Things weren’t always peaceful at the state’s home for poor and disabled Confederate veterans, at 1600 West Sixth Street in Austin. More than 2,000 lived there, from 1887 to 1953—ironically quite close to Clarksville, a neighborhood of frame bungalows and freed slaves.
Here’s the tale, taken from a 1904 issue of the Dallas Morning News. The flight of the 74-year-old Rebel perp to downtown still wouldn’t be hard. It’s just a short walk, east across Lamar Boulevard and a dozen blocks more. He was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon: a chair.
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 