Texans may be in for the surprise of their lives after an archivist made revelations that pour doubt on the connection of a legendary Texan to the state's inauguration Bible.
The Texas inauguration Bible is a 199-year-old sheepskin-bound Bible that has traditionally been believed to be owned by Sam Houston, the man who led the Texan revolution that made Texas independent from Mexico.
The Bible has become the main instrument in the inaugurations of Texan governors for centuries, and this copy was referred to as "Sam Houston's Bible" by President George Bush in 1995.
According to Fox News, court archivist Tiffany Schropshire claims to have found newspaper clippings dating from 1941 that could put accepted lore about the Bible into question.
Archivists have quietly disputed Houston's connection and ownership of the Bible for many years in the past. The dispute centres on a missing portion of the Bible's flyleaf, which allegedly contained Houston's signature. According to accepted tradition, a Supreme Court janitor stole the bottom page of the flyleaf during a game of dominoes.
Although it had satisfied amateur historians, Supreme Court archivists continued to express doubt on the story.
According to Schropshire, these clippings purportedly described the missing page of the Bible, and exonerated the janitor that was originally accused of stealing the fragment of the Bible's flyleaf.
Schropshire also told Fox News that she spoke to three historians in 2012 and asked them to look at the handwritten notes in the surviving portion of the flyleaf. Although they said that the handwriting resembled Houston's penmanship, Scropshire remained unconvinced. The court archivist told Fox News that in her opinion, the penmanship of the first Supreme Court justice, John Hemphill, resembles the handwriting in the flyleaf more than Houston's.
However, Schropshire said that the Supreme Court has not yet been able to get an expert opinion on the handwriting.
"Those aren't free," she said.
