Internet Archive UV Fluorescence (Iron Particles In Hemoglobin):
The UV Fluorescence in the [N:HERNANDEZ] Bowl:
At first I thought the Bowl might have been a surgical bowl used in The Battle Of San Jacinto (which would explain the iron particles from human blood) but now I think the iron particles are from being made in a Blacksmith's shop. Using Blacksmith's tools which have iron particles on them. Using a crucible that had iron particles on it. When the 12 silver dollars were melted the iron particles may have floated to the surface of the silver, which is why the bottom of the inside of the bowl fluoresces under UV light.
NOAH TURNER BYERS owned a Blacksmith-Gunsmith Shop there at "Washington on the Brazos" where the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed. (Here is some additional history):
["It is known that Byars' education was quite limited, but his parents were of excellent character and he enjoyed good home training. At the age of sixteen, he became a member of the church and for a time considered entering the ministry. His exalted conception of that vocation, however, deterred him, feeling that he was sadly unqualified for it. Instead he went to nearby Georgia and studied to be a gunsmith. The fact that in 1835 he made his way to Texas has caused some to speculate that in Austin's Anglo colony in the rough Mexican province he might have thought manufacturing guns would prove profitable. In any event he did not stake his future on any such expectation. Upon arriving in Texas he chose not to confine himself to a gunsmithy but engaged also in the sale of real estate, a fact overlooked by most when referring to the room in which the Texas Declaration of Independence was adopted.
Curiously there is much confusion in the popular mind about that Texas Independence Hall. Usually it is mentioned as Byars' blacksmith shop, but actually it was an unfinished commercial house, rented from him by a group of citizens for use of the Convention which resulted in the Texas Revolution. It is necessary for us to clear up this confusion.
Surprising it is to discover that Dr. J. M. Carroll, in his history of Texas Baptists, was the first to say the room was a blacksmith shop. Dr. Carroll doubtless thought that logic compelled the conclusion, but likely he was impelled by sentimentality, in an effort to show what meager resources the Texans had. Since I was a member of the editorial committee which approved his manuscript before publication, I should feel remiss in not engaging in adequate research and challenging the accuracy of his designation.
Upon examining a dozen or more of the generally accepted early authentic Texas histories one cannot find any of them which identifies the building as Byars' blacksmith shop. Only Rupert N. Richardson, a respected Texas historian, says it was, but rather obviously he repeated Carroll's statement in the belief that the oft-quoted identification had to be correct. But William P. Zuber, in a manuscript now in the Texas Archives, who wrote as an eyewitness on the scene, describes quite another kind of building: "a two-story frame, but they occupied only the first floor .... new, a commercial house." The Baptist General Convention in its 1888 obituary resolution simply called it Byars' "dwelling." Byars, himself, in efforts to collect the rent from the Republic, which recommended instead a suite against the group of contracting citizens for payment of the rent, made no reference to a blacksmith shop. The only semblance of evidence that the building was a blacksmith shop anywhere to be offered is an old photograph shown by the Ellison Photo Company, Austin which has the words, "N. T. Byars' blacksmith shop, in which the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed." But experts say Ellison could never tell where he obtained the photograph and the clothes worn by the men in the picture belonged to the late 1880's, not the time of 1836 more that a half century earlier. Likely the building was some old remodeled house.
In whatever building the fifty-eight members of the Constitutional Convention unanimously signed the Texas Declaration of Independence, we know that it belonged to Noah Byars. We know, too, that in the terribly swift action of those March days when Sam Houston was elected Commander-in-chief of the Texas forces, it was Byars the gunsmith on whom was laid the momentous responsibility of serving in the capacity of armorer, not because of his store of supplies, but obviously because of his knowledge and skill."]
NOAH TURNER BYERS(1808-1888) was a pioneer Baptist preacher, who moved to Texas in 1835 from Georgia where he established a gunsmith and blacksmith shop at Washington-on-the-Brazos. In 1836, Sam Houston appointed Byars armorer and blacksmith of the Texas army. He also served as sergeant-at-arms to the Texas Senate from 1837 to 1841 and as armorer and blacksmith to the Indians. Byars was associate judge of Travis County from 1839 to 1841 and was elected for another two-year term but declined to serve because of his ordination in 1841 to the Baptist ministry.”
The closest match I have made to the border of the [N:HERNANDEZ] bowl comes from MOSES EASTMAN working in GEORGIA circa 1835. (See previous posts for border comparisons).
When NOAH TURNER BYERS moved from Georgia to Texas in 1835, he was carrying this silver bowl with him. The year 1835 fits perfectly with the time that ANTONIO GIL HERNANDEZ was enforcing the tax-duties at the Galveston Customshouse. After around April 1835 the situation deteriorated and ANTONIO GIL HERNANDEZ was no longer able to counter the smugglers, and some really dangerous incidents were taking place between the Mexican Soldiers and the Texan Merchants importing goods into Nacogdoches.
In 1836, NOAH TURNER BYERS was appointed armorer and blacksmith of the Texan Army. Who else would Sidney Sherman give Santa Anna’s Silver Saddle to, in order to be melted down into napkin rings? Of course it would be the armorer and blacksmith of the Texan army. It makes perfect sense. It had to have been NOAH TURNER BYERS who put the engraving “J.A.S.” in honor of JAMES AUSTIN SYLVESTER capturing General Santa Anna after The Battle Of San Jacinto.
I think NOAH TURNER BYERS melted down General Santa Anna’s Silver Saddle and made it into napkin rings (and a fork and a ladle). I think NOAH TURNER BYERS engraved both the Napkin Ring and The [N:HERNANDEZ] bowl.
When I put UV fluorescence in the bowl, there is a lot of UV fluorescence. These UV lights are what hunters use to track blood because the iron particles in hemoglobin fluoresce under UV light. I have never seen another piece of silver show UV fluorescence like this. But, if this bowl was made in a blacksmith's shop, that would explain the UV fluorescence. There would have been iron in the crucible used to melt the 12 Silver Dollars (Approximate Weight) to make the bowl. There would have been iron particles in the air. And there would have been iron particles on the tools used to make the silver bowl.
Internet Archive UV Fluorescence (Iron Particles In Hemoglobin):
The UV Fluorescence in the [N:HERNANDEZ] Bowl:
At first I thought the Bowl might have been a surgical bowl used in The Battle Of San Jacinto (which would explain the iron particles from human blood) but now I think the iron particles are from being made in a Blacksmith's shop. Using Blacksmith's tools which have iron particles on them. Using a crucible that had iron particles on it. When the 12 silver dollars were melted the iron particles may have floated to the surface of the silver, which is why the bottom of the inside of the bowl fluoresces under UV light.
NOAH TURNER BYERS owned a Blacksmith-Gunsmith Shop there at "Washington on the Brazos" where the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed. (Here is some additional history):
["It is known that Byars' education was quite limited, but his parents were of excellent character and he enjoyed good home training. At the age of sixteen, he became a member of the church and for a time considered entering the ministry. His exalted conception of that vocation, however, deterred him, feeling that he was sadly unqualified for it. Instead he went to nearby Georgia and studied to be a gunsmith. The fact that in 1835 he made his way to Texas has caused some to speculate that in Austin's Anglo colony in the rough Mexican province he might have thought manufacturing guns would prove profitable. In any event he did not stake his future on any such expectation. Upon arriving in Texas he chose not to confine himself to a gunsmithy but engaged also in the sale of real estate, a fact overlooked by most when referring to the room in which the Texas Declaration of Independence was adopted.
Curiously there is much confusion in the popular mind about that Texas Independence Hall. Usually it is mentioned as Byars' blacksmith shop, but actually it was an unfinished commercial house, rented from him by a group of citizens for use of the Convention which resulted in the Texas Revolution. It is necessary for us to clear up this confusion.
Surprising it is to discover that Dr. J. M. Carroll, in his history of Texas Baptists, was the first to say the room was a blacksmith shop. Dr. Carroll doubtless thought that logic compelled the conclusion, but likely he was impelled by sentimentality, in an effort to show what meager resources the Texans had. Since I was a member of the editorial committee which approved his manuscript before publication, I should feel remiss in not engaging in adequate research and challenging the accuracy of his designation.
Upon examining a dozen or more of the generally accepted early authentic Texas histories one cannot find any of them which identifies the building as Byars' blacksmith shop. Only Rupert N. Richardson, a respected Texas historian, says it was, but rather obviously he repeated Carroll's statement in the belief that the oft-quoted identification had to be correct. But William P. Zuber, in a manuscript now in the Texas Archives, who wrote as an eyewitness on the scene, describes quite another kind of building: "a two-story frame, but they occupied only the first floor .... new, a commercial house." The Baptist General Convention in its 1888 obituary resolution simply called it Byars' "dwelling." Byars, himself, in efforts to collect the rent from the Republic, which recommended instead a suite against the group of contracting citizens for payment of the rent, made no reference to a blacksmith shop. The only semblance of evidence that the building was a blacksmith shop anywhere to be offered is an old photograph shown by the Ellison Photo Company, Austin which has the words, "N. T. Byars' blacksmith shop, in which the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed." But experts say Ellison could never tell where he obtained the photograph and the clothes worn by the men in the picture belonged to the late 1880's, not the time of 1836 more that a half century earlier. Likely the building was some old remodeled house.
In whatever building the fifty-eight members of the Constitutional Convention unanimously signed the Texas Declaration of Independence, we know that it belonged to Noah Byars. We know, too, that in the terribly swift action of those March days when Sam Houston was elected Commander-in-chief of the Texas forces, it was Byars the gunsmith on whom was laid the momentous responsibility of serving in the capacity of armorer, not because of his store of supplies, but obviously because of his knowledge and skill."]
Re: N.HERNANDEZ (Baja California? c.1820?)
::::: NOAH TURNER BYERS did become one of the greatest Baptist preachers in Texas. He was a charter member of the first Baptist church in Washington-On-The-Brazos in 1838. What is interesting is that MOSES EASTMAN was a partner from 1826-1828 with JOSIAH PENFIELD until Penfield's death in September 1828. JOSIAH PENFIELD was incredibly active in his community, and helped many people in both civic and religious activities. Penfield was a Baptist Deacon and worked tirelessly for his Baptist Church and left a large amount of money to help various charities associated with his Baptist Church. JOSIAH PENFIELD and MOSES EASTMAN both advertised for the sale of guns, so I am just wondering if NOAH TURNER BYERS was associated with PENFIELD & EASTMAN as a gunsmith and silversmith. When JOSIAH PENFIELD died he is said to have had a large constellation of friends who were all extremely bereaved following his death in September 1828. JOSIAH PENFIELD was a truly great man, and his long list of accomplishments all took place before the young age of 43 when he died of tuberculosis ("The Silversmiths Of Georgia" by Cutten). ::::::::
:::::: The fact that NOAH TURNER BYERS was both a gunsmith and a Baptist Preacher makes me wonder if he was involved with PENFIELD & EASTMAN and that is where he received his training as a gunsmith, and I'm just assuming that he could have been trained by PENFIELD & EASTMAN as a silversmith as well. He is said to have wanted to be a Baptist Preacher when he was a young man, but felt he wasn't ready to heed the call until later in life. I can't find any details about NOAH TURNER BYERS's life in Georgia except that he lived in Georgia from circa 1825 until January 1835 when he made the journey to Texas and landed in Texas in April 1835. (did he live in Savannah?) :::::::
:::::: The fact that NOAH TURNER BYERS was both a gunsmith and a Baptist Preacher makes me wonder if he was involved with PENFIELD & EASTMAN and that is where he received his training as a gunsmith, and I'm just assuming that he could have been trained by PENFIELD & EASTMAN as a silversmith as well. He is said to have wanted to be a Baptist Preacher when he was a young man, but felt he wasn't ready to heed the call until later in life. I can't find any details about NOAH TURNER BYERS's life in Georgia except that he lived in Georgia from circa 1825 until January 1835 when he made the journey to Texas and landed in Texas in April 1835. (did he live in Savannah?) :::::::
Re: N.HERNANDEZ (Baja California? c.1820?)
:::: The engraving on a cup by MOSES EASTMAN contrasted with the [N:HERNANDEZ] bowl monogram and the SIDNEY SHERMAN napkin ring monogram:
:::::::::::::::::::: It's difficult to draw conclusions from a monogram but I do wonder if MOSES EASTMAN taught NOAH TURNER BYARS the art of engraving, there are periods after each letter (or last name) and the construction of the letter "S" is quite similar, maybe I can find additional items by MOSES EASTMAN and attempt to draw further conclusions, however circumstantial they may be :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:::::::::::::::::::: It's difficult to draw conclusions from a monogram but I do wonder if MOSES EASTMAN taught NOAH TURNER BYARS the art of engraving, there are periods after each letter (or last name) and the construction of the letter "S" is quite similar, maybe I can find additional items by MOSES EASTMAN and attempt to draw further conclusions, however circumstantial they may be :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Re: N.HERNANDEZ (Baja California? c.1820?)
:::: MOSES EASTMAN advertising guns was found in "The Silversmiths Of Georgia" by George Barton Cutten who provides a footnote referencing the newspaper advertisement in "The Georgian" newspaper in 1830 and again in 1832:
:::::; If anyone has evidence of NOAH TURNER BYARS living in Savannah Georgia (we know he moved to Georgia circa 1825 and lived there until 1835 when he departed Georgia for Texas) and possibly working for MOSES EASTMAN it would be greatly appreciated. We know for a fact that when he lands in Texas in 1835 he is had a great deal of skill in blacksmithing and gunsmithing. My hypothesis is that he was also trained as a silversmith under MOSES EASTMAN while he was using his blacksmithing and gunsmithing skills to make products for MOSES EASTMAN who advertised the sale of all sorts of products made from different types of metals.
:::: Further detail of the engraved cup by MOSES EASTMAN which shows similarities to the [N:HERNANDEZ} bowl: The similar "S" style, the periods after each letter/name, and also we see a similar "4-leaf-flower" engraving that appears twice on the MOSES EASTMAN cup, note the similar "4-leaf-flower" shape on the border of the {N:HERNANDEZ] bowl:
:::::::::::::::::: It's a curious detail :::::::::::::::::::::
:::::; If anyone has evidence of NOAH TURNER BYARS living in Savannah Georgia (we know he moved to Georgia circa 1825 and lived there until 1835 when he departed Georgia for Texas) and possibly working for MOSES EASTMAN it would be greatly appreciated. We know for a fact that when he lands in Texas in 1835 he is had a great deal of skill in blacksmithing and gunsmithing. My hypothesis is that he was also trained as a silversmith under MOSES EASTMAN while he was using his blacksmithing and gunsmithing skills to make products for MOSES EASTMAN who advertised the sale of all sorts of products made from different types of metals.
:::: Further detail of the engraved cup by MOSES EASTMAN which shows similarities to the [N:HERNANDEZ} bowl: The similar "S" style, the periods after each letter/name, and also we see a similar "4-leaf-flower" engraving that appears twice on the MOSES EASTMAN cup, note the similar "4-leaf-flower" shape on the border of the {N:HERNANDEZ] bowl:
:::::::::::::::::: It's a curious detail :::::::::::::::::::::