One other thing about those paragraphs though. He says "Several years ago I was one evening standing on the steps of the Capitol with some other members of Congress" in reference to the Georgetown fire. He goes on to say that "The next summer, when it began to be time to think about the election, I concluded I would take a scout around among the boys of my district. I had no opposition there, but, as the election was some time off."
Here's the problem. The bill above was passed in 1828. Crockett's first term in Congress was the 20th Congress, which served from 27-29. Not only that, as I recall, in the old days there was a lame duck session of Congress months after the election. Anyway, if this vote happened early in '28, and if he said there was a fire several years prior, and that a year after that he was up for re-election, well, the numbers just don't add up. There were factual errors on almost every point in paragraphs two and three. Post #107 seems to confirm one point though, that Crockett offered to pay out of pocket. One wonders if the other House members found that amusing.
A Challenge for more research:
But the REAL challenge, it seems to me, is the whole Horatio Bunce story. If you look at my chronology above, it seems the numbers don't add up, but there may be some truth mixed with fiction. In fact, isn't that the Crockett MO? Anyway, really enjoying your research on this. I would love to see what you can find about a Horatio Bunce. What was Crockett's district? Is there a geneological history? IS there a Crockett Historical Society that might know? I am filled with curiosity.
"Here's the problem. The bill above was passed in 1828. Crockett's first term in Congress was the 20th Congress, which served from 27-29. Not only that, as I recall, in the old days there was a lame duck session of Congress months after the election. Anyway, if this vote happened early in '28, and if he said there was a fire several years prior, and that a year after that he was up for re-election, well, the numbers just don't add up.I think that you are correct, Huck. The author of this famous passage from Crockett's biography seems to have taken considerable liberties - i.e., "artistic license" - in his attempt to communcate the "big picture" of Crockett's political philosophy, and cut quite a few corners with the actual FACTS.There were factual errors on almost every point in paragraphs two and three..." - Huck
(This approach is perhaps understandable, given the embellishments propagated by Crockett himself. LOL!!!)From The Texas State Historical Association's "Handbook of Texas Online" :"...In his 1831 campaign for a third term, Crockett openly and vehemently attacked Jackson's policies and was defeated in a close election by William Fitzgerald.
By this time Crockett's reputation as a sharpshooter, hunter, and yarn-spinner had brought him into national prominence. He was the model for Nimrod Wildfire, the hero of James Kirke Paulding's play The Lion of the West, which opened in New York City on April 25, 1831. Life and Adventures of Colonel David Crockett of West Tennessee was published in 1833 and reprinted the same year under the more accurate title of Sketches and Eccentricities of Colonel David Crockett of West Tennessee. Much of the same material spilled over into the first few issues of a series of comic almanacs published under Crockett's name from 1835 to 1856 that, as a whole, constituted a body of outrageous tall tales about the adventures of the legendary Davy rather than the historical David Crockett.
Building in part upon his growing notoriety, Crockett defeated the incumbent Fitzgerald in 1833 to return to Congress. The following year he published his autobiography, written with the help of Thomas Chilton, A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the State of Tennessee, the only work that he actually authored. It was intended to correct the portrayal given by Mathew St. Clair Clarke in Sketches and Eccentricities and to deny Crockett's authorship of that account, which did not bear Clarke's name..."