Well, the Birdwell house is in Rusk, on the way to Tyler, Texas, on the same property as the Jude Devereaux Plantation. There is also the Birdwell Cemetery close by. I, too, was not welcome and they turned the dogs on me, without asking any questions as to who I was. When I told them that the Col. Birdwell was my great great grandmother's brother, she grumbled, " 'There are millions of Birdwells and they all come here wanting to see this house. No!". It is a very beautiful house and people live there. Most historical medallion houses are houses for personal living. My ancestors are, (me) Lovey Rhodes Smitham Dooma Bell Rhodes John B., Bell Sarah Jane Vaught Bell Lucinda Birdwell Vaught (sister of Col. Allen Birdwell John Birdwell and Mary Allen George Birdwell Benjamin Birdwell The Birdwell family, and the Col.'s house is written up in the Rusk Historical Society's pamplet they give out to visitors and there are pictures hanging there of the Birdwell house. It seems that when the boards were taken off the house, the original logs were underneath. Also, architectural details appear in one of the Rusk historical books, as outstanding construction. Col. Allen Birdwell lived in Henderson, Texas, and when Henderson burned down, he was listed in the 'top 20 wealthy men'. Fortunately, most of his money was not in buildings and houses, when they burned. He still had most of his money, after the town burned down. William Alton Birdwell, Col. Allen Birdwell's grandson (by his son George Preston Birdwell) was the first president of Stephen F. Austin State Teachers College (later changed to University) in Nacogdoches. On the mezzanine, in the Student Center, there, is a large portrait of him, with the caption underneath, as the first president. Very impressive indeed. His grandfather would have been proud. They treat visitors kindly, at the University. Possibly, because of the prestige they carried, the letters from John Calhoun Birdwell, son of the Col. Allen B., during the Civil War, are housed there, in the East Texas Research Center. Copies of all 60 pages, of the letters are available for the cost of printing and mailing. In those letters, from Camp Hope (changed to Camp Nelson) in AR. he speaks of my great grandfather's death and burial there while he, himself, was on the forced icy march to Helena. in 1862. The detailed account is remarkable, of many of those who served with him, from Rusk and Nacogdoches, and were among the 1500 who died at Camp Hope- Nelson. . There are letters from his wife, also, and how it was , in Rusk, while he was gone. He enlisted with my great grandfather, (his first cousin's husband), Oscar Bell., and John C's younger brother, Billy (who died in the Chicago prison, after the AR Post battle. John C. escaped, to return to his company, and finally back home to his family, and the tanning business. A Memorial Cemetery was built near there, to honor those 1500 who died at Camp Hope-Nelson, buried without identification. They would like very much to be able to identify those bones, dug up from the fields of the campsite, and brought to the Cemetery for proper burial and honor. They want service records also, for these men who served there. I have sent copies of all of the letters John Calhoun Birdwell wrote while there, identifying, so many of them, and they were grateful. The letters stay on file there, (along with my Oscar Bell's service papers) , for anyone who wishes to read them, to find their own family members, and know how it was, there, at that time. Thank you for listening, and I hope that it may benefit some one out there who is looking for their soldier. Sincerely, Lovey Rhodes Smitham