USA > Texas > A Twentieth century history of southwest Texas, Volume I > Part 28
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In 1882 Captain Sansom went to New Mexico and by Governor Lionel A. Sheldon of that territory was made captain of territorial troops for service against not only the Indians but the hordes of des- perate "bad men" that infested the country in those days. In this ca- pacity Captain Sansom was associated with Sheriff Pat Garrett in hunt- ing and capturing Billy the Kid and other desperadoes. While in that part of the country he took part in the last of the Indian fighting in western Texas, which occurred early in the spring of 1883. This was the occasion of the raid of the White Mountain (New Mexico) Apaches into western Texas. Captain Sansom followed them with his troops, at the same time notifying Captain George Baylor of the Texas rangers, then in camp in the mountains near Fort Stockton in western Texas. He finally succeeded in driving the red men back on to the reservation in New Mexico.
In the latter part of 1883, Captain Sansom resigned from military service, which had largely covered a period of almost three decades. He had displayed valor and bravery above question and had always been most loyal to the cause he espoused whether it was in defense of the Federal government in the Civil war or in defending the homes of the pioneers upon the frontier. Following his retirement he turned his attention to farming and cattle and sheep operations, carrying on busi- ness largely in Uvalde county, which was the Sansom home for about fifteen years after moving from .Kendall county. While living in Ken- dall county, Captain Sansom was married in 1860 to Miss Helen Vic- toria Patton, a daughter of the Hon. Samuel Boyd Patton, who was born in South Carolina, whence he removed to Alabama, where he be- came a very prominent citizen and a member of the state legislature.
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He came to Texas in the days of the republic and spent the greater part of his life in Bastrop and Kendall counties. He died and was buried in Kendall county. It is somewhat of a coincidence that Mr. Patton, like members of the Sansom family, was with General Jackson at the battle of New Orleans. To Captain and Mrs. Sansom was born a daughter, Elizabeth J. Sansom. In 1904 the family home was removed to San Antonio and the captain retired from active business life with a comfortable competence acquired through careful management of his farming and stock raising interests. He is a fair-minded man, always true to his honest convictions and yet not bitterly aggressive, believing that others have the right to their opinions as well. His course is one which has reflected credit upon the history of the state and he has many warm friends throughout the various portions of Texas in which he has spent any length of time.
GEORGE HUFF LITTLE. Numbered among the highly respected and prosperous agriculturists of Colorado county is George Huff Little, a veteran of the Confederate army, who had many and varied experi- ences as a soldier, and can relate many interesting tales of life in camp and on the field. He is a pioneer farmer of this section, and on his well improved plantation, which adjoins the village of Columbus, he is now living retired from active pursuits, in his pleasant home enjoying all of the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. A son of William Little, he was born, December 1, 1840, in Fort Bend county, in the Republic of Texas. His grandfather, John Little, was born in Pennsylvania, of either Scotch or English parentage. Coming to Texas in 1823, he located at the Fort Settlement, and was there a resident a number of vears. From there he went to Richmond to live with his only son, whose farm was a little south of that place, and there resided until his death, August 10, 1840. His wife, whose maiden name was Hannah Hamilton, was born in Pennsylvania, and died, in 1837, at the home of their son, near Richmond, Tex.
A native of Pennsylvania, William Little was born at Bellefontaine Iron Works, in November, 1791, and there spent the earlier years of his life. Ambitious, however, to try his fortunes in a newer country, he migrated in 1817 to the territory of Illinois, making the journey on horseback. Locating at Madisonville, he lived there a year, 'and then went to Saint Louis, which was then a mere hamlet, giving scant promise of its present prosperous condition among the larger cities of our Union. Buying an interest in a steamer plying between that place and New Orleans, he went on the boat as clerk until 1821, when he dis- posed of his interest in the vessel, and started on horseback for the Re- public of Mexico. Arriving in what is now Fort Bend county, Texas. he became one of the original founders of the Fort settlement, which was then included in the dominion of Mexico, the government and the money being Mexican. In the spring of 1824 he married, and then, be- ing the head of a family, he received the grant of a league and a labor of land, the latter, lying near Fort Settlement, containing one hunderd and seventy-seven acres of land. On this tract he lived until 1832, when he removed with his family to his other grant, which was situated twelve miles southeast of Richmond. Erecting there a log cabin, he began the
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improvement of a homestead, and there resided until his death, July 15, 1841. He was a loyal, patriotic citizen, participating in the battles at San Antonio in 1835, and serving in Capt. Moseley Baker's company in 1836.
In 1824 William Little married Jane Edwards, their marriage, in the spring of 1824, being the first celebrated by the American whites west of the Trinity river. She was born in Tennessee, a daughter of Jonathan and Nancy (Pettigrew) Edwards, both natives of North Caro- lina. Mr. Edwards died at an early age, and his widow became the wife of William Morton, after which she resided for awhile in Ala- bama, from there coming, in September, 1822, to Texas. Settling near the fort with his family, Mr. Morton received a grant of a league of land across the river from Richmond, and a labor of land which in- cluded the present site of the town of Richmond. Improving a home- stead, both Mr. and Mrs. Morton resided on it the remainder of their days, his death occurring in the forties and hers in 1850.
George Huff Little was but one year old when his father died, and but ten years of age when the death of his mother occurred. After liv- ing for awhile with an older sister, he made his home with neighbors and friends for a few years, attending school as opportunity offered and making himself generally useful in the families with whom he lived. In 1859 he went to Colorado county, and in January, 1860, en- tered a school in Independence. In 1861, at the first call for troops, he enlisted in Company A, Fifth Texas Cavalry, commanded by Col. Tom Green, under Gen. Sibley. Subsequently he went with his company to New Mexico, where he participated in several engagements. On Feb- ruary 21, 1862, twenty-four members of his company were wounded and killed, and Major Lockridge was killed. March 28th, the Confed- erates were re-enforced at Glorieta, and, surprising the Union troops, drove them back: In this engagement Major Shropshire, a Confeder- ate officer, and the former captain of Company A, lost his life. In June, 1862, the company started on its return to Texas. On this return trip, Mr. Little met a stage driver who had lost one of his mules, which had been stampeded by the Indians, and the driver told Mr. Little that if he found and returned to him the mule that he would give him bacon enough to last him until he got to San Antonio. Luckily he found the animal, and taking it along to the next station, Fort Davis, there told the agent of his find, and of the bargain he had made with the owner of the mule. The agent delivered to him the bacon, which was much needed. On the same trip, Mr. Little found a horse saddled and bridled, and so checked that it could not feed along the roadside. The horse, which had evidently been at large some time, he traded for two "mut- ton," keeping, however, the bridle, which- was ornamented with three initials. Two years later the bridle was recognized by the man from whom the horse had straved. With his comrades, Mr. Little remained in Texas for a few months, and then went to Louisiana, where he took an active part in various campaigns and engagements. In July, 1864, the colonel issued furloughs to all of those without horses, that they might return home and stock up. Mr. Little had a horse, but this he exchanged with a comrade, who had no horse and knew not where to go
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to get one, for a furlough. Taking the comrade's furlough, Mr. Little returned to Texas, going to La Grange, where he married the young lady to whom he was engaged.
At the expiration of his furlough, Mr. Little returned to his com- mand, and a few months later another comrade who was without a horse gave him his furlough if he would go back to Texas and get a horse for him. On returning from his quest, he remained with his regi- ment until the close of the war, with his brave comrades suffering all the privations and hardships incidental to martial life. Serving with the regiment to which Mr. Little belonged was a negro known as Bob Shropshire, a slave belonging to Captain Shropshire, who, after the death of his master, clung to the regiment, remaining with the boys. He was subsequently stricken with smallpox, and taken care of by Mr. Little, who, when he was afterwards taken ill with the measles, was nursed back to health by the grateful negro, Bob. Now, after a lapse of more than forty years, Mr. Little, remembering the services of the faithful colored man, pleads with the state to pension all of the blacks that served loyally in the Confederate cause.
Very soon after the close of the war, Mr. Little located in Colorado county, settling on the plantation adjoining the corporation of the vil- lage of Columbus. Embarking in general farming, he has met with signal success in his operations, winning a position of prominence among the leading farmers and stock raisers of the community in which he has so long resided.
Mr. Little married August 17, 1864, in Fayette county, Mary Eliza- beth Jarmon, who was born in Fayette county, Tex., July 21, 1846, a daughter of Richard Jarmon, an early pioneer of that county. She died December 19, 1901. She was a woman of excellent character, a home- maker in the true sense of the term, and a faithful member of the Bap- tist church. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Little eight children were bern, namely: Hattie, wife of Dr. Robert Harrison, has two children, George Little and Glen; Willie died in April. 1893; Nettie, wife of Samuel Monroe, of Houston, has one child, Douglas; Ida married Bis- marck Heyer, of Fort Worth: George; Robert died February 15. 1903 ; Shelby; and Seth.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE ERA OF RECONSTRUCTION .- THE CONSTITUTION OF 1876.
The throes of civil war were past, the perpetuity of the Union was established. by the sovereign will of the majority of citizens and by force of arms our republic became a compact and self-directing nation instead of a confederation of individual states, the peculiar institution of slavery was abolished, and, theoretically, all parts of this broad land were now free to close up the gaps made by devastating war and resume and continue with increasing vigor their course of social, moral, intel- lectual and political prosperity. Such, indeed, was true of the north. But south of Mason and Dixon's line, where the havoc-making war god had done his worst and prostrated every industry, checked every social advance, and destroyed material resources and blighted manhood to such a degree as nourishing time itself could not in years have re- stored,-here in the fair southland, upon which nature has so bounti- fully lavished her gifts, there became operative, through a misguided and sentimental policy of government, such legal and political restric- tions as to paralyze an already stricken people and to set back industrial and social development many years behind the march of progress and civilization.
In the south "reconstruction" is a synonym for rule by political tricksters, mountebanks, greedy carpetbaggers, and all the thirsty vam- pires that follow and feast upon the festering wounds of a body politic scourged by civil war. The north made an awful and almost irrem- ediable mistake in its policies for rehabilitating the south so as to be- come a fit member for the Union household, and the effects of that error are not yet ensepulchred .in the past and forgetfulness. But the twen- tieth century judgment of those times and events finds their chief ac- tors to have been actuated rather by misguided sincerity than by evil intent, and that the criminal greed and despotic violence of the recon- structionists characterized only the individuals who crept into power un- der the faulty system .- did not mark the attitude and disposition of the northern people as a whole. The unbiased historian must take the view that, throughout the period of war and reconstruction, both the north and the south were sincere, loval to their ideals and conscience, and that the entire trouble lay in the inability of each to appreciate the point of view of the other. The north, without a considerable black population, without apprehension of the dangers or possibilities of race domination, and with absolutely different social and industrial condi- tions, attempted, under the promptings of high-minded yet impracticallv sentimental reformers, to frame a political and social structure to which the far-away south should henceforth accommodate its civic life and
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habits. Of course, the movement failed, and the people of the great north have since generously recognized their former errors and have realized that the problems of the south are peculiar to the south, must be worked out by the high-minded citizenship of the south, and that broad-minded philanthropy and practical assistance will be acceptable, interference never.
On the final triumph of Union arms, Governor Murrah retired to Mexico, and General Granger of the United States army became mili- tary commander. In the meantime A. J. Hamilton was appointed by the president as provisional governor of Texas. On May 29, 1865, gen- eral amnesty was granted, with certain exception, to all persons who had taken part in the war. Boards were appointed by the provisional governor to register all loyal votes and thus put the political machinery of the state once more in operation. Governor Hamilton showed much generosity toward former political offenders and pursued the policy of reconstruction as favored by President Johnson. But Congress feared too much liberality in dealing with the late secessionists, and antagonism soon developed between that body and the president, which finally led to open rupture and impeachment, and added to the bitterness and de- lay in bringing back the southern states. All the slaves were of course free by the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution, and when it is remembered that by this act nearly four hundred thousand ignorant and helpless, although politically free, persons were turned loose to go and do as they pleased in this state, it will be realized that the problems confronting the citizens were almost beyond human solution. Little wonder that race hatred should arise, and that the lines between black and white should at once and forever be tightly drawn. However, not the same bitterness existed in Texas as in some of the other slave states where the conflict had been fought out and the people as a whole were more easily reconciled to the new order of things, and yet the course of events following the war was so exasperating and harmonious set- tlement proceeded so slowly that of the ten seceding states Texas was the last to be readmitted.
January 8, 1866, were elected delegates to a state constitutional con- vention. By April the labors of this convention were complete and the constitution was ratified by the people on June 25. The constitution was practically the same as that in force before secession, but with all the changes and amendments made necessary by the outcome of the war. It recognized the abolition of slavery, extending civil and political rights and privileges to the freed men, declared the principle of secession henceforth null, repudiated the Civil war debt, and assumed its share of United States taxes levied since the date of secession. With the rati- fication of this constitution was elected at the same time J. W. Throck- morton as governor of Texas.
At the first session of the legislature there came, before that body the question of approval of the fourteenth amendment to the Constitu- tion of the United States. The third section of this amendment, by its exclusion from state and national offices of all persons who had before the war taken the oath of office and subsequently engaged in the rebel- lion, would have operated to keep, for years to come, the best citizens
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of the state from the direction of its affairs, and the amendment was accordingly almost unanimously rejected in Texas, as it was by most of the other southern states, although it was approved and became a part of the Constitution through adoption by the northern states. This legis- lature also resolved that the presence of the United States troops was no longer needed in the interior of the state, and should be withdrawn for the protection of the frontier against Indians or entirely removed from the state.
Thus Texas seemed to be well restored to her former place in the Union, but Congress then decided that President Johnson's plan of reconstruction was too liberal and by three acts of 1867 provided for a "more efficient government of the rebel states." Five military districts were created, Texas and Louisiana forming the fifth and General Sheri- dan being appointed commander of this district, with ample if not dic- tatorial powers. It was resolved that the Confederate states should not be admitted until each should adopt the fourteenth amendment and should allow the negroes full participation in the reorganization of the government (from which reorganization, however, many of the best white citizens were excluded by the third section of the fourteenth amendment).
The alleged disloyalty now felt the iron heel of the oppressor, and thenceforth the people of Texas had to swallow a very bitter pill of re- construction. The "iron-clad oath" of allegiance shut out the finest citi- zens of the state from participation in public affairs, and civil government became either a frightful travesty or was administered with military rigor. General Sheridan removed Governor Throckmorton as being "an impediment to reconstruction," former Governor Elisha M. Pease being appointed to the office in his stead. The few men who held the offices of government were not representative, had no sympathy with Texans, and too often were entirely actuated by personal greed, so that it is small wonder that the Black Republican party of those days incurred oppro- brium and hatred and placed in disrepute the thousands of magnanimous men whose nominal representatives they were. Also, the Freedman's Bureau, organized to assist the freed negroes, by lack of tact and undue interference in behalf of the black men, added to the irritation and widened the breach between the white southern men and the negroes, although the industrial salvation and prosperity of the country manifestly depended upon harmonious co-operation between the two races.
During the reconstruction period the fifth military district had sev- eral governors. After Sheridan's removal General Hancock was placed in command, but his leniency was as displeasing to Congress as his prede- cessor's harshness was to President Johnson, and he was displaced by General Reynolds, and the latter in turn by General Canby.
After the registration of the qualified voters had been completed according to the will of the commander of the district, the election of a new constitutional convention was held. This convention met at Austin in June, 1868. This body was found to be strongly factional, and it was only after protracted debate and much wrangling that the scheme of gov- ernment was drafted. One party in the convention wished the constitu- tion of 1866 and all acts of the legislature subsequent to the act of se-
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cession to be considered nullified, ab initio, and this branded that faction with the name of Ab Initios. There was also much disagreement be- tween the liberal and radical factions as to whether the franchise should extend to those who had sustained the Confederate cause. The libera! party finally triumphed, but the convention ended in extreme disorder, without formal adjournment, and the completed draft of the constitution was drawn up after the convention had dissolved and at the order of General Canby. This new constitution was finally submitted to the peo- ple in November, 1869, and adopted by a large majority. At the samc time state officers and congressmen were elected, Edmund J. Davis being chosen governor, and entering office in the following January. By order the legislature convened February 8, 1870, and at once ratified the thir- teenth and fourteenth amendments to the constitution and elected United States senators. Reconstruction was now complete, and on the follow- ing March 30th President Grant signed the act readmitting Texas into the Union, and on the following day her senators and representatives took their seats in Congress. A few days later the powers lodged with the military officials were remitted to the civil authorities, all but several small garrisons of federal troops were withdrawn from the state, Gov- ernor Davis, who had formerly acted only in a provisional capacity, be- came the actual executive of the state, and Texas, after ten years of wandering, returned to the fold of the Union.
Nevertheless, the fact that the affairs of the state were under the control of the minority Republican element did not tend to smooth out the seas of political discontent. There was a Republican governor, Re- publicans held the majority of offices, and the great bulk of citizens felt they were still ostracized from political participation. Agitation and anxiety among the people were not allayed, and the appalling list of mur- ders in the state, penalties for which were seldom applied unless by lynch law, shows better than many words the disorganized status of society during this period, and how through ten years of strife civilization had become debauched and the structure of state, church and social orga- nisms become weakened by successive onslaughts of martial fury and military despotism.
But the coercion of reconstruction times was now past, and at the next election the natural strength of the Democratic party asserted it- self, and it was not long before the carpetbagger and the negro office- holder gave place to the respectable and public-spirited citizen. In the election of November, 1872, the Democrats secured control of the legis- lature and elected all the congressmen, but the governor, having been chosen for four years, held over in office until 1873. The legislature at once proceeded to institute some desired reforms, and by passing a measure for a reapportionment of state representation they brought about a special state election for 1873. At this election the Democrats carried everything, Richard Coke being the victorious candidate for gov- ernor. Davis, however, maintained that the law under which the election had been held was unconstitutional, and refused to surrender the gov- ernment. For a time the two sides were arrayed in arms, the legislature with a militia guard holding the upper floor of the state house and Gov- ernor Davis guarding the lower floor of the capitol with a company of
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colored troops. But when President Grant refused to support Davis in his contention, the latter gave up the fight and left the office, which was taken possession of by Coke in January, 1874, and the entire Democratic machinery of administration installed.
The last stigma of the reconstruction period was removed by the adoption of a new state constitution in 1876. There were numerous manifest defects in the old document, and the fact that it was largely a product of the reconstructionists added to its unpopularity. Accordingly, in March, 1875, the legislature ordered the question of calling a constitu- tional convention to be submitted to the people, and on the appointed day a large majority voted for the convention. Delegates were then elected, and by the latter part of November their work was completed, and in February, 1876, the new frame of government was ratified by the people. At the general election held on the same day Richard Coke was re-elected governor of the state. The new constitution purged away the galling restrictions and references to the past which had marked the former document, and when it went into effect the people of Teaxs felt them- selves released as far as possible from all the bitter bonds of the Civil war, and that their courage would henceforth lead along paths of political pleasantness, domestic tranquility, and the general welfare of state and citizens.
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