Memories Of Camp Logan

[FilioScotia]

Each of these courts-martial was governed by, "A Manual For Courts-Martial: Corrected To April 15, 1917" dictating the formalization of the UCMJ or Uniform Code of Military Justice in the military arena at that point in time.

The Uniform Code of Military Justice -- UCMJ -- didn't exist in 1917. Each military branch had its own law code, and they were not uniform. There were differences.

General Eisenhower got first hand experience with all that during WWII when he became Supreme Allied Commander of the Invasion of Europe before and after D-Day. The various codes were similar, but not identical or uniform, and Eisenhower's Judge-Advocate General staff -- JAG -- was continually frustrated by the differences in the codes when prosecuting soldiers, sailors or marines. The Air Force was still part of the Army at that time. Soldiers had to be prosecuted under the Army code, sailors and marines under the Navy code, etc.

Eisenhower vowed to do something about that when he could find the time, and that time came after the war when he led development of the modern UCMJ, to put all the military branches under the same set of laws and punishments.

Congress approved the UCMJ in May of 1950 and it went into effect a year later in May of 1951.

[CampLogan1917]

Promptly at ten o'clock on Thursday morning, November 1, 1917, the court-martial of Sergeant William A. Nesbit and sixty-two other members of the Third Battalion, Twenty-fourth Infantry, convened in Gift Memorial Chapel at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. Despite the strong objections of many local citizens who thought it inappropriate to try "the Houston rioters" in the beautiful new chapel, the trial took place there primarily because it was the only building large enough to accommodate a court

[sigma]

I actually have that book in my living room. I forgot I had it until I saw the picture of the cover and went over to the bookcase to search for it. I'm going to re-read it tonight.

I agree with FS in that the horse stables offer a more logical reason for existance of the water tank, than Camp Logan does.

And CampLogan1917, you never identified were that photo was taken of the old wooden structure that was part of Camp Logan. My late uncle once showed me a building on Old Katy Rd just north of present I-10 that he claimed was part of Camp Logan, but was moved to that site after the buildings were sold off. It reminded me of this picture, but I could not be sure. It was an ice-house back then when my uncle drove me by it around 1972 or 73. (It would have been right across the street from TXDot)

I remember that building across from the Texas Department of Transportation and adjacent to Southern Lumber Company was called "Patroskis Deli" in the late 70's and early 80's. The owner of deli used to live in Timbergrove Manor just North of the Deli. Its been remodeled and of course, has another owner.

Hope this helps!

[plumber2]

Up until the early 1960's, you could rent a horse to go riding on the trails, through Memorial Park( before mountain bikes were popular), and I believe the stables were taken over by the Police Dept.afterwards, for their horses.

Just a thought on the water/tank building.. if the water tower is newer than the Camp, why would someone have built it,after Camp Logan, in an area that the owner had given the land to the city, that would strickly be used as park area built in 1925??

Whitesman

The stables that rented horses was further north on Post Oak than the mounted police stables. Two different locations.

[NenaE]

Before it was a WW1 training camp, the area was a National Guard training camp. And the camp hospital building was in use until 1925. Agreed that most of the soldiers trained there were from Illinois, but many from the Houston/Galveston area also were trained there also.

[NenaE]

See post #9 ~ That would explain why it was named Rice "MILITARY" before the WWII training camp was there. I was looking for an explanation, since I read that the neighborhood was called RM before the WWI occupation of the area. William M. Rice & brother owned land there, at one time. And I assumed it had a military link that predated WWI.

The property close by, between Detering and Reinerman, Washington and Buffalo Bayou was at one time referred to as Smokeytown or Smokeville (census)? The name is on an early Houston Topo. map, probably linked to coal/ railroad workers of causasian and African American heritage, who lived in the area. I have read two different accounts of a black cemetery at the Memorial Park Condo location (demolished now?), Swamplot reference. Did they build over the graves? Felix Croom and family are supposed to be buried at that location. Mr. Crooms died around 1917. The West End Research page also goes into much detail about a black cemetery at that location, started by a man named Edward Rosco (year 1881, bought .92 acre for a graveyard). The researcher describes the cemetery with the gully located on it, now where the condos are located...what happened to the cemetery? Bad karma.

http://swamplot.com/tag/park-memorial-condominiums/

https://sites.google.com/site/cemeteriesofharriscotexas/crooms-family-cemetery

http://www.ricemilitary.org/documents/history.htm

The last link has great detailed research by H. Neal Parker...see specifically the Caffey Tract under 1.) Heli Hurd...several paragraphs about the cemetery land.

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/houston_nw22.jpg ... the map

Edited October 31, 2012 by NenaE

[NenaE]

That should read WWI, of course (not WWII), first line

I had a great- grandfather who was at Camp Logan.

[plumber2]

Can the editor unlock the title so the topic starter can correct the spelling. Cemetery is spelt with all "e"s.

[Happy Historian]

Then there is the little infamous Camp Logan riot's that would have really enticed the military and pwers that be to erase and rapidly redevelop as soon as possible. A cemetary would also have been set aside on the area's deed plat maps of that period. I would assume the Harris County archives might be of use there. Unfortunately, none of that is available for a midnight webb browse - you have to get it the old fashioned way by physically digging and snooping.

[SpaceGhost]

Here this might be of some help. Two maps of Camp Logan

[Godagesil]

I recently read a book where it stated that troops sent to Ft. Logan to train, were given experience digging trenches under the watchful eyes of French and British instructors.  I found it interesting that there were trenches marked on quadrant 10 of the hand drawn map, which would be in keeping with the account I read in the book.

[sinister1]

It wouldn't surprise me if it the head stones were removed and something built on top because it was common in those days,especially if it was a negro cemetery. I hate to say it like that but that's just the way it was back in those days.

[Michelle C]

Anyone know the location or have a picture of where the Camp Logan Drugstore was located at???

 

Camp Logan drug store was located at 5723 Washington.

[Michelle C]

In the early to mid 50's I lived in 5000 block of Gibson. We used to play near an old cemetery just north of Memorial drive. If you look on the Google map you will see a short street named Chandler street. At the far west end of Chandler it dead ends, between there and Memorial drive is the exact location of the old Cemetery, Now there are apartments built on top of it. The graves in it were all old with birth dates from the late 1800's could very well be the cemetery that you are looking for. It is right in the neighborhood of the lost location.

[Michelle C]

A little more information on the old cemetery. I have posted some aerial shots from 1957, 1964 and present day, and a Google street picture of the now vacant apartments that are build over the old cemetery. The boundaries are in red showing the location of the cemetery. The boundaries are approximate and it may extend down closer to Memorial or a little more to the west, I do remember that it did not go all the way down to Memorial Drive. It was an abandoned cemetery and not kept up. It was in the a stand of trees and I can only assume that most people in the area never knew it existed except for maybe a few old timers. Some of the head stones had toppled and were laying on the ground. The area was all grown up with vines as well. In the first picture from 1957 you can see a vacant lot directly to the east of the grove of trees. The elevation of the vacant lot was lower than that of the cemetery. There was about a ten or fifteen foot bluff that you had to climb to get up to the cemetery from the lot, however you could access the cemetery without a climb if you gained access from Chandler street. I remember an old tree on the edge of the bluff with its roots exposed from the years of erosion on the bluff. Some of the neighborhood boys built a fort with in the exposed roots and would fend off other neighborhood kids from the high ground with their BB guns trying to gain entrance to their fort. The next day the tables would be turned and the kids feeling the sting of the BB's from the day before would be the ones holding the fort. At the end of the day they were still friends. There was no gangs in the neighborhoods in those days.

In picture two from 1964 you can see that some apartments have been built on the vacant lot east of the cemetery. In that picture you can see the cemetery is still untouched. If you look close you can see that something has been built in front of the old cemetery on Memorial Drive, but did not infringe on the cemetery.

In picture three, the present day picture, you can see that some apartments have been built there. According to the historical aerials maps there was some building going on there as early as 1981, and in 2002 you can see that they are finished and in 2004 the building are still there. Some time after 2004 those apartments were torn down and some news ones built and now they are now abandoned and from the aerial picture they look like they are being torn down. Why did the new apartments last less than ten years? It leads me to wonder if spooky things were happening there, after all they were build on sacred ground. That leads to another question. When and where were the graves moved to? It would be hard for me to believe that they were just plowed under and the apartments built on top of them.

The last picture made from Chandler street shows the apartments that were sitting directly on top of what was once the cemetery.

 

Note, after I posted this, I started reading Nena E's post above and it has a lot to say about this cemetery and the possibility that the graves actually may have been bull dozed over to build the apartments. I do not see or understand how anyone could have done this without knowing it was a cemetery, as there were plenty of head stones clearly marking this as a cemetery as last as 1957 when I was playing in the near by area. I have walked through the cemetery and looked at the many head stones and wondered about the people that were buried there. This could be a case of someone putting money ahead of respect for the dead. 
 

Edited February 21, 2014 by Michelle C

[Ross]

Mention of cemetery in this Swamplot piece http://swamplot.com/dead-body-found-on-site-of-dead-memorial-dr-condo-complex/2012-08-02/

[Michelle C]

Mention of cemetery in this Swamplot piece http://swamplot.com/dead-body-found-on-site-of-dead-memorial-dr-condo-complex/2012-08-02/

 

Yes, after I had posted I started reading the swamplot piece from Nina E's earlier post. A lot of questions were answered.

[wilgbirds]

My grandfather was stationed at Fort Sam Houston from March 1818 to May 1919 in the 14th Cavalry Regt, Troop F.

 

I remember him telling me he had the sad duty of escorting condemned Negro prisoners as part of his time there.

 

DOing research today I think this must have been for the third trial--so-called Tillman trial--of the Houston rioters.

 

I found a letter in the University of Michigan Clements Library from Alfred Schaller, 14th Cavalry Regt., Troop F, written Sept. 30, 1918:

 

"I did not see those Negroes as it was dark when they went by in the auto, and I could not see the scaffold as the bushes hid it, but I could hear everything."

 

I am looking for a newspaper account of that third execution (Tillman trial) that I think took place on Sept., 16, 1918.

 

Thank you,

 

Will Greeley

217-413-0444

[NenaE]

Some of the research mentioned the lack of actual legal paperwork, in the form of land deeds, agreements, etc. Some early agreements were verbal, or not well documented due to the acting parties illiteracy. This may explain why some graves could not be located. Nice to hear your stories of the land, Michelle. There are not many of the old homes left. I drove through the area a while ago.

I've not seen any paperwork of graves ever being moved. Makes you wonder.

I've noticed many early Houston cemeteries were located near the bayous. Some graves have been lost to the deterioration of banks, floods. The apartments could actually suffer from unstable foundations, due to the sloping, shoddy design.

[Highrise Tower]

Camp Logan Map
Date: 1917?

https://digitalcollections.lib.uh.edu/concern/images/rx913q47f?locale=en#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&xywh=-611%2C0%2C14408%2C6907

(See link above for a full-size map image)

Map includes dance halls, a cemetery, city well, and a ball park.

[Highrise Tower]

There was a 5-building YMCA campus at Camp Logan!  The campus was located near Entrance 2 to the camp.

August 3, 1917:

Y.M.C.A. Is ready for work at camp.

Construction of five buildings will be started at once.
J.H. Killer of Chicago, arrived Thursday to take charge of preparations for soldiers, other works here .

Plans for the Young Men's Christian Association work to be carried on at Camp Logan took definite shape Thursday--

[hbg.50]

13 minutes ago, Highrise Tower said:

There was a 5-building YMCA campus at Camp Logan!  The campus was located near Entrance 2 to the camp.

August 3, 1917:

Y.M.C.A. Is ready for work at camp.

Construction of five buildings will be started at once.
J.H. Killer of Chicago, arrived Thursday to take charge of preparations for soldiers, other works here .

Plans for the Young Men's Christian Association work to be carried on at Camp Logan took definite shape Thursday--

Camp Logan is a stain on the City of Houston because of the racist atrocities committed there.  I guess it served many functions, but like Dealy Plaza in Dallas, in my opinion, it’s image cannot be rehabilitated.

[Highrise Tower]

Red Cross was located inside of Camp Logan.

In 1918, here is the Red Cross building on the right.