urn:taro:sjmh.00058 Adele Briscoe Looscan Collection Parmenas Briscoe Papers, Manuscript Collection: MC058 Sarah Canby Jackson Albert and Ethel Herzstein Library
San Jacinto Museum of History, La Porte, Texas
20020713 Finding aid encoded by Lisa A. Struthers. 20100929 Finding aid written in English. Collection Summary Albert and Ethel Herzstein Library,
San Jacinto Museum of History, La Porte, Texas
Briscoe, Parmenas, 1839-1906 Parmenas Briscoe papers 1867-1909 (Bulk: 1879-1899) Materials are in English. MC058 50045877 3 boxes (1 linear ft.) Correspondence, financial and legal documents, and printed materials document the life of Parmenas Briscoe from 1867 until 1909. Creator Sketch

Parmenas Briscoe, the eldest son of Mary Jane Harris Briscoe and Andrew Briscoe, was born in 1839 in Houston, Texas. In 1840 after his father completed his term as Chief Justice of Harrisburg (Harris) County, the family moved to Harrisburg, Texas, where they made their home. Andrew closed his Texas businesses and moved to New Orleans in 1849 to further his children's education. He died of yellow fever on October 4, 1849. Mary Jane and her four children moved to the Briscoe family plantation in Claiborne County, Mississippi, and lived there for 3 years until returning to Texas.

Parmenas served in Company A, 2nd Battalion of the Infantry of Waul's Texas Legion otherwise known as Sam Carter's Company during the Civil War. He ran a sawmill with his cousin, A. W. Scoble, in Harrisburg until ca. 1881, worked briefly as an agent with Houston East and West Texas Rail Road in 1893, and clerked in the Harris County Clerk's office. As the eldest male in the family, Parmenas handled the legal and financial transactions for his siblings, mother, unmarried female relatives, and distant cousins.

Parmenas Bub had a lifelong passion for fishing and sailing and was a member of the Sons of the Republic of Texas. He never married. His mother, Mary Jane Briscoe, lived with him until her death in 1903. After his sister Adele's husband, Michael Looscan, died in 1897, she also moved into the house at 620 Crawford Street. Parmenas died in his home in Houston, Texas, in 1906.

 Scope and Content Note

Correspondence, financial and legal documents, and printed materials document the life of Parmenas Briscoe from 1867 until 1909. Correspondence forms the bulk of the collection (.8 linear feet) and concerns primarily the financial and legal transactions he conducted for his immediate and extended family as it relates to their land holdings. Family correspondence forms a separate subseries and is organized by correspondent. A number of letters and documents deal with lawsuits proving land title, in particular a lawsuit (ca. 1880) between Columbia Hume and Cornelia Stanley, daughters of DeWitt Clinton Harris. Of interest is a series of letters written to Parmenas from Cornelia Stanley and S. W. Allen concerning Stanley's decision to leave her husband. Sixty letters to Parmenas Bub from his brother Birdsall Brits (1867-1906) illuminate Birdsall's family life, ranching experiences near Goliad, banking enterprise and failure in Floresville (1902), writing Civil War remembrances, and old age. Letters received from fellow Civil War veterans and old-timers discuss shared past experiences.

Thirteen financial documents related to the business dealings of P. Briscoe, Agent, Scoble ＆ Briscoe, and the Columbia Hume legal case record a small portion of Briscoe's business dealings. The bulk of the financial documents, 133 Statements of Account and Receipts (1868-1904), record the transactions of middle class life in Houston. Of particular interest are the 97 statements of account and receipts from local businesses (1879-1889), including M. T. Jones Lumber Company, M. Mellenger ＆ Bro., and Theodore Keller. A receipt dated July 26, 1868, for a subscription to the Ku Klux Vedette published by Jones, King, ＆ Co., provides a clue to his political leanings after the Civil War.

Abstracts of Title, Contracts, and Deeds provide the bulk of the legal documents and concern primarily the family land holdings in Harris, San Jacinto, Bexar, Coryell, Walker, and McLellan counties in Texas. Of particular interest is a contract (1892) with H. L. Dow to build a sloop. A sketch of the sloop is included in the contract. A contract (1904) with Henry House to build houses on property owned by Parmenas includes specifications and floor plans. Included in the printed materials are a voter registration certificate (1872), a railroad pass (1893), a membership certificate from the Sons of the Republic of Texas (1893), and a newspaper article written by Parmenas, Civil War Reminiscences, Houston Chronicle, January 29, 1905.

 Archivist's Note

Other related papers from the Adele Briscoe Looscan Collection include the Mary Jane Harris Briscoe Papers, the Jesse Wade Briscoe Howe Papers, the Adele Briscoe Looscan Papers, the Briscoe Family Papers, and the Michael Looscan Papers. All photographs are located in the Adele Briscoe Looscan Papers.

Arrangement

Organized into six series: correspondence, financial, legal, printed materials, notes/memoranda, surveys and sketches; arrangement is alphabetical and chronological.

 Restrictions on Access

None.

 Terms Governing Use

Open for research by appointment.

 Publication Rights

Copyright has not been assigned to the San Jacinto Museum of History. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Library Director. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the San Jacinto Museum of History as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

 Acquisition

Mr. and Mrs. George A. Hill, Jr., Houston Public Library, Annie Hume, 1939-1940.

 Processing Information

Processed by Sarah Canby Jackson, 2002.

 Citation

[Identification of Item], Parmenas Briscoe Papers, MC058, San Jacinto Museum of History, Houston, Texas.

 Index Terms

Names: Allen, S. W. (Samuel William), 1826-1888 Briscoe, Andrew Birdsall, 1841-1912 Briscoe, Mary Jane Harris, 1819-1903 Briscoe, Parmenas, 1839-1906--Archives Stanley, Nina (Mary Cornelia Harris), b. 1852 Subjects: Land tenure--Texas Ranch life--Texas Places: Bexar County (Tex.) Coryell County (Tex.) Harris County (Tex.) McLellan County (Tex.) San Jacinto County (Tex.) United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives, Confederate Walker County (Tex.) Formats: Railroad passes Inventory Correspondence Correspondence: Received 701A. A. Aden 1884 702S. W. Allen 1883-1884 703J. R. Alford 1882-1899 704Wharton Branch 1879 705John S. Byson 1887-1889 706R. E. Cook 1888-1889 707John D. Covert 1904-1906 708Charles Cummings 1901-1902 709John H. Duncan 1879, n.d. 7010Jeff L. Ellison 1890-1894 7011J. F. Fisher 1888-1890 7012John W. Flynn 1881-1882 7013John R. Freeman 1909 7014James B. Gilmer 1881-1888 7015O. T. Goffney 1888-1901 7016J. M. Hall 1900-1907 7017W. G. Halsey 1882 7018Ludwig N. Hoefler 1901-1902 7019George W. Jackson 1887 7020John Jackson 1878 7021Stephen Jackson 1884-1897 7022J. A. Lilley 1894-1885 7023A. O. Lynn 1877-1878 7024Martin ＆ Wescott 1880-1882 7025H. R. McClellan 1894-1895 7026W. W. McGar 1902-1903 7027P. E. McMahon 1900-1903 7028Edmund Montgomery 1878-1898 7029Elisabet Ney 1880-1883 7030Powell, Ball ＆ Randolph 1899-1900 7031Felix Robertson 1879-1882 7032W. T. Saxon 1881-1882, n.d. 7033A. W. ＆ Virginia Scoble 1880, 1904 7034S. P. Schenberger 1903 7035W. W. Simpson 1886-1904, n.d. 7036C. Traylor 1900 7037J. F. Winters 1900-1902 7038T. J. Woods 1900-1903 7039C. L. Wurzbach 1880 7040J. E. Wyche 1887 711General A-C 1876-1902 712General D-G 1882-1907 713General H 1877-1902 714General J-L 1871-1904 715General M 1875-1908 716General O-S 1870-1904 717General T-Y 1875-1901 Correspondence: Received: Family 718J. S. Birdsall 1869-1880 719Andrew Birdsall Briscoe 1867-1882 7110Andrew Birdsall Briscoe 1883-1899 7111Andrew Birdsall Briscoe 1900-1906 7112Mary Jane Harris Briscoe 1870-1892, n.d. 7113Briscoe - General 1882-1904, n.d. 7114D. S. Gallagher 1885-1887 7115Anna Harris 1875-1885, n.d. 7116Mary Clinton Harris (Clintie) 1876-1882, n.d. 7117John G. Harris 1880-1882 7118Lewis Birdsall Harris 1872-1891 7119Harris - General 1884-1902, n.d. 7120Jesse Wade Briscoe Howe 1889 7121Adele Briscoe Looscan 1900 7122Mary Cornelia Harris Stanley (Nina) 1893-1890 7123Mildred Thatcher 1898-1900 7124S. M. Thatcher 1881-1883 7125General B-T 1851-1900 Correspondence: Received: Third Party 7126Third Party, Unknown Correspondent, Fragments 1867-1906, n.d. Correspondence: Received: Envelopes 7127General 1882-1899 7128General 1900-1906, n.d. Correspondence: Sent 7129Correspondence: Sent 1880-1905, n.d. Financial Financial: General 721P. Briscoe, Agent 1872-1875 722Scoble ＆ Briscoe 1876-1881, n.d. 723Columbia Hume, et. al. 1880-1883 724Banking 1879-1895 725Bills of Lading 1872-1880 726Notes and Lists 1872-1880 727Promissory Notes 1874-1899 Financial: Statements of Account / Receipts 728A. Bering ＆ Bro. 1883-1889 729James Bute 1889 7210Crowley ＆ Walsh 1883 7211H. L. Dow 1892 7212George Dumble 1880-1889 7213M. T. Jones Lumber Company 1889 7214Theodore Keller 1880-1881 7215M. Mellenger ＆ Bro. 1879-1881 7216G. B. Mitchell ＆ Co. 1883 7217E. H. Renisch ＆ Co. 1883 7218M. Schmidt 1880-1881 7219M. C. Wellborn 1880-1881 7220General A-W 1868-1904 Legal 7221Abstracts of Title 1880-1881, n.d. 7222Contracts 1882-1904 7223Deeds 1883 7224General 1870, n.d. Printed Materials 7225Printed Materials 1872-1905 Notes / Memoranda 7226Kiamesha B. Venchiarutti 1902, n.d. Surveys and Sketches 7227Surveys / Sketches n.d.