| Birth: | Jul. 4, 1871 | | Death: | Mar. 23, 1942 | 
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As Commodore Basil Muse Hatfield put it, "It's all right to lie about Texas, because it'll be the truth tomorrow."
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Death Ends Vigorous Career of Commodore Hatfield, Famed Booster of Canal for Trinity
Liberty, Texas, March 23 (AP). -- Basil Muse Hatfield, 70-year-old adventurer who in recent years championed canalization of the Trinity River, along which he was known as Commodore, died in Mercy Hospital here Monday after a brief illness.
Funeral services were not complete, but arrangements were being made to carry out his wish to have his body cremated and the ashes thrown into the Trinity, which he visioned some day as a busy artery of commerce.
Hatfield was born July 4, 1871, at Washington-on-the-Brazos, where Texas' Declaration of Independence was signed, the son of a prominent planter. His grandfather, Basil Muse Hatfield, fought in the army of Gen. Sam Houston and operated steamboats on the Trinity and Brazos Rivers before the Texas revolution.
The Commodore began his adventures in distant lands in 1892 when he joined an English development expedition bound for India, China and Africa.
He was a British officer in the Boer War and was decorated with the Victoria Cross.
He fought in the Spanish-American War, built a railroad in Russia, developed oil fields in the Orient, and was associated with Pancho Villa in Mexico.
While Hatfield's exploits were many, he kept silent about them and talked only of his work for the Trinity Valley and canalization of the stream, which Army engineers have finally recommended.
The Commodore was a candidate for the United States Senate in last summer's special election, campaigning with the slogan All-Out for America.
Fort Worth had been his home for years. He is survived by a son, B.M. Hatfield, submarine torpedoman, first class, United States Navy, believed now to be in Far East Waters, and a daughter, Sue, of Fort Worth.
Arrangements for services and having his ashes strewn into the Trinity are in charge of C.A. Miles of Liberty, treasurer of the Forward Trinity Valley Association; John M. Fouts of Fort Worth, manager of the Trinity Improvement Association, and Dean Tevis, Beaumont newspaperman who was one of Hatfield's closest friends. Dallas Morning News, March 24, 1942
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Family links:
Children:
Bazil Muse Hatfield (____ - 1944)*
*Calculated relationship
| | | Burial:
Cremated, Ashes scattered. |
Created by: BeNotForgot
Record added: Apr 16, 2012
Find A Grave Memorial# 88629285 |
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