However, we still have some of his books.Īlthough it may be difficult to tell for sure whose book belonged to whom from our collection, just knowing the titles of these works provides us with some understanding about those who lived in the house over time: parents William and Martha siblings Lucinda, Will, Sam, Tom, and Medibel and at times, Medibel’s husband, Samuel Edward “S.E.” Bartley, and their son, Robert. The Sam Rayburn Library, now the Sam Rayburn Museum, contains most of Sam’s book collection. He also enjoyed works of fiction, specifically pulp detective and western novels. Sam gathered these books from the Library of Congress, and eventually started initialing page 99 in every book that he ever read. After Sam reached Washington, D.C., in 1913, former Speaker of the House Champ Clark gave him a list of books to read to improve his political and historical knowledge. We know what Sam did with his ability to read-he consumed biographies about historical American figures, from presidents to military leaders.

Afterward, William could finally read anything he could get his hands on, which led to intense discussions about history and politics with his family. Her husband, William, was illiterate before his wife taught him to read and write. Martha Rayburn, the family matriarch, instilled the love of reading in her family. This month, I’m snooping through some Rayburn books (it’s alright for historians to snoop) to see what they liked to read. But I can look through their stuff and together we can try to figure them out. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to tell you everything about these Rayburns. However, there is much less written about his family members and their personalities-the little things they did in their lives that made them the main characters of their story rather than supporting characters in Sam’s story. Some of these articles and books about Sam Rayburn feature insights from his family about him, their famous relative. These writings have told us about the food he likes (onion sandwiches), how he hated small talk, and what he thought about the presidents he served with. We know the most about Sam Rayburn since he’s the family member that has had the most written about him. These people ate here, slept here, listened to the radio, and eventually watched TV here. At least eight people called the Sam Rayburn House State Historic Site their home from 1916 to 1969.

Cleopatra's Secret by Lydia Storm