USA > Texas > A School History of Texas: From Its Discovery in 1685 to 1893. For the Use of Schools, Academies, Convents, Seminaries, and all Institutions of Learning > Part 18
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In 1825 a sermon was preached in the cabin of Mr. Moses Shipman, on the Brazos, by a Baptist minister named Joseph Bags. In 1828 Mr. Thomas. J. Pilgrim, a Baptist, preached
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in the cabin of Mr. Josiah H. Bell, at Columbia. He estab- lished the first Sunday-school, in 1829, at San Felipe. The previous year the Rev. Sumner Bacon of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, reputed to be a zealous champion of Christianity, preached in different parts of the country. In 1832 he was sent into Texas by a Nashville association for the distribution of the Bible.
At a camp-meeting in Austin County in 1835 a quarterly conference was organized. Mr. Alexander Thompson was chairman, and Mr. David Ayres secretary. Rev. J. W. Kin- ney, Rev. Wm. P. Smith, and Rev. Wm. Wedford were local preachers.
In 1837 the Methodists sent from the United States Rev. Martin Ruter, Rev. Littleton Fowler, and Rev. Robert Alex- ander as missionaries. Mr. Alexander survived his compa- triots many years and closed his labors as agent of the Ameri- can Bible Society.
In 1838 Rev. Caleb S. Ives of the Episcopal Church was sent to Matagorda and adjoining counties. In Matagorda he built up a school of great value to the country. On the 14th of January, 1841, Rev. Benjamin Eaton arrived in Galves- ton, and in February, 1843, the Rev. Charles S. Gillette became rector at Austin.
Texas was without a resident bishop until 1859 (Bishop Freeman of Arkansas had extended his missionary visits over the country), when Rt. Rev. Alexander Gregg of South Caro- lina was ordained and came immediately to this laborious field. In 1874 Texas was divided between Bishop Gregg in the south, Bishop Alexander C. Garrett in the north and east, and Bishop Elliott the southwest.
In 1838 an Old School Presbyterian church was organized in Galveston by Rev. John McCullough, who also built up a large and excellent school ; and the same year another in Houston by Rev. Wm. Y. Allen, and at San Augustine another by Rev. Hugh Wilson.
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In May, 1837, several ministers formed themselves into an association called "The Ecclesiastical Committee of Vigilance for Texas." They had a committee of corre- spondence, the object being to protect the ministry against impositions.
In 1837 Charles, Count de Farnesse, came with proposi- tions looking to the separation of the Roman Catholic Church of Texas from diocesan connection with Monterey, in Mexi- co, and the erection of Texas into an archbishopric, directly connected with the See of Rome. One of the advantages of his plan, it was claimed, would be peace with Mexico through the influence of the Court of Rome, and a recogni- tion by all Catholic foreign courts. It startled the people of Texas to find among his plans the aid of the govern- ment in furnishing not only building ground for churches, houses for curates and schools, but to accord to the arch- bishop, clergy, masters, and mistresses of schools each twelve hundred and eighty acres of land. All the rites and canons of the Church were to be strictly observed under the protec- tion of the government. This proposal was not accepted.
In 1840 Rev. John M. Odin, commissioned as Roman Catholic Vicar-General of Texas, accompanied by several missionaries, came into Texas from Perry County, Missouri. He thereby became the head of the Church in Texas. Bishop Odin abounded in laborious and successful service for his people, and was greatly esteemed and beloved by all who knew him. IIe was afterward Archbishop of New Orleans, and died in his native France in 1870.
GOVERNOR WOOD'S ADMINISTRATION.
Governor Henderson was succeeded by Governor George T. Wood in 1847. He was a Georgian. He had been identified with Texas since 1836, as a member of Congress during the Republic and in the State Senate. In the United
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States and Mexican war he commanded a regiment in the storming of Monterey. Wood County, Texas, was named for him, as was Greer County for Lieutenant-Governor John A. Greer, who was elected with Governor Wood in 1847, and re-elected in 1849.
Governor Wood urged the payment of the revolutionary debt, and also the claim of Texas to Santa Fe, or all of New Mexico east of the Rio Grande. This claim had lain idle since the disastrous Santa Fe expedition, until Governor Henderson revived its consideration in the Legislature of 1847. On the annexation of Texas the United States took military possession of Santa Fe, and in the treaty between Mexico and the United States in 1848 it was ceded to the latter as territory belonging to Mexico.
QUESTIONS .- Whom did General Taylor encounter opposite Matamoras ? Did he suc- ceed in crossing ? What did he do ? What are they now called ? What of the scouts under. Captain Thornton ? Why did General Taylor move the main body of his troops to Point Isabel ? What occurred at Palo Alto on the 8th ? On the 9th ? What of Mata- moras ? What other Texas officers were engaged in the war ? What was the duration of this war ? What of the growth of the Roman Catholic religion ? What of the religion of the colonists ? What was done by Protestant ministers ? Who is credited with preach- ing the first sermon ? What can you tell of other denominations ? Whom did the Metho- dist missionaries first send into Texas ? What can you tell of the earliest labors of the Episcopal Church ? When did the first Episcopal bishop arrive ? Who was he ? What of the Old School Presbyterians ? What religious association was formed in 1837 ? What proposition was made to the Texas government in 1837 ? What were the striking features of this proposition ? What distinguished Roman Catholic priest arrived in 1840 ? What can you tell of Bishop Odin ? Who succeeded Henderson in November, 1847 ? What measures did Governor Wood strongly urge ?
CHAPTER LVIII. CLAIM TO SANTA FÉ REVIVED.
IN 1848 the Texas Legislature revived her claim to Santa Fé, and attempted to establish civil jurisdiction in the terri- tory, sending Judge Spruce M. Baird as a district judge there. This the United States, through the military, dis-
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regarded, and the people elected a territorial delegate to Congress.
Governor Wood was succeeded in December, 1849, by Peter Hansborough Bell, a native Virginian, and a private soldier at San Jacinto. He had also served in the Republic and State in several capacities. John A. Greer became Lieutenant-Governor.
The revolutionary debt was still unpaid ; the claim to Santa Fe was still asserted by Texas, and denied by the United States ; disturbances of land titles, growing out of attempts by certain parties or companies to locate upon lands to which there were prior claims, were disquieting elements to the country.
DISASTERS TO CROPS.
The year 1849 was a disastrous year for the crops. On the night of April 16th there fell a heavy frost. Corn in the southwest was killed in the tassel ; cotton, then making bolls, was entirely cut down, and sugar-cane materially dam- aged. This was followed by a prolonged drought which prevented replanting. Texas was not in a condition to bear such disasters. Many left for California to dig for gold, renting, selling at low figures, or abandoning their lands for the time being.
In 1850 Texas creditors, being urgent for a settlement of their claims, applied to the United States Congress ; and, after much discussion by both parties, Texas agreed to the sale of the Santa Fe territory to that country-ninety- eight thousand square miles for ten million dollars. Out of this the revolutionary debt was paid by Texas ; the State taxes released to the counties for four years, for building court houses and jails ; a State Capitol and other public buildings were erected, and a State Penitentiary was estab- lished at Huntsville. The United States reserved from the ten million dollars the sum of five million dollars, to indem-
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nify themselves against creditors for whose claims the custom- house revenues had been pledged by Texas .*
December 26, 1851, Texas sustained a loss in the death of General Edward Burleson. t
* On the 4th of March, 1851, Governor Henry Smith died in Los Angelos County, California. He had gone temporarily to the mines to accompany two of his sons. His death was sudden, occurring in his tent, while his sons were absent for a few days' " prospecting." No one was with him but a negro boy who had grown up in the family. On their return they con- structed a coffin, and buried him in a small grove of sycamore trees in the canon, on the largest of which they carved his name, age, and country. The value of Governor Smith's services to Texas cannot be fully estimated. He was not connected actively with the army except as a volunteer at Velasco, where he was wounded ; but, at a period when Mexican misrule was too heavy to be borne, and the public sentiment of the country was in a state of ferment as to the remedies to be adopted, Henry Smith declared himself in favor of independence from that country ; and, as far as possible, so shaped his course as a statesman, that his every public act should be a step in that direction. His pen furnished for the press of that day much that strengthened the views of the wavering and gave coherency to the independence party. With independence achieved, he would have preferred private life, but, in the first organization of the Republic, President Houston made him Secretary of the Treasury. His services were, as the President declared, " indispensable." His last public service was as a member of Congress from Brazoria County, 1840-41.
t The qualities that distinguished General Edward Burleson were a rare combination. Ilis peculiar fitness for border or Indian warfare received its first inspiration from his father, a captain in the Creek war under General Jackson. In 1831 as a settler in Bastrop County, then on the frontier, Edward Burleson soon won the confidence of his neighbors, and they gladly followed wherever "Ed. Burleson " led the pursuit. He was eager and daring, but not a " Hotspur." Not many months of his life passed without a test of his devotion to Texas, either in battling with savages or Mexicans, or as Vice- President, or in the legislative halls, in the exercise of a statesmanship not learned in the old schools, but in the developed needs of the government as the country progressed. He aspired only to usefulness. When the volun- tary suffrages of the people placed him in office he adorned the position by the quiet dignity with which he performed its duties. General Burleson was never jealous himself, nor the cause of jealousy in others. Without the sem- blance of effeminacy he was personally loved, and most devotedly by those who knew him best. During the last twelve years of his life he was a member of the Baptist Church, and added to the other graces of his character that of a Christian gentleman.
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Elisha M. Pease was elected Governor in 1853. He was a native of Connecticut, had been secretary of the Provis- ional Council, was twice a member of the Legislature, Chair- man of the Judiciary Committee, and in the Senate of the third Legislature. Governor Pease was reelected in 1855, and had a peaceful administration, with the exception of " the Cart War," which, from a feud, threatened to grow into a serious outbreak. Governor Pease did much to pro- tect the frontier with State Rangers. The final adjustment of the public debt was under his administration.
THE CART WAR.
A number of Mexicans, to escape the hardships and bur- dens of their own country, had settled in the southwestern part of Texas, near the San Antonio River. They were
STATE CAPITOL, COMPLETED IN 1855 AND BURNED NOVEMBER 6, 1881.
peaceable, but their settlement served as a refuge for evil characters. With their carts and oxen they could afford cheaper transportation than the Texians engaged in that calling. In consequence, several Mexicans were killed and a general war upon them was threatened.
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Governor Pease sent out a small armed company who dis- persed the assailants, and thus ended " the Cart War." The administration of Governor Pease was wise, conservative, and popular.
There was a steady increase of population and wealth, and an improvement in the condition of the people. Many of the counties built court-houses and jails ; the government was economical, and crops were generally good. Two million dollars in United States bonds were added to the school fund.
THE KNOW NOTHING PARTY.
As annexation had been a Democratic measure, so Texas was a Democratic State. A jealousy of the political power of foreigners had been steadily growing in the North, and culminated in 1854, in the secret organization known as the " Know Nothing Party," with the motto, " Let none but Americans rule America."
As Texas was largely dependent on foreign immigration, this party was short-lived in Texas.
During Pease's administration the institutions for the blind and for deaf-mutes, and an asylum for the insane, went into operation. One hundred thousand acres of land were appropriated to each for that purpose.
QUESTIONS .- What claim did Texas revive in 1848 ? Who was elected Governor in 1849 and re-elected in 1851 ? How was the Santa Fe claim treated by the United States ? What were disquieting elements ? What disasters caused failures of crops ? For what were the proceeds of the sale of Santa Fe to the United States used ? When did Gov- ernor Henry Smith die ? What other loss did Texas sustain the same year ? Who was elected Governor in 1853 ? Give an account of his two terms. Tell the story of " the Cart War." What was the general condition of the country ? What amount was added to the school fund ? What of the State politics ? Why was this short-lived in Texas ? What State institutions went into operation during Pease's administration ?
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CHAPTER LIX. RESERVE INDIANS.
FOLLOWING annexation, two tracts of land, called the Brazos and Comanche Reservations, had been appropriated for the collection and instruction of Indians of different tribes. They had stocks of cattle and horses, and their per- manent improvement was hoped for. The people in that region accused the Indians of much stealing and a few murders. This was denied by the agent.
Gov. Runnels sent Richard Coke, Dr. J. M. Steiner, George B. Erath, Joseph M. Smith, and John Henry Brown to investigate the matter. Their report to a certain extent sustained the charges, and John Henry Brown, in command of about one hundred rangers, was ordered to patrol the reservations and prevent the Indians from leaving them. About the same time the United States ordered their removal to the Indian country north of Red River. This was effected in August, 1859, and relieved the country of their presence.
RAILROADS.
Several railroad charters had been granted and large bonuses of land pledged, besides the loan of six thousand dollars per mile of school money for roads completed within a stipulated time; these were not progressing, and Governor Runnels advised withdrawing further government aid until existing charters should be complied with, and advised that no more be granted for the present.
HOUSTON'S ADMINISTRATION.
With the close of 1859 Governor Runnels was succeeded by General Sam Houston, who assumed his functions on the eve of portentous events. Houston found the south western frontier, border" the Rio Grande, harassed by a band of
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armed Mexicans and Indians under the Mexican Chief Cortina. They had been repeatedly pursued, but found safety by retreating across the river. It became necessary to apply to the United States for permission to follow them into Mexico and disperse them. Colonel Robert E. Lee, U.S.A., then in command at Fort Brown, aided by State troops under Colonel John S. Ford, dis- persed them, and peace was secured in that direction.
The Indians, restless and revengeful, renewed their warfare upon the frontier ; and the Governor, finding the United States infantry which garrisoned their scattering posts inef- fectual in the pursuit of mounted Indians, called into service a regiment un- der Colonel M. T. Johnson, which served a short time, succeeded by companies of rangers who pursued the Indians into their haunts, and punished them severely. In one of these fights, under Lieutenant L. S. Ross, CHIEF QUANAH PARKER. Cynthia Ann Parker was rescued from the Comanches on the 18th of December, 1860, after a captivity of twenty-four years and seven months.
QUESTIONS .- Why did the Legislature of 1858 pass resolutions removing the Indians to the Reservation ? What was now the condition of the Indians? What complaint was brought against them ? Who were sent to investigate the matter ? What was their report ? How was the matter settled ? What had been done for the railroads ? What . was the state of affairs on the southwestern border at the time of Sam Houston's election as governor ? How were matters adjusted ? What additional troubles confronted the Governor ? How were the Indians punished ?
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CHAPTER LX.
THE CIVIL WAR BETWEEN THE STATES.
THE Southern States regarded the election of President Lincoln as bearing direct antagonism to the freedom of their domestic institutions, foreshadowed by the agitation of the question of African slavery for many years, and other ques- tions directly affecting their interests.
Governor Houston, as a conservative measure, by procla- mation, ordered an election to be held on the first Monday in February, 1861, to elect delegates to a convention of the Southern States, several of which had already seceded from the Union. The people of Texas were unwilling for the delay, and ordered an election to be held January 8, 1861, to meet in Austin, and consider the question of immediate secession. They met on the 28th, the number of delegates being double the number of members in the House of Representatives. They were recognized in their sovereign capacity by the Legis- lature, then in session, Governor Houston signing the joint resolution to that effect. Oran M. Roberts, a judge of the supreme court, presided over the convention.
An ordinance of secession was passed February 1, 1861, by a vote of one hundred and sixty-seven to seven ; was sub- mitted to the people for ratification or rejection ; and, on the 23d of February, it was ratified by a vote of thirty-nine thou- sand four hundred and fifteen for, and thirteen thousand eight hundred and forty-one against it. On the 2d of February the convention also adopted "A declaration of the causes which impelled the State of Texas to secede from the Federal Union." The convention on the 4th of February took a recess till March 2d, to audit the vote of the people.
The convention reassembled on the 2d of March, to receive the vote and take action upon the new condition of affairs.
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Texas, by virtue of this ratification by the people, declared herself once more a " free, sovereign, and independent State," revoking and reassuming all the powers which she had dele- gated to the United States by annexation.
The convention, by ordinance, then declared Texas to be one of the " Confederate States," which were already organ- ized, with their capital at Montgomery, Alabama ; Jefferson Davis being President.
An ordinance for initiating the new State government by the convention was passed on the 14th of March. It was hoped that the existing offices would be filled by the present incumbents, but Governor Houston, his Secretary of State, and the adjutant-general did not acquiesce ; whereupon Lieu- tenant-Governor Clark took the oath, and on the 16th was installed as Governor, the office having been declared vacant. The other officers, all taking the oath, were continued in office in all departments-State, county, and municipal.
The convention appointed commissioners to demand and receive the arms and ammunition from the forts garrisoned by United States troops for the protection of the frontier. In most cases those were delivered up to the commissioners. In no case was there a clash of arms. The officers were paroled, some of them and some of the soldiers joining the Confed- erate cause.
There was comparatively little fighting on the soil of Texas. The demands made from time to time on the men, aside from the military, between sixteen and sixty years of age, almost stripped the State of white men, and, in multi- tudes of cases, women took their places as overseers on their own plantations. Usually good crops were made, and the obedience, fidelity, and respectful demeanor of the slaves were remarkable.
In 1861 Frank R. Lubbock * was elected Governor, and
* Francis R. Lubbock was born in Charleston, S. C., in 1815. He was auditor and comptroller under the Republic of Texas ; afterward, for six-
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John M. Crockett Lieutenant-Governer. In May, 1863, Gen- eral P. O. Hebert proclaimed martial law in all parts of Texas. He was soon succeeded by General J. Bankhead Magruder. The number of troops reported from Texas in the Confederate army was ninety thousand, besides com- panies of minute men for frontier service-a larger number of men by twenty-five thousand eight hundred and seventy- three than the highest vote the State had ever cast.
As early as July 2, 1861, the port of Galveston was blockaded, and in a short time all Texas ports were closed. Commodore Eagle of the United States Navy afterward took possession of Galveston Island, and raised the United States flag over the custom house. General Magruder determined to retake Galveston. With about five thousand Texas troops, and a brigade of Texas men under General Sibley, who had returned from an unsuccessful expedition into New Mexico, he made careful preparations for the attack.
General Magruder took the land forces to Virginia Point on the 29th of December, 1862. He had fitted up two small steamers, the Veptune and Bayou City, as gunboats, with two small tenders. These were sent to the head of Galves- ton Bay to enter the harbor on the night of December 31st. The land forces, with the greatest caution, crossed from Vir- ginia Point over to the Island and took position to begin the fight. The Federal land forces, having taken position on a wharf, removed the planks between them and the shore. Lying at the wharf was the United States Steamer Harriet Lane, while lying out in the harbor they had the gunboat Owassee, the brig Westfield, and the transport Clifton, with several smaller vessels.
teen years, district clerk ; from 1857 to 1859 lieutenant-governor ; from 1861 to 1863 governor. He then served on the staff of the Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and was captured with him ; imprisoned at Fort Delaware. From 1885 to 1893 he was State treasurer. His official career, including numerous intervals, spans fifty-six years.
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General Magruder began the battle from the island. The improvised gunboats ran up to the Harriet Lane. The Nep- tune sank in the bay, pierced by a shell, and the Bayou City became entangled in the cordage of the Harriet Lane, but as the Texians leaped on board she surrendered, her prin- cipal officers having been killed. The men on the wharf soon surrendered, and several other small blockading vessels surrendered to the Texians.
The vessels in the harbor left, and the Westfield, in endeavoring to leave, ran aground. To prevent her capture by the Texians, her men prepared a fuse to blow her up. Stopping to examine the fuse before finally abandoning her, they remained until the explosion, when Commodore Ren- shaw and fifteen men were either killed or drowned. The Texians ran down to her as quickly as possible, to rescue any survivors, but not one was found living.
September 6, 1863, an attack was made on a small fort at Sabine Pass. It was garrisoned by only forty-one men. These withheld their fire until the four vessels that led the attack were in full range, when they opened upon them. Two of the gunboats were soon disabled and captured with all on board. The others left the harbor.
DEATH OF HOUSTON.
Governor Sam Houston died July 26, 1863, at his home in Huntsville. He died, aged seventy, while the State to whose prosperity and glory he had devoted the best years of his life was in the throes of a revolution.
GENERAL BANKS.
On the 5th of November, 1863, the Federal General Banks took Brownsville ; and, with a fleet of gunboats, pass- ing along the coast, took possession of Corpus Christi, Aransas Pass, Mustang Island, Pass Cavallo, and St. Joseph's Island. Entering the Pass they proceeded up the bay, and by the 26th
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had taken possession of Indianola and Lavaca. General Banks neither penetrated into the interior nor retained pos- session of the coast, but soon left. There was only a nomi- nal Texian command kept in the State and along the coast. The war east of the Mississippi and in Louisiana and Arkan- sas called for every man and every sacrifice and energy that could be summoned for its prosecution.
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