The following article was published in the Kerrville Mountain Sun in 1938. My 2nd cousin Travis Lee provided me with a copy of the original that he still has.


There is a picture of Tom W. included in this article although it is dark and hard to see. His 10-gallon hat and boots are visible. The caption is above the picture and reads....
Colorful Character Is
In Excellent Health
And Lives Near Legion
With Daughter


Tom W. Burge, 97, Is
Last Survivor
Of Grey in Kerr



Confederate Veteran Has Lived Under Four Of Six Texas Flags


The Thin Grey Line of which those in the South have heard so much about has dwindled to one man in Kerr County, according to the State Comptrollers office in Austin, under whose jurisdiction the pension department lies. The lone survivor of the Lost Cause is Tom W. Burge, 97, who makes his home with his daughter, Mrs Travis Lee and her family on the Old San Antonio Road near Legion. Most of his comrades, whose ages would have approached the century mark, have bivouaced in the Great Beyond.

Mr. Burge was born in Alabama and was brought to the new Republic of Texas when but an infant. The family settled in Lavaca County, where the people were trying to establish a free and independent nation, but were fearful always of the renewing of the military offensive by the Mexican government, and on the other hand of the Indians. These latter tribes had been held in check by General Sam Houston for a few years, but colonies from Germany and Alsace were encroaching upon the lands of the Comanches and the Cherokee War in the Northwest, had begun to alarm the Texans as to their safety.

At the outbreak of the Civil War Texas was so isolated that the news of the battles and maneuvers was a long time in reaching the inland settlers. Most of the young men in the Lavaca section of the country joined the cavalry, and served more for protection of their homes and herds than in active participation in the war. However there was considerable fighting in Galveston and in and around the Sabine Pass. The cavalrymen had most of their trouble with renegade soldiers, desperadoes and Indians, but at that they had plenty to do.

When the troop were mustered out Mr. Burge returned to his home in Lavaca County, and later moved to Fayette County. For the most of his life he followed the profession of cowboy, and was at home in the saddle and in caring for is herds. His wife died in Waco in 1911, and since that time he has made his home with his children near Stamford. He was actively (sentence missing here) He says, however, that the reason he doesn't ride now is because he hasn't a horse.

He is a picturesque figure, as he walks about the Legion community wearing his 10-gallon hat and his cowboy boots. His mind is alert and he remembers quite well many incidents of his early childhood and of the history making episodes of the State. Last month he went by bus to Stamford where he attended the Cowboy Reunion. He was unable to ride horseback in the parade because of a carbuncle on his back, which has been giving him a great deal of pain

He is one of the few people in the county today who has lived in the State under four of its six flags--the Lone Star, the Stars and Stripes when Texas was admitted in to the Union in 1845, the Stars Bars of the Confederacy, and then the Stars and stripes when Texas was readmitted to the Union in 1870. He has lived under the rule of General Sam Houston, who was serving his second term as President of the Republic, and under every governor of the State, as well as being a citizen of three nations--the Republic of Texas, the Confederacy, and the Union.

He has four children, Tom of Albany, Sam and Joe of Stamford and Mrs. Lee of this City.

In the State of Texas there are but 275 surviving Confederates, and 18 of them live in West Texas. In the Confederate home in Austin there are 18 veterans and 72 widows. Among the ones in this section are Mr. Burge and John D. Adams, Rocksprings.

According to the statistics, death strikes off an average of 13 veterans....(sentence missing here)....of the Confederate pension fund. Last fiscal year deaths totaled 691. Because of the decreasing rolls, costs of the pension program has been dropping month after month, and the deficit in the pension fund is gradually being paid.

In the last nine months the deficit has decreased by approximately $1,000,000. It is now $3,091,400. In three or four years it will have been wiped out altogether.







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