USA > Texas > Indian wars and pioneers of Texas, Vol. I > Part 35
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In April, 1867, he started the Jefferson Times (daily and weekly ) and ran it in connection with his paper at Marshall.
At this time a complete system of oppression and tyranny prevailed. An army of thieves were sent into the country, ostensibly to protect the negroes and to hunt up Confederate cotton and other alleged Confederate property. The Freedman's Bureau had its agents in every county. The jails were full of respectable people, charged with dis- loyalty or alleged erimes, on the complaints of mean whites or depraved negroes. Five military despotisms prevailed in the South. Governors were deposed, legislatures dispersed at the point of the bayonet and citizens disfranchised. The press was sileneed and men were afraid to talk, but in many places they became bolder, until they did not see actual danger.
Such was the ease in Jefferson, in 1869, when a number of outraged citizens broke into the jail and shot to death a man named Smith (who had often threatened to have the town burned) and three negroes. These killings inflamed the Radicals. They cared nothing about Smith, whose condnet was about as offensive to them as to the people, but they seemed to rejoice at the opportunity this incident afforded to oppress a people that they bated. Col. Loughery, with both papers, attacked the military organization and the military eommis- sion appointed to try these men and others incar- cerated at Jefferson, charged with alleged erimes. The commission prevailed for over six months, and
with it a reign of terror. Men talked in bated whispers. A large number of men left the country to eseape persecution. A stockade was erected on the west side of town, in which were imprisoned over fifty persons. Martial law prevailed, the writ of habeas corpus was suspended, and men were tried by army officers in time of profound peace. in plain, open violation of the constitution. His position during this period was one of great peril, as he reported the proceedings of, and boldly assailed, the commission and its aets from day to day.
Col. Longhery's able and intrepid course resulted in the downfall of the commission, prevented the arrest of many persons, and the perpetration of many outrageous aets that otherwise would have been committed, and preserved the lives and liberties of many of those confined in the stockade. With him at the head of the Times, the military authorities were compelled to restrain themselves, and think well before they aeted. They ordered him several times to cease his strietures, but in each instanee he sent baek a bold defiance, and the following morning the Times appeared with editorials in keep- ing with those of former issues. He had three newspaper plants and all of his files destroyed by fire in Jefferson, but notwithstanding these great losses and heavy expense attendant upon the publi- cation of a daily newspaper in those days, he con- ducted the Times until -- , after which time he published and edited papers at Galveston and Jef- ferson, Texas, and Shreveport, La., and from 1877 until 1880, edited the Marshall Herald, at Marshall, Texas, published by Mr. Howard Hamments. Some of the best work that he ever did was on the Herald. There was scarcely a paper in the State that did not quote from the Herald's editorial columns, and the editors of the State, as if by com- mon consent, united in referring to him on all occasions as the "Nestor of the Texas Press."
From a very early period Col. Loughery strongly advocated the building of a trans-continental rail- way through Texas to the Pacific ocean, and while in New Orleans on one occasion was employed by Col. Faulk, the original projector of what is now the Texas and Pacific Railway, to write a series of articles for the Picayune in defense of the corpo- ration which Col. Faulk had then recently formed. Later he became one of the stockholders and direct- ors of the corporation. Throughout his life he felt an interest in the fortunes of the Texas and Pacific, and remained an earnest advocate of railway eon- struction, Every worthy enterprise found in him a stauneh and zealous supporter.
In 1887 he was appointed by President Cleveland
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Consul for the United States at Acapulco, Mexico, and held the office until December 1st, 1890, making one of the best officers in the foreign ser- viee. He was often commended by the State Department, and his reports were copied by the leading commercial papers in Europe and America.
Col. Loughery was undoubtedly one of the finest writers and clearest thinkers that the South has ever produced, and deserves to rank with Ritchie, Kendall and Prentice. It has been said that journalism has greatly improved in recent years. This is true with regard to the gathering and dissemination of news, but not true in any other partieular. .
He was married to Miss Elizabeth M. Bowers near Nebo, Ky., November 23, 1853. His widow and four children, Robert W., Jr. (born of his first marriage), Augusta M., E. H., and Fannie L., survive him. He died at his home in Marshall, Texas, April 26, 1894, and was interred in the cemetery at that place.
Mrs. E. M. Loughery was born in Christian County, Kentucky, is the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Bowers, is descended from two of the oldest and most distinguished families of the " Blue Grass State," was partly educated at Oak- land Institute, Jackson, Miss., came to Texas with her uncle, Judge Dudley S. Jennings, and remained some time afterward with her unele, Gen. Thomas J. Jennings, well remembered as a lawyer, Attorney-general of Texas and citizen of Nacogdoches, San Augustine and Fort Worth. Mrs. Loughery is a lady of superior culture and attainments, and as a writer little inferior to her talented husband. During the days of the military commission at Jefferson, when Col. Loughery was threatened with incarceration in the stockade, it was understood that in case of his arrest, she was to assume editorial control of the Times, and con- tinue its strictures on the despotism that prevailed, a work, that had it become necessary, she would have been fully competent to perform. She has recently written and published in pamphlet form a memoir of the life, character and services of Col. Loughery that possesses superior literary merits and has met with favorable comment in the leading newspapers in the State.
R. W. Longhery, Jr., was a soldier in the Con- federate Army during the four years of the war, carried the last dispatches into Arkansas Post, fought through the Tennessee and Georgia cam- paigns, was mentioned at the head of his regiment for conspicuous gallantry at Chickamauga and fol- lowed the flag until it was finally furled in North Carolina. He was a printer on the old Dallas
Herald, and later on its successor, the Dallas News, uutil recently, and is still living in Dallas.
Miss Augusta M. Loughery is one of the most accomplished ladies in Texas. E. H. Loughery edited newspapers at Jefferson, Texas, Shreve- port, La., Paris, Texas, Abilene, Texas, and Marshall, Texas, during the years from 1879 to 1891; edited Daniell's Personnel of the Texas State Government (published in 1892), Col. John Henry Brown's two-volume history of Texas, and the present volume (Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas) ; has gotten out numerous special news- paper editions in Texas, and has done various writing at sessions of the Texas State legislature during the past eleven or twelve years. Miss Fannie L. Longhery is an excellent writer, and a poetess of great promise.
The following are three of the hundreds of notices that appeared in Texas papers concerning him :-
" It is now definitely known that our townsman, Col. R. W. Loughery, the Nestor of the Texas press, has been appointed American Consul at Acapulco, Mexico. Col. Loughery's reputation as an able and fearless editor, as an honest and faith- ful Democrat, is beyond question, and nothing we might write could possibly add to his well-earned and well-deserved reputation. If Col. Loughery had done nothing more, his heroic, but perilous fight with the military in the days of reconstruction, when there was at Jefferson a military inquisition, and the man who opposed it imperiled both life and liberty, he would deserve the highest praise. As a staunch, tried and true Democrat of the Jeffersonian school, Col. Loughery is the peer of any and de- serves liberal recognition from the party. Texas owes him a large debt of gratitude and liberal material recognition for the work he has done in shaping her politieal fortunes when it cost much in peril and sacrifice to defend her rights and auton- omy against the combined power of Federal authority and hireling satraps. As a writer Col. Loughery is clear, incisive, strong, and few men are better posted in the political history of our national and Southern State politics, and few, if any, are better able to defend a Demo- cratic administration. As a consular representative of our country in Acapulco, Mexico, he will bring to his duties a mind well cultivated and a large experience iu the duties of American citizenship aud an accurate knowledge of the history of our government. The Colonel will wield a pen able and ready for any emergency in peace or war - a Dam- aseus blade that has never yet been sheathed in the presence of an enemy." - Marshall Messenger.
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" In May, 1872, Col. Loughery was commissioned consul at Acapulco, Mexico, and at once assumed the duties of his office. In that city he found a strong prejudice existing against Americans and particularly against Texas, the heritage of a bloody war and his predecessors in office. His geniality and kind, courteous . and business-like manner soon swept this away, and he succeeded in sup- planting the strong anti-American sentiment with admiration and respect for America and Amer- icans as strong. By untiring efforts he succeeded in giving bis government far more information than it had ever before been able to obtain from this portion of the Mexican republic. In faet, when he was recalled at the expiration of President Cleve- land's first term the relations between the United States and this important port and coaling station were in every way pleasant and the business of the consulate was in better condition than ever before."
" The death of Col. Loughery at Marshall, April 26th, 1894, was received here with deep regret and profound sorrow, and a pall of gloom hangs over lris old home and around the scenes of his glorious works and accomplishments during the dark days of reconstruction. During those trying times he stood as a champion of civil liberty, and boldly defended the rights of the people against usurpation of the powers that were imposing a tyranny and rule that was abhorred by the civilized world. The military commission organized in a time of profound peace, and its inhuman practices, is a stigma upon the dominant party and a disgrace to the power that authorized and sanctioned its outrages. Every means to degrade and oppress the people were organized and run in conflict and opposition to the law and order that the best ele- ment berc was anxious to prevail. A reign of terror was imposed, and our innocent people were incarcerated in a Bastile, and tried by a moek tribunal for crimes they never committed, to gratify a petty tyranny born and nutured in partisan spirit and sectional hatred. At the beginning of this stormy period Col. Loughery came to the rescue and nobly and gallantly wielded the pen and fought for principles and justice and boldly enunciated a law and rule to restore common rights and liberty, that the existing martial law had stultified and sat upon with impunity. The desired effect was at last attained, and the commission was dissolved, and the civil law was permitted to assume its rightful func- tions and acknowledged superior to the military. The gratitude of our people for his efforts along this perilous line is a silent but eloquent tribute
to the memory of Col. Loughery. He has gone to his reward, and we join the craft in sincere sorrow, and mourn in common with the family of our esteemed old friend." -- Jefferson Jimplicute.
The following poem was written by Col. Loug- hery's youngest daugliter, Miss Fannic L. Lough- ery :-
SALEM ALEIKUM.
Peace be to thy sacred dust, Cares of earth are ended !
Through life's long and weary day Grief and joy were blended.
Blessed is that perfect rest, Frec from pain and sorrow,
Death's dark night alone can bring Sleep with no sad morrow.
Memory's holy censer yields Fragrance sweet, forever. Home holds ties, to loving hearts, Parting can not sever.
Kindly words and noble deeds Give thy life its beauty. Brave and patient to the last, Faithful to each duty.
True as steel to every trust, Thy aims were selfish never. Good deeds live when thou art gone, Thy light shines brighter ever.
Good fight fought, and life work o'er, Friends and loved ones round thee, Garnered like the full ripe ear, Length of days had crowned three.
Slowly faded like a leaf, Natural is thy slumber. Thou livest yet in many hearts, Thy friends no one can number.
Good night, father, last farewell, Never we'll behold thee. May the sod rest light on thee, Gently earth enfold thec.
" Pax vobiscum " (solemn words), Sadly death bereft ns. Lonely is the hearth and home, Father, since you left us.
Sheaves of love and peace are thine, No wrong thou dids't to any. May thy life's pure earnest zeal Strength impart to many.
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O. C. HARTLEY,
GALVESTON.
" Oliver Cromwell Hartley was born in Bedford County, Penn., March 31st, 1823, where his ances- tors, who emigrated from England, settled soon after the American Revolution; was educated at Franklin and Marshall College, from which he was graduated aud honored with the valedictory of his class in 1841; studied law in the office of Samuel M. Barclay, an eminent lawyer of Bedford, and at the age of twenty-one was admitted to the bar and began the practice of his profession. In 1845 he married Miss Susan C. Davis, of Bedford, and in 1846 moved to Texas and located at Galveston. The Mexican war was then in progress, and, a call being made for volunteers to rescue the army of Gen. Taylor from its perilous position on the Rio Grande, Mr. Hartley volunteered as a private, and hastened with his company to the seat of hos- tilities which he reached soon after the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma had been fought, victories for the American arms which enabled Gen. Taylor to assume the offensive and obviated any immediate need for the services of the rein- forcements which were at hand.
On the organization of Col. Johnson's Regiment, Mr. Hartley was elected a Lieutenant in the com- pany from Galveston, which, being disbanded dur- ing the summer, he returned to the Island City and resumed the practice of law. The statutes of the State were at that time in much confusion as to arrangement and the members of the bar greatly felt the inconvenience occasioned by the want of a sufficient digest. Mr. Hartley prepared a synopti- cal index of the laws for his own use, which became the basis of his admirable " Digest of the Texas Laws." This work was begun in 1818, and in the spring of 1850 was submitted to the legislature, which anthorized the Governor to subscribe for fifteen hundred copies for the use of the State. His digest fully met the wants of the profession, and was justly regarded as a work of great merit and perfection.
In 1851, he was elected to represent Galveston County in the legislature and distinguished himself as a useful and efficient member. It was said of him that " he was noted for the frankness and inde- pendence of his bearing and his refusal to enter into the intrigues aud cabals by which legislation is so often controlled."
While a member of the legislature he was
appointed reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Court, and held that office until his death. His skill as a reporter was recognized as eminent. His analyses are accurate and thorough and his syllabi present a clear and concise exposition of the law. He was especially apt and felicitous in eliminating distinctive principles and establishing legal results from complicated relations and views arising from a combination of facts, and his efforts greatly aided in the development of the peculiar system of Texas jurisprudence.
. In February, 1854, he was appointed by the Governor one of the three commissioners author- ized by the legislature, " to prepare a code amend- ing, supplying, revising, digesting and arranging the laws of the State." The other members of the commission were John W. Harris and James Willie, and in their division of the labor, the preparation of a " Code of Civil Procedure " was assigned to Mr. Hartley. To this work he applied himself with great zeal, and with an ambition that the civil code of Texas should be superior to that of any other State in the Union; and as an adjunet to its value and merits he prepared a complete system of forms to be used in all eivil proceedings; but the State was not prepared to adopt a new civil code, and its publication was postponed.
The assiduity with which he pursued his labors upon this work, and which was unremittedly ap- plied to his duties as court reporter and the de- mands of his profession, finally undermined a naturally robust and vigorous constitution. He became a martyr to his industry and ambition, and died of apoplexy of the brain at his residence in the city of Galvestou ou the 13th of January, 1859.
Mr. Hartley was a thorough scholar. Possessed of a patient fondness for investigation and the acquisition of knowledge, he had from his early youth devoted his life to its pursuit, and his mind was disciplined by a thorough and systematic training, and expanded by constant intellectual nourishment. Before he left his native State he bad attracted the attention of Judge Jeremiah Black, who was at that time Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, whose friendship he seenred and retained. He had also won the interest and esteem of Mr. Buchanan, who gave him flattering testi. monials as a sesame to public confidence in Texas.
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INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEX.IS.
As a lawyer his philosophical turn of mind led him to closely investigate the relations of things, and to study their correct association; benee bis skill in analysis was acute and his powers of compari- son of a high order. He was careful in the selee- tion of bis premises, and when conscious of their correctness, his conclusions were deduced in a clear and logical train. He had accustomed himself to look at both sides of a question and, perceiving the proper line of attack, he was prepared to adopt the most effectual line of defense.
Nothwithstanding his devotion to his profession, and his ambition to attain a high position at the. bar, Mr. Hartley took a deep interest in the politi- cal issues of his day, and sought to measure all doubtful questions by the authority of the constitu- tion. He was a good constitutional lawyer and his patriotism was kindled by a discussion of its inter- pretation and the merits of its provisions. He was exemplary in his private and social life. Reared by a Christian mother, he was early guided into the walks of piety and at his death was a member of the Episcopal church. He was one of the few precocious youths. whose after-lives realized the hopes of parental ambition and the promises of early years.
He possessed a high sense of honor, and his con- duct was guided by an enlightened judgment and
sensitive eonseience. When the legislature author- ized the Governor to subscribe for his digest it pre- seribed that the binding should be " law calf " and when his publishers remonstrated against that kind of binding and suggested " law sheep," the usual material for such works, he insisted that it should be bound in the material designated by the legislature, though it was apparent that the requirement was the resulteither of ignorance orinadvertence. Inhispro- fessional intereourse he was characterized by fair- ness and candor ; a temper rarely disturbed by pas- sion and a judgment never betrayed by impulse. The amenity of his manners and the unobtrusive- ness of his character, added to a native goodness of heart, endeared bim to all and to none more than Lis brethren at the bar.
He was greatly devoted to his family, and his home life was pure, simple and almost pathetic in its tenderness. Surviving him and residing at Gal- veston, Mr. Hartley left a widow and one daughter. His widow is still living, being now numbered among the old residents of that city. His daughter, Miss Jerian Black Hartley, died unmarried in 1894. His only son died in infancy, so that there are no descendants now living of this pioneer lawyer, but his works will preserve his name and memory as long as there remains an annal of Texas jurisprudence.
GEORGE CLARK,
WACO.
The history of Texas for the past quarter of a century could not be truthfully written without a resume of the career of Hon. George Clark. The memorable Prohibition campaign of 1887 is still fresh in the minds of the people. If a vote had been taken in the earlier part of the campaign, the pending amendment to the constitution prohibiting the manufacture or sale of malt, spirituous or vinous liquors in this State would have been adopted and, under the provisions of that amenduient, laws would have been passed violative of the dearest and most saered liberties of the people, domieil- iary visits inaugurated, and a system of espionage, spying and perjury established out of touch with this age and its civilization, necessarily tending to breed animosities that it would have required years to allay, and which, in faet, might never have been
allayed. The indications were that the Prohibi- tionists would carry the State by storm. Politi- cians are never in finer feather than when they can parade themselves as fearless and unselfish leaders ; but, as a matter of fact, the majority of them are the most subservient of followers, sail-trimmers whose greatest anxiety is to catch favorable popular breezes with which to waft themselves into office and keep themselves there. They regard such a thing as personal sacrifice in the defense of opinions very much as a majority of men do suicide - as an act of insanity. This truth was never more vividly illustrated than during the prog- ress of the exciting contest referred to. One publie man of prominence after another, thinking that the amendment would be adopted, published open letters favoring it, although by doing
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so they abandoned the position they had previously held. The larger number of lead- ers who had not taken this step sulked in their tents, or remained discreetly silent, waiting for the outcome. At this critical moment Judge Clark threw himself into the breaeli, organized the anti- prohibition forces and in a short time had the oppo- sition on the run and begging quarter and, when the sun set upon the day of election, he had led the way to one of the most remarkable, signal and brilliant political victories ever won in any State of the American Union. The question was thoroughly argued and was decided upon its merits. He was the hero of the hour - the foremost and most dis -. tinguished figure in the political arena in Texas, the idol of the people. If he had desired office, he could have gotten anything within the gift of the people, but he desired none. It was sufficient to him to enjoy the calm consciousness of having done his duty, without the expectation or desire of re- ceiving any reward whatever. Nor did he there- after consent to become a candidate until, as the champion of principles upon whose triumph he believed depended the prosperity of the country, he led the forlorn-hope in the Clark-Hogg guber- natorial campaign of 1892 and conducted a cam- paign, which led to more temperate action upon the part of those in power than eould otherwise have been expected. He is now the recognized leader in Texas in another great contest, that is being made in the interest of what he believes to be the maintenance of a sound financial system by the United States. His purity of purpose and his learning as a lawyer and exceptional ability as a statesman are generally recognized throughout Texas and throughout the country.
He was born in Eutaw, Alabama, July 18, 1841. His father was James Blair Clark, a native of Pennsylvania, who was partially reared at Chilli- cothe, Ohio, when it was the capital of the State, and in the State of Kentucky by his uncle, Alex- ander Blair. His mother's maiden name was Mary Erwin. She was a native of Virginia and was reared and educated at Mount Sterling, Ky. James B. Clark and Mary Erwin were married at Mount Sterling in 1825, and at once emigrated to the State of Alabama, where the former rose to eminence at the bar and was for many years Chancellor of the Middle Division of that State. He died in 1873 and his wife in 1863. Nine children were born to them, seven sons and two daughters. George was the seventh son. He was educated in the private schools of his native place and entered the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa in 1857. At the beginning of the war between the States in 1861 he left college
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