[RonDog]

Do you think the author of the book could have gotten by with this kind of falsehood in those times? - Chapita

Yes, quite easily--because they actually did. There was quite a "quote-manufacturing" cottage industry going in those days. Many statements attributed to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Webster, and other great figures of American history in reality trace back no further than the pen of some Gilded Age writer. - Poobah

From post 225 by tyen on Not Yours to Give Posted on 08/09/2000 06:24:46 PDT by OWK:

The first time I read this speech, I was so moved by its relevance to our times that I went out and sought the book it came from, Crockett's autobiography. The book describes an era that has passed, and God willing, we shall see the good influences of that era again in the near future. I placed a bookmark on the starting page of this speech.

For the sake of others who want their own copy of the autobiography, I purchased my copy of the book by using Advanced Book Exchange, a portal for used booksellers. Go to the search page, enter "Crockett, Davy" in the Author field, enter "own story" in the Title field, and press the Start Search button. There are some nice editions our there right now, and they sure beat the heck out of Disney's books on marketing tie-ins on Crockett.

Finally, for those reading this who object to Crockett's less than lily-white life...rent a clue, and move out of your glass house.

225 Posted on 08/09/2000 14:36:37 PDT by tyen

It appears that this speech ALSO appears in Davy Crockett's autobiography - not just in the frequently cited book by Edward Sylvester Ellis - which would strengthen the case for its authenticity, IMHO.

[Huck]

If the event described in the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs really happened, it's somewhere in here:

Register of Debates. This was the precursor to the Congressional Record while Crockett was a member of Congress.

That doesn't answer for the rest of the tale, the Horatio Bunce part. I don't know how we verify that. If it did come from Crockett's autobiography, then it may be that's where Mr. Ellis got it from. It'd be interesting to compare, if that's the case. But if he got his from Crockett, it doesn't really help to verify the story, unless we deem the autobiography as reliable. And that is, at least here among us, an open question. But thanks for finding that tidbit, because it led me to look up his autobiography. From that search I learned that it supposedly included transcripts of speeches from the Register of Debates, hence the link. Isn't this fun? Too bad we have to work for a living, or we could research this stuff all day. I would enjoy that.