Friends of Sam Rayburn honor Robert Weddle for public service

As a child, Bonham native Barbara Gore grew up admiring the many academic accomplishments of the Weddle family.

Knowing that bit of local history made it even more special when Barbara presented Robert S. Weddle with the H.G. Dulaney Public Service Award at the Friends of Sam Rayburn Annual Awards Banquet on Thursday night.

Barbara Gore presents Robert Weddle with the H.G. Dulaney Award for Public Service as Mr. Weddle's son, Tim Weddle, looks on.

Mr. Weddle is the author of 15 books and a preeminent historian with a vast knowledge of the European discovery and eventual colonization of the Gulf Coast.

Perhaps the greatest compliment of the evening came when Texas State Historian Dr. Light Cummins explained how the meticulous research of Weddle had benefited an entire generation of historians that followed in his footsteps.

As a student at Tulane University, Dr. Cummins mentioned to a professor that he wanted to know more about the history of the old missions in Texas. The professor turned, pulled a book from the bookshelf behind him and handed Cummins The San Sabá Mission: Spanish Pivot in Texas by Robert S. Weddle, calling the book "the landmark of historical Texas writing."

"Today it is a point of pride that the author is a friend of mine," Dr. Cummins told the crowd gathered at Heritage Gardens to honor Weddle.

Robert Weddle

Robert S. Weddle is a graduate of Texas Tech University. After receiving his degree, Weddle worked as a writer for UP and then as a college public information officer. In order to assist with his father's farm, Weddle moved back close to home and took a job at the Sherman Democrat. It would be the next job, however, that changed the course of his life.

In 1956, Robert Weddle purchased the newspaper in Menard, Texas. Located 140 miles northwest of Austin in central Texas, almost everything about Menard has interesting historical implications.

The town is located on the San Saba River, originally named Río de San Sabá de las Nueces in 1732 by Juan Antonio Bustillo y Ceballos, the Spanish governor of Texas. By the late 1750s Mission Santa Cruz de San Sabá had been established near the site of present-day Menard. A massacre in 1758 by a coalition of Indian warriors doomed the fledgling mission and forever altered the Spanish strategy in the Texas frontier. Weddle was soon immersed in researching the history of the old Spanish mission and the result was the book Light Cummins picked up as a student at Tulane, The San Sabá Mission: Spanish Pivot in Texas.

Robert Weddle steps forward to accept the 2009 H.G. Dulaney Award for Public Service.

Dr. Cummins was the first person to stand and applaud Thursday night as Mr. Weddle made his way to the podium the accept the H.G. Dulaney Public Service award for his tireless documentation of the fascinating history of the Gulf Coast.

Once behind the microphone, Weddle said he would heed the advice of Sam Rayburn: "Be brief, be sincere and be seated."

"I am so thrilled to be honored this way," Weddle said quietly. "I am reminded of the words of St. Francis of Assisi, 'In giving I receive.' What I have done comes back to me."

Robert Weddle (right) with his son, Tim Weddle, and daughter, Teresa Edward.

The final speaker of the night, Dr. Tony Champagne, told how the late H.G. Dulaney had been instrumental in encouraging Champagne to interview people who knew Sam Rayburn. Dulaney then got busy making sure Champagne had access to Rayburn's friends and associates.

"The first thing they all said was, 'How's H.G.?'" Dr. Champagne recalled.

Dr. Tony Champagne sends laughter through the room with one of H.G. Dulaney's favorite stories about a visit with former Vice President John Nance Garner.

Champagne also noted just how much has changed since Speaker Rayburn welcomed guests at his home just west of Bonham -- some with appointments and some just needing advice.

"Imagine what would happen today," Champagne remarked, "if you went to a Speaker's house without an appointment and went to the back door and said, 'I've got a problem.'"

Texas A&M University-Commerce President Dan Jones (right) and Dr. Randy McBroom, Assistant to the President for Planning and Institutional Effectiveness as well as Bonham ISD Board of Trustees President, visit during the awards ceremony.