Caption to first photo: "FIVE AREA RESIDENTS, dressed in Confederate uniforms, fired the old Val Verde cannon Monday, on the courthouse lawn in Fairfield. Left to right are Ralph Massey, Teague; Joe Lee Kirgan, David Lott, County Judge Leslie Reid Bonner and Clois Mullens, all of Fairfield. (Photo by Whitaker)." =============================================== The Teague Chronicle newspaper April 2, 1964 edition Caption: "THE VAL VERDE CANNON sounded again Monday evening, March 30 on the courthouse lawn in Fairfield. A group of descendants of veterans of the Battle of Mansfield recently mounted the old cannon, a fixture on the courthouse lawn for many years, on wheels and a carriage so it would shoot. The cannon had been fired several times in Teague and it was decided to fire it again Monday so people in the Fairfield area could see it in action. The cannon will be taken to Center, Texas Saturday morning, then on to Mansfield, Louisana, Saturday afternoon for the 100th anniversary observance of the Battle of Mansfield. (Photo by Whitaker)." =============================================== The Fairfield Recorder newspaper about April 2, 1964 Headline: Valverde Cannon, FHS Band Caption: "OLD VALVERDE ROARS AGAIN - The recently restored old Valverde Cannon made its first official appearance in Fairfield since the completion of the work, and spoke once again for local citizens in a preview of the action to take place this week and in Center and Mansfield. A slight miscue when the soldiers let their powder get wet on the first attempt, was overcome andtwo reverberating blasts, such as pictured above, rocked the buildings of downtown Fairfield amid yells from onlookers. The first hour grades of Fairfield Elementary School, students who will not be carried on the buses to the celebration, were present for the firing ceremonies, as well as many interested local citizens. The old cannon will roar once more over the Mansfield Battlefield Saturday in the centennial of this Civil War battle. - Photo by Whitaker" =============================================== The Fairfield Recorder newspaper Thrusday, Jan 9, 1964 [Photo] CELEBRATE ANNIVERSARY, BIRTHDAY - Mr. and Mrs. Jim York of Fairfield observed their 69th anniversary Dec 19 and their 90th birthday on Jan 5. Mrs. York is a native of Freestone and Mr. York was born in East Texas. He is a retired farmer. The Yorks have three children, seven grandchildren and eight great- grandchildren. Mrs. York's Father One of Valverde Gun Crew The daughter of a Confederate artilleryman who was a member of the Valverde battery took her contribution to Mr. Tas Watson, Jr., chairman of the committee appointed to raise funds to have the cannon on the Farifield court house square mounted on wheels. The cannon belonged to the Valverde battery. Mrs. Jim York of Fairfield, who made the contribution, told Mr. Watson that her father, Crawford J. Lane, was a member of the Valverde battery, that he drove one of the caissons and in action, fired the gun. Llewelyn Notley, chairman of the Freestone County Historical Survey Committee, interviewed both Mr. and Mrs. York who incidentally observed their sixty-ninth anniversary December 19. Both will be ninety years old on January 5. Mrs. York stated that her father enlisted at LaGrange, Fayette County, and was mustered into service in the army of the Confederacy in 1861. The Confederate grave marker in Fairfield cemetery, where the veteran is buried, shows him to have been in Company I, 5th Texas Calvary. The 5th Calvary, commanded by Colonel Thomas Green, was a regiment in General H. H. Sibley's brigade which invaded New Mexico in 1861-1862. At the battle of Valverde February 21, 1862, the McRae Union battery with six new pieces of artillery was captured by Colonel Green's regiment. The Texans later organized a Confederate battery with the six captured guns. They named it the "Valverde battery" after the name of the battle in which it was captured and Joseph D. Sayers was the captain, T. D. Nettles the first lieutenant. Nettles was promoted to captain in 1863, and it was he who brought the battery to Fairfield in 1865. According to the information Mr. and Mrs. York had, Captain Nettles and battery in 1865 were on the way from Nacogdoches to San Antonio to be discharged the war having ended when General E. Kirby Smith surrendered his comand, Confederate troops in the Trans Mississippi Department on May 30, 1865. The probable reason for coming by Fairfield was that they could get supplies from a Confederate commissary in Fairfield. This commissary, it was said, occupied a long wooden building where Parker Chevrolet is now located. Just why the battery was disbanded in Fairfield instead of San Antonio is not clear. While it was in Fairfield, the battery, according to the Yorks, was encamped near the grounds of Fairfield Female College. The troops were often entertained at the college and it was at one of these entertainments that Crawford Lane met Miss Emmaline Welch, a college student. After his discharge in 1865, Lane returned home to LaGrange, but next year, 1866, he returned to Fairfield to marry Miss Welch. They settled in Freestone County and reared a family of nine children, two boys and seven girls. Mrs. York is the oldest of the four now living. Two sisters live in Houston and one in Waco.