tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75676822671720325312024-03-13T13:13:18.564-07:00Pend Oreille PonderingsAlanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04566980144691746351noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567682267172032531.post-8854330998398127802013-12-03T20:00:00.000-08:002013-12-03T20:00:02.102-08:00David Kokernot: Rogue Soldier of the Texas Revolution Also Wins Jacobus Award!
The American Society of Genealogists annually presents the Jacobus Award “to a model genealogy published within the previous five years.” Its purpose is “to encourage sound scholarship in genealogical writing.” Commenting on the book, the Society said it “expertly documents Kokernot’s family, beginning with his great-grandfather in Amsterdam and concluding with his children in America, relying Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04566980144691746351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567682267172032531.post-30933946481774747242013-11-29T17:44:00.001-08:002013-11-29T17:55:13.552-08:00David Kokernot Wins Silver Benjamin Franklin Award!
The Ben Franklin awards recognize both editorial and design excellence as judged by 160 book publishing professionals coming from the library, bookstore, reviewer, designer, publicity and editorial industry segments. Of the Rogue Soldier one judge commented:
"An outstanding biography. A very well-written narrative with wonderful chapter titles. Every element of a great biography is here Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04566980144691746351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567682267172032531.post-32963347886153434452012-08-15T16:04:00.001-07:002012-08-15T16:07:31.115-07:00Feature Article on David Kokernot: Rogue Soldier of the Texas Revolution
David Kokernot's first home in Texas was on the shores of the San Jacinto River where it widens and enters San Jacinto Bay. His neighbors were mostly cattle ranchers sparsely scattered over the prairie between there and the Trinity River, fifteen miles away. Kokernot's abuse of those neighbors whom he considered insufficiently patriotic in the ensuing Texas Revolution left a bad taste that Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04566980144691746351noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567682267172032531.post-52888558187487333512012-06-20T07:56:00.000-07:002012-06-20T08:48:25.892-07:00Did Caroline Kokernot's mother stay in Texas during the Battle of San Jacinto?Kendon Clark, a descendant of William Maley, reminded me of a tradition within the Maley family that I did not write about. What I did write is that during the Texas Revolution David Kokernot rushed his family to Galveston and placed them on a New Orleans bound schooner for safety as the war threatened their home on the San Jacinto River. His mother-in-law, Juliane; wife, Caroline; two toddler Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04566980144691746351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567682267172032531.post-8239185348312928632012-06-10T17:38:00.001-07:002012-06-10T17:46:43.442-07:00Kokernot Cattle Brands
Cattle brands almost always tell a story, and the Kokernots' brands are no exception. Within a couple of weeks of the family's 1853 arrival in Gonzales County, David Kokernot registered his cattle brands at the courthouse. For his own brand, he chose his wife's initials, "CK." She, in turn, chose his initials, "LK." Why?
All the cattle they brought from Colorado County carried the "CK" Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04566980144691746351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567682267172032531.post-81383897347146340532012-05-26T20:00:00.002-07:002012-05-26T20:02:20.332-07:00David Kokernot Now Available!
Finally. A whole pallet-load of David Kokernot: Rogue Soldier of the Texas Revolution arrived at the publisher, Kullyspel Press, and the first shipment has been sent to the wholesaler, Ingram Books. They are beautiful. The dust jacket has a smooth matte finish with a coating that resists scuffing in shipment. The hardback cover is cloth in a deep burgundy with gold lettering. The paper is Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04566980144691746351noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567682267172032531.post-25287855931616709602012-05-02T13:41:00.000-07:002012-05-02T13:41:26.761-07:00What do Theodore Clapp, Congo Square, and galjoots have in common?
They're all persons, places, or things found in the index to David Kokernot: Rogue Soldier of the Texas Revolution. So, too, are "grand larceny," "O6," and "Old Igo" among the 1007 entries in the index. Indexing is surprisingly difficult. The indexer must place himself in the mind of the reader to imagine the information he would seek and the terms he would use to find it. The author is Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04566980144691746351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567682267172032531.post-60016064349965681752012-04-06T08:10:00.003-07:002012-04-06T10:50:59.321-07:00Gulp!Yesterday I mailed a box to McNaughton & Gunn, my printer. It contained a paperback version of David Kokernot and rolled-up proofs of its dust jacket and endsheets, each with my approval signature across the front. In six weeks or so, finished books will arrive at Kullyspel Press's loading dock (aka my garage).I have always been fascinated by the process of publishing books--their editing, Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04566980144691746351noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567682267172032531.post-70035975514812730382012-02-01T12:03:00.000-08:002012-02-01T12:17:43.119-08:00Real soon now...It is a humbling experience. The first time an editor returns an author's precious words to him with a few suggestions and comments, and he finds the first page covered in red blood. Fortunately for me, this was not my first time. Defensive instincts still rise, but when you have a good editor like I do--Kathy Carter--it's easy to overcome them and dig in, searching for solutions to the problems Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04566980144691746351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567682267172032531.post-86356120518906597892011-11-27T12:44:00.000-08:002011-11-27T13:40:34.359-08:00Kokernot's Reminiscences November 2, 1878David Kokernot's Reminiscences were published in the Gonzales Weekly Inquirer as five letters to the editor in 1878. Some were published again by the Inquirer in 1923, and the text of the first four is available online. Since these memoirs are the source of much misinformation propagated about Kokernot--information that my biography corrects--I am including their text as an appendix in that Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04566980144691746351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567682267172032531.post-71297887864173148002011-08-06T10:52:00.000-07:002011-08-07T08:18:23.317-07:00Major Editing to Kokernot Book and Book SiteWhoopee! As a result of the developmental advice of my editor, Kathy Carter, I have completed a major edit of David Kokernot's biography. By "major," I mean huge sections cut, others added, others relegated to appendices. I turned in the last of those rewrites to Kathy a couple of weeks ago. She has responded with many good suggestions for improvements, but they're not of the "delete this chapterAlanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04566980144691746351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567682267172032531.post-60010579050139916872011-02-20T11:38:00.000-08:002011-02-20T12:52:23.837-08:00Why Are New Orleans Burials Above Ground?The search for burial places of Kokernot kin in New Orleans a few years ago brought me to Dispersed of Judah Cemetery on Canal Street, about three miles from the French Quarter. David Kokernot's brother, Louis, has a tombstone there. Louis's wife, Nancy; their children George Washington and Miriam Virginia; and Nancy's brother Benjamin all share the single tombstone shown in the photo. New Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04566980144691746351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567682267172032531.post-49394042176099207912010-10-02T11:53:00.000-07:002010-10-02T12:18:11.422-07:00Kokernot DNA analysis<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04566980144691746351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567682267172032531.post-72539755585447995012010-09-06T12:03:00.000-07:002010-09-13T20:52:14.099-07:00Mischevous Editor"No one will ever love your words as much as you do," said someone I've forgotten. The meaning, of course, is that a person other than the author will make the best critical evaluation of that author's writing. That evaluation is the job of an editor. Well, an excellent editor has made just such an evaluation of my well loved writing. Her eleven page critique suggests substantial deletions in Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04566980144691746351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567682267172032531.post-8375508313850427252010-05-28T21:20:00.000-07:002010-05-28T21:31:01.248-07:00Wreck of the Ceaser"...to find a good schooner of light draught and about 150 tons burden and to charter the same" were David Kokernot's orders from the Revenue Cutter Service. So he "chartered the schooner Julius Caesar" and set out for pass Barataria, which was "alive with smugglers." Kokernot's tale that follows is an exciting one, with a hurricane, shipwreck on a deserted shore, death, rescue by children, and Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04566980144691746351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567682267172032531.post-75019438097683930242010-04-27T13:05:00.000-07:002010-04-27T13:11:21.245-07:00"Dwight" Kokernot?It is a pleasure to see David Kokernot receive acknowledgement as the rogue he often was. Wanda Orton has a piece in the Baytown Sun describing the "tory chase" and likening Kokernot to "Dwight," of The Office. I don't know that show, but the comparison seems right on.A short piece must by necessity leave many details out. The livestock Kokernot seized from citizens during the revolution were Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04566980144691746351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567682267172032531.post-5201248946831269242010-03-21T08:58:00.001-07:002010-06-15T18:53:04.988-07:00I'm a Big Texas Oil ManThe return address caused a warm smile to cross my face: "Superior Crude Gathering." The smile broadened to a grin as I slipped the check from the envelope. Like many Texans, I look forward to this annual largess in the form a royalty payment for oil extracted from Barber lands. I hurriedly filled out a deposit slip to speed my share,$19.07, to my checking account.In my case, it's not the sum, Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04566980144691746351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567682267172032531.post-53750188004174816682010-02-08T12:38:00.000-08:002011-03-26T08:42:59.451-07:00Goofy patentsCount me among those who believe that many patents issued today are frivolous. They describe something that is either self-evident, impractical, or physics defying. I'll bet you've seen a cartoon showing hopeful men in the waiting room of the patent office, each with some contraption in his lap, one man making a rueful comment to another. It's not done that way. Never has been. All you need for aAlanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04566980144691746351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567682267172032531.post-52283723435623480902009-12-20T20:09:00.000-08:002009-12-21T18:32:39.827-08:00Locking through from the North SeaWhen David Kokernot's ancestors on his mother's side arrived in Amsterdam from Hamburg in 1710 they probably entered the city through this lock. Passage from Hamburg via the North Sea could be accomplished in a small vessel because the route was protected by barrier islands. From the North Sea they entered and crossed the Zuiderzee, then the Oudezijds Voorburgwal canal by way of this lock. The Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04566980144691746351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567682267172032531.post-77679449737194080142009-11-09T17:28:00.000-08:002009-11-09T19:32:45.786-08:00David Kokernot's Boyhood Home in AmsterdamAmsterdam Jews in the eighteenth century celebrated their marriages at their synagogue, rarely bothering to register them with the civil authorities. After the turn of the nineteenth century, however, the authorities insisted that all marriages be registered in the same manner as those in the Dutch Reformed Church. On January 29, 1808, David Kokernot's parents complied, even though they had Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04566980144691746351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567682267172032531.post-84659899059740319082009-09-01T16:57:00.000-07:002009-09-02T14:22:39.090-07:00Laissez Les Bon Temps RoulerAs I started some heavy editing to chapter three of my biography of David Kokernot--a chapter I wrote almost four years ago--I grew wistful remembering the three months I spent researching in New Orleans. Chapter three (further described here) relates the happy years the Kokernot family spent in that city in the 1820s. I added these introductory paragraphs to the chapter:When I arrived in New Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04566980144691746351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567682267172032531.post-25968696183859904412009-06-13T21:50:00.000-07:002009-09-08T10:26:19.607-07:00Tombstone, Arizona, HangingsBoth boys instinctively covered their eyes at the sudden burst of Arizona sun as their jailer led them out to the scaffold, according to the Tucson newspaperman who accompanied them. Stiffened by a shot of whiskey from Sheriff White, they climbed the steps with the coolness and nerve that twenty year old Texans are capable of. Hangings were public in 1900 Tombstone, so a large crowd heard their Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04566980144691746351noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567682267172032531.post-32990127246856326712009-05-08T18:42:00.000-07:002009-05-08T19:29:00.898-07:00L. M. Kokernot the elderI had another of those creepy moments a couple days ago--the one where I come across a nugget of information that I know no one else knows. I'm sure Einstein felt the same way when he learned that E equals mc squared. The only difference is that in my case no one cares. But that doesn't change the feeling. Anyway, I learned when, where, and how David Kokernot's father died.Before now, all we knewAlanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04566980144691746351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567682267172032531.post-77145307843555074192009-04-22T16:49:00.000-07:002009-04-22T17:03:28.635-07:00The Ospreys Are BackIt's the same every spring--ski season ends, allergy season begins, and the ospreys show up along with our human snowbirds from wherever they spend their winters. Laika the space dog, my woo, and I spotted our first ones yesterday and again today. They were working the orographic lift created by the wind against the highway embankment along the Lake Pend Oreille shore at the north end of the LongAlanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04566980144691746351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567682267172032531.post-43344118007272890462009-04-04T13:40:00.000-07:002009-04-04T14:43:27.826-07:00"Schooner Flash, Captain Falwell"When David Kokernot first moved his family to Texas from New Orleans in 1831 it was "a very pleasant trip" aboard the "Schooner Flash, Captain Falwell," he later wrote. That fact has been repeated so often that I was a little surprised to find that the Flash was not built until four years later. I wrote this off as simply another of Kokernot's many errors of fact. This one was clearly an honest Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04566980144691746351noreply@blogger.com0