J. Milton Nance

Joseph Milton Nance, known as J. Milton Nance (September 18, 1913–January 17, 1997), was an American historian who specialized in the study of his native Texas. He was affiliated with Texas A&M University in College Station from 1941 until his retirement in 1979. He was his department chairman from 1958-1973.^[1]

Background

Nance was born in Kyle in Hays County south of Austin, Texas, to Jeremiah Milton "Jerry" Nance, Jr. (1884–1966), and the former Mary Louise Hutchison (1890–1967). Jerry and Mary Nance married in 1912 and had eight children born between 1913 and 1930, with Milton Nance being the oldest of the offspring. Jerry and Mary Nance are interred at Kyle Cemetery.^[2] On March 19, 1944, Nance married the former Eleanor Glenn Hanover. He had three sons, Jeremiah Milton Nance (born ca. 1948) and Joseph Hanover Nance (born ca. 1952), both of Bryan, Texas, and James Clifton "Jim" Nance. Milton and Eleanor Nance resided in College Station.^[1]

Nance studied at the University of Texas at Austin from which he received his Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and Ph.D degrees in history in 1935, 1936, and 1941, respectively.^[1] He moved to College Station to teach at TAMU, when the institution was all-male and military-motivated, particularly during World War II. He was a visiting professor for a year at Texas State University in San Marcos. Nance was active in the National Geographic Society and the Texas State, West Texas, the East Texas, the Southern, and the American historical associations. He authored nine books on Texas history. In 1962, he published The Early History of Bryan and the Surrounding Area, which focuses on Bryan and College Station, Texas.^[1] In 1969, he published Some Reflections Upon Modern America. In retirement, Nance was active from 1983-1996 in the publication of the Texas State Historical Association's New Handbook of Texas, much of which is now available on-line.^[3]

Major scholarly publications

• Sandbars and Sternwheelers: Steam Navigation on the Brazos (ISBN 978-1-58544-058-0), by Pamela A. Puryear and Nath Winfield, Jr., with introduction by Nance, published in 2000. This short work examines the early vessels that attempted to sail on the Brazos River, an intrastate waterway which passes some eight miles west of Bryan-College Station.^[4]
• After San Jacinto: The Texas-Mexican Frontier, 1836-1841 (ISBN 978-0-292-75581-9) (1963) with 24 chapters, covers the continuing unrest on the border after the surrender of Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836.^[5]
• Attack and Counter-Attack: The Texas-Mexican Frontier, 1842 (ISBN 978-0-292-73168-4) (1964).^[6]
• Dare-Devils All: The Texan Mier Expedition, 1842-1844 (ISBN 978-1-57168-214-7) (1964). This volume of more than seven hundred pages is the full account of the Mier Expedition, a Texas militia which attacked the Mexican border community of Ciudad Mier on December 26, 1842. The men were seeking financial gain and retaliation for the Dawson Massacre in which thirty-six Texans had been killed by the Mexican Army. In the infamous black bean episode, the Texans were forced to draw black or white beans from a pot to determine who would be allowed to live and who would be killed by firing squad. Seventeen drew black beans from a pot of mostly white beans and, along with one other who drew a white bean, were executed on March 25, 1843. Dare-Devils All was shortened to 547 pages and re-released in December 1997, after Nance's death, under the editorship of the historian Archie P. McDonald.^[7]

Nance's papers, both family and professional from 1875–1994, have been deposited at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas, established through the philanthropy of former Governor Dolph Briscoe. The material includes lectures, research notes, and maps.^[3]

References