The
Online Archive of Terry's Texas Rangers
Sharing & preserving the history of the 8th Texas Cavalry Regiment, 1861-1865
The
Online Archive of Family Tradition in AG Department
Dallas
Morning News
November 8, 1954
p. 2, sec. 3
By Richard Morehead
Austin Bureau of The News
RECENT REMOVAL of the Texas Adjutant General's office from the State Capitol was a sad day for Miss Lucille Phelps.
The department moved to larger, finer quarters at Camp Mabry. But parting from the Capitol brought memories to Miss Phelps. Her family's history for sixty years has tied closely to the Adjutant General's Department and the TexasNational Guard.
Lucille Phelps has watched the state militia change from a little band of volunteers, who bought their own equipment and served without pay, into an army bristling with tanks and jet planes. And every drill puts money in the soldier's pocket.
Col. E. M. Phelps, her father, was assistant Adjutant General from 1898 until 1910.
His son, Raymond Phelps, helped to organize the Texas National Guard in 1914. He commanded an artillery batter in World War I and remained as a guardsman through World War II. Much of Raymond Phelps' service in World War II was spent with the Eighth Service Command at Dallas.
He retired as a colonel, but soon was called to serve with the Texas State Guard. He commanded the State Guard for a time before retiring in 1953 with the rank of general.
Raymond Phelps Jr. joined the Texas National Guard after serving as an Air Force pilot in World War II. He now is an artillery major, carrying on the family tradition.
"THERE HAS BEEN A PHELPS in every war this country ever fought," said Lucille Phelps.
Her ancestors fought in the Revolultion, and in the wars which followed. Her father rode with Terry's Texas Rangers, a famous southern unit the War Between the States. A brother served in the armed forces during the Spanish-American War.
Miss Phelps feels that the romantic flavor has gone from military life. It now is a big organization, with loss of informality an the peronsal touch. Even the colorful names like "Austin Rifles" and "Belknap Rifles" have given way to numbered units.
"The volunteer spirit is gone," Miss Phelps commented. "Now everybody must be paid for everything."
Lucille Phelps is a finance officer at the Adjutant General's headquarters, a post she has held since 1928, except for two years.
She loves the department and the National Guard, but still longs for the days when the state militia kept their arsenal in the State Capitol. Now the Adjutant General doesn'teven have an office there.
Article provided by Bill Page.