USA > Texas > Harrison County > History of Harrison County, Texas 1839 to 1880 > Part 7
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38. That is, Harrison, Shelby, and Panola, after its organization.
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would be shot. Jackson had hardly read the letter before he was on his way to avenge the insult. Shortly after- ward, he presented the letter to its author on the court house steps of Shelbyville, and a moment later shot him dead. Jackson was soon arrested, but was not put in jail.
He now proceeded to organize a band of about thirty young men, called Regulators, whose purpose was to protect him, and to rid the county of undesirables. Other organizations were formed, both in Shelby and Harrison Counties. Many of the best citizens of the county became members. Captains, lieutenants, sentinels, and spies were elected, and meetings held in the midst
of thick pine forests. A counter organization was then formed to regulate the Regulators, and thus affairs stood 39 when Jackson was brought to trial in Harrison County. The trial was set for July 12th, 1841. On that date Jackson appeared at court, escorted by state guards, most of whom were probably Regulators.
Shortly before the court was opened, Judge Hansford, who was to try the case, made an indiscreet remark. He said: "That damned rascal Jackson will be here in an hour, and I want all the Moderators to assemble Well armed, and be here by the time he arrives, " that Jackson had murdered a defenseless man, and "has since that
39. The case had been transferred from Shelby County to this one.
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time whipped and ordered from the county another; and the damned rascal ought to be brought to justice. "40 However, Judge Hansford's remark leaked out, and by the time Jackson arrived, a sufficient number of Regulators had gathered to guarantee fair play at least. One of the first acts of the court was to issue an order for- bidding anyone to come into the courthouse while armed.
Jackson was given his choise of being tried before a jury of twelve men, or before Judge Hansford, and chose the former. From day to day, the judge postponed the case until finally on the night of the 14th of July, he slipped out of town to the home of Judge Samuel McHenry where he addressed the following notes:
At the office of Judge McHenry, July 15, 1841.
-- To the Sheriff of Harrison Co., Texas, "Being unwilling to risk my person in the court house any longer, when I see myself surrounded by bravos and hired assassins and no longer free to preside as an impartial judge at the special term of the court called for the trial of Charles W. Jackson, I order you to adjourn court tomorrow at eight o'clock, by proclamation with day.
"From your hands at the regular time, I- shall expect the prisoner. You will receive the prisoner and keep him safely, thereby causing him to be securely ironed and keeping a strong guard until delivered by due course of law. 41
40. Frontier Times, I, 14.
41. Harrison County District Court Records, 1841, p. 413.
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July 15, 1841.
To the Clerk, of the District Court of Harrison County.
"Sir, the gradual development of circum- stances which have come to my knowledge since and before the commencement of the special trial of the District Court, and more par- ticularly this evening, have assumed such a character that the District Judge is no longer in the exercise of his functions as the presiding officer of his court, and unwilling to act as such any longer, unless he can choose without compulsion or restraint, he is determined to avoid the mockery of holding a court under the government and control of hired assassins and to refuse the safety of his person to meet the menace without sufficient force for protection.
You will preserve with care the records, and consider yourself no longer bound to attend court at Pulaski, the county site" 42
Of course the sheriff released the prisoner, and since court was over, the factions started home, but by different routes. On their way, the Regulators burned the homes of Henry Strickland and John McFadden. Jack- son and his friends now took control of affairs. Orders
were issued for the arrest of the chief justice of Panola County, who was actually seized and deported to Louisiana.
For the next few months, there was disorder on all Bides. The purpose of the two rival groups seems to have been the extermination of the other. Jackson may have been honest in his purpose to punish those who stole, robbed, and counterfeited. If so, he was duped, for the men he had set out to punish were men of genius.
42. Ibid., 414.
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Realizing that they would be speedily exterminated unless they acted, they used their brains and joined one or the other of the organizations, generally the Regulators. According to the rules of the latter organization, each member had the right to turn in to the organization the names of criminals he personally knew about. This, as might have been suspected, was abused, for instead of turning in the name of criminals, each man felt it to his advantage to turn in that of his enemy. Conse- quently, many innocent men were arrested by order of the organization, and brought before its irregularly organized court for trial. In many cases, arrest was resisted, and a number of people were killed in the attempt. Those who were brought to trial were forced to plead "guilty", or "not guilty" In either case, they were severely punished, and in some cases, made away with mysteriously.
The Moderators, if more honest, were none the less severe in their dealings with the Regulators, and retaliated in kind. Life and property became in peril, and the destruction of the country was threatened.
The leader of the Regulator movement in Harrison County was William Boulware, a rather picturesque frontiersman, who had made a fortune in trading with the Indians. He, like Jackson, in Shelby County, had a great many enemies. In fact, their hatred for him was so great that he was forced to build a block_
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house for protection. This house was situated in north Marshall, near the present location of the Texas and Pacific shops. It became the meeting place of his followers, and many dark deeds were planned within its walls. However, Boulware's block-house was not the only one in the county. Others for the same purpose. were erected in the different parts of the county, es- pecially along the Sabine River.
Another leader of the Regulators was William Pinckney Rose. He was rather aggressive in his methods, as were most of the Regulator chiefs, and found himself many times in a difficult position. One day he was in the field at work with his slaves when he saw what he thought to be a group of Moderators ride up to his house. His slaves, at a signal from him, quickly cover- ed him with newly cut pine brush, and were busy about their accustomed tasks by the time the Moderators arrived on the scene. They were advised by the slaves that "Massa's clean gone", While the Moderators were debat. ing the question, a curious rooster arrived on the scene and with a great deal of cackling and evident alarm proceeded to investigate the brush pile. Rose felt sure that his time for death had arrived, but the Moderators evidently suspected nothing, and soon rode away. Immediately after the danger had passed, Rose had the rooster beheaded. 43
43. Marshall News-Messenger, Oct. 13, 1929.
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Another person in this county who was to a certain extent associated with the Regulators was Colonel William T. Scott. 44 One night a band of Moderators came to the door of his house and asked for him. The band very courteously offered to let the lady members of the family escape before they entered the house. Mrs. Scott thanked the leader and then went back into the house. She quickly attired her husband in a night gown, tied a night cap on his head and placed a child in each arm. Dressed thus, he walked by the Moderators and escaped. He left the two children in the cabin of one of his slaves and hurried to his chief, Rose, who also was his father-in-law. 45
A story is told of a traveler, who met a band of men on a road. They demanded to know whether he was a Moderator or a Regulator. Since he belived that they Were Regulators, he declared his allegiance to that clan. He, was then severly beaten, but told to be a Moderator from then on. Soon afterward, he met another band of men, and upon having the same question asked him, replied according to the instructions just received, that he was a Moderator, whereupon, he was again beaten, and told to be a Regulator. Still later, he met a third group and this time, he told them that he was "nothing, and very little of that". 46
44. The founder of Scottsville, the owner of five plantations and 700 slaves.
45. Burba, "The History of the Scottsville Plantation, " Marshall News-Messenger, July 21, 1929.
46. Atterbury, op. cit., pp. 74 ff.
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Peter Whetstone, on whose headright the city of Marshall was located,. was a Moderator. He, like others of his faith, had his bitter enemies. Once while attempting to escape from a body of Regulators, he hid in a thicket about where the Auto Laundry at Marshall now stands. The Regulators then surrounded the thicket and awaited developments. Just as Whetstone belived himself about to escape, he was confronted by one of his enemies, armed, and with a grim countenance. "My friend, " asked Whetstone, "why do you wish to kill me? I have never harmed you in any way." As the Reg- ulator lowered his gun, he said: "Go on, but never tell any one I let you pass. "47
Not all of the incidents in connection with the Regulator-Moderator feud turned out so happily as the ones described above. Whetstone was killed a short time later by William T. Boulware. One day the two enemies met in a grocery store located on the epot where the old Capitol Hotel used to stand. Both were drinking and quarrelled. When Whetstone left, Boulware followed and shot him dead. 48 There is no record of Boulware's having been indicted.
Robert Potter was perhaps the most aggressive leader of the Moderators in Harrison County. He had
47. Idem.
48. Sketches Drawn from Marshall and Vicinity, p. 55.
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migrated to this region from North Carolina, where he had gotten into serious trouble. After looking around a bit, he built a house on a cliff overlooking Caddo Lake. This point has been known since as "Potter's Point". He soon entered politics and held some of the highest positions within the gift of the state. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence; fought in the Battle of San Jacinto, and was secretary of the navy at the time of his death. When the Moderator- Regulator feud came on, he allied himself with the Moderators. It was he who led the band of Moderators to the home of Captain Rose and almost discovered him in the brush pile. However, that night, Captain Rose, determined to take no more chances, summoned his faith- ful band together and surrounded Potter's house. Mrs. Potter begged her husband to stay in the house and fire from the port holes, but he told her that he could escape, as he had done many times before, by diving from the bluff into the lake. The leap was successfully made, but as he rose from the water to get air, a bullet fired by one of his enemies found its mark and killed him. His body sank to the bottom of the lake, where it rested until, disturbed by the churning wheels of a passing steamer, it came to the surface. His wife Decured it and buried it near the house, on Potter's Point.
Judge Hansford, who, if not a Moderator, sympathized
with them, was one of the prominent victims of law- lessness. After leaving the bench, he retired to his home near Jonesville. In 1844, while he and his wife were absent, attending church one Sunday morning, a mob took possession of his house, and upon his arrival, demanded possession of some slaves he was holding under a writ of sequestration. He refused to accede to the demand, whereupon he was shot and killed. It is not known today who was responsible for this deed, but the court records show that at the time the murder took place, Judge Hansford had a suit pending in the district court against a certain prominent member of the Regulator clan. However, there is no evidence to prove that this man killed, or helped to kill Hansford. No one was ever indicted for the crime. In fact, the court records show not over half a dozen cases of indictment for murder, up to 1845. Such in brief was the lack of effectiveness of the court system in Harrison County during these early days.
In the meantime, the Regulator-Moderator feud was rapidly approaching a climax. Jackson, a few months after his trial, was waylaid by a group of Moderators, among whom was purported to be Jack Crane, Squire Humphries, William McFadden, Bailry McFadden, Sam Todd, and a man named Bledsoe ... 49 Jack- son was shot without a chance of defending himself.
At least two of this party had personal grudges against Jackson. It will be recalled
49. Frontier Times, I, 16.
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that Jackson and his band of Regulators burned the home of John McFadden while on their way back from his trial. Squire Humphries was the other member of the party who had received injuries from Jackson. Soon after getting back from his trial, Jackson heard that an old man by the name of Carr had some horses and mules stolen from him by freebooters. He immediate- ly called his followers together at a big dinner and matured his plans for the recovery of the horses. A few days later some of the horses and mules were found at the house of Squire Humphries, and he was caught and whipped. The whole party returned to the home of John Mc- Fadden. A band of fifty Moderators quickly gathered at McFadden's house to protect the assassins while the slayers hid in near-by swamps and made their wants known by signals. Sheriff A. A. George of Shelby County is said to have fled to Nacogdoches, leaving his deputy, J. W. Middleton in charge. The new sheriff and his party started out to arrest McFadden and the others.
About the same time, Watt Moorman, the leader of the Moderators was killed by John Bradly, who had assumed leadership of the Regulators after the death of Jackson. Bradly at once fled to Shelbyville for the protection of the Regulators. Thus it happened that two armed parties arrayed themselves against each other in the battle of Shelbyville. Brown0 estimates the number of combatants on each side at from 150 to 200. Others put the number as high as 400. There might have been that many, as they had gathered from all parts of the two counties in which this feud existed. Some authori- ties, Brown among them, leave the impression that there was no fight between the two parties; while others, Miss
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50. History of Texas, II, 296.
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Atterbury among them, say that a fight actually took place, and that over a hundred men were killed. 51 By this time President Houston had taken cognizance of the state of affairs in these east Texas counties and had ordered General Smith to Shelbyville with 500 militia. He himself rushed to the scene of action. It seems that the battle was still going on when he arrived. He called for a conference between the leaders of the two parties. At this conference, he earnestly told them that the laws of Texas must be obeyed, that taking human life must stop; that he wished to accomplish all of this without bloodshed, if he could; but that he meant to stop it, regardless of the cost. The con- ference had the desired effect. The malcontents agreed to drop matters, disbanded, and went home. Thus ended the two organizations in Harrison and Shelby Counties.
McFadden and his accomplices had fled from their hiding place, pursued by the sheriff and his posse. They were soon surprised, and agreed to return peace- fully, if allowed a public trial before the entire citizenship of the county, at which the majority was to rule. This was granted, and the prisoners were brought to Shelbyville. The people of the county by this time were tired of bloodshed and lawlessness and
51. It is the general impression in this section that a fight actually took place.
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urmnimously voted for hanging. Bailey McFadden, due to his youth, was the only one to escape the noose. 52 Criminals of all kinds were meted out the same measure of justice, in Harrison, as well as in Shelby County, and soon, those hardened criminals who could not bring themselves to be law-abiding citizens left the country. At this period in the history of the Harrison County court system, there is a noted change, with Judge Mills on the bench. The court records show that murderers, thiefs, assaulters, in fact all law breakers were brought to justice.
The development of transportation. __ Transportation of passengers in the early days was accomplished by means of stage coaches. By 1860, Marshall had stage connection with Jefferson, Daingerfield, Mt. Pleasant and Clarksville, Tyler, and Shreveport, with fares ranging from $2.50 to $14. 50. 33 Freight was carried by means of ox-freight lines, which, in general, followed the line of stage coaches that led to markets __ that is to Jefferson and Shreveport. Freighting by means of the ox wagon was a very slow process, as the oxen moved along at a leisurely pace, and added to this was the almost impassable condition of the roads. 54 The cost
52. Frontier Times, 1, 20.
53. Texas Republican, March 16, 1861.
54. Before the opening of roads, Mr. Hope, mentioned above, upon being questioned as to the condition of the roads when his family moved into this county in 1849, said that they were so poor that one could almost look back at the end of a day's travel and see where he had camp- od the night before.
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of transportation was prohibitive. However, as the county became settled, "freighting" became one of the permanent occupations of its people and furnished em- ployment to a number of Harrison County settlers. Freight rates then became cheaper. The customary rate for hauling cotton to one of the lake points, about 21 miles distant, was $1.50 to $1.75 per bale. This figure amounted to about twenty cents per ton for each 100 miles, which was a great deal higher than that of present day freight rates.
In the days of "freighters", Texas was divided into five trade districts, each of which was tributary to one or more seaports or trade centers. 55 Harrison
County being located in that district stretching north from Shelby County to the Red River and west as far as Dallas and Fort Worth, had as its ports or trade centers, Jefferson and Shreveport. Before the building of railroads, the former was the largest trade center in northeast Texas, and next to Galveston, the most im- portant port in Texas. In 1870, the population of this town was 12, 000; now it is about 2, 000. The little river steamers could not compete with the "iron horse." Like the rest of the west, Harrison County early became interested in the building of railroads. The first evidence of this interest is an article printed
55. Potts, Railroad Transportation in Texas, pp. 17 ff.
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in the Texas Republican for May 26, 1849. The mention of the railroad was incidental, the main object of the editoral being to bring about improvement in waterways. The article is interesting because of the arguments advanced to meet objections to the building of railroads. That part relative to railroads is quoted in full:
... This done, we may properly consider the propriety of constructing a railroad from the Lake to some convenient and healthy point __ say Marshall. We are not prepared to give the cost of this enterprise. How- ever, we will suppose the road to be six- teen miles long, or five thousand one hundred and twenty rods; that of grading will cost $2. 50 per rod; and that the railing, metaling, etc., will cost $36. 00 per rod. The cost of this will be about $100, 000 upon this basis. But it is objected that there would be nothing to do; that the capital would be idle; that stock would not pay dividends, etc., The fallacy of this position will at once be evident, when it is considered that the road may require three years to be completed; that if it were known to be certain that the road would be in operation in three years from this date, this fact alone would cause the agricultural interests of this and the counties of Rusk, Cass, Panola, Upshur, Smith and Cherokee, to be increased to an extent in that time to afford transportation of 100, 000 bales of cotton besides a considerable increase in other adjacent counties whose interest would depend upon the road. Twelve and a half cents Per pound on 100, 000 bales would be 124 per cent upon the investment, and back freight would pay as much more, which added would be 25 per cent -- a very fine profit __ and this the first year of its operation. The resources of the counties dependent upon it, when fully realized, would be at least five times more, which would give an increase in proportion to this advancement. We will not at this time pursue the subject any further hoping that these remarks may awaken reflection, and call forth the opinions of some at least much more experienced than ourself.
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The above article, and probably others like it, seem to have borne .fruit, for we read in the American Sketch Book 56 Book: 56 where t where the first meeting ever held in Harrison County on the subject of railroads was in the court house at Marshall in the fall of 1850. As a result of this meeting, the state legislature that year passed an act incorporating the Vicksburg, Louis_ iana, and Texas Railroad. This act provided for a road in Texas along the thirty-second degree north latitude, and granted a bonus of sixteen sections of land per mile. Prior to this, February 7, 1850, the Marshall Railway and Plank Road Company had been chartered. 57 This railroad was to begin at Marshall and extend to any point on the Louisiana line that might be considered best for extension to the Red River, or Caddo Lake. Shares of stock were to be sold at $100 each, each share entitling its holder to one vote. A board of directors of not less than five nor more than eleven was provided for. This board of directors was to elect a president. No person was eligible for a directorship, unless he owned at least five shares of stock.
Once attention was called to the need of railroads, there was no lack of railroad projects. On February 14,
56. American Sketch Book, Vol. II, p. 224. 57. Texas Almanac, 1857,p.81.
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1852, the state legislature chartered another Harrison County railroad. In that year, the Texas-Louisiana Railroad was chartered. This road was to have commenc- ed on the east border of Harrison County and go by way of Marshall and Austin to El Paso. Construction was to begin within five years, and at least twenty miles was to be completed before six years had elapsed. Eight sections of land per mile were granted, only on condition that construction begin within two years, and that ten miles be completed within three years. 58 Only two days after the above project was chartered, the Southern Pacific Railroad, the beginning of the present Texas Pacific System, was also charter- ed. 59 This road was originally chartered under the name of the Vicksburg and El Paso Railroad, or The Texas Western. The name was changed to the Southern Pacific by an Act of the legislature approved August 16, 1856. In 1853, the Marshall Railroad Company was chartered. This road was to connect Marshall with the New Orleans, Texas Pacific Railroad. According to the terms of its charter, the construction on the road must begin within five years, and twenty miles must have been completed within six years. Fight sections
58. Idem. 59. Gammel, Laws of Texas, V, 529.
60. Texas Almanac, 1858, p. 68, gives Feb. 7, 1851 as the date of the granting of the charter.
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of land were to be granted if construction were begun within four years, and ten miles completed. William Evans, William T. Scott, H. L. Berry, P. Murrah, M. J. Hall, T. A. Patillo, Joseph Taylor, all of Marshall, Were the promoters mentioned in the act. The road was to have a right of way three hundred feet wide, which could be taken without the consent of the owner, if paid for. The freight rates were not to exceed fifty cents per hundred pounds per hundred miles. The act provided for special safety precautions; the company was pledged to provide good brakes on the rear cars, and a bell of at least thirty-five pounds weight, or a whistle. One of these had to be put into operation at least eighty rods before approaching a crossing, and T or U rails were to be used. 61
In 1854, the Sabine and Sulphur Springs Railroad was chartered. This road was to commence on the line of the Vicksburg and El Paso Railroad at some point between Marshall and the Sabine River, pass through Marshall, then to Gilmer, then to Sulphur Springs. It was to receive eight sections of land per mile, if twenty miles of track were completed within five years.
Of all of the above projects, only the Southern Pacific ever laid any rails. Work on this road was
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61. Idem.
62. Ibid., p. 69.
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begun at Marshall in 1855. 63 By February 10, 1858, it had completed its twenty miles of construction. The next year another seven and a half were added. It seems that the road was complete as far east as Swan- son's Landing on Caddo Lake before the outbreak of the Civil War. 64 This then became the main port of entry for Harrison County. Little work was done on the road during the Civil War. A later chapter will discuss at further length this project.
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