History of the T41 steer unveiled

GONZALES —The golden steer weathervane atop the Gonzales Fire Station once again shows us how the wind blows in Gonzales just as it did when it was mounted on the roof of the Houston home over a century ago.  

R. A. Houston had seen weathervanes on various barns denoting the owner’s trade as he and others drove huge herds of cattle north to market.  He commissioned the creation of a steer to show his ranching background and when it arrived, he had it assembled by a local tinsmith, W. C. Franks, and installed on the roof of his grand home which was built at the corner of St. Francis and St. Paul Streets in 1880.  

The “T41” brand was registered by Houston in Gonzales County in 1870 and was added to the steer after it had arrived in Gonzales.  Family tradition holds that the brand documents a common ranching tradition:  when he sent cattle to market, for every four of his cattle he took, he left one in order to rebuild the herd.   

At some time after Houston died in 1894, the home became the Arlington Hotel.  When the house was razed in 1926, R.A.’s son gave the steer to John D. DuBose Sr. and it was installed on top of the Randle-Rather building.  

DuBose gave the steer to the City of Gonzales and in 1928 it was mounted on the roof of the Fire Station which had been erected in 1903.

Over the years, the steer had lost its original gilding, and the bearings allowing it to turn in the wind had failed.  On a visit to Gonzales, Everett and Carolyn Deschner noticed the steer’s neglected appearance and inquired about the process of getting it restored.  Both of their fathers had been volunteer firemen for the Gonzales Volunteer Fire Department for many years and Carolyn and her two brothers, J. R. Tinsley III and John Tinsley are great-grandchildren of R. A. Houston’s sister, Dora.  Because of the family connection as well as that to the Fire Department, they felt a strong desire to bring the weathervane back to its original beauty.  All of them were involved in the documentation of the steer’s history and in the determination of its original configuration.  Vicki

Frenzel was instrumental in moving the project along and also in uncovering the steer’s history.

Robert Marshall of Robert Alden Marshall and Associates, a conservator who has restored many important historical monuments across the country and several here in Gonzales, was chosen to restore the weathervane.  When he removed the steer from its mounting, he found evidence of a 36 caliber bullet hole going right through the steer.  It had been repaired at some point, but illustrates the fragile nature of the gold leaf.  Marshall says the gilding should last for seventy-five years of normal exposure, unless more damage is done by outside effects.