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Philip Sublett nominates Sam Houston for president of the Republic of Texas
August 15, 1836
On this day in 1836, Philip Sublett nominated Sam Houston for president of the Republic of Texas. Sublett, a Kentucky native, had participated in the battle of Nacogdoches in 1832 and was a delegate to the conventions of 1832 and 1833. In 1835 he was elected chairman of the San Augustine Committee of Safety and Correspondence. On October 6 he submitted a resolution appointing Houston commander-in-chief of the forces of San Augustine and Nacogdoches until the Consultation should meet. Sublett was commissioned lieutenant colonel in October and in December 1835 was present at the siege of Bexar. He returned to his farm east of San Augustine after the battle of Concepción. Sam Houston resided in Sublett's home while recuperating from wounds received at San Jacinto. Sublett died in San Augustine on February 25, 1850.
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Future superior of Refugio Sisters of Mercy takes religious vows
August 15, 1872
On this day in 1872, Mary Ann Lucas took her final vows as a member of the Sisters of Mercy, under the name Sister Mary dePazzi. She had been born in Ireland in 1853, and had followed her sister Margaret, whose religious name was Sister Mary Camillus, to New Orleans in 1870. The two sisters were leaders in the historic task of forming schools in the state of Texas; like many other nuns, they responded to a broad and urgent invitation to serve both the Catholic Church and the citizens of the frontier state. Bishop Anthony Pellicer invited the Mercy sisters to Indianola, where the group joined Mother Camillus in 1875. While Camillus was in New York seeking other volunteers, the Indianola hurricane of 1875 devastated the community. Mother Mary dePazzi went to Refugio, while her sister returned to San Patricio. Afterward, the two groups expanded separately. After years of devoted service, in a conflict with the local clergy Mary dePazzi sought a decision from a higher church authority. This move led to such acrimony that she withdrew from her religious profession for nine years. She was subsequently accepted into the Mercy community in Baltimore, where she died in 1907.
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First Feast of the Assumption celebrated in Praha
August 15, 1855
On this day in 1855, the first Feast of the Assumption celebration was held in the small Czech community that was renamed Praha three years later. Praha, in southern Fayette County, was originally known as Mulberry and Hottentot. During the mid-1850s a Bohemian immigrant named Mathias Novak came to the region. Other Bohemian immigrants followed, and in 1858 the Bohemian settlers changed the town's name to Praha in honor of Prague, the capital of their homeland. In 1865 Joseph Bithowski, a Bernardine father, built a small frame church in the town. An annual celebration of the Feast of the Assumption on August 15 attracts more than 5,000 visitors, many of them Czechoslovakian. Mass is celebrated in the historic church, with its extraordinary interior painted by Godfrey Flury, Czech food is served, and Texas Czech bands play throughout the evening.
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posted by Jeff - 8.15.2011 - The Texas State Historical Association
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