Former Oklahoman Philip Caudill writes book about Texas rebel

One morning while on the telephone, Philip Caudill of Houston discovered what he calls "one of the singular blessings of my life.”

For a college course in his later-in-life master’s degree in history, the former Oklahoman had been canvassing historical libraries for original accounts of Texas history that had not been picked over by historians. Primary sources, they’re called by researchers.

"Primary sources are the stuff of history,” Caudill said.

A librarian in a town an hour’s drive from his home in The Woodlands area north of Houston told him, "You know, we do have something here you might be interested in.”

Inside a special cold room at the library was a box containing 20 years of diaries kept by William Berry Duncan, a pioneering Texas cattleman, the librarian said. They were accounts of purchases, expenses and transactions — business records, actually.

"I think that was why historians had not paid any attention to them,” said Caudill, 61, a former reporter and anchor for KWTV-9 in Oklahoma City. But Caudill, a businessman himself, knew accounting records can reveal a lot about a person.

Caudill immediately drove to the library, where, on a hunch, he first checked the diary for 1862. He picked up the yellowed 2-by-3-inch booklet and opened it to the page where Duncan wrote about being sworn into the Confederate army: "I was not willing but finally agreed.”

"When I read that line,” Caudill recalled, "I knew there was a story there.”

Caudill compiled Duncan’s story into a book, "Moss Bluff Rebel, A Texas Pioneer in the Civil War.” The book has been selected for Texas A&M University’s Sam Rayburn Series on Rural Life.

Duncan’s birthday was March 2, the day Texas declared independence from Mexico. That also was the birthday of Texas political giant Sam Houston, with whom Duncan worked as a county sheriff.

"He and Sam Houston were pals,” Caudill said.

Beginning in 1847, Duncan began keeping extensive diaries. Early ones mostly recorded cattle transactions. But when the war began, they turned more historical and personal.

Duncan wrote that after 10 months in the Confederate army, "I am thoroughly tired of this kind of life. But I must have patience and hope there is a better day coming.”

In another entry at Galveston in May 1865, he wrote: "Great many persons, both officers and men, have completely given up hope. It provokes me beyond measure.” The next day, he wrote, "I am in the lowest spirits possible at the state of feeling exhibited by the men. They seem determined to give up the cause.”

Caudill also uncovered letters. Writing to his wife in February 1863, Duncan noted he would not be coming home for some time. "The Yankees are still lying off Sabine Pass, two steamer ships and a boat.”

Duncan had a few slaves. But, Caudill said, he appeared to treat them more like family than property. His man-servant, Sabine, for instance, "was like his son” and traveled with Duncan during the war. He remained with Duncan even after being emancipated, Caudill said.

"Sabine is getting short of clothes and I cannot get any here,” Duncan wrote to his wife. "Have you any at (the) house for him if I should get there?”

Caudill lives with his wife of 41 years. One son plays French horn for the North Carolina symphony orchestra. The other is an engineer for Shell Oil. In his spare time, Caudill lifts weights, goes kayaking and trains for marathons.

But Caudill can’t forget the day he discovered William Duncan, the primary source that enriched his life in every way but financially.

"I’m looking for another one,” Caudill said.