1-22-21 Who Am I

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1) William Stewart Simkins (August 25, 1842 – February 27, 1929)
2) Simkins Hall Dormitery at Texas University
At daybreak on January 9, 1861, Simkins saw the signal from a guard boat, and sounded the alarm in the sand battery, alerting his fellow Citadel cadets to the arrival of the Union ship the Star of the West, which was attempting to ferry supplies to Fort Sumter. The cadets fired the first shots of the American Civil War.[4] The Daily Courier at first said he had fired the first shot, although the official account later blamed a local youth named G. E. Haynesworth.[5] Simkins once said he only loaded the gun which fired the first shot, though many historians believe that he actually fired it, too.
source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Stewart_Simkins




 
1. Who am I ? William Stewart Simkins, although others have also been credited with firing the first shot of the Civil War, notably Henry S. Farley, George S. James, Edmund Ruffin and Citadel Cadet Peter Stevens. Simkins fits all the criteria in the question introduction.

2. What is the name of the dormitory ? Simkins Hall (original name); completed in June, 1955. In 2010, the name was changed to Creekside Resident Hall after Professor Thomas D. Russell, a historian and former professor of law at UT, published a paper chronicling Simkins's role as the co-founder of the Florida Ku Klux Klan.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Stewart_Simkins
 
Until I actually post this I'll continue to research the subject but I can't find anywhere that GEORGE EDWARD "TUCK" HAYNSWORTH who did fire the first shot as a Citadel cadet and who later became a Lieutenant in the Artillery ever had anything to do with the University of Texas. Of the 14 dormitorys at UT, none are named after him. So I have half the questions answered. Trick question?

Edit - Answer revised in subsequent post.

Yes, I would view this question as something of a curve ball, but we do allow curve balls in this game.

hoosier
 
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I checked through a list of the dormitories at the University of Texas and found one that was named for a former professor of law at the university. That is Roberts Hall, named for Oran Milo Roberts. However, Roberts Hall was built in 1936, not in the 1950s, and Roberts was born in 1815, which made him a little old to be a cadet in 1861.

I have found sources naming George Haynsworth as the man who fired the first shot. He was a cadet at the Citadel and he fired upon the Star of the West in January 1861. Haynsworth did eventually become a lieutenant in the Confederate Army, but I can't find any indication that he ever served as a professor of law at the University of Texas or that he had a dormitory named after him.

Given the choice between these two not-very-promising alternatives, I'll go with the guy who actually was a cadet and actually fired a shot. My answer for the first part of the question is George Haysworth and my answer to the second part is Haynsworth Hall.
 
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William Stewart Simkins
Simkins Hall

TSHA | Simkins, William Stewart

Edit - I am giving credit for both Simkins Hall and Creekside Hall as correct answers to the second part of the question.

I went through a list of dormitories at the University of Texas looking for an answer to the question. I looked into the history of each dorm that was obviously named for a person. I didn't bother looking into the history of Creekside Hall, figuring it was obviously named for a geographic location, rather than a person. I guess if I'd looked at the history, I would have found that it originally had a different name. Can't always expect the obvious in this game.

hoosier
 
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