The Traveling Fool
Traveling off the tourist path. Talking about those places most tourists just don't know about because, well, nobody ever told them. Also travel tips and news about travel and tourism to make your trip a little easier, cheaper and more memorable.
The Traveling Fool
Incredible man Born in 1700s, Died in 1900s: Was He Really That Old?
We chase the disputed lifespan of Isaac Brock from headstone to census record, then turn a myth hunt into a smart Waco travel plan. Between archives, museums, and good food, we map a route where Texas legend meets places worth your time.
Please subscribe and leave a review on I-Tunes.
Feel free to drop me an email I would love to hear from you editor@thetravellingfool.com
You can sign up for my email list
Follow me on social media
Hi, and welcome to the Traveling Fool, the podcast where we talk about travel destinations, the history and culture around those destinations, along with travel tips and news. I'm your host, Bob Bales, and today I'm going to take you to a little place just outside of Waco, Texas, and we're going to talk about the incredible Texas man who was born in the 1700s and lived until the 1900s. That's if you believe the story. So stay tuned, and we'll be right back. Now before we get started, please hit that like or subscribe button. I would really appreciate it. And you can also go to the website the traveling fool.com, sign up for the monthly newsletter. That's where I send out information about the latest travel news, along with sweepstakes to win a trip or two and some other travel related contests. Okay, so let's get started. We're going to talk about this fellow named Isaac. Now he claimed to have been born in Buncombe County, North Carolina on March first, seventeen eighty seven, just five years after the American Revolution and one year before the U.S. Constitution became ratified. Now, according to his story, as a young man he went to Georgia to work in the gold mines, and after several years went to DeKalb County, Alabama to learn the blacksmithing trade and become an apprentice, so he could later open up his own establishment. Now sometime around eighteen thirty-seven he met a girl named Lucinda, whom he married and she bore him four children before dying in eighteen forty nine. Sometime in September of eighteen fifty two in Rusk County, Texas, he married his second wife, a girl by the name of Sarah. She was around nineteen, had come from Alabama, and they had twelve more children before her death in nineteen oh seven at the age of seventy four. Now if you believe this so far, Isaac was forty seven at the time of his first marriage, and sixty four when he married the second time. Now, it's not unheard of at the time for older men to marry younger women, even somebody in their sixties marrying somebody that was nineteen. So the story is plausible so far. Now over the years Isaac had told people he was once a Texas Ranger and he had served in the Mexican American War and all kinds of other exploits. Now none of that has ever been found out to be true. But what is true is that he served in the Civil War. Now some accounts say that in eighteen fifty eight Isaac moved to East Texas, and in the eighteen sixties he tried to enlist in the Confederate Army as a blacksmith. Some say either he was turned down for being too old or that he was accepted when he agreed to take the place of another man. But other newspaper accounts say that Isaac was pressed into service and made to join, but in his heart he was always a union man. So you're getting a lot of different accounts from a lot of different places. But what is known for a fact is his age was listed as forty eight years of age in the eighteen sixty federal census. Now his enlistment papers as a private with Company H in the Texas Infantry in eighteen sixty two lists his age as fifty three years old. Now Isaac later told one newspaper that he had given officials the wrong age just so he could get in. But after the Civil War, Isaac relocates again and appears in McClellan County, Texas, and settled on the north side of the Bosque River. Now one of his children, Sally, recalled that they made a real long trek from Smith County to Waco in eighteen seventy two, and she remembered how her father used to make his all their own furniture, and he would make everything for the house. She remembers that he was shoeing horses well into his nineties and walked the thirty five mile round trip from his home into town just two years before he died from old age. Now, some accounts say that Isaac died in the home of one of his daughters, while others contend that he died in the county poorhouse. Now I read one newspaper article, because I did a little research on this, and one newspaper article from nineteen oh nine stated that he was brought to the county poorhouse from his home the previous summer. Which would have been nineteen oh eight, and that he never returned to his home. It stated he was old, blind, and off his mental balance and liable to hurt someone. So he was tried for lunacy. They had a trial. The judge didn't find him to be insane, but did order him to be placed into the poorhouse. The article went on to say that the superintendent of the facility said he had never had a more docile and quiet male than he and his wife had looked after Isaac and made him comfortable. The superintendent said Isaac died peacefully in his sleep on september third, nineteen oh nine, which, if you believe all the stories, would make him one hundred and twenty two years and one hundred and eighty four days old. Now that would make him older than the oldest person in recorded history who does have fully authenticated records. Her name was Jeanne Calment, a French woman who lived to be one hundred and twenty two and one hundred and sixty four days old, and that puts Isaac at twenty days older than her. Now, according to his descendants, Isaac was a man who liked to pull one's leg and actually gave the birth date of an uncle who had the same name as a joke. They said that the Isaac who was born in seventeen eighty seven in Buncombe County, North Carolina was actually his mother's brother. The eighteen eighty census shows Isaac Brock of McClellan County, Texas as a seventy five year old farmer, not a ninety three year old one. However, other descendants said they've done their research, and that while Isaac did embellish a lot of his exploits like telling everybody he was a Texas Ranger and stuff, he was actually that old when he died. Now, we'll likely never know Isaac's true age at the time of his death. However, Isaac was buried in China Spring, an unincorporated town just outside Waco, Texas, and his tombstone says born March first, seventeen eighty seven. Now most modern people or researchers have put Isaac's birth somewhere around eighteen oh five or right in that area, which means that he would have been ninety five at the time of his death, not a hundred and twenty two. But in either event, he lived to be an old man and obviously saw a lot during his lifetime. And like the quote, at the end of the movie, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, one of my all time favorite movies. I love that movie. But at the end of the movie there's a quote The newspaper man says, "Well, this is the West, sir. And when the legend becomes fact, print the legend". Now Isaac Brock, he was buried in China Springs Cemetery, and that's located about fifteen miles west of Waco, Texas. But that's just one reason to visit the Waco area. And if you happen to be there, I would highly suggest going by the cemetery and checking out Isaac's grave. And who knows, maybe he was the oldest man to ever live. But there's a lot to see and do in this little central Texas town of Waco. Now, for those not familiar with Texas, Waco is, we've got an interstate, interstate thirty five that runs North to South from Oklahoma border down through South Texas. And Waco is about halfway between the Dallas Fort Worth area and Austin on Interstate 35. It's a little closer to Dallas Fort Worth, but it's roughly the halfway mark. But there's a lot to see and do in Waco. In fact, while Isaac was telling everybody he was a Texas Ranger, Waco does have the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame, and they don't have any record of Isaac ever being a member. But the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame is definitely one place you want to visit. The Texas Rangers were formed in 1823 when Stephen F. Austin, he's considered the father of Texas. He brought 300 families, called the old 300. They brought him into Texas under a grant from Mexico. Well, in 1823, Stephen F. Austin hired ten men to protect 600 to 700 families who were arriving in Texas. And in 1835, just before the Texas independence from Mexico, they were formally constituted as an agency. And within two years they numbered over 300 men. Now over the years the Texas Rangers have evolved into one of the country's most effective law enforcement agencies. And the Hall of Fame has six galleries with artifacts and exhibits that depict the history of the Rangers up through modern times. People like Frank Hamer, who was instrumental in tracking down and eliminating, I guess you could say, Bonnie and Clyde and other famous Texas Rangers. But that's not the only Hall of Fame that's in Waco. While you're there, visit the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. That began as an idea in 1949 to create a Texas Sports Hall of Fame. And it became a reality in 1951 when Baseball Hall of Famer, Tris Speaker, who was born in Hubbard, Texas, became the first person inducted. And I know that unless you're just a rabid baseball nut, you're going, oh who is this guy? Well, he was a Hall of Famer and he's I think he's still like number five on the best batting average, and just I mean, he's got tons of records. But the Sports Hall of Fame used to be located in Garland, Texas, until 1986, and it just kind of became dormant. So in 1993, the Texas Sports Hall of Fame reopened in Waco. And it currently has over 400 Texas sports legends showcased, from boxing greats like Jack Johnson and George Foreman to Carl Lewis in track and field, Earl Campbell in football. There's inductees from horse racing to stock car racing and basketball to gymnastics, golf and rodeo, they're all showcased. If you're ever in Waco, I would highly suggest checking it out. And to get into the Texas Hall of Fame, you're going to find people who were either born in Texas or played the majority of their career here. You've got a lot of modern day Houston Astros like Jeff Bagwell, a few others that are just they weren't born in Texas, but they're listed in Texas Hall of Fame because we claimed them. They played here for 20 years. Now while you're in Waco, you can't help but go to Baylor University. Baylor is the oldest continually operating university in the state of Texas. It was chartered in 1845, and the university actually opened its doors in a place called Independence, Texas, which is near Brenham and not too far from College Station, a little bit east of Waco. Well, we say a little bit East. It could be 100, 200 miles, but I've actually been to Independence and the ruins of Baylor are located there. But in 1861, Waco University opened in Waco. And in 1886, they merged with Baylor and the university was consolidated, and Waco became the home of the university. So while you're there, drive around on campus and check it out. You may want to visit the Mayborn Museum Complex at Baylor. It offers natural history exhibits, mammoths and skeletons and dioramas and all kinds of stuff. They've got a big discovery room for kids. Texas history displays and rotating travel exhibits. And while you're on the campus, check out the Baylor Bear Habitat. And that's where they have their live mascots that you see on the football games and on TV and everything. Their live mascots live at the Baylor Bear Habitat. Stop by and check them out. But drive around on campus and check it out you'd enjoy it. Now in 1870, t he Waco suspension bridge was built. Goes across the river. So what? Well, for years the bridge served as a Chisholm trail crossing driving cattle up north. But at the time of its completion, in eighteen seventy, it was the longest single span suspension bridge West of the Mississippi. And it was built by cable supplied by the John Roebling Company, who actually built the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. Today the Waco Suspension Bridge is a pedestrian only bridge and takes only a few minutes to walk across it from end to end. It crosses the Brazos River in Waco, Texas, and it's iconic. It's actually a beautiful bridge. While you're there, take a walk on that bridge and look out over the Brazos River and go from one part of town to the other. Now, if you're from Texas, you should know this, otherwise we'll probably revoke your Texas card. But if you're not from Texas, you may know it, you may not. But in 1885 in Waco, Texas, there was a pharmacist, a fellow by the name of Charles Alderton. And he created a unique twenty-three flavor blended drink at Morrison's old corner drugstore. And he named it, say it with me now, Dr. Pepper. That's right, making it the nation's oldest major soft drink, older than even Coca-Cola. Well, the museum's housed in the 1906 Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company, the Dr. Pepper Museum in Waco. And this Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company building is located in downtown Waco. And it's actually listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Dr. Pepper Museum is open year round except major holidays. And you can tour the museum by day, and I think there's a thing where you they'll show you how to bottle your own drinks and just it's a cool museum. But at nighttime they have the paranormal tour and you can see a part of the building that most people don't get to see, like down in the basement and stuff. And over the years, several people have seen and experienced strange happenings going on at this place. So you might want to go on a paranormal tour while you're there. Now this place is cool. The Waco Mammoth National Monument. It stands at or it stands out, I should say, as a site where fossils of twenty four Columbian mammoths and other mammals have been uncovered. The site is the largest known concentration of mammoths who died from a recurring event, which is believed to have been a flash flood. The mammoths on site did not all die at the same time, but rather during three separate events that happened in the same area. Now Columbian mammoths lived somewhere between ten thousand to a million years ago, and research has indicated that between sixty five thousand and seventy two thousand years ago, a nursery herd of at least nineteen mammoths were trapped and drowned by rapidly rising flood waters from the Bosque River. Later floods trapped other mammoths and animals. And you can go and check the place out. It's fascinating. But the park is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, except on major holidays. And now it's a national park. But check it out, Waco Mammoth National Monument. Now if you want to see some live critters, head over to the Cameron Park Zoo. It's really cool. It's 52 acres of natural habitats and close-up encounters, and the animal collection that is housed at the zoo, includes more than 1,700 animals representing 300 different species. You know, a night in uh when was it? 2009, the zoo opened up what they call the Asian forest. It features critically endangered Orangutans and Sumatran tigers and Komodo dragons. But it is a really well-run zoo. And it's just really cool. They've got a ton of animals. And I love a good zoo. If you're there, you got kids, even if you don't have kids, head up to the Cameron Park Zoo and check them out. And Cameron Park is a huge area out there. It's got hiking trails and picnic trails and just all kinds of stuff. So you can make a day out of it. Now I do have to admit something. I have never watched this television show. But there's a show called Fixer Upper starring Chip and Joanna Gaines. I've seen their little ads on TV, but I've never watched the show. But they're from Waco. And they've opened up a place called Magnolia Market at the Silos. It's about five acres. It's got these two big grain silos there, and the area is about five acres in size, and it's owned by these two. And like I said, they're best known for their I think it's on HGTV, fixer upper TV series. But they completely transformed the landmark of these silos, which helped to change the city as well as the surrounding areas. The grounds include about a 12,000 square foot retail store where they sell all their stuff, and it's located in the historic grain barn, and there's office building there, there's a food truck park, there's picnic tables, a garden store, a bakery, a lawn area. It's a big deal. And admission to the grounds is free unless they're having their special events. I saw one thing which said that there was like a million tourists coming to visit this magnolia market at the silos. So if you're into the home and garden thing or if you want to go shopping for something for your home and just check out a cool area, I guess. Magnolia Market and Silos is one of the big draws in town. Now, they also have Valley Mills Vineyards. Valley Mills Vineyards was founded in 2006, and it's a full production boutique winery. The vineyards cover over 30 acres. They make all their own wines from in-house from Texas grown grapes. And they specialize in the production of dry red wines, but they offer other options. They're open daily from nine or from twelve to six, and you can book a tasting or a tour of the vineyard. And they have special events and live music throughout the year, so you may want to check out their website, the Valley Mills Vineyards. But Waco also has four breweries in town if you like going to brew pubs and checking out the local breweries, along with Balcones Distillery, which is one of the premier whiskey distillers in the state of Texas. They make great whiskey. And they also have some great places to grab a bite to eat. I mean, I would recommend two places. There's a ton of them, but there's two that I would recommend if you eat Waco. Cafe Homestead for good old Texas country cooking. I mean, they've got really good food. And Papa Jack's for some finger licking good Texas barbecue. But there's a lot I think Terry Black has a barbecue place there. There's several places to eat there. But Papa Jack's, you need to check that place out. So all in all, Waco makes for a great trip. I mean, you can check out Isaac Brock's grave site and all the things to see and do in Waco. I think you'll definitely enjoy it. But it just goes to show I mean you never know what's in these small towns or just outside of a town. A lot of history, a lot of legends, a lot of things occurred. You just have to do a little digging, and to me it's interesting. You go to some small town, you find out that a famous gunfighter was buried in the cemetery and his exploits around town, or the man who said he lived to be the oldest man in recorded history. Like I said, we may never really know if Isaac Brock lived to be 122 years old, but I'm sure that old man had a really interesting life. Well that's it for this week. And if you know someone that might like the podcast, send him a link to it. I'd appreciate it. Hit that like or subscribe button. I mean, that's the only thing that help helps people see this thing. And until next time, safe travels.
Podcasts we love
Check out these other fine podcasts recommended by us, not an algorithm.
