USA > Texas > Harrison County > History of Harrison County, Texas 1839 to 1880 > Part 11
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The subjoined extracts from letters from two young men of this county will be read with painful interest by all, but particularly by those who have relations and friends who are among the prisoners. The worst has been realized. The dear friends whom Yankee bullets failed to kill, are dying in Northern prisons! It is sickening to contemplate; to think that the loved faces upon which memory delights to linger, we shall never behold in life again.
The above was a gloomy picture, possibly more gloomy than facts would seem to justify. However, by this time, the North had come to the conclusion that the quickest way to end the war was to allow no further exchanges. Consequently, these soldiers, except for the few who escaped, were held in prison camps until the close of
31. Geo. B. Atkins to his father, March 19, 1863, in Texas Republican, April 25, 1863.
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the war. Quite naturally conditions were not ideal, and so many died. Others were so weakened, as a result of conditions to which they were subjected, that they died soon after their release. Only a few ever re- turned home.
Such tragedies served to spread gloom over the people of Harrison County, but there is no evidence that there was any lessening of activities on the part of its citizens in the prosecution of the war. In fact, they became more determined than ever to put forth every ounce of their strength to help win the war which they believed had been forced upon them by the North. If men and women had heretofore been selfish and had failed to give of their means for the cause of the South, such was not the case now. People in the county were either branded as patriots or traitors, but the latter, of whom there were only a few, soon found themselves very unpopular. "Are We Near the End?" was the subject of an editorial published in the Texas Republican during these trying times. The answer was: "Peace, when it does come, must be a settlement on our own terms. "32
Something of the optimism that pervaded the minds of Harrison County people is found in an article written
32. Texas Republican, October 14, 1864.
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October 21, 1864, and published in the Texas Republican of that date. The first part of the article enumerates a number of conditions which served to create despondency. Atlanta had fallen; Hood was in retreat; Early was re- ported as defeated in the Valley; and Confederate soldiers Were deserting by the hundreds.
Today the scene is changed, the article goes on to say. Joy rests upon many count- enances, which yesterday denoted gloom. From every point the news is cheering. The enemy have been again foiled in their "On- ward to Richmond." I'ven the doubting now begin to believe that Sherman will never get out of Georgia with an organized army. With Hood in his front and Forrest in his rear, how is he to escape? Added to this good news Gen. Price turned up in Missouri, and has suddenly organized a powerful army, which cannot be forced out of the state, without drawing a large portion of the federal force east of the river; sufficient to insure victory to our arms in that quarter. All this proves that our people ought not to be too ready to give up at a little bad news. Our success is only a question of time.
By the opening months of 1865, the Confederate armies were fighting with their backs to the wall. Still, the people of this county, as they did all over the Southland, tried to carry on. Something of their spirit may be seen from the following extract:
In the opinion of the undersigned, the time has arrived when the citizens of Harrison County ought to assemble in public meeting to speak their sentiments upon the questions of the day, to strengthen the arms of the govern- mont in the struggle now pending for our liber- ties, to vindicate the honor of the glorious dead who have fallen in this war, and to give encouragement to our armies in the field, by assuring them that their friends at home have
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not forgotten their duty to their country and are still ready to pledge fortune, life, and honor upon the issue.
Incipient treason has dared to raise its serpent head in our midst. Men, guided by love of property, or actuated by disgraceful fear, are circulating petitions in this and the neighboring counties, having for their object the organization of a party hostile to the Government, and the forcing of a disastrous peace, looking to reconstruction with the North. The foul breath of slander eminating from these men, has circulated abroad that a majority of the people of Harrison County are with them and have signed these petitions; whereas, the authors of this mischief compose but a limited number of our citizens.
Let therefore a public meeting be held, composed of the citizens of the entire county. Every man is urged to attend it and to show his hand. And, if there are any who have signed these petitions, not understanding their treasonable import, (as we believe there are some that have), let them come forward before this meeting, and publicly disavow their conduct, and erase their names from then, or forever consign themselves to the disgrace which belongs to those who would give aid and comfort to the public enemy that has violated all the rules of civilized war, and contemplate nothing short of our enslave- ment. 33
This statement was signed by about fifty of the lead- ing citizens of the county.
Finally, the long night mare came to an end. Lee in Virginia, was the first to surrender, followed by Johnston in the West, and other generals then in the field. Colonel Sprague and Major Bumby of the Federal army soon arrived in Marshall34 to negotiate for the
33. Texas Republican, January 27, 1865.
34. After the fall of Vicksburg, Marshall became the headquarters of the Trans_Mississippi region.
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transfer of the Trans_Mississippi region. A meeting of the governors of states in the Confederacy west of the Mississippi and the leading generals in that re- gion, was called by Governor Murrah of Texas to decide what action should be taken. Governors Allen of Louisiana, Reynolds of Missouri, Flanagan of Arkan- sas, and Murrah Murrah 35 of Texas were present. After several hours of discussion, it was decided to agree to the transfer, and this was quickly consumated. In a few days, a company of federal soldiers arrived in Marshall, and thus Harrison County got its first taste of recon- struction.
At the close of the war, the people of Harrison County were very bitter toward the North. This is not difficult to understand when one takes into consideration the fact that this county was one of the greatest slave- holding strongholds in the South. The triumph of the Morth meant the destruction of slavery, and with it, the destruction for many years, of the prosperity of this county. Lincoln, as the head of the United States gov- ernment, and the master director of its policies, was cordially hated. Consequently, when the announcement came of his assassination, it was difficult for the people of this county to realize that a friend rather than an enemy had been destroyed. Many of them rejoiced as they had not rejoiced since the beginning of this 35. Murrah was from Harrison County.
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terrible struggle. They saw in Lincoln's death, the destruction of a tyrant, and were glad. The following article clearly indicates how the county felt toward this martyr:
We were under the impression there is no proposition more fully admitted than the right, if not the duty of individuals, to destroy the life of a tyrant. By no other means than by individual daring and bravery can such men be reached. They are not to be found in the van of battle, or at posts of danger, but in places of security, difficult and dangerous of approach, where they remain to carry out their iniquitous designs. The man, therefore, who has the high moral and physical courage to brave all the consequences attending such an act, and to strike down a tyrant when panoplied in his strength and power, is not, as we conceive, an assassin or murderer, but a hero. If we are to judge of a transaction by the motives which seem to govern it -. the purity of purpose, the lofty impulse, the total abnegation of self and of personal security, how noble, how chivalric the con- duct of Booth? He killed Lincoln, in the midst of his minions, any and all of whom were ready to crush him, and then instead of skulking away, paused to proclaim the heroic sentiment of patriotism that impelled the deed. "Sic Semper Tyrannis, " the South is avenged! will live to be admired in eloquence and song.
There is no reason to believe that Booth in killing Lincoln, was actuated by malice or vulgar ambition. He slew him as a tyrant, and the enemy of his country. Therefore, we honor the deed. Would that we could impress the sentiment upon the heart of every man north and south, that "resistance of tyrants is obedience to God, " that we could place in every Southern man's hand a dagger, with the resolute, virtuous purpose to use it against tyrants, whenever the opportunity offered.
Lincoln was essentially a man of low, vulgar instinct. A striking exhibition of this is given in his visit to the army of the Potomac, shortly after the battle of Sharps- burg. A letter writer of one of the New York
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papers graphically described it. He said, in substance, that Lincoln rode over the battle-field, where were to be seen the evidences of recent deadly strife; the long lines of new made graves, the dead animals that covered the ground, the trees stripped of their foliage, or cut down by the missiles of war. It was a sight to sicken the heart; a scene similar to one over which Napoleon wept. Lincoln, the "kindly gentleman, " ex- hibited no emotion. He returned to head- quarters, where he was serenaded, and sat up to a late hour, drinking and telling anecdotes. Could there be conceived an act of greater brutality? 36
The effects of any war are too numerous and man- ifold to describe in detail. For that matter, the effects in Harrison County were in most cases the same as those in all other places in the Southland. Of course, they might have been a little worse here, in some respects, than many places due to this county's having been one of the strongholds of Southern institutions. On the whole, however, due to the fact that the State of Texas was practically free from invasion during the war, Harrison County, and nearly all the rest of Texas, was more fortunate than most of the remainder of the Con- foderacy.
Quite naturally, prices were affected by the War. As was to be expected, the trend was upward. A schedule of the prices paid by the Confederate gov- ernment for the different commodities which it bought in this county shows that flour sold for as high as
36. Texas Republican, May 5, 1865.
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$17. 50 a barrel, salt, 10g a pound, sugar, 75g, and artillery horses, $750 per head. Other commodities Were in proportion. 37 Many articles such as coffee, due to the blockade, could not be bought at any price.
Confederate currency was also affected by the war. This, of course, was true all over the South. The war had been going on only a short time when a public meeting was called for the citizens of Harrison County to assemble at the courthouse for the purpose of considering the propriety of adopting measures to sustain the currency. Certain parties in the county, it was alleged, had refused to take Confederate money, thereby showing a want of confidence in the government, and using their influence to overwhelm it with ruin. The assembly met, and resolutions were adopted con- demning such people as traitors to the cause of the South, and calling upon all loyal citizens to rally to the support of the currency by taking it at par value. Of course, no drastic action could be taken, but public opinion, when properly used, is a powerful weapon, and so it seems in this case that the meeting bore fruit. Quite a number of merchants, after this, advertised through the columns of the Texas Republican that they would take Confederate money at par value, offering,
37. Ibid., January 20, 1865. It must be understood that payment was made in confederate currency.
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in some instances, where accounts were owed, a premium. There is some indication, as the war neared the end, that conditions in the county were not what the best of its citizens desired. Quite a number of destructive fires occurred, several of which were thought to have been of incendiary origin; thefts were frequent, and runaway negroes not unusual. The con- ditions finally became so bad that the Texas Republican complained that the county and city officers had ceased to function. The article went on to say that
... men get drunk and commit all manner of excesses. They flourish deadly weapons, ride their horses through the streets, whooping and hallowing like Indians, and endangering the lives of women and children, and difficulties are of frequent occurrence. It is time this state of fairs is ended, for it would seem that we have no law, Civil, or Military, The present officers in the judg- ment of the reflecting portion of the com- munity, ought either, to do their duty, or resign. The citizens who pays a tax, and a high tax at that, for such a government as we have had for a long time, feels badly treated. 38
Ordinarily, no industry suffers more during a war than railroads. They, on account of their strategic importance, are frequently the center of the heaviest fighting, and are quite often torn up by one or the other of the contending armies. This, however, was not true in Harrison County, nor in any part of Texas. However, the war did affect railroad building in this
38. Texas Republican, September 9, 1864.
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county, and other parts of the state. In the first place, it halted construction; in the second place, it prevented the replacement of parts as they wore out.
Shortly after the election of Lincoln, the follow-
ing notice appeared in the Texas Republican:
We understand there is a report abroad, out of this county that the contractors on this road have abandoned their contract, that the sub-contractors have taken off their hands, and that the company has "gone under". These statements are unfounded. It is true that a panic existed for a few days growing out of the present crisis in our political and monetary affairs, and that a few of the sub contractors withdrew temporarily from the work, but with the best understanding with the contractors. A large force is still on the road, and will continue at work. 39
This article is self-explanatory, that is, that the effects of an impending war had already begun to be felt. Construction does seem to have gone forward intermittently until the opening hostilities, and perhaps for a time after that; but very little was actually done. The promoters of the Southern Pacific Railroad, not only lacked the money, but also in- clination to continue the project. The road was completed from Swanson's Landing, to within a mile of Marshall, and after that no more construction was made until after the close of the Civil War. In fact, the
39. Ibid., December 8, 1860.
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affairs of the company soon got into such a condition that it could not meet its obligations.
In 1861, the Southern Pacific Railroad was sold under the execution of the sheriff of this county. H. S. Faulkerson of New Orleans became the purchaser. A new company was then formed with a directorship com- posed of A. Pope, J. P. Murrah, G. G. Gregg, J. S. Holman, Benjamin Long, J. M. Waskom, George B. Atkins, and R. W. Loughery, nearly all of whom were from Marshall. Holman was elected president. Pope, vice-president, A. T. Smith, secretary, Gregg, treasurer, and C. E. Hinson, general superintendent. Faulkerson was employed to act as the agent of the company in New Orleans. The best possible provision was made for the payment of the debts of the company. This was not the last time the .40 This Y road was sold. In fact, as the war progressed, its financial difficulties increased, instead of improving. The Texas Republican contains notices af at least two other sales which took place during the Civil War, or during the lean years following.
Something of the condition of the road during these trying times may be drawn from the following extract taken from an article printed in the Shreveport South Western:
40. Texas Republican, September 14, 1861. The County Records of this period are full of suits against the road. C
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The inference of the reader might be that it was a wagon train on which we have taken passage when we inform him that we wore six and a half houro in reaching Marshall, but such was not the case; it was on the Southern Pacific Railroad, so called, we traveled. The track is in a wretched condition, and the engines sadly out of repair. As an evidence of the latter fact, the engine that hauled us out stalled three or four times on the down grade. The fact is the road thus far has proved a failure, is not meeting the demands of our mercantile community and the traveling public. But worse than all, "that iron safe" does not contain a single sumarkee. A friend in- formed us that the company had to barrow money to pay their taxes. We found the officers polite, etc., etc., but somewhat annoyed at the straitened condition of the company. So much for the Southern Pacific Railroad. 41
About 1871, the road took on new life, and con- struction was pushed in both directions. By 1872, a stretch of sixty miles extending from Longview on the west to Shreveport on the east was completed. 42 road was finally completed to El Paso and became a part of the great transcontinental system to the Pacific.
The
The principal effect of the Civil War was the break up of the great estates. This was brought about in two ways. In the first place, long before the Civil War closed, nearly all of the plantation owners of the
41. Reprinted in the Texas Republican, January 26, 1869 42. Sometime in the sixties, a part of the road to Swanson's Landing was abandoned. The track as far as Jonesville was uded and extended to Shreveport. Correspondence with C. F. Adams, a local historian, Marshall, Texas.
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county were ruined. The costs of war, added to the high prices which they had to pay for food and cloth- ing for their families, and negroes, and the lack of an adequate market at which they could dispose of their cotton, proved ruinous to them. Many of them were forced into bankruptcy before the close of the War. 43 Others certainly would have been forced to follow suit, even had the South triumphed. But the South did not triumph, and thus the plantation owners were dealt their death blow in the freeing of their slaves. With neither slaves nor money, they were forced to sacrifice their great estates at whatever price they could get. The census for 1860 shows many large estates; 44 but that in 1870 shows a notable de- crease in the size of estates and an increase in the number of small farms. 45 The day of the small farmer had again arrived in Harrison County.
Another great effect of the Civil War on Harrison County accompanied the break up of the estates and was allied with it. This was the overthrow of the local aristocracy. Before and during the War, the names of such men as M. J. Hall, W. B. Ochiltree, Pendleton Murrah, G. G. Gregg, J. D. Perry. and other representa-
43. The Harrison County District Court Records reveal this state of affairs. 44. Eight Census of the United States, 1860, Agriculture, transcript.
45. Ninth Census of the United States, 1870, Agriculture, transcript.
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tives of the aristocracy of the county, were continually before the people as their leaders. No one either dared or desired to question the political supremacy of the great plantation owners. But the Civil War stripped these men of all the glory attached to them as slave and plantation owners, and made them the equals of the "poor white trash." The latter thus elevated in his own eight began to take an interest in the affairs of the county and state until in time he sup- planted the other in politics. 46
Reconstruction. __ A keynote to the attitude of the whole South was struck by Colonel Loughery in an editor- ial just after news of the surrender reached Marshall
, The absorbing question with us now, is, what is to be our condition? Are we to be treated with kindness and conciliation, or oppression and tyranny? Will the North attempt to carry out its laws of confiscation and disfranchisement? Will they place over us an armed soldiery, the major portion of them composed of black troops? Will they attempt to equalize the races, or to elevate the negro above the white man? Or will they endeavor to restore the Union to one of affection and interest? To revive the energies, and industry of the people and restore commerce? If they determine upon the latter course, good results will follow, and ten years may find us a more united people than we ever were be- fore. If the former, we can see no end. Our
armies it is true, are destroyed, but the spirits of the people are unbroken. They are not yet fit for slaves and the result will be the commencement of a guerilla system of war- fare of which no man can see the end. 47
46. This was not generally true until after the days of reconstruction.
47. Texas Republican, May 26, 1865.
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The coming of the Federal troops. .. Soon after the surrender, A. J. Hamilton, who, being a union man, had left Texas in 1862, returned to the state with the Union troops, as governor, and took up the task of reconstruction. He agreeably surprised the people by appointing as provisional officers men, who, to a large extent, enjoyed the confidence of the people with whom they had to work. In this county, S. R. Perry, a former slave owner, was appointed sheriff. Other ap- pointments were equally satisfactory.
About the middle of June, 1865, the United States troops, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Wheaton, consisting of the 8th regiment of Illinois Infantry, and a company of cavalry, took formal possession of Marshall. Civil functions of government were immediate- ly supplanted by the military. However, everything was done by local people to establish cordial relations between themselves and the military authorities, and to assure them of their heart co-operation in the task that was then before them. Colonel Loughery, always the spokesman for the aristocracy of the county cautioned his readers to give the military authorities no cause to suspect them of untoward conduct.
He said:
Every sensible man must see the necessity of establishing good feelings between the officers and soldiers sent here, and the cit- izens of the county. These officers and soldiers may imagine that we desire to revive
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the war, and that the spirit of insubordination is rife in the land. In the treatment they are receiving, and will continue to receive, they will learn that such an opinion has no just foundation. They will go out from us, we trust, friends, instead of enimies; hereafter, political allies instead of adversaries. These results are important to us and scarcely less so to them. 48
In accord with the above sentiment the citizens of Harrison County, were called to meet in the editorial room of the Texas Republican. This meeting took place on June 19. D. S. Jennings was called to the chair, and R. W. Loughery was appointed secretary. Both Colonel Loughery and Colonel M. J. Hall made speeches, the purpose of which was the desire to establish a kind and cordial understanding between the military authorities and the citizens, which would ultimately result in the \ attainment of order and good feeling, the maintenance of the prosperity of the county, and the speedy es tab- lishment of civil government.
A committee of fifteen was appointed to draft a preamble and resolutions expressive of the purpose of the meeting. This committee made the following report which was adopted:
Your committee believe that they faith- fully represent the views and feelings of the entire population of the county, and they doubt not the state, though not called upon to express
48. Ibid., June 23, 1865.
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an opinion beyond their own immediate neigh- borhood, respectfully represent :
1. That they recognize the war as over, and are anxious for the establishment, not only of good order, but good feeling between all sections of the country. We belong alike to the Union, and desire as early as possible to restore it to its original rigor with its pro- tection of civil rights, and the principles of constitutional freedom.
2. Texas not having been the theatre of war, and her citizens having been accustomed uninterruptedly to the rights, privileges, and immunities which belong to civil government, feels keenly the sense of personal insecurity arising from the civil law being temporarily suspended, and is solicitous for a return to
the civil government. That for this purpose they respectfully memorialize the authorities of the United States, to abandon all apprehen- sions of resistance, either direct or indirect, upon the part of our citizens, and to rest assured they will do all they can to restore the reign of good feeling and good government . With an earnest assurance of this fact, and satisfied that it will be attested soon by the officers of the United States now here, or on the way to Texas, who will receive nothing but kindness and courtesy from our citizens, we doubt not the United States government will give every assistance in its power to aid in restoring, as speedily as possible, the civil government.
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