xt7m0c4snc3t https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7m0c4snc3t/data/mets.xml Texas Historical Records Survey Division of Professional and Service Projects, Work Projects Administration Texas Texas Historical Records Survey Division of Professional and Service Projects, Work Projects Administration 1940 118 p.: map 27 cm. UK holds archival copy for ASERL Collaborative Federal Depository Program libraries. Call Number: FW 4.14:T 312/no.155 books  English San Antonio, Tex.: the Survey  This digital resource may be freely searched and displayed in accordance with U. S. copyright laws. Texas Works Progress Administration Publications Archives--Texas--Marion County -- Catalogs Marion County (Tex.) -- History -- Sources Inventory of the County Archives of Texas. No. 155, Marion County (Jefferson), 1940 text Inventory of the County Archives of Texas. No. 155, Marion County (Jefferson), 1940 1940 1940 2020 true xt7m0c4snc3t section xt7m0c4snc3t  

 

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INVENTORY
ofthe
COUNTY ARCHIVES

MARION COUNTY
No. 155

TEXAS HISTORICAL RECORDS SURVEY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 INVENEURY OF THE COUNTY ARCHIVES

OF TECAS

Prepared by
The Texas H11Uo_1v 3 ds Survey

Me or
Division of T71"mammal n6 Se ervice Projects
Work Projects A6uin is str ation

NO. l58

I 1311121011 COUNTY (JEFFERSON)

*****

San Antonio, Texas
The Texas Historical Records Survey
March l9&0

 

 0 R E W O R D

The Inventory 01 the County Archives of Texas is one of a number of
bibliographies of historical materials prepared throughout the United
States by Workers on the} Iistorical Recordsb survey Program of the LJork
Projects Administration. The publication herewith presented, an inven—
tory of the archives of Marion County, is number 158 of the Texas
series of counties.

The Historical Records Survey Program was undertaken in the Winter
f 1935—56 for the purpose of providing useful emplOyment to needy un-
employed historians, lawyers, teachers,a and research and clerical workers.
In carrying out this objective, the project Was or ganized to compile in-
ventories of historical materials, particularly the unpublished govern—
ment documents and records which are bus ic in the administration of local
government, and Which provide invaluable data for students of political,
economic, and social history. Ihe archival guide herewith presented is
intended to meet the requir ments of day—to~day administration by the of-
ficials of the county, and also t1 1e needs of laWyers, business men and
other citizens who require facts from th.e public records for the proper
conduct of their affairs. The volrime is so designed that it can be used
by the historian in his researc ch in unprinted sources in the same way he
uses the library card catalog for printed sources.

The inventories produced by the Historical Records Survey Program
attempt to do more than give merely a list of records—-they attempt
further to sketch in the historical backoround 01 the county or other
unit of government, and to describe precisely and in detail the organiza—
tion and functions of the government agencies Whose records they list.
The county, toWn, and other local inventories for the entire state will,
when completed, constitute an encyclopedia of local government as well
as a bibliography of. local archives.

The successful conclusion of the work of the Historical Records
Survey Program, even in a single oeunty, would not be possible Without
the support of public officials, historical and legal specialists, and
many other groups in the community. Their cooperation is gratefully
acknowledged.

The Survey Program was organized and has been directed by Luther H.
Evans, and operates as a nation—wide series of locally sponsored pro—
jects in the Division of Professional and Service Projects, of which Mrs
Florence Kerr, Assistant Commissioner, is in charge.

F. C. HARRINGTON
Commissioner

 

 PREFACE

The Texas Historical Records Survey is a unit of the Texas State—
wide Records Project which is sponsored by the Bureau of Research in the
Social Sciences of The University of Texas, and operates under the Re—
search and Records Section of the Division of Professional and Service
Projects of the Work Projects Administration.

The objective of the Survey in Texas is the preparation of complete
inventories of the archives of each county, municipality, and other local
governmental unit. This publication, an inventory of the archives of
marion County, includes, in addition to descriptive entries for each ex—
tant records series, an historical sketch of the county and a map of its
past and present boundaries; a discussion of the conditions under which
the records are preserved; and abstracts of laws specifically applicable
to the county. This inventory varies from certain other inventories of
county archives being published in that the descriptive entries for each
extant records series are presented in a condensed form; an essay on the
governmental organization and records system of the county accompanied by
charts of government, floor plans of the courthouse, and essays on the
legal status and functions of each county official and agency are omitted.

The Inventory 2: the County Archives 3: Texas will, when completed,
consist of a separate volume for each county of the state. Each unit of
the series is numbered according to the particular county's respective
position in the alphabetical list of the 254 counties. Thus, the volume
for Marion County, herewith presented, is No. 158, Units of the Inventory
are issued in mimeographed form for free distribution to state and local
public officials, public libraries in Texas, and to a limited number of
libraries and governmental agencies outside the state.

 

‘The records of Marion County were listed in the spring and summer of
1956, and a verification check was made in November 1939. The volume was
compiled and edited in the state office of the Texas Historical Survey of
the Work Projects Administration.

The courteous cooperation of the Mhrion County officials for whOm
this work was done is acknowledged.

 

 II.

III.

IV.

VI.
VII.

VIII.

IX.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part A.‘ Marion County iand Its Records System

Historical Sketch . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . .

Map of'Past and Present Boundaries . . . . . . . .
Housing, Care; and Accessibility of Records . . . . . .
Abbreviations,‘SyMbols, and Explanatory Notes . . . . .

Part B. County Offices and Their Records

Commissioners Court . . L . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
General Proceedings. Claims. Financial Repoxrts.
Elections. ‘Roads. AcCOunting. Miscellaneous.

County‘Clerk‘as Recorder .'. . . .’. . . . . . . . . .
Registration: File R ster; Conveyances; Public
Domain; subdi isions ,‘Licns; Mortgages; Property
Taxes; Live51tock; Autoraobiles . Vital Statistics:
Marries s; Birtns; Boa the. Professional Licenses.
Business. hlllt1"' 00"“1P' welfare. Official
Bonds and Dcputations. Miscellaneous.

   
   
 

5-0

District Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Civil and Criminal: Case Papers; Dockets; Minutes,

Process; Fees and Costs; Reports. Di.trict Clerk
Ex Ofiicio.

County Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Probate: Case Papers; Dockets; Minutes; Process;
Fees; Births Certified. Lunacy and Epileptics.

Civil and Criminal: Case Papers; Dockets; Minutes,
Process; Fees and Costs. County Judge Ex:0fficio.

Liquor Hearings; Insolvency.

Justices of The Peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Precinct 3 (County Seat). Outlying Precincts.

Sh eri :f‘f O O C Q I O I 5 O O I C I O U I O U I I I O O I

Constable I I O I D O I I l O O C O O I I ,C Q I I O O 0

Tax Assessor- Collector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Asses cements: Abstracts; Rolls. Collections:
Receipts;1 Delinquents and Redemptions. Licenses.
Disbursement.

Board of Equalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

County Treasurer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - - .

O

o

I

I,page 3

14
15
18

20

42

51

59

62

65

66

66

 

  

‘3

(a

Table of Contents

XI.

XII.

XIII.

County Board of School Trustees . . . . . . . .

County School Superintendent . . . .

General Administration. Pupils.

I

County Surteror ; , I I l } } I . 1‘. x

Teachers.

. Reconds of The City of JefferSon ; °f° . .

a page

Constitutional Provisions, Declarations and Ordinances
of Constitutional Conventions; and Laws Specifically

Applicable to Marion County . .

4 I

Bibliography Q .I. . L . -,- .‘; ;

.Chronological Index . . . . . . .

Subject andentry Index . . . ,v.

m‘

67

69:

70

71
%
92

94;

 6’7;

67-

69;

vol

71
%
92

94;

(First entry, p. 20)
l. HISTORICAL SKETCH

Marion County, with Jefferson the county seat, is in deep East Texas
on the Louisiana border. Its _geo zraphy,1 interesting in itself, ‘is the
more important because it has dictated the history of the region as long
as white men have knewn it. In the eastern portien of the county, great
forests of pine, oak, sassafras, and cypress grow in and around large
bayous and lakes In the west, the land is open, with a gently undulat-
ing, almost prairie- like su_rface. Here the dark red soil is Ideep and
fertile, and the low hills mark rich deposits of iron ore. Thus, in the
geography of the county is found the background fo1 the four important
phases of its industrial history: farming, shipping, mining, and lumber-
ing.

When Texas was a provi'nce of Spain, and even before she was ever
claimed as‘such, Eas st Texas was 111ab1ted by a peac:efu1, sedentary tribe
of Indians, the Caddoes. 'hcse people were farmers, and their culture
approached civilization in the anthropological sense of the term. They
lived in villages of conical thatched huts, each village being surround-
ed by well—tended fields of corn, squash, and beans. 'It was this tribe
of Indians that gave Caddo L1kc its present n ame. 1 In one of their leg—
ends, the ori; gin of Marion County’s laLes is told. It seems that the
Great Spirit warned a certain chief to take his people out of the
country in order to save them from a terrible flood that waS'to come.
The Chieftain followed instructions; and when the flood came, his tribe
was saved, though many others were lost. The story alSO explains that
the land subsided during the flood, and that the Caddo lakes have marked
the Spot ever since. One version of this story says that the flood oc-
curred many years before white man came, and another says the lakes were
created overnight in about 1812. At any rate the history of the Caddo
tribe and that of the lakes are closely bound together in the folklore of
those first Texas farmers.3

Late in the seventeenth century, Spain began to see that she must
bolster her claim to Texas with something more tangible than the decla-
rations of those few adventurous Spanish explorers who had marched through
the province. Hence she decided to establish missions in East Texas,
near the present site of Nacogdoches. On January 25,1691,Don Domingo
Teran de los Rios was appointed governor of the newly-created Spanish
Province. 0n the same day he was instructed to lead an expedition into
East Texas to found missions and explore the countryside. Father

'Mas sanet, a missionary priest, was to accompany the expedition. He was

to have full authority in founding the new missions. Teran was to manage

 

l. Mgry Jourdan Atkinson, The Texas Indians (San Antonio,1955), 5—20;
Frederick W. Hodge, Handbook of American Indians, 2 parts (Washing-
ton, 1907), I, 179,181.

2. Fannie May Barbee Hughs, Legends of Texas Rivers (Dallas, 1957), 161,

cited hereafter as Hughs, Legends; "Indian Legend of Caddo' s Forma—

tion Is One of Great Interest and Unique Charm," in Marshall News
Messenger (Marshall, Texas), Nov. 18, _1934. 1 /

 

  

(First entry, p. 20) Historical Sketch

the military escort and direct the explorations. When the expedition
reached the site of the missions previously established, Teran turned
religious affairs over to Massanet and began to explore the lands in—
habited by the Cadodacho Indians. On this trip he passed through present
Marion County from south to north. When he had reached the Red River, he
followed it into present Arkansas; and then returned to the missions, agam
passing through_ Marion County.5 A popular story in Marion County today
says that the Spaniards were unable to find their. way around Caddo Lake,
but were forced to cress it in Indian canoes. It is also said that these
adventurers gave the lake its first name: Laguna Espafiola.4

When the period of French and Spanish rivalry had passed, and the
missions had been moved to San Antonio, East Texas was again largely in
the hands of the Indians. Yet there were a few Spaniards left; and some
Anglo-Americans, most of them desperadoes, had filtered in from the east.
By the early 1800's, East Texas, especially the lower portion, had earned
the name of Bad Lands.5

In the 1820's Anglo—American colonists began to immigrate to Texas,
and many of them settled on the rich lands ianast Texas, where timber
and water were plentiful, and the Indians, friendly.6

Some time prior to 1836 Allen Urquhart came to present Marion County
and established a ferry across Big Cypress Bayou, which runs 'into Caddo.
Urquhart owned this ferry site, but he lived in Daingerfield, in present
Morris Cdunty. On one of his trips to the ferry to collect fees, he
learned that a group of people had attempted to lay off a town at a place
called Smith's Landing, but had been unable to do so because of a faulty
title. Urquhart then offered to allow the settlers to found their town
on the land near his ferry. The settlers agreed, and the resulting vil-
lage founded in 1836, was the beginning of the present town of Jefferson,
Marion County.7 At that time, the territory was known as Red River
County. Four years later, JefferSOn and the surrounding country were in-
cluded in Bowie County, which was created from Red River territory.8

During the early forties most of the Anglo-American immigration to
Texas was by way of Caddo Lake and Jefferson. In 1842 the famous Regula-

 

3. Carlos E. Castaneda, Our Catholic Heritagge in Texas, 5 vols. (Austin,
1936, 1958), I, 562, and folding map.

4. "Caddo State Park Dream is Rapidly Being Realized," in Marshall News
Messenger, Nov. 18,1954.

5. "The Bloodiest Paue In The History of Harrison County; The Ill— Famed
Regulators and Moderators, " in Marshall News Messenger, Aug. 25,1936-

6. See footnote no. 4. ~. .

7. "Two Mysterious Acts Of Nature Brought Jefferson Life, " in Marshall
News messenger, Aug. 25, 1956; "Jeffersonians Recall Rise and Decline
of City AS 011 Bri-ngs Promise of New Era of Growth, " in Jefferson
Daily Jimplecute (Jefferson, Texas), Apr. 11,1957

8. H. P. ‘N. Caramel, Laws 19;: Texas, 10 vols. (Austin, 1898), II, 561,
cited hereafter as Gammel, Bags. , v ;

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Historical Sketch - (First entry, p. 20)

tor—Moderator feud came to a head, and involved most of East Texas. One
of the most cold-blooded of all the killings in the entire affray occurred
on the shores of Caddo Lake. Robert Potter, once a midshipman of the
United States Navy, and former Secretary of the Navy of the Republic of
Texas, had become involved in the feud. Following a particularly bloody
shooting match, the story goes, Potter and his men retired to a plantation
house late one evening to rest. Card playing and drinking occupied the
men for a time; but when the morning came, they started out to take up

the fighting where they had left off. The opposing gang, however, had
outsmarted them. Hidden in the woods near the house, they waylaid the
Potter men as they came out. Potter was killed just as ho dived into

the lake.9

During the forties Jefferson became the head of navigation through
Big Cypress and Caddo, down the Red River, and into the Mississippi.
Most of the surrounding country was devoted to agriculture; and since
railroads had not penetrated into that portion of the country, the farm
produce was hauled to'JefferSOn by wagontrain, and'loaded on the boats
there. Hides, tallow, and cotton were the main exports shipped through
Jefferson.lO

When Cass County was created in 1846, the land around Jefferson was
included in the new county.11 For a time, Jefferson served as the county
seat of Cass County, until the seat of government was permanently located
in the town of Linden.12 The shipping business through Jefferson grew
larger and larger during the early fifties; and as a result of this ac~
tivity, the population of Cass County gradually increased. Wealthy plant-
ers established large plantations along Big Cypress Bayou and Caddo Lake.
The darkics in the cotton fields, the great white houses with tall, state—
ly columns, the moss—hung cypress trees, and the quiet, shaded bodies of
water made the region around Jefferson typical of the Old South.15

In 1852 George Addisen Kelly, a former steamboat hand, took a job as
foreman of slave-labor in the iron works of Lockett and Stewart in Jeffer—
son. Soon he became a member of the firm, and later in the decade he
bought the machinery and set up his own factory to build plows and other
farming implements. One of his inventions has since become famous as the

 

‘ 10. Hughs

9. "Tragic, Quaint And Humorous Are Many Caddo Lake Legends," in
Marshall News Messenger, Nov. 18, 1954.

, Legends, 161; Edward Smith, Account 9f a Journey Through
North-Eastern Texas (London, 1849), 15, 16; "Jefferson'Was Leading
Port in Texas," in Jefferson Daily Jimplecute, Apr. 11, 1937.

ll. Gammel, Laws, 11, 1441.

12. D. E. E. Braman, Information About Texas (Philadelphia, 1857), 177;
J. De Cordova, Texas: Her Resources and her Public Men'(Phi1adelphia,
1858b 59, cited hereafter as De Cordova, Texas; Gammel, Laws, II,
1441; III, 457.

15. Hughs, Legends, 162; "Caddo State Park Dream is Rapidly Being Real-

.———.—L————_
ized," in Marshall News Messenger, Nov. 18, 1954.

 

 

  

(First entry, p. 20) Historical Sketch

Kelly Blue Plow.' This factory was one of the first and mest important
commercial enterprises of the period.14

: From 1854 to 1856, the river was low, and there was little naviga-
tion. The following letter reflects clearly the psychological as well as
the economic effect of these two bad years:

Jefferson, Texas, Jan. 20, 1856
Dr. A. L; Logan 1

Dear Brother:

We are having a cold winter here. The ground has been
frozen 25 days, and two snows in that time. Ground still
Covered with snow. Our rivers keep low, so we have had no
navigation in two years. We have two crops of cotton on
hand and no prospect for selling it. ’

Groceries high and scarCe. Corn sellszor $1.00 a
bushel, pork five cents per pound. Prices for all stoCk high.

The hire for a negro man is $180 to $200, and for a
negro woman $150 to $200. They sell high, too; Whmen from‘
$1,000‘to $1,200; men from_$1,5oe to $2,000, and hard to
get at that. I ‘

The town of Jefferson improves some, but slowly, owing
to navigation failing. Health good, except a few cases win—
ter fever. The population is about three thousand. You
speak of coming to Texas. This is a pleasant place to live '
in, but you might do better to go West. The land is better
and a better range. A man can get 520 acres by settling on
it. A good many move from here to get the land. There is

‘no public land here.

Your brother,
wm. S.'Logan.15

In 1857 the state legislature appropriated $21,298 to improve the
channel through Big Cypress and Caddo.‘ The county was instructed to
raise at least one—fourth of this amount. The money was quickly raised,
and the improvement project was started.' But the outbreak of the Civil

 

l4. "Spell on Jefferson May Be Broken by Oil," in Longview Daily News

‘ (Longview, Texas), May 31, 1956; "Two Mysterious Acts Of Nature
Brought Jefferson Life," in Marshall News Messenger, Aug. 25, 1936.

15. "Letter Written More Than 77 Years Age," in Linden Sun (Linden,
Texas), Aug. 26,’l936. ' ‘ '“‘—

 

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Historical Sketch (First entry, p. 20)

War halted the work before much good was done.l.6 _However, shipping was
good in 1859, with over-85,000 bales of cotton being exported through
Jefferson.17 - .

As early as 1854, the state legislature had received petitions from
the people of Jefferson and surrounding country requesting the creation
of a new county. By act of February 1 of that year, elections were or—
dered in Cass, Hopkins, Titus, and Upshur Counties to test whether a ma—
jority of the citizens were in favor of forming a new county from their
surplus territory.18 The results of this series of elections are not
available, but the petitions probably continued until early in 1860.,

On February 8, 1860, Marion County was created from Cass and Harri—
son Counties, and named for Francis Marion,-thc'famous Swamp Fox of the
American Revolution}9 That Marion would have been quite at home in the
swamps and marshes around Big Cypress Bayou and along Caddo Lake is an
interesting thought, in this connection; but it perhaps had nothing to
do with the choice of his name for the new county. JefferSon was, by the
act of creation, made the county seat of Marion County.

The act of creation named J. T. Sharp, Eli Moore, and D. S. McKay
as commissioners to organize the county and hold the first elections.
Following is a list of the first county officers: Shadrick R. Eggers,
chief justice; John B. Finley, C. F. Moseley, W. H. Haywood, and Henry
Mims, county commissioners; L.’T. Gray, county clerk; N. A. Birge, sher-
iff; C. W. Stewart, assessor and collector, John K. Cooke, county treas-
urer, J. R. Layne, coroner; L, R. Bayliss, district clerk; and P. M. Gra-
ham, county surveyor. These men were installed in office on March 24,
1860. One of the first official duties of the commissioners court was
the selection of‘a courthouse. Therefore, it was "Ordered by the court
that Birges Hall, situated in the town of Jefferson, be and it is hereby
known and designated as the Court_House of the County of Marion until
further ordered."20 ' 5

The shipping business-through the port of Jefferson increased during
the year 1860, over 100,000 bales of cotton being exported'from that city,
in addition to large amounts of hides, tallow, and other farm products.2
More and more each year JefferSOn was becoming the goal of long wagon—

 

16.. De Cordova, Texas, 536; Gammel, Laws, IV, 427, 464; Hughs, Legends,
163; Frank W. Johnson and Eugene C. Barker, ngistory.g: Texas and
Texans, 5 vols.'(Chicago¢ 1914), I, 566; Charles S. Potts, "Transpor-
tation in Texas," in Eugene C. Barker (9d,), Readings in Texas His—
EQQX (Dallas,.1929), 542, cited hereafter as Potts, "Transportation."

17. Potts, "Transportation," 5494

18. Gammel, Laws, III, l50ldf . .

19. Z. T. Eulmore, The H story and Geography of Texas as Told in County
flame Meeting-1935 .,,, 64; Gmmel, Laws, IV, 1419. -

20. Marion‘County, Minutes Commissioners Court (see entry no. 1, infra),
A, 5, 6, cited hereafter as Min. Com. Ct.

21. Potts, "Transportation," 549.

 

  

(First entry, p. 20) ' Historical Sketch

trains coming from the interior of northern Texas, and she had even gone
so far as to build a short railroad from Swanson's Landing to the town
limits. But with the coming of the Civil Wer, construction on the road
was abandoned. Like so many other lines over the state, this one became
a streak of rust before the war Was ever.22

Far from being broken by the conflict, as was the railroad, the town
of Jefferson was made by it, and only reached the heyday of her brilliant
history in the latter sixties. When the war first broke out, the commis-
sioners court of Marion County appropriated $8,000 to purchase arms and
munitions of war for the protection of the county. It was ordered that
supplies be purchased to arm 100 mounted men. Taxes were levied to the
full extent of the law, and county scrip was issued. As the w ar pre—
grossed, the county took whatever measures were necessary to care for the
.widows and orphans of soldiers, and for the destitute families of men
who were in the 1rmy. The Dead Shot Rangers were equipped and sent away
to fight. Funds were sent to them at intervals during the war, for new
uniforms or for ammunition. T.he county w1s divided into beats, and a-
committee was appointed for each. These committees were to take care of
relief problems in their boats and report to the county commissioners
court. 25 Marion County’ s activities during the war reflect clearly the
fact that many of her patriotic citizens were wealthy planters. The 10-
cal relief problems were handled in a VJay few other counties were finan—
eially able to duplicate.

Marion County, and especially the port of Jefferson, became the cen-
ter of the meat supply for the Confederate armies, and the b1se of oper—
ations against General Banks. Boeius e it was such an important point, it
was the ambition of the Federal forces, later in the war, to take.the
pert. Fleet boats Operated in the bayous and lakes, transporting sel-
diers to the Mississippi. Much cotton was shipped through Jefferson for
Confederate forces, and some was slipped through for whatever destination
would pay the most. Thus, all during the war, Jefferson eras growing
larger, and more and more important as a shipping point.24 By the end
‘of the war, she was just at the beginning of the most important ten years
of her history, a decade which has since been designated as the Steam—
boat Era.

 

22. Potts "Tran.sportation," 549; Edwin K.. wood, "Some Phases of Trans—
portation in East TeanI" in Bulletin of the Stephen F. Austin
State Teachers COlng.§C (Nacogdeches, Texas), no. 58, p. 17, cited
hereafter a: Wood, "Transportation in East Texas"; "Tragic, Quaint
and Humorous Are Many Cadde Lake Legends ," in Marshall News Mes-
songer, Nov. 18, 1954. 1 — _

25. Min. Com. Ct. , A. Almos st entire volume given over to Civil war
activities of the court. ~ -

24. Wood, "Transp01tation in East Texas, " 18; "Jeffersonians Recall
Rise and Decline of City As Oil Brings Promis e of New Era of
Grthh, " in Jefferson Daily Jimplecute, Apr. ll, 1957; "Two Mys—
teriou: Acts Of Nature Brought Jefferson Life, " in Marshall News
Messengei, Aug. 25,1956.

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Historical Scotch (First entry, p. 20)

One of the first important events of the new era was the incorpora-
tion of Jefferson as a city. This was on September ll, 1866. The city
alderman were ordered to drain and fill all low grounds and lots, to pro—
vide landings for steamboats and all watercraft, and to establish such
quarantine regulations as would be necessary to prevent the intrOduction
of contag _ious epidemics and infectious diseases. They were empowered to
levy special ta.xes for building a city hall and jail, for erecting
wharvcs buildi;qg br1.dges across Big Cypress Bayou, and aiding the im~
provemen: of u1rigation between Jefferson and Shreveport. 25 Just after
the war has OVIr, General Buell and about two thousand soldiers were sta—

, tioned in Jeii23: son. 25 For the firs t year or two, much cotton was con—

fiscated as CCniede1ate preperty, some o1 it unjustly. Two Treasury
agents were indicted I'or fraud, but never came to trial. 27 The Ku‘Klux
Klan of Jefferson and Marion County attempted to settle some of the dif-
ficulties, and‘many of its members were imprisoned in an old stockade on
the hill just outside of tor-1:133?3 But even'with the problems of Recon:
struction, Jefferson continued to flourish, and reached the buSiest, most
exciting years of her Steamboat Era in the early seventies.

In those da 5 distances were measured from Jefferson 'ust as the‘
’

‘are measured today from Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. All roads led

to Jefferson, if they were north Texas roads, and most of them were
filled with wagontrains and stagecoaches. ‘In fact, popular fancy has it
that the roads and trails W: re so filled with wagons hauling cotton to
Jefferson and those leaving Jefferson with manufactured goods that pas~
sage was difficult at all times.’ Since most of the trading was done on

a cash basis, the t amsters brought their money, most of it in gold, with

‘them as they came frmn the interior. Much of the money was carried in

tow sacks thrown into the bottoms of the wagons. Needless to say, rob—
beries and: cillings were frequent where good hard cash was so plentiful,
and so carelessly h.andled. 29

 

25. Gammel, Laws, V, 1129.

26. "Two Mysterious Acts of Nature BrOught Jefferson Life," in Marshall
News Messenger, Aug. 23, 1956.

27- C. W. Rams d.ell, "Texas From the Fall of the Cenfederacy to the Begin—
ning of Reconstruction," in Southwestern Ilistorical Quarterly (Aus—
tin, 1897-—), XI (1907 e), 213. . '

28. "Stockade Days Furnished Tales After War Ended, " in Jefferson De ily

, Jimplecute, Apr. ll, 1957.

29. The discussion of JefferSOn and Marion County during the Steamboat
Era, and of the coming of the railroad.;, has been based largely on
feature stories from East Texas newspapers. These articles have al-
ready been cited fully by title and date of paper. However, for ad-
ditional informatiOn, see the printed works already cited, also. For
information on the deserted courthouse, see: "East Texas' First,

Mos st Famous 'Big Name‘ Trial; The Killing of 'Diamond Bessie' Moore,"
in Marshall News Messenger, Aug. 25,1956;"One—Time Magnificent
Courthouse on 'Frogtown‘ Hill Stands in Silent Attest to warm Politi-
cal Days of Civil War Era; BOys Called It '$70, 000 BackStop, '" in
Jeffo-rson Journal (Jefferson, Texas), June 27,1931; "Decadent Court—
house Squats in Attest to Political Yesteryear," in Marshall Messenger
(Marshall, Texas), July 5, 1951.

 

 

  

' . - lO -
(First entry, p. 20) Historical Sketch

On the bayous and across the lakes, boats passed to and from the
wharves at Jefferson. Most of the boats were manned by darky roustabouts,
huge black rascals who.kept the air ringing with their laughter and their
songs. Bells rang and whistles sounded as the boats signaled to each
other in passing, and the dark waters always reflected the flickering
guide lights of the.boats. Ships were frequently wrecked by snags or oven
hanging branches, and many of them were burned. There was excitement and
danger in every phase of the river traffic. One story of the Steamboat
Era that will live as long as Jefferson does, is the story of the Mattie
Stevens, one of the best-known boats that ever plowed through the bayous.
One night the Mattie Stevens was feeling her way through the moss-hung
trees in Big Cypress Bayou, on her way to Jefferson with a full load.
Among other things, she was carrying two kegs of gunpowder; and the cap—
tain was more than anxious to be rid of this dangerous cargo. The boat's
guide light was a huge steel basket containing pine knots, with the light
of the flames intensified by a polished reflector. In the cabins, the
lights were.kerosene lamps, and on the deck, the river hands were work—
ing by the light of pine knot flares. With all these open fires aboard,
‘the captain expected to have his ship blown to bits at any moment. Since
he had women and children aboard on this particular trip, too, he was
doubly anxious to reach port as soon as possible. Hence,_he was creeping
through the eerie bayou late at night, hoping to make his destination be-
fore disaster could overtake him. Suddenly a pile of hay in one end of
the boat began to smoke, and then burst into flames. Almost instantly
the boat itself was on fire. The captain immediately gave the order to
head for shore, and the crew managed to beach the vessel before the gun—
powder exploded. But the flames had spread to the grounded end of the
boat, and escape was cut off that way. Meny persons jumped overboard,
believing the water shallow, and were drowned in the ten feet of water
at the stern. Some were suffocated, and others were trampled to death.
The ship's carpenter managed to throw the kegs of gunpowder overboard be-
fore the flames reached it; otherwise, the entire boat and all of its pas-
sengers might have been lost. As it was, over sixty persons were killed,
and many were injured.

The fate of the mattie Stevens was shared by many another Stern-
wheeler just like her, and even today, the decaying hulks of ships may
be seen protruding from the surface of the water in Big Cypress Bayou and
Lake Caddo.

Stories and descriptions of the city of Jefferson during the Steam—
boat Era are unparalleled in the State. Here the farmers and ranchers
brought their wives and families for vacations. Here they showed their
wide-eyed children the only city in the state with a wonderful system of
gas lighting, and one of the few citi