INSTITUTE OF TEXAN CULTURES
Oral History Program
INTERVIEW WITH: Adele Muegge
Interviewer: Esther MacMillan
Date: June 2, 1981
Place: Muegge's home on W. Lynwood
Mac: Adele, you have a really spectacular family tree. I want to talk
about some of those important people this morning who have had an impact
on San Antonio and are important in the history of San Antonio. I'd
like to begin first with your ancestor, Francois Guilbeau. Will you tell
me what your relationship is to him? And which one; there are three
Francois Guilbeaus . . .. which one is your closest of kin?
This is what I have from Chabot: it says the father, Francois
Guilbeau, was born in 1775 in France, of course, and he died in 1845.
The son, Francois, Jr., was born in Britanny. The father and son came
to San Antonio with a Mr. Elliot. Do you know anything about Mr. Elliot?
M: No, not a thing.
Mac: In 1839, at which time ... I figured out ... Francois, Jr., would be
26 when he and his father came over to San Antonio. Now, would that Jr.
have been the one, your ... -he was the one who became the French Consul
here ... what was he to you?
M: He was the one who fixed the wine ....
Mac: Yes, we'll get to that later.
M: That was my grandmother's father.
Mac: So that was your .. great . ...
Adele Muegge 2.
M: grandfather.
Mac: That's what I wanted to strai ghten out.
Mac: This is interesting: (we're talking about some f amily papers) ...
do you want to read from this part of it?
M: This is true. "In 1893 Don Jose' Domingo de Ramon, an emissary of the
King of Spain, planted the first and permanent settlement here. He re-established
the mission, San Fernando de Tejas. Located it at the head
of San Pedro springs and called it the Mission San Antonio de Valero.
At the same time he established the Presidio, or the Fort of San Antonio,
decl ari ng it his monarch's capitol in this country. The dominion he
named the Province of Bejar of Bejar county.
/ With Ramon, came the Franciscan friars, one of whom was Hidalgo
Margil .. "
Mac: He was a very famous missionary.
M: "Two years after their arrival , the forces were joined by larger
ones headed by the Marquis de Aguayo. Together they established another
Presidio a mile or more below the San Pedro. It was located where
Military Plaza of this city now stands. And its martial title still
obtains."
Ma c: Let's get down ... we don't need this background so much; I want
Guilbeau in there. When does he come in?
M: "Francois was born in Brittany, France, in 1813. When still a youth,
he entered the army and served with the French forces in Algeri a. By
trade he was a baker. He came to San Antonio in 1829 and engaged in
business here. In 1841, he served as Mayor of this city. In 1842, he
was Vice Consul of France. He married Rosaria Ramon in San Antonio on
Adele Muegge 3.
M: July the 16th, 1854."
Mac: I've got 1848. What is the source of this material?
M: Oh, this has been handed down all through my family.
Mac: Then Chabot has quite a few mistakes.
M: He has a bunch of mista kes.
/ Mac: He married Rosaria Ramon in 18 .... what?
M: In 1854.
Mac: Does it say when he came to San Antonio .... 1839 with his father?
M: Yes. 1839 and engaged in business here.
M: And he served as Mayor of this city ...
Mac : I didn't know that.
M: Yes, he did. My great-grandfather was mayor.
Mac: That's good. What year did he serve as mayor?
M: No, it just says 1842 as Vice Consul of France. He married Rosario
/ Ramon in 1854 and of this union there were seven children. Rosaria ,
Anita, Adele (that's my grandmother), Eugene, Marie, and Francois and
Edward.
Mac: I've got Francois in there as the third Francois.
M: Yes. Mrs. Guilbeau died in Lyons France in 1861.
Mac: Mrs. Guil beau, is she the one ... ?
M: My great grandmother because t his was my grandmother's mother.
Mac: Did she ever come to the United States, I wonder?
She's not mentioned in any of the records I found .
M: Well, it says Mr. Guilbeau died in San Antonio, Texas on February the
8th, 1879.
Mac: 1879. That' s the great, great grandpa way way back. That's the
beginning.
Adele Muegge
M: Yes, that is the beginning of it.
Mac: O.K. we've got that settled. Good.
4.
M: Now listen to this: Francois Guilbeau, the father of Frances, was
a soldier under General Davoust during the time of Napoleon. I have the
cross from that place; would you like to see it?
Mac: Sure would!
M: My great grandfather.
Mac: Got the Legion of Honor.
M: See, it says ....
Mac: .. was a soldier under the great Davoust, "the favorite of Napoleon."
M: Read this first so you'll know what we're talking about.
Mac: I don't think this pertains to San Antonio but he was the progenitor,
rea lly.
M: "He won the prize Cross at the battle of Lyons .. near Jena where the
Russ i an troops were defeated and dri ven back by the French. . The story
of this incident, which won the Cross is a tale of unprecedented valor.
At the height of the battle, a Russian battery opened fire on the French
line and with shot and shell mowed down the French soldiers and threatened
to make a break in the line. Volunteers were called to storm the battery
and Guilbeau was one of the first to offer his services. At the word
of command, the little company charged up the hill towards the battery.
The Russians poured a terrible fire into the oncoming and scores fell
wounded and dying on the hillside. Guilbeau, the young soldier, was the
first to reach the crest of the hill. Leaping at the standard bearer,
he felled him with a blow, wrested the banner from his hand and waved it
Adele Muegge 5.
M: aloft. His companions came to his aid and the battery was silenced,
turning defeat into victory. This took place when Napoleon was at the
zenith of his success."
"After the battle, General Davoust (Davost) called the young soldier
to his side. He thanked him for his heroism and took the Cross of the
Legion of Honor from his own breast and pinned it on the powder-stained
tunic of Francois Guilbeau. The young soldier is long since gone ... but
it is framed and hangs in the parlor of the Callaghan home." (It is now
in Mrs. Muegge's home in a beautiful frame).
Mac: This is quoted from an article that has been written .. it is credited
to The Gazette, it doesn't say what Gazette.
Now we have that. Do you feel O.K.?
M: I feel fine.
Mac: I know this is a hard time for you to do this. (Recent burglary)
M: It is hard. I'm all stirred up about my stuff.
Mac: I would be, too.
M: Rosaria and Francois were the parents of two daughters .... 1829 ...
Mac: Who was that who was born in 1829?
/ M: Concepcion and Rosaria. The oldest, Concepcion, married Bryan
Ca 11 aghan.
Mad: Now I see.
M: My mother had the name of Concepci6n .... and she didn't like it so
she called me Adele ..... married Bryan Callaghan of Cork, Ireland, in
July, 1845. That was my great grandmother, Rosaria married Francois
Guilbeau of Brittany, France
Adele Muegge 6.
Mac: That's the guy that came over with his father ... the one that was
born in Britanny. That was Junior.
M: Now this is Bryan Callaghan, Sr .. Do you want that?
Mac: I'd like to finish Guilbeau before we get to Callaghan. Could we
do that?
M: "Francois Guilbeau in Britanny, France, in 1813."
Mac: Yes, I've got that.
M: "When sti 11 a youth, he entered the army and served with the French
forces in Algeria. By trade he was a baker. He came to San Antonio in
August, 1839 and engaged in business here. In 1841, he served as mayor
of this city and in 1842 he was a Vice Consul of France. Of this union
there were seven children."
Mac: He married Ramon, didn't he? He married Rosaria Ramon .. is that
right?
M: Yes, in 1854. There were seven children, Rosaria, Adele, Eugenia,
Marie, Frances and Edward.
Mac: You said that Adele was your grandma .. right?
M: Mrs . Gui lbeau died in Lyons, France in 1861.
Mac: Which Mrs. Guilbeau is that? Is that Rosaria?
M: Yes. This is the Callaghan-Guilbeau deal. .. Yes, this is the one
because this is my great grandmother.
Mac: What I'm puzzled about is .. you say that Francois, Jr. married her
in 1854. They had all those kids; how could she have gotten them in
seven years; she died in 1861. That must have been the grandma.
M: Well, it says Mrs. Guilbeau died in Lyons, France in 1861 and Mr.
Guilbeau died in San Antonio on February 8, 1879. Francois Gui l bea u,
Adele Muegge 7.
M: the father of Frances, was the soldier under Davoust at the time of
Napoleon. Guilbeau won the Cross of the Legion of Honor of France at the
battle of Lyons near Jena .... we've already got that.
The widow of Bryan Callaghan, Sr .... now here it is where we get
connected again . .. married Angel Navarro . . he's kin to the Navarros .. a
brother of the signer of the Declaration of Independence . .. She died,
this city, August 29 , 1910 at the age of 84 .
I remember her.
Mac: Do you? You certainly have got a prominent family, haven't you.
Goodness, yo ur family tree is something special.
M: Just one of those things. And she died here. And let me tell you
how she used to dress. A black lace dress with a high collar; she wore
her hair up in back and she spoke nothing but Spanish. My gra ndmother,
her daughter-in-law spoke nothing but French and they had to live to­gether.
Mac: My word! Isn't that interesting.
Neither one ever learned the other's language , I guess .
M: Oh, yes. Grandma spoke French and English.
Mac: Is that the one you call Adele? The one for whom you're named?
M: Yes, I was named after my grandmother. Mama named me Adele Louise.
Catrina married Francois Guilbeau, Jr .. She died in September in
1924.
Mac: This is yet another Francois ... . this is number three?
M: James Callaghan, a son, was a prominent merchant in San Antonio. He
married Adele Grenet ... you see, that's where the Grenets come in. A
daughter of Iner (?) Grenet and a sister of the celebrated artist,
Adele Muegge 8.
M: Edward Louis Grenet. Mr. Grenet died in this city February 6, 1882.
Caroline Callaghan married Leonard Garza. Now they are the people who
made the first coins here in San Antonio .. Frost Bank has the coins.
Mac: The Garza mint .. sure, I've heard about it.
M: Leonardo Garza, a son of one of the Canary Islanders ... The senior
Garza was the first and only one to legally coin money in San Antonio.
This commission came directly from the Crown of Spain.
"As far as is known, Charles Callaghan Urban .. settled around Laredo,
Texas. The only relative of whom we have any knowledge is Ab Urban, who
is in advanced years and resides in Santa Rosa, Texas near that city."
Recorded: August 20, 1941.
Mac: By whom? Does it say? I wish it would say who did it.
M: No. Now it says Bryan Callaghan the Second was born in San Antonio ...
now this is my grandfather ...
M: April 6, 1852. He received his primary education at St. Mary's
College, San Antonio. At the age of 13, he entered the Lycee Montpelier
in the Department of Herault, France, where for five years he attended
the school founded by the Emperor Napoleon III ... Upon .his return to San
Antonio, he entered the employemnt of Peter Gallagher, who held govern­ment
mail contracts. During this period, he participated in many ad­ventures
on the Texas Plains including the exciting engagements with
the bands of Indians bent on robbery of the mail coaches. Subsequently
he entered the services of Francois Guilbeau, Sr., a merchant. Ambitious
for a professional career, he entered the University of Virginia Law
School. Now that's my grandfather.
Adele Muegge 9.
Mac: Thi s is your grandfather, Bryan Callaghan ... 1872, O.K.
M: And was graduated in 1874 with a degree of Bachelor of Law. The
following year, he began the practice of his profession in San Antonio.
He took an active interest in municipal matters and local politics. In
1878, he went to El Paso for a brief period, during which time he
was the official interpreter of the United States Military Commission,
appointed to investigate the sensational murder of Howard Atchison McBride.
Mac: I don't know about that ... that's El Paso history.
M: In 1883 to 1885 he served as City Recorder. In opposition to three
other candidates he was elected Mayor of San Antonio in 1885 for the two
year term. And was re-elected in 1887, 1889, 1891. He was defeated for
that office in 1895 by Henry Elmendorf. But his constituents at once
elected him judge of the Bexar County Court in 1895 .. (he never was out)
and re-elected him to that office the following year .
Mac: That would be 1896 .. and then he went back to being Mayor.
M: In 1897, he was again nominated for Mayor and he won from the candi­date
who had defeated him in 1895. In 1899, he was also nominated for
Mayor but was defeated by Marshall Hicks. He returned to the practice
of law and seven years later, in 1905, he was returned to the executive
position and was re-elected in 1907, 1909, and again in 1911. Thus
serving as Mayor of his native city for a period of nearly 18 years.
M: He spoke French, Spanish and English fluently and possessed a broad
knowledge of German. Bryan Callaghan died July 8, 1912; surviving were
his widow, Adele Guilbeau, and then the family.
Mac: Adele Guilbeau Callaghan was your grandma?
M: Yes.
Adele Muegge 10.
Mac: You said he did speak German and you could tell me some things about
that .. what about that?
M: This is real cute: There were some business men here interested in
getting this water work deal.
Mac: With Brackenridge?
M: I don't know who they were. They went up to see him and they
talked. After a while, excused themselves and got in a huddle over in
the corner and started talking German, not knowing that he could speak
German. And what they were going to do to him and how they were going
to do it. So when they got through with their little escapade, they
went back up in fromt of him and they put it on there and he answered
them in German!
Mac: I bet they were embarrassed! Isn't that funny.
You know, you aren't going to like this but I was asked to ask you
this. There is a story around town that says that Callaghan married a
Mexican lady on the basis of an election?
M: No! Never heard of it.
Mac: Somebody said that he made a bet and said, "If I win this election,
I'll marry a Mexican lady."
M: No, no, no, no, no.
Mac: That's not true?
M: He married Guilbeau and that's French . He was only married one time
and that was to Adele Guilbeau.
Mad: These are the things that need to be corrected for future researchers
and hi s torians. Did he have a liquor problem? . . another question I was
Adele Muegge 11.
Mac: asked to find out.
M: Well, he drank like everybody else ... social drinks .. but I don't think
he was an alcoholic. I know that he and Hennessey used to walk from
the City Hall and I would sit on the fence waiting for him to come home
because I knew what time they'd come home. I'd sit there and wait and
the Negro, they called him the Black Mayor, was Sam Napier, and Sam
Napier would always fix them a mint julep, each one of them, and he'd
say, "Baby, what do you want?" I always wanted chocolate ice cream and
angel food cake. And I got it.
Mac: You say you waited on the fence. Where were you living at that
time?
M: I was living on Elm Street but the old home was on 340 and 341
Crockett Street. Right in back of the Crockett Hote1 .. two or three doors.
down. That big parking lot there now, that's where it was.
Mac: That means up toward Houston Street ..
M: Yes, one block from the Menger.
Mac: That was the Callaghan house?
M: That's where my Grandfather Callaghan died.
Mac: There's a question .... I've done a lot of research on 511 Vi11ita
Street .. you know, where the Conservation Society was for so long. In
Ramsdell's book, "San Antonio," he says, "A charming New Orleans type
house cottage, (describing that) built by Francois Guilbeau about 1860
or earlier," Did he ever ... do you have any knowledge, any documentation,
that he had a house on Vi1lita Street on the river?
M: I think he did; I had heard that but I don't know anything about
that ... it was way before my time ..
Adele Muegge
Mac: I thought you might have it in the family papers.
M: No, I don't have anything about that.
12.
Mac: It would be interesting if he did build a little house there. You
know a lot of people built along there. They had those little bath
houses. Because the property sloped down to the river, I thought he
might have invested in that .. That's 1860.
M: Well, I had been told that he had one but I don't know too much
about it . .
Mac: I'm now talking about the Consul, who married Rosaria Ramon in
1854 .. That's 6 years later than they're dating this house on Villita
Street. It's complicated, isn't it? So many families intermingling.
M: And they inter-married . .. If you picked up t hat silly thing about
Cisneros sayi ng that Uncle Alfred was Mexican; well he's not. This is
Spanish; this is not Mexican. We're not Mexican; no way. Straight,
pure Spanish, you bet.
Mac: We haven't done the sav ing of the vineyards in France and that's
a very important part of the Guilbeau story. Tell me how that happened.
How did he happen to get into it?
M: I don't know anything about that murder, either.
Mac: I don't know anything about that murder. What was that?
M: "That sensational murder of Howard Atchison and McBride."
Mac: Was that here or in El Paso?
M: El Paso but..
Mac: .... "appointed to investi gate the sensational murder ... etc."
M: We have read that in France at a certain period .. and I don't have
Adele Muegge 13.
M: the date ... that it must have been following the Napoleonic period,
but anyway the vineyards of France were attacked by disease.
Mac: How did your great grandfather .... ?
M: Well, he came over here and while he was here, he saw the mustang
grapes and he came up with the idea to save the French grapes, he sent
some so they could be grafted over there and it saved the wine industry
of France.
Mac: This indicates to me that he must have kept very close touch with
his relatives and family in France. So he would know that France was in
trouble in their vineyards and he would know that it was a very important
part of French economy and I read somewhere that because our mustang
grapes here in Texas are so tough, they could stand up ... going with the
more delicate grapes in France that it made them more resistant to this
disease. Have you heard that story?
M: Yes, that's true.
Mac: That's terribly interesting you know. Way over here in San Antonio,
Texas!
M: And how did he get them over there?
Mac: On a boat .. . three months.
M: Well, look how long it took; it's a wonder they weren't all dead.
Mac: You read about bringing trees, etc, back and forth; they did it
all the time ... I suppose they kept them wet, wrapped up .. or put them in
sand.
M: I don't know what they did but ..
Mac: They took cuttings.
M: He is noted for saving the wine industry in France.
Adele Muegge 14.
Mac: Still on Guilbeau, let me ask you about this lovely two-storey
home (showing picture) on South flores Street. Can you give me any idea
where that was on South Flores Street? In comparison to what we know
now?
M: It even had slave quarters.
Mac: That's the one that had that marvelous kitchen that was torn down.
Oh, then that's right behind where the Vance house was, sort of.
M: It was in back of the Courthouse. Grandpa built the City Hall and
he built the Courthouse during his administration.
Mac: You mean grandpa .... ?
M: Callaghan ...
Mac: He built both the City Hall and the Courthouse? Now in talking
about the Guilbeau house, which is a beautiful two-storey house, very
impressive. Is that the one that had the Guilbeau kitchen? ... Before
I came to San Antonio, there was a great outcry because somebody tore
it down ...
M: They shouldn't have torn it down. They did it because it was slave
quarters; they had a slave house back there and my great grandfather had
slaves, 1 i ke they all di d. When they freed them all , he told them they
could go and some of them took his name and go by the name of Guilbeau.
Mac: I'm trying to picture this location from today ... South Flores ...
let's see, Flores is a block over from the Courthouse, isn't it?
M: Further back is where that place was. Down by the Arsenal and the
Vance place.
Mac: Oh, it was down by the Arsenal?
Adele Muegge 15.
M: Closer to town than the Arsenal.
Mac: Was it pretty close to the Vance house? That's where the Federal
Reserve building is now. They tore that down to build the Federal
Reserve building, remember? Then in relation to the Vance house, was
the Guilbeau house a block to the south of that?
M: I don't know where it was exactly, but it was in that vicinity .... in
back of the Courthouse. There was Dwyer ..
Mac: I know where that is .. that's parallel to Flores. Was it close to
Durango, do you remember? Was that house standing when you were a little
girl? No-
M: One of the houses was standing .. it was a beautiful place. They
used to use it for a antique shop .. many, many years ago.
Mac: This house?
M: Yes.
Mac: I should put this on the tape that this picture of the Guilbeau
house is on page 26 of "The Hundredth Anni versa ry, Pioneer Flour Mi 11 s:
1851 to 1951." It may be the only picture of that house.
Then the Callaghans, your other relatives, were over there on
Crockett, almost to Houston Street.
M: I used to run away. Now see, here it is: "Bexar County Courthouse
was completed in 1896, when Callaghan was county judge." Now here, the
City Hall was ready in 1892.
Mac: And he had something to do with that? My goodness, that man must
have been a doer. He wouldn't have been elected over and over if he
hadn't been good at his job.
Adele Muegge 16.
M: Well, let me tell you what he did when he was a boy. Would you be
interested?
Mac: Yes, indeed .
M: He was about 15, 16 , somewhere around there, a kid. A man came
along, got on his soap box and was giving this speech .. communist junk.
So he was standing there listening, just a child, and he listened to the
whole thing. Somebody threw rotten eggs at the man and the cops got
grandpa. But he didn't do it. There was a man standing in the back
and his name was Hennessey. So Mr. Hennessey saw that they were gOi ng
to take him in .. just a kid ... and he saw that he didn't do it. He
walked over and offered him some money. He said, "Thank you" . The
man, Mr. Hennessey, when they took him down, took a bunch of them down,
he went over to grandpa and he said, "If you need any money, here it is."
When everything was through, of course grandpa was cleared, and grandpa
went back and handed him his money. Listen to what he said, just a
kid, "When I'm Mayor of this city, you may come to me and ask me for any
job and it will be yours, Mr. Hennessey, and thank you."
Mac: Wasn't that prophetic!
M: Mr. Hennessey looked at him and thought, "Well that idiot" , "smart
aleck." so when grandpa was elected to office, Miss Lizzie Kenney (hi s
secretary always) said, "Your honor, there is a man here to see you"
"Who is it?" She said, "He doesn't give me his name." "Send him in."
In walks Mr. Hennessey. He looked at him and said, "Hennessey , what job
would you like?" They were friends from then on.
Mac: Have you any idea what job he gave him? That's the sort of story
I just love for these memoirs.
M: That's true. And let me tell you what happened to me. Are you
Adele Muegge 17.
M: interested?
Mac: Yes, maam, certainly.
M: The only reason I'm telling you this is because it goes to grandpa.
Grandpa was getting ready to run for office; I was just a baby.
Mac: This is grandpa Callaghan, now? We have two grandfathers we're
dealing with.
M: My grandfather. Grandfather was running for office and they let it
be known that they would get the grandchild.
Mac: Who would get the grandchild?
M: Who ever these people were running against him. I don't know who it
was.
Mac: Rea lly?
M: You know they had dirty politics then ... they were going to get even
with him for whatever it was. Someone came to grandpa and told him that
they were going to get the baby. That was me. So grandpa had a plain
clothes man with me all the time he was running for office at this par­ticular
time.
Mac: Was this the first time he ran?
M: Oh, no, not the first time. This was just before he died. I'd be
p 1 ayi ng with my brother and my aunt in the sane! pi 1 e ... we were babi es ...
and one day 1 was sitting there and there was a little bird in the yard
and that bird fascinated me so that the plain clothes man said, "Baby,
would you like that bird?" 1 said, "I would just love to have that
bi rd." He sai d, "Go in the house and get the salt shaker." We had the
low windows; grandpa had us living in his house then, so we'd be together ..
all the family because of the little one.
Adele Muegge 18.
I went climbing through the window and the Negro maid, Maggie Powell,
looked at me (her husband was the janitor at the City Hall for years ...
many, many years until he died) and said, "What do you want, Baby?" I
said, "I want the salt shaker." "What you going to do with it?" "I'll
be back." "Well, you bring it right back."
Mac: You tried to put salt on the bird's tail!
M: Nutty. Another time, Hicks was running against grandpa and he came
home from the office and this silly bird instead of saying, "Hurray for
Hicks" was hollering "Hurray for Callaghan." He had a parrot and it was
across the street.
Mac: So the politics were that dirty, back then?
M: Oh, they were dirty. Then another time grandpa was running for
offi ce and my father worked for the city at the time. 'Beforetl'!e'nepoHsm
law came in; that nepotism law doesn't mean a thing now; you know that.
It did then. So grandpa told dad that he had to let him go. He said, "I
hate to do it, you have to." So he went on. Anyway, they dared him to
walk down Commerce, all the way, past the City Hall.
Mac: Dared who?
M: Grandpa Callaghan. And they dared him.
t~ac: Why?
M: Bryan Mauermann Theo Muegge, my father, and all of his people
that were with him, and the plain clothes men were way back of him and
he walked all the way through and they never touthed him. They knew
better; they would have killed him.
Mac: They would have?
M: Why, they would have killed Callaghan if they could have. They
wanted us; they dared him to walk. Oh, politics was dirty then.
Adele Muegge 19.
Mac: Do you remember any names on the other side? the opponents?
M: No. My daddy told me "that was rough and tumble times. Don't forget
it, Adele . "
Mac: That was the last part of the 19th century wasn't it? They're
still playing crooked but they don't do it quite that out loud, do they?
M: Oh, they were terrible. Grandma just begged him not to walk, not
to walk.
Mac: I don't blame her. He had to, of course . A challenge like that.
M: Dad said, "I'm going along." And Bryan Mauermann and all the
Mauermanns, a bunch of those men went with him. They all stayed back
of him; they were scattered all around; boy, they'd have killed anybody
that got next to him then, I bet you.
Mac: That's terrible, isn't it? Did Callaghan live to a ripe old age?
After he went out of office?
M: Grandpa died in office. Oh yes, 1912 .. July the 8th, he died.
Mac: Was he Mayor when he died? In 1912?
M: Yes.
Mac: My word! He started in 1885; he went to 1892 it says here; then
he went from 1897, 98;
For goodness sake. You remember him very well, don't you?
M: Sure I do. I have the picture ... 1 have the dress my grandmother wore
when he entertained President Teddy Roosevelt . When he organized the
Rough Riders at the Menger Hotel. Grandpa was there. And Grandma wore
this black beaded dress. I have the dress and I don't know what to do
with it. I'd like to put it somewhere where it could be seen; it is a
beautiful thing.
Adele Muegge 20.
Mac: I wonder if the new museum would have a costume collection.
Can you think of anything else about Guilbeau that we haven't
talked about that you could remember or that you have in your possession ..
documents ....
M: I have the cross that the Guilbeaus had.
Mac: What do you mean, the cross?
M: My jewelry, the cross that Pope Pius IX blessed and that's around
1845.
Mac: Is it gold?
M: Sure, it's go 1 d!
~1ac: You've got the Legion of Honor medal; that's very valuable and a
beautiful thing -
M: When I die, I want that to go to a museum. I want the dress to go now.
Mac: The Institute doesn't take anything; they take beautiful care but
they don't take anything to own; just things on loan.
M: I'm going to put this on loan because if they don't want it, my
family ... I have a cousin .. but I don't have any family.
END OF INTERVIEW
End of tape 1, side 1
MUEGGE, ADELE
Historic ancestors: Francois Guilbeau
Bryan Callaghan, Edward Grenet (artist)
INDEX
Callaghan, Bryan, et al, 5, 7-10, 14-19 Guilbeau, Francois, et al, 1-7, 11
Grenet, Edward Loui s, et a 1, 7, 8
There is good biographical material here concerning the Guilbeau
family and Bryan Callaghan. The two families intermingled to produce thi s
interviewee. (Muegge)
Of particular interest in the Callaghan material is the account of the
rough and tumble politics of San Antonio in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries.