BRAMAN'S
INFORMATION ABOUT TEXAS.
CAREFULLY PREPARED
BY  D. E. E. BRAMAN,
OP MATAGORDA, TEXAS.
PHILADELPHIA:
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.
1858.
I 11
to, 
, B s II
i a  - cid l
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern
District of Pennsylvania. 
TO THE PUBLIC.
THIS little volume has been written solely for
the benefit of persons seeking information about
Texas, and the matters herein contained are definite and reliable.  The author, within the last
ten years, has received scores of letters from
abroad, making inquiries about the soil, climate,
and productions of the country, the land system,
land claims, taxes, and all the other various
questions which suggest themselves to minds
stimulated by curiosity or interest; hence, the
present volume. There are men and women, in
every State in the Union, having interests in
Texas, of one kind or another, to many of
whom the information herein contained will be
(iii)
Q:S 
TO THE PUBLIC.
of vital importance.   There  are others, also,
who would like to cast their future lots in this
favored land; but they find it so difficult to get
reliable information about the soil, climate, land
system, and other important matters, that they
hesitate, lest, when too late, they should rue the
change. I have, therefore, endeavored to collect
and collate all of those descriptions of practical
knowledge which will be of most interest and
benefit to such persons. I acknowledge myself
under obligations, for valuable information, to
those excellent journals, the "Galveston News"
and "State Gazette," published at Austin; and
further deponent saith not.
D. E. E. BRAMAN.
MATAGORDA, Texa8.
iv 
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Page
Information for Emigrants about different portions of Texas, 9
CHAPTER II.
Description of Counties..............................
Anderson county..............................
Burleson   "................................
Coryell    "................................
Denton    "................................
Ellis     "................................
Goliad    "..............................
Gonzales   "................................
Hays      "................................
Henderson, and adjoining counties.................
Johnson    "................................
Kerr      "......................................
CHAPTER III.
Description of Counties (continued)......................
Medina county................................
Matagorda".................................
Llano     "................................
1*                                    (v)
24
24
25
26
28
29
30
31
32
33
36
36
37
37
39
47 
CONTENTS.
Page
48
49
51
51
52
53
54
54
55
55
57
Navarro county.................................
Orange    ".................................
Parker    "..................................
Polk      ".................................
Robertson  ".................................
Rusk      "...............................5
Smith     ".................................
Travis    "..................................
Van Zandt".................................
Washington".................................
Young     ".................................
CHAPTER IV..
Stock-Raising............................-  61
CHAPTER V.
Sheep - Honey-bees................................... 74
CHAPTER VI.
Wheat............................................... 77
CHAPTER VII.
Credit............................................... 80
CHAPTER VIII.
Schools.............................................. 89
CHAPTER IX.
Taxation.............................................  92
To persons who own Lands in Texas, and have ne           glected to pay Taxes....................... 93
Advice to Non-Residents owning Lands in Texas.... 93
vi 
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER X.
Page
98
101
102
105
Heirship, and Rights to Property by Inheritance..........
Marital Rights................................
Forms for proving up Heirship.....................
Advice to Heirs.................................
CHAPTER XI.
Conveyances of Real Estate............................ 107
CHAPTER XILI.
Legal Rights and Remedies............................ 116
Mortgages..................................... 116
Releases of Mortgages.......................... 122
Liens.......................................... 123
Married Women................................ 124
Remarks and Advice........................... 126
Limitation Laws.............................. 128
Supreme Court.................................. 129
District Courts.................................. 130
County Courts................................... 143
Justices' Courts...........................144
CHAPTER XIII.
Lands................................................ 147
Of Head-Rights, First Class...................... 152
Second"...................... 153
" Third  "....................... 154
"   Fourth"...................... 155
Of Military Land-Claims......................... 155
Of Special Military Grants....................... 155
Of Locations and Surveys........................ 156
Vii' 
viii                  CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIV.
Page
Court of Claims....................................... 158
CHAPTER XV.
Itinerary.....................................164
CHAPTER XVI.
General View of the Country............................ 166
CHAPTER XVII.
Names of Deceased Land Claimants.................... 171
Notice......................................... 173
CHAPTER XVIII.
Post-Offices in Texas.................................. 174
CHAPTER XIX.
Counties and County Sites............................ 182
CHAPTER XX.
Miscellaneous........................................ 184
CHAPTER XXI.
Statistics............................................. 186
CHAPTER XXII.
Remarks on Present and Future Prospects............... 190 
INFORMATION ABOUT TEXAS.
CHAPTER I.
INFORMATION FOR EMIGRANTS ABOUT DIFFERENT POR                 TIONS OF TEXAS.
THE middle and northern counties of the State are
settling faster than those on the seaboard, and the
tide of emigration, which is continually rolling in
through Arkansas and Louisiana like a spring flood,
will, in the course of three years, so change the face
of nature, that strangers would not believe the
results; to this conclusion are we brought, not by
our desire for aggrandizement, but by what has
transpired within the last like short period of time.
The emigration for the western and seaboard counties generally arrives by water, and is not so numerous or so regular; the foreigners seek the western
counties, to commingle with their countrymen who
fortunately came earlier.
I have, for convenience, divided the State by certain arbitrary designations, as follows, viz:
Northern counties, all above 32~ of north latitude.
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INFORMATION ABOUT TEXAS.
Middle counties, all above 31~ and below 32~.
Interior counties, all above the seaboard counties
and below 31~, and east of the Colorado River.
Western counties, all west of the Colorado and
south of 31~.
Seaboard counties, all bordering on the Gulf of
Mexico and on the connecting bays.
Emigrants owning ten slaves or upwards, and who
desire to raise cotton or sugar, will find it most in
accordance with their interests to select some of the
fine alluvial soils of the seaboard counties, east of the
Colorado.  Emigrants intending to rely mainly on
stock-raising, will find no better locations than on the
edges of the large prairies that lie between the alluvial lands; in the aggregate they are vast, and inexhaustible in herbage.
Emigrants haying negroes, but less than ten, can
do well in any part of Texas; I think, however, the
interior counties will suit their interests best, where
the lands are more diversified in quality and character, with smaller and better prairies for cultivation,
and more timber; where cotton, and all the grains
and fruits flourish, and come to perfection; and where
each planter or farmer can raise his own horses,
mules, and cattle.
This region possesses advantages which allow of
the combination or intermixture of farming;, planting,
and stock-raising, all together, or either one of those
employments separately; but it is found most profitable and comfortable to accept all the boons of
10
I 
INFORMATION ABOUT TEXAS.
Nature, and not to be confined to one calling or product exclusively.
The people are more rural and domestic, and less
aristocratic than in the seaboard planting region.
The farm or plantation is the home of the owner and
his family, and those persons who possess slaves either
labor with them, or superintend them personally;
happiness, enjoyment, and independence, dwell among
this people, and their few slaves are component parts
of their families, and partake of the joys and sorrows
of their protectors. All those portions of Middle
and Interior Texas, lying on or near the Colorado,
Brazos, Trinity, Sabine, and Neches rivers, and their
tributaries, are very fertile, and quite densely timbered. The cotton planters who leave the seaboard
settle here.  Population is very generally diffused
over the interior counties, and the cities, towns, public improvements, substantial private residences, snug
farms and plantations, sleek cattle and horses, and
the long trains of ox wagons going to and from the
towns, laden with what the soil yields, or some equivalents, bespeak an easy independence among the
people.
The eastern portion of Interior Texas was settled
in early times; still there is plenty of good land for
sale at low prices.
Middle Texas, west of the Trinity, was settled
much more recently than the former, and is not, as a
general thing, so desirable a country; nevertheless,
the counties lying on the Trinity, and all west of it,
11 
INFORMATION ABOUT TEXAS.
have much excellent land; the further west we go
the better the land becomes; and between the Brazos
and Colorado they are equal to any portion of the
State.
This region is much diversified, and contains many
varieties of land, some of the very best quality, and
much that is considered in Texas poor. Some large
districts of timber, and again other parts where timber trees are a novelty; here the prairie lands are the
best for cultivation, being easy of tillage, and very
productive in wheat and all the cereals, but wheat
seems to be the staple production. Of fruits, apples,
pears, quinces, and plums, ripen to perfection.  Industrious emigrants from the older States will better
their conditions amazingly by seeking homes in Middle Texas. The climate is generally healthy; the
winters are short, and colder than on the seaboard;
the spring seasons mild, and glowing with budding
life; and the summers are long, dry, and sultry; the
autumns are pleasant and agreeable, neither too hot
nor too cold, and frequently encroach much on winter's dominion.
Water from wells is always cool and wholesome,
and the streams and springs are usually potable.
Some, however, hold minerals in solution, or other
deleterious matter, which requires the new-comer to
be cautious.
Northern Texas is the region destined to become
the most prosperous and thickly populated part of
the State, and, although but recently recognised as
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INFORMATION ABOUT TEXAS.
being within habitable bounds, has already a large
population.
I was told by some gentlemen, who recently travelled through Cook County, the most northern territory of the State, that they were scarce ever out of
sight of settlements. Wheat was selling at fifty cents
per bushel. This, it is true, is an evidence that the
demand is not commensurate with the production,
but it also shows a well adapted, productive soil, and
the interest is becoming so important, that a demand
will be created through the agency of railroads.
There are no large rivers in this region; but it is well
watered with brooks, rills, and streamlets, that incessantly flow, through all seasons.
The climate is exceedingly healthy, and the seasons are sufficiently marked by summer's heat and
winter's cold, by the bland zephyrs of spring, and
the still mellow autumnal days and frosty nights, to
give a pleasing variety to the course of the year. To
the industrious farmer, who has the health, will and
independence to till the soil, this region offers superior advantages to all other parts of the State; here
will be made the flour, butter, cheese, and salted
meats for the large seaport towns; this is the Goshen,
the land of promise of the Southern States. A
thrifty farmer, now living in Cook County, and who
has become rich, told me that he formerly lived in
the best wheat portion of the State of New York,
that he afterwards moved to Ohio, and from there to
Illinois, but that he had never seen such excellent
2
18 
INFORMATION ABOUT TEXAS.
land for wheat, or so large crops, in any of those grain
States, as in Cook County. The long distance of the
northern counties from the seaboard, and the majority
of them being far from any navigable stream, have
prevented emigrants who came by water from getting
so far inland, and the markets for productions being
distant, and difficult of access, a proper stimulus for
extensive and thorough cultivation of the soil is lacking.  I have been credibly informed, that a man with
a plough, drawn by one horse, may break up any of
the tillable soil in Cook, Fannin, Denton, Grayson,
and Lamar counties, so that he may plant wheat,
corn, and potatoes, and that the two latter require
very little after-cultivation. The prairie lands are
always preferred, being easier to cultivate than the
timber lands, and, in fact, are the only first-class soils.
The mode of travel, for emigrants to Middle and
Northern Texas, is the same that was practised by the
first emigrants from New England to Ohio and the
Western States, across the Alleghenies: highly primitive, and suggestive of patience and long suffering.
Northern Texas is infected with none of the pestiferous miasmatic vapors which arise, in many, otherwise desirable, localities, from swamps, morasses, and
stagnant ponds, and which are so fatal in many new
States. The climate is healthy, and restorative to
shattered  constitutions.   Nevertheless,  emigrants
should be careful, for a year or two, and not expose
themselves unnecessarily to wet, cold, or hot sun: in
the middle of the day, in summer, labor should be
14 
INFORMATION ABOUT TEXAS.
avoided: drink not the cold spring water when
heated, be carefill in diet, eat moderately, and of
simple, well-cooked food, eschew whiskey and all
other poisonous drinks, make daily ablutions of the
entire body, when first out of bed, and keep your
temper cool and your mind contented; and, if you
are an honest man, a good husband and father, your
health, under ordinary circumstances, will last to old
age, and until the human machine shall have been
worn out by lapse of time. I would also recommend that you keep on good terms with your wife,
govern your household like a Christian, and be at
peace with your neighbors: have a small library of
select works, and subscribe to one or two good newspapers, so that your evenings and leisure hours may
be spent profitably and agreeably, and yourself and
family receive intelligence, and keep informed of the
busily passing events of the old world.
Those emigrants who bring children should keep
them out of the hot sun and inclement weather, feed
them sparingly on simple food; no tea, or coffee, or
other narcotic stimulants; and bathe daily. I place
great confidence in the frequent outward use of cold
water, as a preventive and curative; and contend,
that accumulated dirt under the garments is just as
offensive and filthy as a dirty face or hands, and a
greater harbinger of ill-health. I do not make all
these recommendations because I think there is any
critical period or season here, called the acclimating;
but I know that emigrants are deprived of many of
15 
INFORMATION ABOUT TEXAS.
the comforts which they enjoyed in their old homes;
that they are necessarily subject to more exposure
and privations; that the care and anxiety for their
success, for the health and comfort of their families,
the uncertainties and disquietudes about a problematical future, all conduce to unhealthy excitement, and
disease; and, even in their native climate, under like
mental and physical exertion, sickness would result.
I can imagine what a destructive, trying, and expensive affliction sickness in an emigrant's family is;
how it stops all the wheels of advancement, distracts
the future plans and calculations, and swiftly eats
away the humble substance.  And then, if death
come- how terrible and overwhelming!- the cot
becomes desolate to the living, the beauties of the
new home, the wild scenery, the domestic arrangernents- all are turned into objects of loathing, the
precincts of the charnel. I would further caution
new-comers who desire peace, prosperity, and health,
to avoid lawyers, doctors, and quack medicines, and
all other unseemly monsters, and to attend strictly to
their domestic affairs. Firstly, after arriving, if not
before done, they should select a good tract of land;
for, in a country like this, where there is so much
for sale, a man should not be contented with any but
of the first quality. It is best to have it fronting on
a stream, if possible, where plenty of wood, for
fencing and fuel, is handy; and, if meandered by
creeks, brooks, or spring rills, it is all the more
desirable.   Let him  select, high ground  for his
16 
INFORMATION ABOUT TEXAS.
dwelling, protected, at the north, by timber or irregularities in the land; let the house, in the improvements, be first built -an humble edifice will answer
best: it should have a good floor and tight roof,
above all.  The house should stand on blocks of
wood or stone, at least two feet above the ground,
so that the fresh air may circulate freely: there
should be no chance for water to accumulate.under
the dwelling, for an instant: all stagnant pools anywhere should be dispelled. After the human dwelling comes the cow-pen, made, in the most convenient
mode, with strong rails and posts: then should be
purchased a few good cows, according to means and
advantages of prairie pasturage: then the animals
for a team; oxen are preferred, for small farmers, as
being less expensive, easier kept, and more readily
obtained; and the farmer can, after three years,
renew his team from his own stock, and turn out the
old oxen to make beef, when they are no longer fit
for work -they soon fatten on the prairies. Emigrants can always purchase lands in Texas on better
terms than in any of the other States, for the reason
that it was acquired from the sovereignty of the soil,
by the original possessors, by free gift.
An emigrant should never purchase less, at first,
than 320 acres of land: this can be acquired for a
small advance in money, and the balance on long
time- the purchaser giving his promissory note,
with mortgage on the land.
After finding a suitable tract, and the owner
2*
17 
INFORMATION ABOUT TEXAS.
thereof, and entering into negotiations, the emigrant
should have an examination, at the county clerk's
office, to see if the coveted land is free from all
incumnbrances, and the title in the ostensible owner.
Then resort to the district clerk's office, and see that
there are no judgments against the owner; also ascertain if all taxes are paid; after which, he may conclude his purchase, always being sure to take a conveyance, with full covenants.
After the dwelling and cow-pen, the next labor is
to select the richest soil out of the tract for cultivation, and plough enough for the first year's corn,
wheat, potatoes, oats, millet, and minor vegetables.
ie should commence ploughing immediately after
arranging a shelter for his family, and an enclosure
for a few milch-cows. No matter what time lhe
arrives, even in the summer, the ploughing, at that
season, turns in the heavy coat of vegetation, which
improves, lightens, and quickens the soil: another
slight ploughing, in the fall, before sowing grains,
conduces much to a good yield. The ploughing for
corn and potatoes should be done in January, or the
first of February. Planting may be done in the
latter month, and along until the last of April. It
is true that the soil very seldom gets more than one
breaking up; and that, with this, good crops are
raised, in ordinary seasons; but, if time can be
spared, more husbandry will well remunerate the
extra labor.
It is a momentous affair for a family, in the older
18 
INFORMATION ABOUT TEXAS.
States, surrounded with the ties of relations and
friends, with local attachments for home, and all its
recollections and heart-ties, to bid good-bye forever;
to take a long last look of places and friends, which
affection, time, and long familiarity, have made too
dear; to quit all these, and plunge into the great
stream of emigration, which leads, the adventurer
knows not whither, requires nerve; for it is a very
serious matter, and ought to be well considered and
weighed, before ventured on. Still, if concluded
on, a determined will and mature calculation should
accompany the undertaking, which is to cast a lifelong destiny- no flinching, for on manly resolution
depends success. It would always be better if those
persons desiring to emigrate to Texas, with their
families, could come and look at the country, before a final remove; but distance, expense, and
consumption of time, generally prevent such cautionary measures. Therefore, a knowledge of the
country must be acquired through the perceptions
and judgments of other people; and, as men are
governed in their views and representations by many
causes, emigrants are frequently unhappily disappointed, and more especially if they are from the
older States: the discomforts of a log-cabin; the
jolting of an ox-cart, which takes the place here of
a pleasure carriage; the homely roughness of the
neighbors; illy suit the tastes of fastidious persons.
But hardships, privations, and discomforts, must
ever, for a season, be endured by the emigrant.
19 
INFORMATION ABOUT TEXAS.
The sparseness and distance of neighbors (and perhaps the nearest may be a Dutchman), makes it
lonely for the family at first, but this dreariness soon
wears off; the scenery is new, everything around is
strange and unusual; the prairies, the herbage, the
trees and rocks belong, as it were, to a different creation; even the sky above is not the native heaven, the
phenomena of Nature seem to be governed by new
and strange laws.
The contemplation of these fills up the dreary void
left in the mind by far distant objects, and the affections of the family gradually become concentrated
on the new home. A few years of quiet industry
pass by, the neighborhood fills up apace, small villages start up and grow with unprecedented rapidity,
roads and cross roads and parallel roads mark the
country, stores and churches and schools are not distant in any direction, markets and speculators come
in competition for the coveted productions of the
soil, people of wealth and extended enterprise begin
to settle about, and lands and property rise higher
and higher, until the emigrant finds himself wealthy,
his family are able to have the comforts and luxuries
of refined society, and to educate and bring up their
children in the ways of respectability and usefuilness.
Emigrants should bring with them as many garden
and other rare seeds as convenient; the more common seeds will be found in the country. Everything
else let them turn into money, for it will be more expensive to bring cumbrous household and farming
20 
INFORMATION ABOUT TEXAS.
implements than to purchase them, unless they intend
settling near the coast.
Emigrants from the Eastern, Southern-Atlantic,
and Aliddle States, will do best to come by sea to
Galveston, or Matagorda Bay.
The most economical, profitable, and pleasant way
for settling in a new country, is to proceed after this
plan: -Where there are eight or ten families in a
neighborhood, who have made up their minds to seek
a new home, let them organize themselves into a
company, under written articles of agreement; each
head of a famlily binds himself to furnish so much
money for the general object; then ascertain the
wholesale cost of transporting all of the families and
effects to the shores of Texas; one of the members,
a shrewd, capable man, is sent out to bargain for a
suitable tract of land, that, when divided, shall suit
all of their several wants; the first year they farm in
common, and until, by their united labor, each family
is furnished with a dwelling, fences, &c.; after that,
when a good supply of grain has been raised to furnish the community until the next harvest, the land
can be divided among them according to their respective advancements of capital. In this way a
thrifty settlement at once arises, and becomes the
nucleus around which other emigrants are constantly
attracted, and in this manner can be purchased much
cheaper. The dreariness of a solitary emigrant's life
is never felt by members of a community, and the
comforts and advantages of homogeneous society are
21 
INFORMATION ABOUT TEXAS.
retained, while land and property become immediately enhanced two or three hundred per cent.
Western Texas is an extensive country, and has
many varieties of soil and productions. Excepting
on the bottom lands of the rivers and water-courses,
the people are mostly engaged in stock-raising; many
of them exclusively, and others in connection with
farming. This region, below 30~, and west to the
Rio Grande, is very subject to long droughts during
the summer; still the crops on the bottom lands seldom fail.  No portion is sickly, but all is favorable
to the life and energy of man and beast. The principal grass on the prairies is the far-famned mesquit,
deservedly renowned for its universal abundance and
nutritious qualities; during all the winter season,
and after it has become sere and yellow, cattle and
horses will eat it with the same avidity and benefit
as when green. Of late years, large quantities have
been cured and baled for distant markets, and the U.
S. military posts always prefer it for their cavalry
horses to the imported hay from cultivated grasses.
I would advise emigrants who want good  and
cheap lands, with plenty of mesquit prairie for stock
range, to purchase on the Nueces, Rio Frio, or some
of their branches. This is a desirable part of Western Texas, and has as many natural advantages as
can be asked by any reasonable man. Land sells at
from $1'50 to $2'00 per acre. The timber on the
streams is peccan, hackberry, several kinds of oak,
22 
INFORMATION ABOUT TEXAS.
cypress, and mulberry; on the prairies are much live
oak and mesquit timber.
There are many other portions of the west where
the land is better adapted for raising cotton, but none
that will so well suit the emigrant of moderate capital, and fill the measure of his utmost expectations
and desires.
23 
CHAPTER II.
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
ANDERSON COUNTY.
THIS is an interior county, on the Trinity River,
the centre being 180 miles from Galveston. The
Trinity is navigable for steamers far above this
county, though not at all times to be depended on.
The face of the country is level, with timber lands
on the streams, and luxuriant prairies between.
Palestine, the county-seat, is well situated in the
centre of this flourishing county. There is very little
rock, and the soil is easily cultivated. Palestine
contains a population of 1200. The business of the
town is confined to retail trade with the surrounding
country; there are twelve stores here, among which
are two drug stores and a book store; all seem to be
prospering. The county gives one thousand votes,
and makes about 300,000 lbs. cotton.
The land is quite fertile, producing, on an average,
one bale, or 500 lbs. clean cotton per acre, or thirty
bushels of corn to the acre. Cotton seems to be the
best adapted to the lands of this county, but wheat
grows and produces well. The crops are sent down
(24) 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
the Trinity to Galveston, or hauled to Houston by
ox teams.
BURLESON COUNTY.
This county lies north, and adjoining Washington
County, and has been settled for many years; the
lands are fertile; distance of county-seat from Galveston is 150 miles, and from Matagorda 150 miles.
Though the crops of 1856 were short in this rich
county, the farmers made a large amount of bacon,
depending altogether on the oak mast; farmers from
other counties during the last fall drove many hogs
here to fatten; still there was an abundance of swine
food for all. The lands of Burleson County are steadily advancing in value.  Unimproved bottom lands
are worth $10 per acre; uplands are worth from two
to three dollars per acre.
The "Old San Antonio road," which divides Robertson and Brazos counties, east of the Brazos River,
passes centrally through Burleson County from east
to west. This county is also largely interested in
stock-raising, and it is said that there are now at least
$50,000 worth of beeves ready for market.
Caldwell, the county-seat, is a pleasant, healthy,
and flourishing village, situated on the San Antonio
road, about eleven miles west of the Brazos; it contains seven dry goods and other stores, and fortunately but one place where liquor is sold. There are
good male and female schools, affording excellent
opportunities of educating children.   A  Masonic
Lodge, a Temple of Honor, and one of the most
3
25 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
capacious and best built brick court-houses in the
State; also a Methodist and a Baptist church building.  The population numbers about 300, who are
moral in their habits, intelligent, and courteous to
strangers.
CORYELL COUNTY.
This county takes its name from a creek, which
derived its name from a man named Coryell, who
had a survey of land on this creek, and was killed
several years ago by Indians.  The county is divided
into prairie, timber, mountains and valleys. The
Leon River is the main stream, which runs into the
county about ten miles south of the north-west
corner; it then makes a bend more southward, and
runs near the centre of the county; thence out to the
south of the north-east corner, about eight miles.
The main tributary of the Leon, on the north, is
Coryell creek, which has its source near the northwest corner of the county, and runs south-east to the
Leon, about twelve miles below Gatesville. East of
this stream and the Leon is prairie, good soil, and
fine stock range. The prairies will soon be dotted
over with settlements and small farms, for this is a
paradise for the small farmer. Rails delivered on
this prairie cost from $2'50 to $3 per hundred.
There are mountains on both sides of Coryell creek,
which furnish large quantities of cedar. The valleys
on this creek are small; the Leon has much valley
land, which produces grain of all kinds in abundance. There is also some sandy post oak land,
26 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
excellent for hog-raising, from  the abundance of
mast.
There are several small streams running into the
Leon from the south-west side, the largest of which
are Plum creek, Ilenson's creek, and Owl creek; the
first of these empties into the Leon above Gatesville,
the second ten miles below, and the third below the
county line, in Bell County.
These streams have all their hills and valleys.
fIany beautiful situations for small farms are to be
found in the valleys, with first-rate soil, and timber
on the hills and creeks. Hogs, sheep, goats, and
small stocks of neat cattle do well, and afford an easy
income to the farmer, with very little trouble and
outlay. CowhouLse creek is a large, clear stream,
having its source in Comanche County, and runs east
through this county; its valleys of good land are
from a quarter of a mile to two miles wide, chiefly
prairie, with timber on the creeks for building, firewood, and fencing; a very good stock country, and
wrell watered.  This stream empties into the Leon
in Bell County, six miles above Belton.  Fencing,
on Cowhouse creek, costs about $2 per hundred
rails. There has been no cotton planted in this
county; wheat is a staple crop. There are but two
mnills in the county; one owned by R. G. Grant, a
quarter of a mile fromn Gatesville, on the Leon; the
other belonging to Mir. Jones, near the Bell County
line, on the same stream. This year, as is very well
known, was so very dry that it is no criterion; in
27 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
common seasons, mnills onil the Leon will run nine
months in the year. All of the streams have good
mill-seats, yet unoccupied.
Gatesville, the county-seat, is the only town. It
is pleasantly situated on the north side of the Leon,
onl an eminence. The town consists of about thirty
houses, including court-house, jail, shops, and offices.
There are three stores, two hotels, three lawyers, two
physicians, and several mechanics; the professional
men have very little business. The population is
from all the States, but principally from the western
portion of the Southern States.  Society is good, and
churches and school-houses are being built in various
parts of the county. Improved lands can be bought
at from $3 to $6 per acre; unimproved lands at
from $1-50 to $4 per acre. There are yet some
choice tracts of vacant land in this county.  From
Austin to Gatesville is 80 miles; the nearest and
best route being by Georgetown, thence by the Fort
Gates military road.
DENTON COUNTY.
This is a new county, in the extreme northern part
of the State. It is a good grain and fruit region;
surface level and easy to cultivate, being divided into
prairie and timber; frequently large crops of wheat
and corn have been planted, with only the assistance
of one horse and a plough, to break the soil.
Denton is the name of the county-seat, which is
situate six miles west of Alton, the former county
28 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
town; it is a delightful place, located in a neck
of prairie, connecting with the Grand Prairie.
There  are 600 voters in this county, and immigration is rolling in like a flood-tide in a northern
latitude. Pork is worth 21 cents per lb.; flour
$3'50 per cwt.; corn 60 to 70 cents per bushel; and
wheat 75 cents. The present low price and abundance of provisions offer great facilities to the emigrant, and those persqns who desire new homes cannot do better in any part of the United States than
in Denton. This county has good cattle and hog
ranges; being situated in the "Cross Timber" country, there is a superabundance of mast, and hogs
fatten on it, without an ear of corn. Distance from
the town of Alton to Austin is 200 miles.
ELLIS COUNTY.
This county is in the northern part of the State,
and above the Pacific Railroad.
Waxahatchie, the county-seat, is decidedly a beautiful and rising town, situated contiguous to a
good supply of timber, blessed with plenty of excellent water, healthful, and surrounded with the best
wheat-growing region to be found.  Emigrants with
small means, and who desire to cultivate a remunerating soil, cannot do better than go to Ellis County.
Sheep, cattle, and horses do well, and have an abundance of free pasture.
3*
29 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
GOLIAD COUNTY.
This is a western county, and lies near the Gulf of
ltexico; the San Antonio River runs through the
centre; there are several smaller streams.  The land
is good for cotton and corn, that on the Blanco and
Medio being very superior. For stock-raising this
region has not its equal out of Texas.  Lands are
worth from $1'50 to $3 per acre; immigration is now
turning in this direction, and lands will rise in price.
The climate is healthful at all seasons, it being sufficiently near the Gulf to enjoy the exhilarating breezes
in summer and modifying influences in winter.'
Stranger, if you have a small money capital, and are
blessed with a large faiiily, go to Goliad County
while yet the lands are cheap, acquire a few hundred
acres, buy a few cattle and horses, and the foundation
of your fortune is laid, firmly and securely; you
never will regret the move if you take this advice;
your only sorrow will be that you did not come
sooner.
This charming county lies about thirty miles north
of Aransas Bay, and is well situated for the cultivation of cotton, and stock-raising. It has an intelligent
and refined population, and is favored with two wellconducted literary institutions: Aranama College
and Paine Female Institute.  The town of Goliad is
the county-seat; the old Mexican town of La Bahia
is situated opposite Goliad. The view firom the
hei,ghts of La Bahia is indeed an enchanrting one,
30 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
and seems especially so when bathed in the sunlight
of a serene and cloudless sky. On the left, as you
ascend to the mission, rise romantic hills, sloping into
various plains, which are, even in winter, covered
with merry green, and through which the rippling
surface of the meandering San Antonio flows, in all
its sparkling and peculiar beauty.  The lovely town
of Goliad, with its neat white houses, amidst overshadowilng trees, lies beyond; and towering above
them all, upon opposite summits, stand Aranama
College and Paine Female Institute. On the right
of the ascent an almost interminable, but undulating
prairie, stretches far around, presenting a scene of
classic and picturesque beauty. The old mission
church is still in a state of preservation, though surrounded by broken walls and crumbling bastions;
the hand of modern renovation has in a measure
rendered the interior fit for religious worship.
GONZALES COUNTY.
This county is west of the Colorado, and was settled in the early history of Texas. There are extensive deposits of iron and coal in this county. The
distance from Gonzales to Port Lavacca is 75 miles.
The lands of this county are fertile and easily cultivated. A recent writer says of the land on Peach
Creek, in that county: - " It is as fertile as the river
valleys, and has the immense advantage of sustaining
drought with less injury to the crops; last year (1856),
notwithstanding the unprecedented drought, the yield
81 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
of corn averaged from twenty to forty bushels. The
scenery is beautiful, of the description known as rolling prairies. The long slopes are covered with thick,
soft grass, and crowned with groves of noble live oaks
arld other trees; building-stone is found in abundance
throughout the county, and the numerous little
brooks of clear running water afford every advantage
for stock. Sheep are raised in considerable numbers,
and are healthy and very profitable. Hogs, likewise,
are abundant and thrifty, and increase rapidly.
This desirable region is rapidly filling up with
intelligent and substantial men; people of means,
liberality, and enterprise, who will take much interest
in building up churches and schools, to meet the increasing necessities of the country. It will be well
for emigrants with capital to take a look at this
county.
HAYS COUNTY.
This is a western county; the surface is diversified
by hill, valley, rivulet, and brook. It is a good stockraising, and farming county, and has a genial climate;
here are some of thie most valuable water privileges
in the State of Texas; coal, iron, salt, and other
minierals and metals, are said to abound.  The distance from the centre of the county to Port Lavacca
is 135 miles. San Alarcos is a town at the Springs
of that name, and Stringtown is a settlement built
along a beautiful valley at the foot of the mountain
range; these are both charming sites. A recent
writer says: -"There is not a more beautiful and
32 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
romantic spot than the San Marcos country; on the
north the mountains afford protection against the
'Northers,' on the south the country spreads out in
beautiful prairie valleys, which make most excellent
farms; on many of them are now (January, 1857)
large fields of wheat in a flourishing condition, which
cover the earth with a lovely mantle of deep green."
San Marcos contains several stores, a tavern, church,
and several other public buildings; it is situated on
the west side of the San Marcos River, a beautiful,
transparent stream, which gushes out in a large
spring, forming a miniature Switzer lake at the foot
of a mountain. This stream constitutes a splendid
water-power, capable of moving any amount of machinery; a cotton factory is under progress at this
place; a large manufacturing town will arise here,
equal in importance and wealth to any of the New
England towns.  The San Antonio and Gulf Railroad, now in vigorous progress of construction, with
every guarantee of speedy completion, will give to
this western portion of the State an impetus on the
road to prosperity and aggrandizement which cannot
now be realized. Lands can now be bought in this
county at from $2 to $10 per acre.
HENDERSON, AND ADJOINING COUNTIES.
This is the next county above Anderson, on the
Trinity River, and is fast filling up with an industrious population. Public attention has been more
turned to this section of late, and we are convinced,
33 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
from the inducements offered, that no portion of
Texas will improve, for the next ten years, in increased population and wealth, more than it will. As
an average of the production of the timbered counties, we would say that, in cotton, through a series of
years, the farmers would raise 800 pounds per acre;
a No. 1 farmer could safely calculate on 1000 or 1200
pounds. Farmers do not generally take so much
pains in the cultivation of their lands as in most of
the other Southern States; they seemn to get indolent
and careless, which is partly caused by the fact, that
here a man can raise more with a little labor than is
usual elsewhere. The lands of this county are well
adapted to corn; even in the driest years they will
produce from twenty-five to thirty bushels per acre;
they also produce good wheat where it has been tried,
very little having been planted until within the last
two years. Last fall (1857) more was planted than
usual, and it is now very promising. We are satisfied
that this is one of the healthiest regions under the
sun; here there are but few local causes for disease;
and the water is pure and wholesome. Lands are
cheap in this portion of Texas; in Rusk, Cherokee,
Smith, Anderson, and Harrison counties, which are in
the highest state of improvement of any in the State,
and the most densely populated, they are worth from
$2'50 to $10 per acre. It is beyond question a very
superior hog country; most of the farmers feed their
hogs but little, they becoming sufficiently fat to kill by
running in the woods; meat this season has averaged
34 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
about 421 cents net; corn is worth 50 cents per bushel;
cattle about $6 per head by the stock; poultry abundant; butter 20 cents per pound. The lands lay
generally level, and there are very few rocks to interfere with cultivation. There are, from Henderson to
Tyler, in Smith County, numerous little towns
springing up, in all of which the school-house and
church are prominent establishments.  The town of
Tyler is a considerable place, beautifully laid off, and
is the county-seat of Smith County. The court-house
is a fine sightly brick building; the houses are all
good; some of the dwelling-houses are models of
elegance and comfort. Education is in a flourishing
condition, and measures are on foot to build a University at Tyler.
Kickapoo, in Anderson county, is described as a
thriving town, and doing considerable business.
The lands in this section are red, sandy, and very
productive: there is much timber and little prairie.
(orn was plenty last fall, and sold for fifty cents per
bushel.  There is not much stock in this region, but
it is well adapted to swine, and pork is very cheap
every fall.
Sumnpter, in Trinity county, is a new place, it being
only two years old; but gives evidence of much public spirit and enterprise.
A court-house has been commenced, at this place:
the material is of brick, and the building is to be two
stories high, and of ample dimensions.
36 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
JOHNSON COUNTY.
This county lies above the line of the Pacific railroad (32~), and is in the midst of the wheat region.
It is of quite recent organization: the lands are good
and very cheap; the prairies are said to be of the
best quality.  We learn that the population is increasing, by large and substantial additions of emigrants.  The famous heights, "Pilot Knob"  and
"Camanche Peak," are in this county.  Distance
from Matagorda to the centre is 250 miles, and from
Port Lavacca is 250 miles.
KERR COUNTY.
This is a new county, in the western portion of the
State. The country is much broken, and diversified
with hills and valleys: the hillside springs send forth
their brooks and rills, to make this charming region
more lovely, and permeate the virgin soil with their
life-giving powers. Stock of all kinds do well; and
it is said that the soil and climate are well adapted
to the extensive culture of grapes and other fruit.
This county is fast filling up with substantial settlers, who are reaping the benefits of cheap lands.
It is one of the most healthful counties in the State.
There are many indications of valuable metals and
minerals here.
Distance from the centre of the county to Port
Lavacca, is 180 miles.
36 
CHIAPTER III.
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES (CONTINUED).
MEDINA COUNTY.
A great deal-of the surface of this county is made
up of hill, dale, valley, and prairie: it is well watered
with mountain streamlets, on some of which thriving
manufacturing villages will arise. This is a western
county, and is settled mostly with foreigners. Castroville, the seat of Medina county, is most happily
located, with regard to fertility of soil, abundance of
water, timber and grazing lands. It extends over a
level prairie, following the meanderings of the Medina; is surrounded by gentle, well-timbered hills,
from the top of which the eye embraces the whole
valley, which has been made a perfect garden by the
settlers.  Twelve years ago, Castroville was one of
the most attractive huntinig-grounds of the fierce
Lipan Indians.  It derives its name from MIr. Castro,
who obtained, in 1842, a contract from the Texan
government to introduce foreign emigrants.   The
majority of the settlers are from the French and
German borders of the Rhine, and seem to be hardy
and  industrious  citizens.   They  speak  German
4                                  (37) 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
amongst themselves, although most of them have
sufficient knowledge of the English language to be
able to transact business with Americans.   There
are three schools in this thriving place, one of which is
free; and the rising generation are receiving inestimable  advantages.   I do really believe that the
foreign children acquire an education, in English,
sooner than those born of American parents. I have
frequently seen German children, of ten or twelve
years old, who were much further advanced than
their compeers of more favored birth.
The town numbers 1000 souls, within the incorporated limits, independent of a large rural population in the close vicinity.
The court-house is a substantial building: there is
also a Catholic and a Protestant church, the former
of which is an elegant stone building, and would be
creditable to a wealthier community. Three large
stores, several smaller ones, a brewery, and an excellent
water-power grist-mill, all doing, good business, indicate thrift and prosperity. The dwellings and improvements show that the inhabitants have exchanged
their dejected condition, in their faderland, for com fort and abundance.
The principal Wealth of this county arises from
corn-planting, and raising cattle, horses, hogs, and
poultry; for which a ready market is found in the
nmilitary posts farther west. The hauling of stores
and subsistence for the army is also an important
and profitable branch of business.
38 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
Three settlements, viz., Quihi, Vandenburgh, and
Diuanis, are west of Castroville, and improve fast.
This portion of Texas will, in a few years, be thickly
settled; and American enterprise and energy, joined
with German industry, perseverance, and frugality,
will make it the wealthiest portion of our State.
MATAGORDA COUNTY.
This county is bounded onl the north by Wharton
county, on the south by the Gulf of Mexico, on the
east by Brazoria cotunty and Gulf of Mexico, and
on the west by Calhoun and Jackson counties.
The area is 1334 square miles, about 510 of which
are covered by Matagorda and Trespalacios bays.
The general surface is level, and classed as bottom and
prairie lands. There is much alluvial bottom-land in
this county, which is nearly all well adapted to the
culture of cotton, sugar-cane, rice, and Indian corn,
besides many other productions of minor importance
-sugar and cotton being, at present, the staples for
exportation.
The alluvial soils, or what is called the planting
lands, lie on the east side of the Colorado river, and
are the bottom-lands, or deposits, which it has taken
untold ages to accumulate on Old Caney, Peach
Creek, Sinville Bayou, and Live Oak. There are
several other smaller streams on the east side of the
Colorado, with good bottom-lands and timnber, not
extensive enough for plantations, but well adapted
for small farms and stock-raisers.
39 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
The Colorado lands, in the lower part of the
county, are subject to occasional overflows, with the
exception of some choice spots; and, therefore, rnotwithstanding the fertility of the soil, not so desirable. Old Caney, the most important stream, in
an agricultural point of view; runs S. E. and N. W.
through the county, and its dry bed opens into the
Colorado in Wharton county: from the immense
alluvial bottoms on each side, its present diminished
waters, and deep bed, it is supposed to have been the
former main channel of the Colorado.  It is several
miles below the intersection with the Colorado, before Caney contains any water: its banks never
overflow from heavy rains, and it is very little else,
above tide-water, than a large prairie drain: it runs
into the Gulf of Mexico, in the south-eastern part
of the county: it is also connected with the head of
MIatagorda bay by a large canal, half a mile long,
which is navigable for the largest lighters.  The
Caney alluvial deposit is, in many places, thirty feet
deep; and its surface is covered with forests of
gigantic oaks, elms, red cedar, and cane and wildpeach brakes. The cane and peach lands are consi:ered best for cultivation, and have been so nicely
compounded and proportioned in the laboratory of
Nature, that no other soils in the world are equal, for
the production of cotton, sugar-cane, and corn. The
Bay of Matagorda, a large body of water, almnost
wholly within this county, is separated from the
Gulf of Mexico, and formed by the "Matagorda
40 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
Peninsula," a strip of land sixty-five miles long, and
averaging one mile wide.  It lies nearly N. E. and
S. W., and is inhabited by small farmers and stockraisers.  A portion of this land, lying back from the
Gulf, is an excellent, dark, sandy soil, easily cultivated, and very productive in all kinds of vegetation
which is not injured by the sea-breeze.  Notwithstanding  high  winds, a crop of sugar-cane was
raised here, several years since, and manufactured
into first quality sugar, on the premises. There is
no healthier region in the world than Matagorda
Peninsula; and many invalids have been restored to
sound health through the happy influences of its
pure air and sea-bathing. Game and fish can be
obtained here, at all seasons, with ease and in abundance; and I dare assert, that I have never seen a
place where poor men, by agricultural pursuits, may
live so easily, and so soon become independent.
The bays of this county are, Matagorda, Trespalacios, and a portion of Karanqua. The timber is
live-oak, post-oak, pin-oak, pecan, ash, cotton-wood,
white and red elm, mulberry, red-cedar, and several
other kinds, of minor importance.
We have no rock or stone, excepting conglomerates; no minerals excepting salt. In thle sea-board
part of the county, at from five to ten feet below the
surface, is found an abundance of strongly impregnated salt water, of much greater density than sea
water. The manufacture of salt used to be carried
on, in this county, during the days of "Austin's
4*
41 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
Colonial Government," to a considerable extent; but
scarcity of fuel caused its abandonment: it is thought,
however, that solar evaporation may be profitably
employed.   The water-courses in this county are,
the Trespalacios and Colorado rivers, Peyton's Creek,
Caney, Peach Creek, Linville Bayou, and Live Oak
Creek, all of which are unimportant for navigation,
excepting the Colorado, Trespalacios, and Caney:
the former is one of the most important rivers in the
State, and will, with some little outlay for clearing
out obstructions of fallen timber, become navigable
for steamers to Austin, about 300 miles by road. An
appropriation of $50,000 was made, by our last legislature, for this object; which sum, if properly expended, will bring the people of the Colorado valley
in easy communication with Matagorda bay. This
river is the great natural high-road for the bulky,
but valuable, productions of all that region; and
Matagorda bay is the natural terminus of the road,
in Texas. At some point on the bay will be established the receptacle for the masses of raw products, as they are floated down the stream for a
distant mart; and here, in transit, will arrive, in
exchange, the "purples and fine linens" of luxury
and extravagance, together with the more useful
articles of husbandry, arts, and manufactures -all
of which, by means of the interior thoroughfare,
will be quickly diffused throughout all the regions
round about.  The various and vast amount of productions from the interior will attract to our bay the
42 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
shipping and wealth of distant States, and build up,
at some favored spot, a city of no inconsiderable size.
It is no enigma where that sea-port town will be; for
Nature has favored Palacios, above all other sites,
with the advantages of a great seaport town. It is
estinmated that the cotton crop of 1857, in the five
counties below Travis, through which the Colorado
runs, will produce at least 60,000 bales; not to reckon
the amount produced in the adjoining tributary counties, and the other productions which seek a market.
All this 1now goes through the slow, expensive, and destructive process of being hauled to Itouston, or some
other inconvenient place. Trespalacios and Caney
are navigable, for large lighters and small steamers,
a short distance above tide-water.
This county, like all of the seaboard country, is
too level for much regular propelling water power;
however, there is a short stream called Mill Creek, running past "Selkirk's Islands" from the west branch of
the Colorado to the east, which has a steady fall of
three or four feet, and could be used for machinery.
The grazing facilities are equal in this county to
any in the State, owing to the abundance of fresh
water, the fertility of the prairie soil, and the peculiarly mild winters; the sea atmosphere mollifies the
rigors of January and February, and renders pleasant
the summer months.
The kinds of animals kept by those persons who
make a business of stock-raising, are horses and neat
cattle, excepting on the "Peninsula," where several
43 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
flocks of sheep are kept; these latter animals thrive
nowhere else on the seaboard.
West of the Colorado, and all that portion of
M[atagorda County watered by the "Trespalacios," is
exclusively occupied by stock-raisers and small farmers, to both of which lucrative callings the Trespalacios lands, and those bordering on the Colorado,
are well adapted; $300 or $4(0 invested here in
cattle, breed-horses, and land, render an industrious
man independent in a few years. Land here can be
purchased at from $1 to $2 per acre, stock cattle at
$5 per head, and brood-mares for $25 each. Planters
would scorn to look at this poor region, as the lands
of "Old Caney" are too rich and productive for them
to be content with any but the best soil in the world;
but to be a planter requires more capital than belongs
to a poor man, and none but a planter should think
of the alluvial bottoms.
The towns in this county are MIatagorda and Palacios; the former is a very old place, and had at one
time a considerable commerce with foreign countries,
and trade with the interior and Mexico; in fact,
during the revolutionary period, it was a frontier
town.  It is situated on Matagorda Bay, which lies
in front and to the south, and the east branch of the
Colorado forms the corporate limits on the northwest, and disembogues into the bay about one mile
below the town.
All shipping drawing over seven feet water are
obliged to come to anchor eight miles below.
44 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
The town contains about 1200 inhabitants, who
rank high in the social scale, on the score of morality,
hospitality, and superior intellectual endowments;
they are also very fashionable in their attire and
habits, and in religion are generally Episcopalians.
There are many fine buildings, and several commodious public edifices. The latter is little more, at
present, than a town site, or paper town; nlevertheless, it is the most important place in Texas, considered in a commercial point of view. Palacios was
surveyed and laid off several years since, west of the
Colorado River, on a high point of land between
Matagorda and Trespalacios bays, and is in a more
favorable position for a large seaport town than any
other on. the whole coast of Texas; the water in front
of the town, within sixty yards, being eleven feet
deep, with safe anchorage, and good holding ground,
and is perfectly protected from all prevailing winds;
in fact, the harbor is so secure, that small boats, in
passing up and down the bay, always seek refuge
here in rough or threatening weather. The distance
to the Pass, or entrance from the Gulf of Mexico, is
twenty miles south by west, with good and open seaway.  The largest class steamers and sail vessels that
enter the bay can come directly up to Palacios, with
all sails set, or steam up, without impediment or risk
of danger. This place being firmly seated on the
mlainland, is not so subject to serious damage fiom
the destructive hurricanes, or cyclones, which visit
our coast now and then, as are other places more ex
45 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
posed, and on lower and more insecure locations; in
fact, within the last two or three years, people have
began to think that the islands and peninsulas along
the Texas and Louisiana coast are unsafe for human
abid(ling places; and to any one who experienced our
memorable storm of September 18th, 1854, or beheld
the sad relies of the "Last Island" disaster, the debris
lands of the Gulf coast will hardly appear suitable
and pleasant for permanent settlements. And Galveston Island, with all its boasted accumulation of
people, habitations, wealth, trade, and commerce, is
but a waif of the ocean, a locality but of yesterday,
a restintg-place for drift and sea-birds, liable, at anyy
moment, and certain, at no distant day, of being eingulfed and submerged by the self-same power that
gave it form.  Neither is it possible for all the skilful
devices of mortal man to protect this doomed place
against the impending danger; the terrible power of
a hurricane cannot be calculated, much less resisted;
its strength is the awful power of combined elements,
and the waters of the mighty deep are made a fearful and sudden engine of destruction; a part of the
ocean itself; as it were, is lifted up and onward, and
goes rolling, hurling, and crashing over the low coast,
with all the conceivable fury and end of matter attributable to the final day, carrying devastation, death,
and destruction to all created beings, obliterating the
works of man, and frequently blotting out the low
islands and coast altogether. I should as soon think
46 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
of founding a city on an iceberg as on Galveston
Island, if I looked to its safety and perpetuity.
Palacios, from its water facilities, and otherwise
favorable locality, seems to have been pre-eminently
designed by Nature for the emporium seaport town
of Texas, and, as soon as trade and commerce shall
have been turned to their proper channels, will take
such position.
LLANO COUNTY.
This is a new county, in Western Texas, and in
that region where much land was granted to the
German colonists: the Colorado river forms its eastern boundary, and the Rio Llano runs through the
county. A writer in the Texas Christian Advocate
says: "Twenty miles from the mouth of the latter
river is the county-seat. It is, like all other Western
streams, clear and swift. Five miles below the mouth
is the Sandy, a small stream. There are many indications of the precious metals in this section. The
soil is not of great depth, and is underlaid with immense strata of rock, embracing granitic, sandstone,
and thirteen varieties of quartz rock. As a stock
and fruit country, it is unsurpassed. The Pack-saddle
mountain may be seen from twenty to fifty miles,
and is separated, by a valley of two miles wide, from
all other hills or mountains: it has two abrupt ascents, called domes, which give to the mountain
much  of its grandeur.   Honey Creek  Cove  lies
within three miles of the Pack-saddle, and is inhabited by a number of settlers. The creek empties
47 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
into the Llano, and has a number of falls, some as
high as sixty feet; and there is much water-power,
and situations well adapted to machinery.   The
whole valley, or cove, can be irrigated at a small
expense; and will, I have no doubt, at no distant
day, be converted into a vineyard."
NAVARRO COUNTY.
The Pacific railroad line runs through the centre
of this county.  Its organ-ization is of recent date,
but it has already become quite populous.  This is
a prairie country, with timber on the streams: soil is
excellent for all the grains, and more especially for
wheat. It is said that three times as much wheat is
sowni this year (1857) as last. Corn is worth seventyfive cents per bushel; the wants of recent emigrants
keeping up the price much above the cost of production. Pork usually sells for about four cents per
pound. The expense of getting goods from- Houston
is 1221 cents per pound.
An abundance of good and low-priced land can
be bought in  Navarro; and emigrants will find a
cordial welcome, abundance of supplies, and a healthful climate, and, what is quite as important, good
society.
Distance from Hiouston to centre of county is 175
miles, from Galveston 200 miles, and from Matagorda
250 miles.
The lands of this county are universally fertile,
and easy of cultivation, the water good, and stock
48 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
range excellent. Corn, beef, and pork are, at this
date (Feb. 1857), abundant and cheap; and there will
be no lack for the incoming emigration of this year.
There are three steam-mills in operation, sawing
lumber, and grinding wheat and corn. The flour of
this and the adjoining counties is superior to any
that we get from abroad. Corsicana is the countyseat, and a place of considerable importance: there
is a Presbyterian church, a female school edifice, a
Mlasonic and an Odd-Fellows' lodge, two taverns, two
drug-stores, ten lawyers, and half-a-dozen doctors,
more or less.  The  town of Dresden is fourteen
miles west of Corsicana, in a densely populated
neighborhood, and surrounded by rich lands. Taos
is situated on the Trinity river, eighteen miles from
Corsicana, and lies at the crossing of the Pacific
railroad.
Navarro is one of the most thriving counties of
the State; and was, but a few years since, an untraversed wvilderness.
ORANGE COUNTY.
This county is at the head of Sabine Lake, and is
separated from Louisiana by the Sabine river: it is a
well-timnbered county, having very little prairie. All
of the coast towns in Texas receive from this region
their finest cypress lumber.
The bend in the Sabine, at the town of Madlson,
is like the Mississippi at New Orleans, on a small
scale, and Madison is a miniature New Orleans. The
5
49 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
houses are tastefully built, and the place has the appearance of quite a city: the principal business done
here is the lumber trade. A number of steam sawmills are erected in and around the place, and the
whole Sabine swamp abounding with the finest
cypress in the world, lumber is both cheap and
abundant. Imnmense quantities of shingles are also
manufactured, and sell at about $2'50 per thousand.
This town is on the west bank of the Sabine, about
thirty-five miles from the sea-coast, or Sabine Pass,
a small town on the Gulf of Mexico.  About twentyfive miles of this distance is through a beautiful lake,
having an average depth of seven feet, and free from
shoals. Sabine Lake is surrounded with low prairie
land, which makes a fine stock range. On the way
from Sabine Pass, Jefferson county, to Madison,
Orange county, the traveller first crosses this lake;
this brings him to the mouth of the beautiful Sabine;
twelve miles up the Sabine brings him to Madison.
This distance the river runs through a low, nmarshy
country; but the navigation to Madison cannot be
excelled by any river in the United States. Just
above Madison, the timber begins; and then, for 600
miles, the Sabine runs through a cypress swamp,
and this world of timber must be manufactured to
supply the western coast of Texas. There is, also,
plenty of yellow pine, white oak, and timber of other
kinds, necessary for ship building.
50 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
PARKER COUNTY.
This is a newly organized and settled county, on
the Upper Brazos, and above the line of the Pacific
railroad. A desirable region for small farmerswhich mneed of praise is alike due to all of the ad
joining counties.
Weatherford, a new town, and the county-seat, is
rapidly increasing. Not twelve months ago, the site
was laid out: there are already a court-house, and
several other public buildings, one hotel, several
stores, private dwelling-houses, and other marks of
civilization. The town is pleasantly situated, in the
"Upper Cross Timbers," and is well supplied with
good water, and with an abundance of timber. There
is a fine chalybeate spring abbut one-fourth of a mile
from the public square: it is said to possess valuable
medical properties.
Distance from Alatagorda 240 miles.
POLK COUNTY.
This county lies on both sides of the Trinity river,
and is steadily increasing in population. The many
streams flowing into the Trinity, as well as the East
Fork of San Jacinto, the Big Sandy, and the Trinity
itself, have large bodies of rich land, suitable for the
cotton-planters;  and here is the "Big Thicket,"
celebrated over the whole State for its extraordinarily
fertile soil. The rich prairies of this county afford
free commons to any number of herdsmen.
Livingston, the county-seat, is a small but thriving
51 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
town, substantially and tastefully built.  Distance
from Livingston to Galveston is ninety miles. Moscow, another town in this county, is a considerable
place, and fast increasing. The Henderson and Gulf
railroad, when completed, will make this county to
blossom as the Gardenl of Eden.
ROBERTSON COUNTY.
The 31st parallel of latitude runs through the centre of this county, and, being situated very nearly in
the centre of the settled portion of the State, equidistant from the Gulf of Mexico on the south, the
grain region on the north, the Sabine on the east,
and the Rio Grande on the west, many advantages
are combined that are rarely to be found in any other
section of our State. This county is bounded on its
entire west, for over thirty miles, by the Brazos
River, and on the east by the Navasoto.  It is calculated that the Brazos valley, so far as it bounds this
county, will average four miles wide, and in point of
fertility of soil is unsurpassed by any lands, not only
in Texas, but in the world. The face of the upland
country, as the traveller leaves the Brazos valley, is
exceedingly beautiful and desirable. The ascent to the
divide between the two rivers (the Navasoto and
Brazos), is an almost imperceptible rise through a
succession of beautiful sweeps, or long slopes of country, gradual in rise and declivity, till you reach the
ridge that separates their waters.  The uplands each
way, or to either stream, are heavily set with fine
52 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
post oak timber, and are of a deep mulatto or yellow
east, interspersed with creeks running through at
convenient intervals, affording good bottom lands
and plenty of stock-water in the driest season.
The lands of this county are well adapted to the
production of the finest cotton raised in the cottongrowing States.
Unimproved lands are now worth $1'50 to $3'50;
these lands, in a year or two, will be worth three or
four times as much.
The new county-seat of Robertson County is Owensville, situated sixteen miles north of Wheelock,
on a beautiful, elevated spot of ground, pretty nearly
in the centre of the county, and on the dividing ridge
between the Brazos and Navasoto, and within one
mile and a half of the proposed route for the Houston, Red River, and Central Texas Railroad. A fine
court-house, a jail, and female academy, have already
been erected. Emigrants will do well to turn their
attention in this direction.
RUSK COUNTY.
This is an interior eastern county, crossing the
line of the Pacific railroad: the soil is good, and
produces all the grains: much cotton is also raised
in this county.
Hlenderson is the principal town, or city; for it is
a place of much size and note, having many fine
brick buildings, school-houses, churches, and other
public edifices.
5*
b3
0 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
Rusk county, at last general election, gave 2000
votes. Distance from Galveston to Henderson is 175
mniles.
SMITH COUNTY.
This county lies above the 32d degree of north
latitude, and in the north-eastern part of the State;
it is a well-watered county, and has plenty of timber;
the soil is fertile and productive, and climate healthy.
Tyler, the county-seat, is directly on the line of the
Pacific Railroad; it is already a place of considerable
importance, and contains many buildings of taste
and beauty. The public square is very large, and in
the centre is a natural mound, on which the courthouse is built. Education has received the especial
attention of the people of Tyler, as is evidenced by
the commodious buildings devoted to learning.
TRAVIS COUNTY.
This county lies on both sides of the Colorado
River, about 150 miles from its mouth. Austin, the
seat of the State Government, is in this county, on
the east side of the Colorado River.
This is a good farming and stock-raising county,
and is fast increasing in population and wealth; there
is plenty of timber for building and fencing, and a
superior kind of stone, with which the public edifices
and many private residences have been erected.
The total amount of taxation of this county is
$G,262'98.  There are 2399 negroes, 4326 horses, and
54 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
16,928 head of neat cattle, besides a large number of
hogs, and some flocks of sheep.
Lands near Austin are held at high prices, but at
some distance from town can be bought at moderate
rates. When the slight obstructions in the Colorado
have been cleared out, steam navigation will be open
from Matagorda Bay to the city of Austin, for several
months in the year.
VAN ZANDT COUNTY.
This is a new county, above the line of the Pacific
Railroad reserve, containing nearly all good land, and
is well watered; the face of the country is level, with
timber on the streams, and small prairies between.
The land is easy to cultivate, and produces sure and
abundant crops of wheat and Indian corn. The climate is healthy.  Land can now be bought for $1
per acre, which would be worth $50 per acre if there
were facilities for getting produce to the coast. The
Henderson and Galveston Railroad, now in progress
of construction, will develop this beautiful region of
county. Distance from Canton, the county-seat, to
Galveston, 200 miles.
WASHINGTON COUNTY.
WNashington County is on the west side of the
Brazos, that river marking the eastern boundary.
This county was settled in the early history of Texas,
and still numbers among its inhabitants many of the
pioneer families, who are now enjoying, in comfort
55 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
able independence, their hard-earned rewards. The
county has nliuch substantial wealth. The face of
the country is level, with much prairie, excepting on
the water-courses. Cotton is the most important
production, and one for which the climate and soil
are wel] suited. Brenham is the county-seat, and
quite a thriving place. At this time (1857) there are
signs of vigorous improvement, and many new buildings going up; and the ox-wagons, the "peculiar
institution" of this country, are hauling away cotton,
and returning with merchandise and building materials. The mechanics are all fully employed, and
wagons, ploughs, and furniture, are turned out in
goodly quantities. The constant din of mechanical
sounds, as the rough and stubborn wood and metals are
fashioned for the convenience and comfort of man, bespeak a thriving community.  The location of Brenham is beautiful; the rolling hills surrounding the
town diversify the scenery; and the stately trees, left
as Nature planted them, lend a charm to the prospect, and beautify the happy location. A writer
says, that the post oak land of this county is much
underrated; it is easier cultivated, and fencing
cheaper than in the prairie; there is in these lands
the advantage of an abundant supply of niast for
hogs.
It is estimated that the very few farmers living on
the Yeaguas, in this county, sold, during the year
1856, 100,000 pounds of pork, at 421 to 5 cents per
pound.  The lands, generally, are noted for their
56 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
productiveness, readily yielding from 40 to 75 bushels
of corn to the acre, or from 1000 to 3000 pounds of
cotton.
Improved farms may be purchased at $10 per acre,
unimproved land at $3. There is plenty of red-cedar
and post-oak timber, and many other less valuable
kinds.
Brenham is 100 miles from Galveston.
YOUNG COUNTY.
This is the extreme north-western county in the
State, and lies about 350 miles north-west of Austin.
It was formed by the legislature of 1856-7, out of Cook
county. Fort Belknap and the Indian reservation
are within its limits. It is a well watered and timbered county, and a desirable place to live. Following the beaten track from Fort Graham, in Hill
county, to Fort Belknap, you will, after a tedious
journey through the "Cross Timbers," reach a range
of ragged, but open, hills, with the Brazos meandering through the narrow valley.  Fort Belknap may
be seen in the distance: it is a situation of considerable importance, and has a spacious magazine, comfortable quarters for the troops, and buildings for the
officers. Below the fort is a fine spring, and a well
of considerable depth, affording abundance of good
water. South of the fort, at the distance of half a
mile, is the county-seat of Young. In the neighborhood is a bed of bituminous coal, of a superior
quality, which, at some future day, will be a valuable
57 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
product.  Following the course of the river about
three miles up streamn, we find, on the west side, the
mouth of Post-oak Creek, with farms in close neighborhood: the creek is about eight or ten miles long,
and has a body of land about twelve miles in width,
covered with post-oak. On,the east side of the river
are the Belknap Springs, afbfording plenty of water
for ordinary purposes. Pursuing the river still higher
up, we find the mouth of Elm Creek: fertile lands
border its banks, which are well timbered: there are
half-a-dozen families settled on this creek. A little
distance higher up is the mouth of California Creek:
here is a beautiful valley of land; only one settler
resides in the valley. Six miles further up the Brazos brings the traveler to Boggy Creek: it is of
considerable length, fertile soil, and inexhaustible
grazing. There are no settlers in this valley. On
an elevated point, on the east side of the river, is
another of the famous springs of Young county:
here is the highest settlement on the river. Taking
a northerly course, you ascend the dividing ridge
between the head-waters of the Trinity and the
valley of the Brazos.  From this elevated plateau,
the most romantic and enchanting scenery is spread
out before the vision: on the one side are seen the
numerous little branches of the Trinity, dotted with
timber, and, on the other, the vast wilderness of the
Brazos valley, stretching far away upon the sight:
in other directions, there appears to be no visible
terminus of prairie. I[ere the deer and the antelope
58' 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
freely range, seldom disturbed by the rifles of the
white, or the arrows of the red man. The valley of
the Brazos, above Fort Belknap, averages between
five and six miles wide.  It has much good land and
timber, sufficient for small farmers and stock-raisers.
The highest point of post-oak timber lies about thirty
miles above Fort Belknap, where there are many
large groves. Hiere the banks of the Brazos are
low: the bed of the river is wide and shallow, and
the water becomes quite salt as you ascend.  On the
high prairie bordering the valley, there is an abundlance of mnaezquit timber, and fine grazing; but it is
rather sparingly watered.  South and east of Belkiap, settlements are sprinkled over the country, at
short distances. Salt Creek, running into the Brazos from the east side, and Rock Creek, from the
west side, have much  post-oak  timber on  their
borders, which afford a plentiful supply of mast for
hogs. On Salt Creek there is a good supply of
building timber. Following a trail from Fort Belknap, about twelve miles, in a south-eastern direction,
over rugged hills, you come to the villages of the
WVacos and Tonkaways, upon the "Indian Reservation:" at the distance of a mile is the large tradinghouse of Charles Barnard, and the residence of the
Indian agent.  Six miles further, on a beautiful eminence in the bend of the Brazos, you come to the
villages of the Delawares, Caddoes, and Shawnees.
The Clear Fork of the Brazos is an important
stream: its waters run the whole year, and, unlike
59 
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
the Brazos, are sweet to the taste. The valley is
already settled as high up as Camp Cooper, and
emigrants are coming in daily.
During the year 1856, abont 2500 acres of land
were under cultivation, in this county. There are
several thousand head of stock in the county. The
market is good, but limited, at present, to Fort
Belkcnap and Camp Cooper: beeves are worth $13
per head; flour $6 to $8 per cwt.; common laborers
$20 per month, and scarce: teams find constant employment, at good rates.
There is every reason to believe that this county
abounds in gypsum, coal, iron, and many other
minerals, as large lumps of coal, and metallic ores,
have been found in the beds of all the streams, and
in sinking wells.
60 
CHAPTER IV.
STOCK-RAISING.
THE raising of neat cattle and horses is a business
in this State well adapted to persons of small capitals; and men in moderate circumstances, with families, find it very profitable and remunerative employment for their boys, as, at the age of eight or ten, they
soon become as efficient as grown hands, and are far
more apt in learning.
Boys who are brought up in the stock business
become much attached to it, and their interests are
generally stimulated by making them the owners of
a few head, which, by the time of their majority, are
increased to a respectable property, on which to set
up for themselves. During the winter months cattle
require no attention, thus affording to the youth a
period of leisure, for school and study; and, in fact,
during the so-called laboring seasons, there is much
spare time,.which may be employed in the companionship of books. The only drawback which exists
to educating the "stock boys," is that the best locations are not usually in neighborhoods where schools
are situated. But, under the disadvantage of a lack
of schools, the parents, if they possess the inclination,
6                                  (61) 
STOCK-RAISING.
have sufficient time during the year to impart much
intellectual instruction to their sons. The employnmeit  of cattle-raising  is healthful, and imparts
muscle, vigor, and agility, to the youthful frame, and
forms the constitution for hardship, and the mind for
boldness and enterprise, without being in itself
hazardous, or even severely laborious.  It is invigorating to both body and mind, and models and trains
them to manly independence; imparting attributes
which are likely to render the possessor a successful
combatant in the vicissitudes of life. Stock-raising
pays a better per centage, is more certain in profitable
results, and requires less risks than any other regular
business.  It is also a business in which a large or
small capital can be employed, with like certainty of
success, and not like many others, which cannot be
conducted beneficially without vast outlay. It is a
business requiring no apprenticeship, and but little
skill, and the labor and care are not continuous. It
is a business which quickly converts the unclaimed
and exhaustless herbage of the wide-spread prairiecommons into money capital, through the quiet instrumentality of the lowing herds.  It turns that
into property and money which otherwise would return again to the soil, or be blown by the autumn
winds away, or melt before the swift fires which
sweep over these regions, and leave the earth for
miles as bare as before the ages of vegetation. Stockraising rescues from the elements, and turns the transient herbage into property, and makes it yield em
62 
STOCK-RAISING.
ployment and support to many persons, and adds
wealth and importance to the State.
The Texas prairies, with their never-failing coats
of verdure, are alike the property of all for the purposes of pasturage, and those who. improve these
natural advantages are rescuing from the earth wealth
which will go to stimulate the general prosperity.
A stock-raiser commencing business purchases his
one or two hundred acres of land, near to, or at the
edg,e of a prairie, and on the border of a creek, spring,
or water-course of some kind; for here he can always
find timber for his buildings and fences, and protection of the shade trees from the summer sun and
northern blasts.  Usually these favorite situations are
on the outskirts or surroundings of the prairies; but,
in many instances, the prairies themselves are interspersed with "motts," or "islands" of timber, containing from a few rods to many acres; and sometimes they are likewise covered with a growth of majestic live oaks; nevertheless, with this seeming contradiction of terms, these are prairies, there being
neither underbrush nor shrub, but the oaks growing
singly, and sufficiently near, to shade the ground
without deteriorating the grass. A person can ride
through them with as little trouble as he can traverse
an orchard. Such prairies look to a stranger like
grounds which have once been in the keeping of man,
and the trees themselves speak of civilized antiquity;
but the fresh grass and cheerful aspect lead the wayfarer to expect evidences of settlements; the thought
63 
STOCK-RAISING.
is that civilization has long held dominion, and that
Nature, unaided, never arranged such human-like
scenery. These natural groves and parks and meadows have no signs about them which the traveller
would look for in a recently-settled country, but
everything betokens long. occupation, without showing any one work made by the hand of man, or mark
of his designing. Frequently, in travelling through
such scenery, the stranger, despite his better knowledge, is constantly expecting to see the turrets of a
baronial castle, or, at least, a sombre brown stone
mansion rising among the trees.  Often, benighted
wayfarers, after a hard day's ride, on coming to such
a region, are sadly disappointed in their calculations
about refreshments; and, during the tedious vigils of
the night, as they lie camped, with no cover but the
canopy of Hleaven, do they ever and anon prick up
their ears to an imaginary cock-crow or dog-bark,
when perhaps there is not a domestic animal, save
their own jaded mule, within a hundred miles.
This scenery is grand and majestic, yet chaste, beautiful, and harmonious as the Garden of our Forefathers.
Some of the large prairies have very few islands
of timber, or trees, or brush of any kind, and a person near the centre can only see a low, dim line of
misty green, which is the timber on the watercourses, that define and bound the prairies. Sometimes the limits are beyond the vision, and the traveller beholds a boundless ocean of grass, here and
64 
STOCK-RAISING.
there dotted with dark spots, indicative of small tim.
ber islands, which agreeably relieve the sameness.
These islands are frequently signs of springs, or of a
greater degree of moisture near the. surface. The
streams and water-courses, which bound the prairies,
all have bottoms of greater or less extent, which are
covered on either side with heavy growths of timber;
and again, beyond the bottoms, those natural meadows commence; but the timber and shrubbery are
continually encroaching on them from every side,
and diminishing, year by year, their area; roads,
cow-paths, and water-gullies, tend to isolate small
tracts, and thereby foster and protect the foresters
from the devouring element, fire, which is their
scourge; but, in time, this process will convert the
prairies into woodland. Near the seaboard, the prairies are of the most uniform surface and greatest extent. A man journeying over one becomes astonished at the magnificent grandeur of their proportions, and is much dissatisfied with his own puny
efforts at progress; the straining eye becomes sated
and tired with the sameness, and longs for a hill or
precipice, or some other natural deformity, wherewith
to be diverted.
When the stock-raiser has made his selection, the
first business is to build a pen, for the herding of his
cattle, and then a small log or frame house, covered
with oak-boards; next, he fences in a few acres of
the rich prairie, for the culture of his corn and garden "stiff;" as he expresses it, "makes a patch
6*
65 
STOCK-RAISING.
large enough to bread his family." And, in truth,
all the space that this family, with their stock, will
occupy, out of the whole prairie before them, is but
a patch; and hundreds of other patches might be
appropriated, without apparently diminishing the
great whole. The eattle-raiser supplies himself with
two or three Mexican horses, for herding, a few hogs,
and other domestic animals; and, having a small stock
of cattle, no  family, with moderate means,  can,
under any other circumstances, begin so soon to
feel independent of the world, for all the comforts
of life.
In commencing, it would be best to purchase one
hundred head of cows, with their calves, and two or
three bulls. A stock started in this way remains
more gentle, and are not so apt to stray, as an average stock: they can be purchased, in this way, for
$10 the cow and calf. The increase is very rapid,
and soon outnumbers the highest calculations of the
sanguine owner. The stock require very little attention, excepting in the spring and fall: in March, the
herding and marking and branding the young calves
are performed: where there are many stocks commingled, in one range, the owners club together, and
drive herds of one or two hundred into a pen, when
each owner singles out his calves, ropes and brands
them. This herding is continued until all but a few
scattering ones are gone through with. In the fall
season, when the weather becomes cool, the herding,
marking, branding, and altering, are again done, i-n
66 
STOCK-RAISING.
the same way: this time includes all the stragglers
left at any previous branding, and all that have been
dropped since spring. In a small stock, whose range
is near no other, so that the owner has to depend for
its management on his own force, it is deemed best
to be frequently among them, and to mark, brand,
and alter the calves as soon as they are old enough,
always having regard to the proper seasons. This
keeps the stock more tractable, and familiarizes them
with man; and the owners soon come to know every
animal in the herd, and one cannot get astray without being missed. Stocks of cattle will thrive and
increase, with very little care and attention; but it is
found, from experience, that the bestowal of a considerable degree of attention on them is well remtunerated, and that they become more docile.
There is always a demand for beef and stock cattle: men come here, and buy up large droves of the
latter, for the Missouri and Illinois farmers, and California rancheros: in those places, the cattle are more
valuable than in Texas. Many beef-cattle are shipped
from here to New Orleans, and much of the regular
supply for said city comes from Texas. Indianola,
on Matagorda bay, is the principal shipping-port for
cattle. There are several persons, at that place, who
make regular shipments, every week, by the steamers.
Galveston and Corpus Christi have participated in
this trade, but many more beeves are shipped from
Matagorda bay than all other ports. The high value
of hides, for the last year, has added much to the
67 
STOCK-RAISING.
profits of the stock-raiser. They used to be thought
hardly worth saving, and, when saved, the stretching and curing was so carelessly performed, that very
little was received for them: of late, a better economy has dictated more care; and our hides, which
are really of extra quality intrinsically, are becoming
quite an article of commerce. During'our war with
Aiexico, I have seen thirty beeves killed, every other
day, to supply the army, and the hides thrown to the
vultures.
Steers, at three and four years old, are considered
beeves; and are sold to contractors, who ship them
to New Orleans, or to the planters here. The value
of four-year-olds is about $15.   The stock-raisers
who have families, generally, during the spring and
summer months, have their pens full of milch-cows,
from each of which they take but little milk, and
are continually turning out and replenishing their
yards from the prairies. The calves of the mnilkingcows are kept up, so long as their dams are required;
and they and the milker divide the products of the
udder, the calves getting the greatest share. Large
quantities of butter and cheese might be made by
the stock-raisers; but an improvident neglect in our
people allows those articles to be imported fromrn
abroad, in large quantities - foreign butter, in the
winter, frequently selling at fifty cents per pound,
and cheese at twenty-five cents.
The  term  "stock-cattle"  is conventional,  and
means, in five hundred head, the following proportions, viz.:
68 
STOCK-RAISING.
170 cows, with their calves,
65 steer-calves, under one year old,
65 heifer-calves, under one year old,
55 two-year-old steers,
55 two-year-old heifers,
45 three-year-old steers,
45 three-year-old heifers;
making 500 head, of all varieties.  And such a stock
of cattle is worth $2500, or at the rate of $5 per
head. The selling price per head does not vary,
whether the stock be large or small. There are laws
requiring every stock-owner to adopt a mark and
brand different from any of his neighbors, and to
have the same recorded in the county clerks office.
The criminal laws have several provisions for the
protection of stock owners' rights against dishonest
persons: there is also an estray-law, which obliges
the taker-up of a strange animal to give sufficient
publicity.
The cattle of this State have never been subject to
any endemical, epidemical, or contagious diseases,
to make the business of stock-raising precarious and
uncertain; and very few die, excepting the old cows
-these generally live to the age of twenty years, and
frequently have calves the last year.  Iowever, the
inclement winter of 1855-6 was extremely disastrous
to stock of all kinds, and even to wild animals: in
Texas, it is estimated that at least twenty-five per
cent. of all the neat cattle in the State died from the
effects of cold: some of the older States are said to
69 
STOCK-RAISING.
have lost over fifty per cent., from the same cause;
but such a season was never before experienced.
Thousands of cattle, in good order, became so paralyzed with intense cold, that they dropped down
while feeding, and perished where they fell. During
all of the fall of 1855, and the fore part of the
winter, the weather was genial and warm, like
spring: the annual trees leaved out, and many blossomed, and the prairies were clothed with the newest
and brightest green, mingled with tender-painted wildflowers of every hue: fig-bushes were loaded, and
the fruit ripened;  and the contented stock were
basking in a paradise of rich, juicy herbage; but,
about Christmas, a change came over this scene, and
the face of Nature, which so recently had glowed
with tropical verdure, was, by a sudden change of
temperature, metamorphosed into a Siberian aspect
-the green was all wilted, withered, sered, and
turned to somnbre brown; and, from the previous
superabundance of graminivorous food, the stockcattle became reduced to old fog. This extreme
cold commenced on the 24th day of December, 1855,
and ended about the 1st of March, 1856.  The
greatest cold, on the coast, was 15~ below the freezingpoint; and, as 18~ is the point that kills annual vegetation, every kind of prairie herbage was soon dead.
Grass was all destroyed, at that early date; and about
seven weeks elapsed before any signs of spring were
seen, and all of March passed before much food
could be obtained for the thousands of starving cat
TO 
STOCK-RAISING.
tie: the dead grass of the prairies had undergone a
baneful chemical change, by the action of frost; and
it had not only lost its nutritive qualities, but was
positively injurious; and, opening the animals that
died, their stomachs were found full of undigested
rubbish. Old cows, and bulls of all ages, suffered
most; yearlings next; and, after these latter, even
yearlings whose dams had not been milked the previous summer, seemed little able to bear the severity.
Cattle that were sheltered from the cold winds suffered as much as those left to themselves, in the
open prairies —though the sufferings of the former
were more from want of food than from cold. The
seaboard counties, and all of that region of country
lying west of the Colorado, are well adapted to stockraising; but the coast counties are preferable to the
interior: the former combine many advantages, the
prairies being larger than in the interior, winters
shorter, and the grass continues good the whole year,
the heat of summer being tempered by the delightful
breezes of the Gulf of Mexico, and at no time is the
weather on the prairie oppressive.
Another great advantage to a large stock-raiser is,
that shipping depots are handy, from any point in
those counties, and agents are constantly scouring
the country, gathering in beeves for New Orleans,
Matagorda and Jackson counties I think preferable to
any others, and the prairies of Trespalacios and Ka
rankawa are certainly unsurpassed in the requisites
for this business.
71 
STOCK-RAISING.
The best shipping place for the coast country is the
town of Palacios, which has hereinbefore been referred to. It is the most natural and convenient
place, for the crafts which navigate the Colorado, to
load and discharge at: here the deep water and firm
land are in close proximity; and good roads can be
stretched out to the interior, in every direction.
There are many desirable situations for stock-raisers
and small farmers along the Trespalacios and its spring
tributaries.
It will be seen, by the comptroller's report, that
some of the interior counties have many more cattle
than any of those on the seaboard; but it must also
be recollected, that the area of the former is many
times greater. There is now one young man living
on the Trespalacios who has a stock of 10,000
head!
There is one important matter which the people
of Texas have almost wholly neglected, viz., an improvement of their cattle, by importing superior
stock from abroad: through this oversight or parsimony, our stocks have suffered much deterioration,
in the qualities most desired.
Steers from the Texas prairies make very good
work oxen, are tractable and easily broken: they
are much used by the planters and farmers, in the
cultivation of their crops, and in hauling the same
to market. The Texas cattle are descendants, with
few crosses, from the old Mexican stocks, and they
are well adapted to the country: still, where the
72 
STOCK-RAISING.
breed has been crossed by better stock, the offspring
are superior, and thrive well.
As I before remarked, our cattle have many good
traits: the steers are easily broken, and gentle treatment will overcome  the wildest:  they are never
vicious, but extremely tractable when taken out of
the prairie.
The usual practice of farmers, whenever they want
work oxen, is to go to the prairie, and neck together,
with ropes, as many pair of three and four-year-old
steers as they desire: these, in the course of a week or
so, can be yoked to the draught. I have seen boys
thirteen years old ploughing with three yokes of these
oxen, holding the plough, and managing their teams
with nothing but a small whip.
7
73 
CHAPTER V.
SHE E P- HONEY-BEE S.
SHEEP-RAISERS, in Texas, have not, as a general
thing, been successful, excepting on the islands and
peninsulas along the coast.  In all probability, the
failures have been more owing to want of proper
attention, than to any innate defect of herbage or
climate.
The Mexican stocks that have been introduced to
these localities have universally kept healthy, imlproved in the fleece, and multiplied exceedingly fast.
Horses and mules are raised, with as little trouble
and expense as cattle, in all parts of the State. The
native stock, with a heavier cross, makes the best
offspring for service and endurance; and ti ey will
maintain themselves in good condition, on the prairies, winter and summer, and only require the additional feed of a few ears of corn, when continually
worked. The prairies were all, in former times, well
stocked with wild horses, or mustangs; and they still
range in those prairies where they have not been too
much disturbed. Many of these animals are of
remarkable symmetry of body and limb, and equal
in speed and bottom to the Arab barb.
(74) 
HONEY-BEES.
Only a few-years have elapsed since there was a
large drove of those animals that ranged on the
'Matagorda prairie; and two of the finest of the
mnales were caught, after running and counter-running 600 or 700 miles, breaking down several relays
of horses and riders. A fine breed of horses has
sprung from one of these animals.
HONEY-BEES.
These insects have not been extensively cultivated,
but sufficiently so to show that they are worth the
attention of farmers.  The trees, shrubs, and flowers
of Texas are never-failing sources for these industrious producers; and they require no attention, excepting at swarming time, and to gather the sweets
of their silent labors: here, too, they are very seldom
afflicted with vermin and insects, and thrive best
when left to their own way.  Every family may,
without cost, have its twenty, thirty, or a hundred
hives, and make it a source of profit, pleasure, and
gratification.
The forests are full of wild bees, and every old
hollow tree is filled with well-stored cells; and this
is the case even in the vicinities of long and thickly
settled communities: very little pleasant trouble will
always insure an abundance of wild honey, during
the proper season. Any one can furnish himself
with a stock of bees, by hiving the swarms of wild
ones, in the spring, as they migrate from the paternal domicil. Wild bees become domestic, and pro
75 
HONEY-BEES.
duce well. I have seen 350 hives of bees in the
front-yard of one cottage, standing on the ground:
in summer time, when the whole upper world was
full of them, it was like running the gauntlet, to get
to the house. The production of these hives was a
nice income for the owner: his wax was shipped to
New York, and the honey was put up in casks, and
sent to the seaboard towns, where it always found
ready purchasers. I suppose the net proceeds were
not less than $1000 per annum. Thus can the prudent man, in a new country, make subservient to his
profit and comfort the boons of Nature, which,
without foresight, would be wasted on the desert air:
he can greatly relieve from his shoulders the curse
which is inherited from our original parents.
76 
CHAPTER VI.
WHEAT.
THIS important grain has only been cultivated a
few years in Texas; and, in fact, that portion of the
State best adapted to it was but yesterday an uninhabited wilderness. The best wheat region is above
the line of 32~ north. I learn that there is much of
the last year's crop on hand, which, for want of
facilities of getting to market, is not at present a very
remunerative crop. Farmers bring wheat to Austin
from a distance of 200 miles, and also to Hiouston, a
distance of over 300 miles; and hauling back freights
makes the business pay; but nothing, in comparison,
is Iiettedto the farmer, that would be, if there were
railroads.
However great the discouragements labored under,
they have, by their energy, tested the qualities of our
soil, and practically demonstrated that all of the
northern part of Texas is pre-eminently a superior
wheat country. And, I would ask, if, with all the
drawbacks which the wheat-raisers now are subject
to, they have been able to profitably succeed, what
will be the wonderful results, when good merchantmills are established, and railroad communication extends from the coast, through the planting sections,
to the wheat region?
7 *                               (77) 
WHEAT.
Northern Texas can supply all the balance of the
State with good superfine flour, and successfully
compete with the Western States in the New Orleans
market.  We have the soil and climate for wheat,
and only require the stimulus of proper inducements
to bring its culture into extensive operation.
The following is tile wheat crop of twenty-five
counties, for the year 1856, viz:
Counties.                              Bushels.
Burnett..................................... 10,000
Cass........................................................ 28,000
Cherokee.................................................. 20,000
Colin....................................................... 130,000
Cook................................... 20,000
Coryell..................................................... 15,000
Dallas...................................................... 150,000
Denton................................................... 10,000
Ellis..................................................... 50,000
El Paso..............................................100,000
Fannin..................................................... 125,000
Grayson................................................... 100,000
Henderson.............................. 25,000
Hill......................................................... 20,000
Hopkins................................................... 50,000
H    u    n    t....................................................... 50,000
Johnson...................................................  30,000
Kaufman................................................. 60,000
Lamar..................................................... 150,000
McLellan.................................................. 30,000
Navarro................................ 30,000
Red River................................................ 100,000
Tarrant................................................... 40,000
Upshur................................................... 20,000
Williamson................................................ 25,000
Total......................................... 2,183,000
78 
WHEAT.
There are seventy counties in the State which produced wheat last year (1856).
The "State Gazette," a reliable newspaper, published at Austin, says the citizens of Colin County
are fiurnishing Fort Washita with flour at the low
price of $2'75 per cwt., or about $5.50 per bbl. New
wheat has been selling, in the wheat-growing counties, during the last winter, for 50 cents per bushel.
It is only a year or so since the farmers in the foregoing counties commenced raising wheat; and, indeed, it is but a short time ago since those counties
were undefined and uninhabited regions of wilderness.
The wheat culture, as yet, is only an experiment,
conducted without the proper appliances, and to the
greatest disadvantage; but still, enough has been
done to conclusively demonstrate that wheat is destinred to be the most valuable production of this State.
All of the counties north of 31~ can depend on wheat
as a certain crow.
79 
CHAPTER VII.
CREDIT.
CREDIT, in Texas, is the universal rule, and prompt
payment the exception; the system runs through all
business, from the smallest account to the most important contract.
The doctor, the lawyer, the editor, the merchant,
mechanic, and undertaker, all furnish their wares on
credit, and so we live and pass through life, and
finally die on tick.
During the Republic, and particularly in the latter
days thereof, people became apparently very poor in
the circulating medium. All kinds of property were
very much depreciated; land and stock-cattle had no
convertible cash values; business transactions became
very limited between the citizens, and nearly all their
trade was carried on in barter, and the exchange of
commodities; and in the sales of property and effects,
on credit, to be paid for, at some future time, in other
property. Having little commerce and connection
by trade with foreign countries, that promptness and
certainty which is the life and soul of regular business,
were lost sighit of, and a disregard to the fulfilment of
promises became general. Thus, a man purchased of
(80) 
CREDIT.
his neighbor, under a solemn promise to make payment in a given time, predicating his obligation on
the faith of promises made by others to hiim, which,
of cou,se, failed; he was necessarily not punctual,
because others disappointed him; his neighbor could
not futlfil his duties to others, because his means, on
which such duties were predicated, were in the hands
of his debtors. And the ramifications of debt, credit,
bad faith, broken contracts, and disappointed calculations, became the general rule of society. Cattle
and horses were good conventional representatives of
value, but land was not current, and the possessor of
an over-quantity was impoverished by the taxes on a
species of property which possessed no real active
market value. Men became disregardful of all punctuality in their contracts, because others broke their
words to them; if a negligent debtor had not acted
exactly as he had agreed, he was no worse than people generally around him, and no one thought him a
worse man. Careless indifference for the moral obligation of all contracts became so general, that even
those who had the means of promptly paying their
debts, found it hard to belie the ruling fashion.
Every person used the privilege of running in debt
to the extent of his or her ability of doing so.
On the formation of our State Constitution, it was
hoped that some kind of a banking system would be
legalized, but the democratic wisdom of the members
of the Convention who manufactured our Constitu tion, would not for an instant entertain such an
81 
CREDIT.
enormity as a banking law. They forgot that we
were to become an important agricultural and cominercial people; that our exports and imports would,
in a few years, become extensive; that a business
medium of exchange, after the fashion of other'civilized communities, would be required; and if we
could not have it of our own, our necessities would
force us to contribute to the prosperity of neighboring
States, for the use of their banking paper. The
barbaric restrictions in our Constitution against
banks, have obstructed all of our commercial transactions with the people of other States, anrid been the
fostering cause, at home, of all the evils of a loose
credit system.   Our fathers, in their enthusiastic
regard for hard currency, overlooked the salutary and
invigorating results of a good banking system; they
had been too long isolated from the busy concerns
and interests of the trading world to legislate intelligently for a young and thriving nation. They
seemed to have forgotten that a safe banking system
is, in all ages, the balance-wheel, which regulates all
business relations of society, and causes the people
to be prudent, prompt, and reliable, in all their dealings; that establishes punctuality between man and
man, promotes the morals of society, conduces to fair
dealing, and  makes it not only dishonorable, but
unprofitable, for any man to forfeit his word or his
bond. The people of Texas, under their new aegis
of a State Government, not having the proper constraints, examples, and incentives, did not reform, to
82 
CREDIT.
any noticeable degree, their old habits of running in
debt; and when the agricultural wealthi of our country began to be developed, and to create conmmercial
business with foreign States, and the merchandise
and productions of other people were attracted here
for a market, the credit system continued; the merchants sold on credit, and the planters and farmers,
mechanics and citizens, bought on credit; and so it
continues, throughout all classes, to this day. Old
habits are hard to be rid of, without some powerful
influence to the contrary; and the accessions of
population from abroad, instead of tending to a reformation, easily fall into the customs of the country.
All merchants' accounts for goods sold to the inhabitants during the year, are considered due on the
following first of January.  Those that are not paid
at that date are generally closed by promissory note,
bearing ten per cent. interest from date, and made
payable one day after date; and frequently, when an
account is settled in this manner, the merchant also
charges 221 per cent. for advancing. He can make
no calculation on getting in his debts at any particular time; and often, after long and vexatious delays, rendered doubly annoying by the constant reception of polite notes fronm his friends in New York
and New Orleans, he is obliged to sue; this, even if
he saves the whole of his debt, is at a cost of ten per
cent., to be paid to his lawyer. Some portion of the
amount credited out by the merchant, during the
year, is certain to be totally lost in bad debts; and
83 
CREDIT.
all of these losses, of course, are taken into consideration in regulating his scale of profits.  The merchants who go into the great marts to purchase their
stocks of goods, under the disadvantages of the reputation of being slow and uncertain paymasters, are
forced to pay muich higher prices than a more prompt
class. Therefore, the New York merchant who sells
to the Texan merchant, knowing the precarious business of his customer, puts on to the price his profit
accordingly, to cover interest on uncertain time of
payment, and a liberal charge as insurance for probable losses and ultimate litigation. The Texan, in
order to prosper, must, and does, when he sells his
goods, charge his profits on the exhorbitant prices
which he has paid; and, like the New Yorker, he,
too, charges his extras in the way of interest on long
time, and an insurance against the probable average
of bad debts.  And all of this accumulated load of
charges has to be borne by the consumers; they are
the real sufferers. Besides, the blandishments of an
easy credit system are very liable to lead its votaries
to embarrassment and ultimate ruin. Thus the farmers' and planters' families, who have unlimited
credit at the neighboring stores during the year,
purchase many more goods than they would if credit
were abolished; they are not prudent with what they
do get, and they pay more than cash values, and
thereby their expenses are enhanced, and accumnulating debts created.
When brief credit accommodates the necessities of
84 
CREDIT.
prudent persons, it is beneficial; but, when it ministers to the imperative calls of extravagance, its effects
are destructive.
Our merchants, with a few exceptions, are inexperienced young men when they commence business,
whose capital consists of the letters of recommendation, which they obtain from responsible persons, and
take, in place of more substantial substance, to the
commnercial cities of the North. These are used,
instead of money, in the purchase of stocks of goods,
to be sold out in Texas. Purchases made under
such great disadvantages, too frequently cause our
merchants to be unsuccessful in business; they often
are forced, after a precarious existence of two or three
years, amid the constant vexations of duns from their
creditors abroad, and forfeited promises from their
debtors at horne, to close up, with broken spirits,
frustrated expectations, and ruined reputations, to
the heavy loss of their too facile creditors. Thus, in
many instances, have honest young men been ruined
by the great facilities afforded for getting stocks of
goods, and becoming merchants. As this is a portion of the credit system, and comes into the general
account of losses, our consumers, the Texan planters,
farmers, and stock-raisers, have its incidents to pay
for in the way of high prices on all the articles which
they purchase. The system of credit has made goods
more expensive, in Texas, than they otherwise would
be; and if a few solitary consumers pay cash for
their merchandise, they still, under the present state
8
85 
CREDIT.
of affairs, must pay to the merchant charges which
were predicated on the credit system. The whole
system is a wrong, and vitally injurious to the consumer. Men totally unsuited for merchants get
goods too easily, and the merchants of New York,
and other large cities, are too willing to sell, and too
slow to discriminate between their customers. Young
men are very apt to misjudge their capacities, and to
entertain a false notion about the different occupations of life; it has become a current sentiment,
that the selling of merchandise confers a gentlemanly
distinction, while the honest-vocation of cultivating
the earth is considered only adapted to rustic grovellers.
In a new country, fast settling with emigration
from older States, short credite are useful, and frequently absolutely necessary, to enable the settler to
get along for a year or two; for, most generally, they
are men of limited means, and the whole of it is required in the purchase of lands and stock animals;
they must have many  things which  they cannot
bring with them, and, for such necessaries, a credit
at the neighboring stores is useful; but, after the
first two or three years, no more credit should be required, or, if indulged in, it ought to be short, and
promptly wiped out, either by money, or by cotton,
corn, hides, or other productions. The merchants
of New York, and other cities, who sell for the
Texas trade, should only entrust their goods to those
persons who have ample tangible capital, or who
86 
CREDIT.
give undoubted security on property in Texas; and
then, if men will undertake mercantile business
without proper capacity, the losses by their ruin will
not have to be paid for by the Texan consumers. I
have frequently known men to contract debts, in
New York, of $20,000 yearly, without giving any
security, and who could not, had they not in possession such goods, so bought on credit of strangers,
have purchased, ill Texas, $500 worth of property on
a credit, without giving security.   Let the New
York merchants look more to the security of their
business transactions, and the quickness and certainty
of their returns; let them take such precautions,
that losses shall not be possible; let them do only
what any ordinary man, in any ordinary business
transaction, considers necessary, to wit: make proper security paramount, make prompt payment all
object of primary importance, and the Texas trade
would become established on a firmer basis, and the
consumers would become more prosperous and
better producers. Let the consumers eschew credit,
for it is the incubus of their lives, the moth which
secretly destroys their substance.
The productions of Texas, which are suitable for
foreign markets, are abundant and numerous, such
as cotton, sugar, hides, beeswax, and wool, and far
superior in value to all the merchandise which we
require from abroad; these are every year increasing;
but, instead of being of full benefit to the producers,
mniuch of their values are frittered away by the enor
87 
CREDIT.
mous expenses of the credit system.  Credit, at best,
is subserviency to a hard master; and, when the people become so lost to their own interests as to adopt
credit altogether, the springs of their prosperity are
directed into improper channels, and the resources
of the producer are consumed in paying for curses
rather than blessings.
88 
CHAPTER VIII.
SCHOOLS.
THE people of Texas have, by princely munificence, laid the foundation of a general system of
education. This subject has been well considered,
and has received the particular attention of every
successive legislature, since annexation.
To diffuse the means of education throughout the
land, and to bring it near the door of every habitation, without cost to the recipient, will be the ultimate effect of these wise provisions. During the Republic of Texas, Congress appropriated four leagues
of land (or 17,712 acres) to every county, for educational purposes, and every new county receives the
like amount of land: besides, the constitution of the
State has provided, that no less than one-tenth of the
annual State-tax shall be set apart for purposes of
education; which money passes to the credit of the
common-school fund, and is held inviolably sacred
for that purpose.
By a law of 1854, the sum of $2,000,000, of the
five per cent. U. S. bonds, was also set apart for a
special school-fund; and, by a-l.]aw of 1856, the same
was blended with the money derivable from the tenth
8*                                 (89) 
SCHOOLS.
of the taxes, and the whole is made a general schoolfund: the interest derivable from all school moneys
is appropriated  annually for schools.   Our  State
being large, and sparsely settled, has prevented, as
yet, the school system firom going into general practical effect. By a recent enactment, each county has
been laid off into common-school districts, and  a
certain portion of the school-filnd is to be divided
among the several counties, according to the number
of children from six to sixteen years of age. The
tuition of poor children is first to be provided for out
of the appropriation, and the balance is divided pro
rata among the other scholars.  It is not presumed
that this money will be sufficient to pay the whole
year's tuition, in any one district, but it will go far
in educating the poor.  The lands, together with the
increasing fund, must, under ordinary circumstances,
place the means of education within the reach of
every child in the State. Both during the Republic
and under the State government, much public land
has been granted, in fee simple, to institutions of
learning, aside from the general grants. Institutions
so endowed are scattered throughout the older parts
of the State; and, with increasing renown and importance, they are, year by year, nurturing up males
and females in the paths of virtue and high intellectual development.   Schools, academies, churches,
and newspapers, are sure guarantees of liberty to
the  people;, for, where  education,  religion, and
knowledge are general, none but just laws can be
90 
SCHOOLS.
made; a proper regard will be observed for the rights
of all; justice, correct principles, and our republican
institutions, will be sustained, and tyranny repelled
by united force.  A few years, and a few more thousand emigralnts, will ripen and perfect our school
system, and make our valuable lands available for
all the noble ends and purposes intended. And,
even now, the want of a good English education, by
the very poorest of the rising generation, will be
more attributable to criminal neglect, or want of
natural capacity, than to a lack of the means. Emigrants from the older States, who have children, need
not fear that the privileges of schools will be left
behind; for they can settle in almost any county in
the State, and still enjoy all the blessings of a refined
and cultivated civilization. Schools, churches, and
newspapers, the concomitants of well-organized society, are accessible and convenient to every community, and a very superior degree of general intel]igence distinguishes this people above any of the new
States of the Union.
Sixty-four newspapers are published in this State:
far more, it is true, than pay well; but the ability
and intelligence displayed in their columns, show
that really good editors can subsist on very short
commons. We already have men of eminence in
all the walks of literature and science, and public
libraries and lyceums have been established in all the
towns.
91 
CHAPTER IX.
TAXATION, AND  HOW  IT AFFECTS  THE  OWNERS  OF
PROPERTY.
THE rate of taxation is fifteen cents on each hundred dollars' valuation of real and personal property.
There are excepted from taxation two hundred
and fifty dollars' worth of household furniture, or
other personal property, to each family.
County taxes may be one-half of the State-tax,
but shall not exceed that rate.
For the years 1854-5-6-7, nine-tenths of all the
State-tax has been relinquished to the respective
counties in which the taxed property is situate, and
the remaining tenth of said tax goes to the credit of
the common-school fund.  Persons owning property
miust make out their assessment list, and hand it to
the assessor and collector of taxes, between January
and May of each year.
Property situate in any county in the State can be
given in, and taxes paid in any other county.
Taxes become due on the first of October of each
year, and are- payable at any time between that and
the following first of March.
(92) 
TAXATION.
TO PERSONS WHO OWN LANDS IN TEXAS, AND HAVE
NEGLECTED TO PAY TAXES.
All lands which have not, in years past, been regularly given in for assessment and taxation, have
been assessed as non-residents' property, and sold for
taxes and costs. All such lands have either been
purchased by individuals, or bid in by the State. By
a law passed Feb. 5, 1856, the owners of such lands,
so bid off by the State, may redeem the same by
paying to the assessor and collector where the land
lies, or to the comptroller, at Austin, all arrearages
of unpaid taxes, with fifty per cent. per annum on
all the taxes that are or should be due on such lands
up to time of payment, and two dollars fee, over and
above the other charges. When land is purchased
by an individual, at tax-sale, the deed of the assessor
and collector, provided it be regularly recorded in the
proper office, becomes, according to law, prima facize
evidence of title in the purchaser; provided, further,
that the person whose property has been sold for
taxes, shall have two years fo redeem the same, by
paying to such assessor, or to the purchaser, double
the amount of taxes, with costs of sale.  All lands
not rendered in for taxation, are valued and assessed
by the assessor, according to the average valuation
of all the land in the counties where situate.
ADVICE TO NON-RESIDENTS OWNING LANDS IN TEXAS.
You see, by the foregoing laws, that if your property here is not attended to, it will inevitably be
93 
TAXATION.
sold for the taxes; and that, if not bid in by the
State, you stand a fair chance of having it sacrificed
to the cupidity of some wily speculator, or of recovering it only at the termination of an expensive
law-suit -a hazard which should not be run by any
man who has any regard for his own welfare. It is
true, that, in the States of Ohio and Illinois, where
the greatest number of tax-sales have been made, and
the most tax-titles have been tested in the courts, few
have withstood the ordeal: it is said that only twentyfive, out of many hundreds, have been sustained;
still, it is suicidal policy to trust one's property to
the chances of law.
Only two or three tax-cases have been decided by
our courts of last resort, and those went against the
tax purchasers; but, I suppose, at an expense to the
winner of nearly the value of the property recovered.
The cases decided will be no inducement or argument
for tax purchasers to give up their acquisitions easily;
for the reason, that each tax purchase rests for its
validity on its own peculiar circumstances.  If the
preliminaries to the sale, and the sale and concomitants, have been done and observed according to law,
then the tax-sale becomes a perfect title, and fully
vests the property, after two years.
If you have lands in Texas, and no attention has
been given to them, for several years, be assured that
they have, ere this, been sold for taxes; and, if worth
owning, in all probability passed into the hands
of speculating individuals, who are ever on the alert
94 
TAXATION.
to take advantage of the neglectful and unwary, and
to profit by the misfortunes of others. And, if your
lands are quite valuable, at present or in prospective,
such tax purchasers, knowing the liability of their
titles to inherent defects, will fortify by actual possession. Our laws of limitation are short; and a
defective title, with possession, is quickly ripened
into a perfect title.
Tlius, lands which are valuable and constantly appreciating, are yearly passing  from  the  rightful
owners to the proprietorship of avaricious speculators; or, if they do not wholly and entirely pass, are
becoming so entrammelled by the meshes of adverse
interests, that recovery will hardly pay the expense.
In order to maintain and hold your lands intact,
free from embarrassments, or cloud of controversy,
you must cause your titles to be recorded in the
county where each respective tract is situate, and
have a reliable agent here, to give in your lands for
assessment, by proper descriptions, and pay taxes on
the same; for which services you should pay, in
order that it may be obligatory on him to preserve
your interests; for the good reason, that services not
remunerated are but poorly performed.
You will be amply rewarded for your small expense, by the security which such a course will afford
to your property: you will purchase peace of mind,
and exemption from trouble and litigation, at a cheap
rate.
The lands of Texas are of far more value and
consideration than they were during our separate
95 
TAXATION.
sovereignty;-and many a man who is now neglecting
his Texas lands, will, in a few years, appear as ridiculous as Esau.
Those persons of the masculine gender, and of
mature age, owning lands in Texas, who cunningly
say to themselves, "My land, in that benighted region, is all safe: it costs nothing to keep it, for I
pay no taxes; and, when the country settles up, and
railroads begin to travel that way, I'll be thar for a
big spec."  True it is, your lands will be pretty much
in statu quo, so far as their area and depth are concerned; but the transmutable part will have departed
from  you and your heirs.  And  what's the pity?
Shall it be for any man to evade payment of his just
quota towards the government? Shall roads be laid
out through the wilds at the exclusive expense of
residents?  - Shall  school-houses  and churches be
erected, and the country converted from a wilderness
to a populous State, to the non-resident non-tax-payer's
pecuniary benefit, and without one cent of his aid?
It is anl injury to any State or country, for non-residents to own its territory: then, of course, it is short
of justice that they should not pay taxes on their
lands, like those who are citizens. But there are
many persons, living in the older States, who are of
the gentler sex, or of immature years, who own
much land in Texas, by inheritance-whose husbands,
fathers, brothers, or other kindred, won the right, by
their strong arms and ready wills, during our RevoIution — who sacrificed money, time, and health in
the cause of our liberties, and even laid down their
96 
TAXATION.
lives, amid wretchedness and suffering, that we might
enjoy in peace this beautiful heritage. Towards such
land-owners the law would be merciful, if it could
discriminate; and it is much to be regretted that
they too must suffer; they in whose veins perhaps
courses the family blood that bedewed the same
lands which they have inherited.
To all such I will say, although you be of weak
age or of the gentler sex, or bowed with poverty,
suffer not one moment to lapse between yourself and
an investigation of your rights; address some reliable agent in Texas, setting forth the known or supposed grounds of your claim, and ask to have it
looked into without delay; this can be done void of
expense, and, if your rights have been long neglected,
you can always get them attended to for a contingent
fee in money or in kind. Your journeying to Texas
is wholly unnecessary, for you might travel about in
this country of high charges and long roads for a
year, and be no better informed than when you came;
and when, too, perhaps, an agent might do all your
business in half the time it would take you to come
here.
In conclusion, I will repeat to you, all who have
rights in Texas, employ a trusty agent, and you will
find it to your interest; for titles to real estate, as
you must already understand, are not held in the
same sacred, inviolable regard, as in England, and
owners become more easily divested than in many of
the older States.
9
*.e *.e..e.
97 
CHIAPTER X.
HEIRSHIP, AND RIGHTS TO PROPERTY BY INHERITANCE.
Law of 2farch 18th, 1848- Vol. II., page 129.
This law is now in force, and from its peculiarly
equitable provisions, will undoubtedly continue to be
the law of the land for many years hence. — I have
herein inserted a synopsis of it for the particular
benefit and reference of those persons living in other
States, and having inheritances in Texas.
I have also annexed forms for proving up heirships,
as I find that people at a distance, and even high
functionaries, who are expected fo be well informed
about the laws, usually make blunders. The heirs
of persons who died previous to 18th December,
1837, inherit according to Spanish law; that is, first
descendants; if they fail, second ascendants; if they
fail, third collaterals.
The laws, previous to 1848, are not materially
variant.
Law of March 18th, 1848.
1. A person dying without a will, and leaving no
surviving husband nor wife, the property descends to
the children in equal proportions.
(98)
.....~~ 
HEIRSHIP.
2. If there be no children, then to the descendants
of the children.
3. If there be no children nor descendants, then
to the father and mother of the deceased person, in
equal portions.
4. If there be only one of the parents of the deceased person surviving, then the inheritance is to be
divided into two equal parts, one of which passes to
such surviving parent, and the other passes to the
brothers and sisters of such deceased person, or to the
descendants of them.
5. If the deceased leave only one parent surviving,
but no brothers or sisters, nor descendants of brothers or sisters, then such surviving parent inherits
the whole.
6. If the deceased person leave no parent surviving, but leave brothers and sisters, or the descendants of such, then all of the inheritance shall pass to
such brothers and sisters, or their descendants.
7. If both parents be dead, and there be neither
brother nor sister, nor their descendants, then thQ
inheritance is divided into two equal parts, one part
of which goes to the paternal, and the other to the
maternal kindred of the deceased person, in the following manner, that is to say: the grandfathers and
grandmothers in equal proportions; but if only one
paternal or maternal grandparent survive, such survivor takes the whole of one moiety.
8. If both grandparents, on either or both sides,
be dead, then the inheritance passes to uncles, or to
. *-.*
99 
HEIRSHIP.
their nearest lineal descendants; always recollecting,
that when there are no legal heirs up to grandparents,
the estate is then divided into two equal parts, and
one portion goes to the kin of the mother of the deceased, and the other to the kin of the father.
9. When a person, owning property in his or her
own right, dies intestate, leaving a surviving husband
or surviving wife, and children, or descendants of
children, the surviving husband or wife takes onethird of the personal estate, and an estate for life in
one-third of the land and slaves, with remainder to
the surviving children, or their descendants. The
children, or their descendants, inherit the whole of
the land and slaves, subject to the life-incumbrance
on one-third. They also inherit the other two-thirds
of the personal estate.
10. If the deceased leave no children, nor their descendants, but leave a surviving wife or husband,
then the surviving husband or wife inherits all the
personal estate, and one half of the lands and slaves,
without remainder to any person.
11. If the deceased husband or wife left neither
children, father nor mother, nor surviving brothers or
sisters, or their descendants, then the surviving husband or wife inherits the whole estate.
12. Where an inheritance passes by law to brothers
and sisters, if part of such be of the whole blood,
and part of the half blood, then, in that case, the
half blood inherits half as much as the whole blood.
13. Where the children of the deceased person's
.-  -                 v
100 
HEIRSHIP.
brothers and sisters come into the partition, they take
per capita; where a part are dead, and a part living,
the issue of those dead take per stirpes. In this
manner, suppose a man die, leaving two surviving
brothers or sisters, and the children of a deceased
brother or sister, then the surviving brothers or sisters would take per capita, and the children of the
deceased brother or sister would take per stirpes, or
the stock of their deceased parent.
14. Bastards, whose parents afterwards marry, become, if recognised, legitimated.
MARITAL RIGHTS.
Separate Property-  Common Property.
1. Females marrying under the age of twenty-one
shall be deemed of full age.
2. All property owned by husband or wife before
marriage, and that acquired afterwards by gift, devise, or descent, and the increase of all lands and
slaves thus acquired, shall be and continue his or her
own separate property.
8. During the marriage, the husband has the sole
management of the separate property of the wife.
4. A married woman cannot make separate contracts, by which she herself, or her separate property,
will be rendered liable, excepting in cases of absolute
necessity for the preservation of her property, or the
support of herself and family, and when the husband
refuses to join.
5. All property acquired after the marriage, by
9*
101, 
HEIRSHIP.
either husband or wife, or both, excepting that in
Sect. 2, is community or common property of the husband and wife; and on the dissolution of the marriage by death, one half goes to the surviving husband or wife, and the other half to their children;
but, if they have no children, then the surviving
husband or wife takes the whole.
6. After the wife commences a suit for divorce, the
husband can contract no further debts, binding on
the community property, nor dispose of any land or
slaves.
7. All head-right certificates and military land
claims, the rights to which have accrued to married
men, are considered community property, and governed, in their descent, according to the foregoing
laws.
Forms for proving up Heirship.
Suppose a single man, who died in Texas, has
connections in the State of New York, and that his
father and mother are also dead.
" STATE OF NEW YORK, SS. 
Madison County.      J
"Before me, the undersigned, legally constituted
authority, personally appeared Samuel Slyke and
Jonathan Barlow, two credible witnesses, to me personally well known, who, after being duly sworn,
according to law, depose and say, that they are well
acquainted with James Parkins, Rufus Parkins, and
Sarah Tilton (formerly Parkins), and now wife of
102 
HEIRSHIP.
Thomas Tilton; who  are all residents of Madison
county, in the State of New York: and these deponents flirther say, that they personally knew Solomon
Parkins, late of Matagorda county, in the State of
Texas, and now deceased. And they further say,
that the said James, Sarah, and Rufus, and the said
Solomon, dec'd, are the legitimate children of Simpson Parkins and Sarah his wife, both late of Montgomery county, State of New York, and now deceased. And the witnesses further depose, that said
Solomon Parkins was never married, so far as they
have been informed, by general report, and believe;
and that the aforesaid James Parkins, Rufus Parkins, and Sarah Tilton, are the next of kin, and
immediate and only heirs of so near a degree of
consanguinity to the said Solomon Parkins, deceased,
and that he had no other brothers or sisters, or their
descendants.
"And deponents further say, that they have no
direct or indirect interest or claim in the estate of
said decedent last-named, and that they are wholly
disinterested in the matters herein, and make these
depositions without bias, or hope of pecuniary gain.
"SAMUEL SLYIE,
"JONATHAN BARLOW."
" STATE OF NEW YORK, SS. 
Madison County. 
"I, Timothy Bundick, Judge of the Court of
, the same being a court of record, and hav
103 
IIEIRSHIP.
ing a seal of office, do hereby certify that the foregoing affidavit was made, subscribed, and sworn to
before me, by the witnesses, Samuel Slyke and Jonathan Barlow; and I further certify, that I know them
to be persons of good standing, and entitled to full
credibility.
"In testimony of all which, I have hereunto set
my hand, and caused to be impressed thereon the
seal of said court, at, this -     day of,
A. D. 1857.
" TIMOTHY BUNDICK,
" Judge of."
The foregoing proof may also be made before a
commissioner for the State of Texas, resident in the
State of New York, or any State where the claimants
may reside, after the same form. The commissioner
is not required by law to use an official seal.
When done before a judge, it is better, for more
certainty, to have a certificate from the Secretary of
State attached thereto, as follows, viz.:
Form.
"I, Elias W. Leavenworth, Secretary of State for
the State of New York, do hereby certify that the
Honorable Timothy Bundick, whose name and official seal appears to the foregoing documents, was,
on the day of, A. D. 18-, Judge of, the
same being a court of record, with a seal of office,
and that full faith and credence are due to all his
acts, in that capacity.
104
[L. S.] 
HEIRSHIP.
"In testimony of all the foregoing, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused to be impressed the
great seal of the State of New York. Done at Albany, this  -  day of  -, A. D. 18-."
[GREAT SEAL.]
Advice to Heirs.
There are heirs to persons who have died in Texas
scattered throughout the United States, Great Britain,
and Germany, who have no knowledge of their rights
here, or, if they have, too slightly to appreciate them.
These inheritances generally consist of land and land
claims, and some of them are large and valuable.
The rapid course of time, and railroad speed of
events, are constantly attenuating and obliterating
the evidences of those rights, and fortifying the titles
of adverse claimants.   It behoves all such heirs,
therefore, who have knowledge of their claims, to
be up and doing; for soon "the night cometh, when
no man can work:" too soon, the very last vestiges
of their rights will be forever beyond all power of
resuscitation.
The proper and most expeditious way, is for the
claimant to entrust his business with a reliable agent
-one who has experience, and is familiar with the
routine of our laws. Such a person will effect more,
in a short time, than the claimant could, unaided, in
a whole lifetime.
The land claims of many persons who were soldiers in Texas during the Revolution, and who died
105 
HEIRSHIP.
in the service, have been tampered with by unautho.
rized administrations, and sold; but the greater part
of such transactions are nullities, and the property
may be reclaimed. Many lands, which were owned
by persons since deceased, have been sold for State
and county taxes; but such can be recovered by the
heirs, unless the adverse claimant have actually occupied the land for a sufficient length of time to claim
by proscription.
Where a person has ever been entitled to ally property in Texas, by right of heirship, he or she had
better look to such rights, without delay, as the time
is fast approaching when the smallest government
grant of land will be of far more consideration than
at present.
106 
CHAPTER XI.
CONVEYANCES OF REAL ESTATE.
DEEDS of conveyance for real estate must be in
writing, signed, sealed, and delivered by the grantor,
and acknowledged by him before a proper officer, for
authentication; or acknowledged by him before two
witnesses, who, at his request, must sign their names
at the bottom, on the left hand side: scroll seals may
be used, when recognised in the body of the instrument.
It is said that, where the witnesses are present, and
see the grantor sign and execute the instrument, and
sign, as witnesses, at the same time, in presence of
the grantor, that it is not necessary for the witnessing to be at his request; but, when they sign at a
subsequent period, then they must become witnesses,
at his (particular) request (see Tex. Rep. vol. xv.)
Although the title to slaves passes from the seller to
the purchaser by delivery alone, it is better, in order
to prevent all subsequent embarrassments, that a
written title should be taken, authenticated and recorded according to law. All conveyances for land
certificates, land warrants, and land scrip, must be
formally executed, like deeds to real estate; but no
recording is requisite. A land certificate is not purely
real estate, but an incorporeal 7tereditament.
(107) 
CONVEYANCES OF REAL ESTATE.
Form of deed in Fee Simple (warrantee).
"THE STATE OF TEXAS, }
County of Matagorda. J
"Know all men by these presents, that I, A. B.,
of the State and county aforesaid, in consideration
of the sum of five hundred dollars, to me paid by
C. D., of the county of Navarro, State aforesaid,
have granted, bargained, sold, released, and conveyed,
and by these presents do hereby grant, bargain, sell,
release, and convey, unto the said C. D., his heirs or
assigns, all that (here describe the premises), together
with all and singular the rights, members, hereditaments, and appurtenances to the same belonging, or
in any wise incident or appertaining.
"To have and to hold all and singular the premises herein described, unto him, the said C. D., his
heirs or assigns forever. And I, the said A. B., do,
for myself, my heirs and representatives, hereby warrant, and I will and they shall forever defend, the
title to said premises and appurtenances, unto him,
the said C. D., his heirs or assigns, against all persons legally claiming the same, or any part thereof.
In testimony of all which, I have hereunto set my
hand and scroll seal, at Matagorda, this twentyseventh day of MAay, A. D. one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
"(Signed)                 A. B.  [SCROLL.]
"Signed, sealed, and delivered in presence of witnesses,
"L. 0., P.S."
108 
CONVEYANCES OF REAL ESTATE.
Remarks.
Covenants can be inserted according to agreement
of the parties.
Persons executing instruments in other States, concerning real estate situate in Texas, must recollect
that all such instruments must be in conformity with
our laws, without any regard to the laws of the place
of execution.
Form of authenticating a deed for record, when acknow           ledged by grantor to the officer.
"THE STATE OF TEXAS,
County of M[atagorda. }
"Before me [Notary Public, County Clerk, or Chief
Justice County Court] personally appeared A. B., to
me personally well known, and who acknowledged
to me, that he executed and delivered the foregoing
instrument of writing in favor of C. D., dated the
27th day of MIay, A. D. 1857, for the purposes and
consideration therein stated; and the said A. B. further acknowledged to me his signature and seal to
said instrument of Awriting, and requested me to authenticate the same.
"To certify all of the foregoing, I have hereunto
set my hand and affixed the impress of my seal of
office, at Matagorda, this 27th day of May, A. D. 1857.
LEMUEL SHACKELFORD,
[L. S.]
10
109 
CONVEYANCES OF REAL ESTATE.
Proof of an instrument by a subscribing witness, where
he was present at the execution thereof.
"THE STATE OF TEXAS, l
6tounty of Matagorda. 
"Before me [any of the foregoing officers] personally appeared L. O., to me personally well known,
and who, being by me first duly sworn, according to
law, states, on oath, that he saw A. B., grantor in the
foregoing instrument of writing, dated May 27th,
A. D. 1857, subscribe the same.
"And deponent further says, that he signed the
same as a subscribing witness at that time.
"To certify all of which, I have hereunto set my
hand and the impress of my seal of office, at Matagorda, this 27th day of May, A. D. 1857.
" PETER JONES,
[L. S.]               "[Official designation]."
Where the deed is witnessed at a subsequent period
from its execution.
"THE STATE OF TEXAS, I
County of Matagqorda. f
"Before me [any of the foregoing officers] personally appeared L. O., to me personally well known,
and who, being by me first duly sworn, according to
law, says, on oath, that he signed the foregoing instrument of writing, dated May 27th, 1857, as a sub
110 
CONVEYANCES OF REAL ESTATE.
scribing witness, and that he did so at the request of
A. B., the grantor therein."
[Same conclusions as foregoing.]
When the subscribing witnesses are dead, or their place
of residence is unknown, or when they reside out of
the State.
"THE STATE OF TEXAS, 
County of Matagorda. o
"Before me [any of the foregoing officers] person
ally appeared John Jones, to me personally well known,
who, first being duly sworn by me, according to law,
deposeth and saith, that L. O. and P. S., whose
names appear signed as subscribing witnesses to the
foregoing instrument of writing, executed by A. B.,
and dated May 27th, 1857, [are non-residents of the
State of Texas, or their place of residence is unknown,
or they are dead, as the fact may be].
"(Signed)             JOHN JoNEs.
"Sworn to and subscribed before me, this      day
of, A. D. 18-, which I certify, under my
hand and seal of office."
[Name, official designation, and seal of office.]
After which the instrument may be proven for record.
"THE STATE OF TEXAS,
County of Matagorda. 
"Before me [any of the foregoing officers] personally appeared John Jones and Samuel Geddes, to me
111 
CONVEYANCES OF REAL ESTATE.
personally well known, who, being by me first duly
sworn, according to law, depose and say, that they
are well acquainted with the handwriting of A. B.
anid L. O., the former the grantor, and the latter one
of the subscribing witnesses in the foregoing, and annexed instrument of writing, dated May 27th, A. D.
1857; and these deponents further say, that said signatures are the true and genuine signatures of said
persons, and that they, these deponents, are wholly
uninterested in any matters contained in said instrument of writing.
"JOHN JONES,
"SAMUEL GEDDES.
"Subscribed and sworn to before me, this        day
of, A. D. 1857, which I hereby certify,
under my hand and seal of office."
[Official signature and seal.]
Ylode of proof when the subscribing witnesses are per           sonally unknown to the officer.
"THE STATE OF TEXAS, l
Matagorda County. f
"Before me [any of the foregoing officers] personally appeared Samuel Hiolliday and Henry Watkins,
to me well known, who, being by me first duly sworn,
depose and say, that L. 0., who now also appears
personally present, is the identical person whose
name appears signed as one of the subscribing witnesses to the foregoing and annexed instrument of
112 
CONVEYANCES OF REAL ESTATE.
writing, bearing date May 27th, 1857, and executed
by A. B.
" SAMUEL HOLLIDAY,
"' HENRY WATKINS.
"Subscribed and sworn to before me, this    day
of, A. D. 1857, which I hereby certify,
under my hand and seal of office."
[Official signature and seal.]
After which the instrument of writing may be
proven up by the unknown witness.
"THE STATE OF TEXAS, 
County of lIatagorda. 
"Before me [any of the foregoing officers] personally appeared L. O., a subscribing witness to the annexed instrument of writing, dated Mlay 27th, A. D.
1857, and executed by A. B.: And the identity of
the said L. O. having been satisfactorily proven to
me by the affidavits of Samuel Holliday and Henry
Watkins: And he, the said L. O., having been by
me first duly sworn, according to law, now states, on
oath, that he saw A. B., the grantor in said instrument of writing, subscribe his name to the same as
it there appears. And deponent further says, that
he signed his name, as a subscribing witness, to said
instrument of writing.
"To certify all which, I have hereto set my hand
and affixed the impress of my official seal.
[L. S.]  "Done at Matagorda, this      day of -
A. D. 1857."
10*
113 
CONVEYANCES OF REAL ESTATE.
Mode of authenticating an instrument executed by a
married woman, concerning her separate property.
In making a conveyance of separate property, or
in the execution of any other written instrument, a
married woman must always be joined therein by her
husband. Such instruments can never be proven up
by witnesses, but must be authenticated by a Judge
of the Supreme or District Court, Notary Public, or
Chief Justice of the county.
Form.
"THE STATE OF TEXAS, 1
County of Matagorda. 
"Before me, Matthew Talbot, Chief Justice of the
County Court, in and for said County of Matagorda,
personally appeared Elizabeth Hunter, wife of John
L. Hunter, both to me personally well known, parties to a certain instrument of writing, bearing date
the 21st day of March, A. D. 1857, and hereto annexed; and having been examined by me privily and
apart from her said husband, and after having the
same read over and fully explained to her by me, she,
the said Elizabeth Hunter, acknowledged the same
so be her act and deed, and declared that she had
willingly and understandingly signed, sealed, and delivered the same, for the purposes and consideration
therein expressed, and that she did not wish to retract
it. And afterwards, on the same day, personally appeared the abovenamed John L. Hunter, who stated
,,114 
CONVEYANCES OF REAL ESTATE.
to me, that he had executed said instrument of writing
for the purposes and consideration therein expressed,
and he acknowledged his signature and seal to the
same.
"To certify all of which, I have hereunto set my
hand, and caused to be affixed the impress of the seal
of said County Court.
"Done  at Matagorda, this 29th day of March,
A. D. 1857.
" MATTHEW TALBOT,
[L. S.]    " Chzef Justice of Matagorda County."
An instrument to be used in Texas, when authenticated in any other State or Territory, must be done
by a Judge of a Court of Record, having a seal of
office, or by a Commissioner for this State.
When in a foreign country, it must be done by
some Public Minister, Charge6 d'Affaires, or Consul
of the United States; and, in all cases, the certificate
of the acknowledgment or proof must be attested
under the official seal of the officer taking the same.
115 
CHAPTER XII.
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
Mortgages.
THE practice of taking mortgages on real estate,
negroes, and personal property, as collateral security
for money due on notes, bonds, and accounts, is quite
common in this State. Although there is a little
ambiguity in the 2d section of the law (HIartley's
Digest) concerning foreclosing mortgages on personal
property, the District Court is the only tribunal
where mortgages on real estate and slaves can be
foreclosed.
1. In foreclosing a mortgage, suit may be brought
in the county where the mortgaged property is situate, or in the county of defendant's domicil.
2. Where the mortgagor is dead, the mortgagee or
owner of the security, or his agent, must present it
to the administrator or executor for acceptance, like
all other claims against estates of deceased persons.
3. A note, bond, or other debt, secured by a mortgage, is subject to the laws of limitation, in the same
manner as though no mortgage existed.
4. Mortgages may be assigned, and the assignee
(116) 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
becomes entitled to all the rights of the original
holder.
5. All mortgages on real estate must be recorded
in the county where the property lies, within ninety
days from the date of the execution thereof; and
mortgages on personal property in the county where
the mortgagor lives, within alike period; but a failure to comply with this rule does not forfeit the lien
as between the parties to the mortgage.
A prudent regard for security would seem to dictate to the holder of a mortgage to prove it up, and
cause it to be recorded without delay, as rights of
third persons may injuriously intervene.
I have endeavored, by the following simple forms,
to exemplify this kind of security in its different
phases, so that any person may comprehend, and be
enabled to avail him or herself of it, in business
transactions.
" Matagorda, Texas, May 1st, 1857.
"$15,000.00.
"Twelve months after date, for value received, I
promise to pay to C. D)., or order, the sum of fifteen
thousand dollars, with interest thereon from date, at
the rate of ten per cent. per annum.
"(Signed)                   A. B."
"THE STATE OF TEXAS,
County of Matagorda. 
"Know all men, by these presents, that I, A. B.,
of the State and county aforesaid, for and in consi
117 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
deration of the sum of fifteen thousand dollars, with
the interest clue and to be due thereon, which sum
of money I am indebted to C. D., of the same place,
and which indebtedness is more fully evidenced by
nay promissory note, to him delivered, and copied
below (here copy evidence of debt), have, better to
secure the payment of my said debt, granted, bargained, sold, alienated, and conveyed, and do, by
these presents, hereby grant, bargain, sell, and convey unto the said C. D., his heirs or assigns, forever,
all of the following described property, viz. (here describe the property): To have and to hold the same,
together with all the rights, members, and hereditaments to the same in any wise incident or appertaining,
to him, the said C. D., his heirs or assigns, forever.
"And I, the said A. B., for myself and my heirs,
hereby covenant with the said C. D., that I am lawfilly seized in fee simple of the herein granted premises, and that they are free from all incumbrances:
Provided, always, that this conveyance is made upon
this condition, that, if I, the said A. B., shall pay,
or cause to be paid, to the said C. D., his heirs or
assigns, the full sum of fifteen thousand dollars, as
mentioned in said promissory note, on or before the
first day of May, A. D. 1858, together with the inrterest then due thereon, then this instrument to become
null and void; otherwise to remain in full force and
virtue, and become subject to foreclosure, according
to law.
"In testimony of all which, I have hereunto set
118 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
ny hand and scroll seal, at Matagorda, this first day
of June, A. D. one thousand eight hundred and fiftyseven.
"(Signed)                 A. B.  [SCROLL.]
" Signed, sealed, and delivered in presence of witnesses."
Or this form of Mortgages.
Hemphill C. J. in T. R. vol. vi. page 13, remarks
as follows: "And here I would suggest the re-adoption of the Spanish, or a more simple form of mortgage. The form in use is deceptive and fictitious.
It purports to be a perfect deed of conveyance, with
conditions."
" THE STATE OF TEXAS, 
County of Mlatagorda. 
"Whereas I, A. B., of the State and county aforesaid, being justly indebted to C. D., of the same
place, upon a promissory note, a copy of which is
copied below (copy of note). Now, in order better
to secure the prompt payment of said recited promissory note, together with the interest thereon, I do
hereby mortgage, make over, and convey, unto the
said C. D., all of the following described land and
premises, viz. (here describe property).
" To have and to hold all of the herein described
property, together with all the rights thereto incident
or belonging, for the sole purpose of securing the
payment of said promissory note, and interest, by
119 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
foreclosure of this mortgage, if I should make default
in the prompt payment thereof.
"In testimony of all which, I have hereunto set
my hand and scroll seal, at Matagorda, this first day
of June, A. D. one thousand eight hundred and fiftyseven.
"(Signed)               A. B.  [SCROLL.]
"Signed, sealed, and delivered in presence of witnesses."
Mortgage on Personal Property.
Cotton and  sugar-planters  frequently desire  to
obtain money, as advancements, from their merchants
and factors abroad; and the business is so arranged,
that benefits are derived by both parties: the planter
gets his accommodation, in the way of a loan, and
the factor not only secures himself for the repayment of his money, and interest, but also the profits
of selling the planter's sugar and cotton.
Form.
"THE STATE OF TEXAS, 
County of MJatagorda. 
"Whereas I, Samuel Kingston, of the State and
county aforesaid, planter, have this day entered into
an arrangement and contract with Nelson Clements
and Thomas JHayden, commission merchants, doing
business in the city and State of New York, under
the style of Clements & Hayden, whereby I am to
have a credit at their establishment, in said city, up
to the amount of four thousand dollars, and I am,
120 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
from this date, to be allowed to draw drafts on said
firm, during the present year, in sums to suit nay
convenience, until the whole of said sum of money
shall have been drawn, or any less amount that I
may  choose;  which  drafts they have  agreed  to
promptly honor and pay, according to their tenor.
And I, the said Samuel Kingston, in consideration
of the foregoing, hereby bind myself and my heirs,
to ship or cause to be shipped, in good order, on or
before the first day of January next, to the said
Clements and hlayden, all of the crop of cotton
growing and to be grown on my plantation during
the present year; which I estimate will be two hundred bales, of five hundred pounds each. And the
said Clements & Hayden are to sell said cotton, on
my account, to the best advantage, according to
their judgment; and, after deducting the amount of
money they may have advanced, and ten per cent.
per annum interest thereon, and the other usual
charges, to pay the remainder of the proceeds over
to me, or my order.
"Now, in order better to secure the repayment of
such advances, interest, and charges, in the manner
which I have agreed, and as additional security, I do
hereby mortgage, pledge, and convey, unto the said
Clements & Hayden, all of the following named
negro slaves, viz. (here describe the slaves). To have
and to hold all of said slaves, together with their increase, for the sole purpose of securing the prompt
repayment of said advances of money, be the same
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121 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
more or less, with the interest and charges, in the
manner as I have herein contracted.
"But I am to remain in possession of said slaves,
and keep them on my plantation, in this county,
until a default is made by me, and a foreclosure
hereof is decreed, according to law.
"In testimony of all which, I have hereunto set
my  hand,  and seal of office, at Matagorda, this
twenty-first day of June, A. D. one thousand eight
hundred and fifty-seven.
"SAMUEL KINGSTON. [ScROLL.]
"Signed, sealed, and delivered in presence of witnesses."
The foregoing mortgage, after being properly authenticated, should be filed for record in the county
where the mortgagor lives.
Delays are dangerous; and a person who is caun
tious enough to secure his interest, by taking full
security, should certainly not leave the most important part unaccomplished.
Releases of Mortgages.
When a mortgage is paid and satisfied, a release
should be procured, to be executed by the mortgagee
or assignee of the mortgage security, and the same
should be authenticated and recorded, like all other
formal instruments. 
122 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
"THE STATE OF TEXAS, l
County of Jlatagorda. 
"I, C. D., of the State and county aforesaid, do
hereby certify and acknowledge, that a deed of
mortgage, bearing date the         day of, A. D.
1856, and recorded in the county record-book G,
page 350, of the proper records of said county, and
including the following property (here describe the
property), and executed by A. B., to me, the said C.
D., for better securing the payment of his promissory
note for six thousand dollars, dated on the first day
of January, A. D. 1856, payable one year after date,
with interest, at the rate of ten per cent. per annum,
from date, has this day been fully paid and satisfied;
and, therefore, every matter, thing, and security contained in said mortgage, is hereby fully released, and
the property described therein, together with all its
rights, is hereby reconveyed to the said A. B., free
from all incumbrances on account of said debt.
"In testimony of all which, I have hereunto set
my hand, and scroll sea], at Matagorda, this third
day of January, A. D. one thousand eight hundred
and fifty-seven.
"(Signed)                 C. D.   [ScROLL.]
"Signed, sealed, and delivered in presence of witnesses."
.Liens.
According to various decisions of our Supreme
Court, an equitable lien exists, in favor of the vendor,
123
::           -.   -.1.:-   — : 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
against the specific property in the hands of the vent
dee, and subsequent purchasers, with notice.
~Statute Liens.
All judgments of courts of record are liens on all
real estate in the county of the forum, provided
executions are properly issued.
Builders and mechanics have liens, in the nature
of mortgages, on all buildings which they erect or
work on, and on the ground on which such buildings
are erected or worked on, until compensation is made
to them for such, and for the materials furnished.
In order to secure this lien, a contract must be made,
in writing, and recorded within thirty days.
Every person who furnishes supplies, or does repairs or labor, for any domestic vessel, has a lien on
such vessel and her freight money, for the security
and payment of the same.
Married  TWomen.
When the homestead is sold, it is necessary for the
wife to join in the conveyance, and it must be authenticated in this State, by a Judge of the Supreme
or District Court, Chief Justice, Notary Public, or
County Clerk.
The law requires every married woman to make
out a schedule of all her separate property, and present the same to the County Clerk, and acknowledge
it for record.
124 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
Schedule.
"THE STATE OF TEXAS,
County of Matagorda.
"Be it known to all persons whom it may concern, that I, Julia Dean, wife of Thomas Dean, all
of the State and county aforesaid, being the true and
lawful owner of the following property, in my own
separate right, do make this, my schedule, for the
purposes of record, viz. (here describe property).
The same was acquired by me by inheritance from
my father, Jarvis Subtlet, deceased, late of Munroe
County, Alabama.
"And I have made this schedule of all the property which I own in my separate right, for the purpose of having it recorded, according to law.
"In testimony of all which, I have hereto signed
my name, in Matagorda, this first day of July, A. D.
one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
" JULIA DEAN."
"THE STATE OF TEXAS, 
County of Matagorda. I
"Before me, James H. Selkirk, Clerk of the
County Court for the county aforesaid, personally
appeared Julia Dean, wife of Thomas Dean, all of
the State and county aforesaid, and presented to me
the foregoing schedule of her separate property for
registration, and she acknowledged said instrument
11*
125 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
to be her act and deed, for the purposes therein
expressed.
[L. S.] " To certify all which, I have hereunto set
mrny hand and seal of office, at Matagorda, this second
day of June, A. D. 1857."
Remarks and Advice.
It is always advisable for married women, in this
State, and more particularly if strangers, when they
first emigrate to it, if they own property in their own
right, to designate, and cause it to be recorded in the
proper county. Husbands, like all other human
beings, are fallible, and liable not only to errors, but
to all the vicissitudes of fickle fortune; and the wife's
ample property too often is made a sacrifice to her
own negligence in not giving publicity to her separate rights. The expense and trouble are very little,
and the security which it affords more than repays.
And it is also a duty, which the husband not only
owes to his wife and family, but to the public, to
attend to this matter, so that he may appear before
the world in his true character and circumstances;
not apparently wealthy in property, which really belongs to his wife, and himself, perhaps, insolvent.
The laws of our State have persistently endeavored
to protect and guard the rights of married women;
but if they will, in despite of such care, keep silent,
and allow husbands to improvidently control their
separate property, disastrous law-suits, and even total
sacrifice, may follow. Therefore, I say to you, let it
126 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
be properly made public what your separate rights
are, and there is little danger that they will ever be
contested; and, if they unfortunately should, the
laws and juries of this State will see your rights protected.
The property rights of married persons emigrating
to this State are governed by the laws of their marriage domnicil. It is true, the existence of the woman,
by marriage, becomes merged in that of her husband,
and her rights subject to his control, for better or for
worse, but the wisdom of our law-makers has provided means by which the wife may not only fiil
all the behests of her high station, be a dutiful and
affectionate companion, and still save for herself and
her progeny her own  separate property, without
doing violence to her proper affections and confidence. In fact, all the servile wife-slavery of the old
common law has been abrogated here, and a just medium been established between the severity of that
and the license of the civil law. By our system the
conjugal relations are preserved, and the legal restraints are very wholesome checks against improvident, reckless, and wicked practices of bad husbands.
All property purchased during coverture, with proceeds of the community, or with the joint or separate
earnings of husband or wife, even if the conveyance
be made directly to the wife, inures to the community.
A married woman can, by last will and testament,
dispose of her separate and her community rights.
12T 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
Limitation Laws.
1. All suits on open accounts, excepting between
merchant and merchant, must be brought within two
years. Each item in an open account is the data by
which to compute the time.
2. Suits on notes, and other written obligations for
money, must be commenced within four years after
the same became due.
3. Persons absent seven years from the estate without being heard from, are presumed to be dead.
4. When a claim of any kind is once barred by the
law of limitation, it cannot be revived or taken out
of the operation of the law, excepting by an acknowledgment in writing, signed by the person to be
charged thereby.
5. Five years of peaceable possession of land under
color of title, with deed duly proven and recorded,
bars all other claims, except of minors, femes covert,
and persons non compos.
6. Peaceable possession of land under a defective
title, emanating from the sovereignty of the soil, is a
bar, in three years, to adverse claimants.
7. Any person holding peaceable possession of real
estate five years, cultivating or using the same, and
paying tax thereon, under a deed duly recorded,
secures a good title, precluding all others.
8. Ten years' peaceable possession, and cultivation
or use of 640 acres of land, gives the holder a perfect
title.
128 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
9. All contracts concerning lands and slaves, if not
to be performed within one year, must be reduced to
writing, and signed by the party to be charged therewith, or by his lawful agent, otherwise the same is
within the statute of frauds.
10. All fraudulent conveyances, made for the purpose of secreting the debtor's property from his
creditors, are deed-void in law.
11. When any pretended loan of goods or slaves
is made to any person, and that person remains in
possession three years, without demand made on the
part of the pretended lender, then such property becomes liable for the debts of the borrower.
12. The adverse possession of a slave, for the term
of two years, bars the rightful owner's title and claim.
13. When any person dies against whom there is
cause of action, the statute of limitations ceases to
run until twelve months after such death, unless an
administrator or executor be qualified before that
time.
14. In case of the death of any person in whose
favor there is a cause of action, the statute ceases to
run, under like circumstances as above.'
Supreme Court.
Civil suits are taken from the District Courts to the
Supreme Court by appeal or writ of error; the former
1 The filing of a petition in the District Court, on any claim, and
the issuance of process from Justice's Court, are the dates at which
the litation stops running; that is, if the claim was not barred
then, it will be secured from prescription by such acts.
129 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
must be moved for at the term of the court at which
the cause is tried, but the latter may be prosecuted
at any time within two years. The jurisdiction of
this court is appellate, excepting the power to grant
certain remedial writs.
It is composed of one Chief Justice and two Associate Justices.
The terms of the court are as follows:
At Austin, third Mondays in October, and continue
nine weeks, or until business is finished.
At Galveston, first Mondays in January, and continue ten weeks.
At Tyler, first Mondays in April, and may continue
until first of July.
District Courts - Collection of Debts, and Remedies.
There are eighteen judicial districts in the State,
and the judge of each district holds two sessions of
court in each county in his district every year. The
District Courts have original jurisdiction of all suits,
complaints, and pleas whatever, without any distinction between law and equity, when the matter in
controversy shall be of the value of, or amount to,
one hundred dollars, exclusive of interest.
Causes decided in the justices' courts may be removed to this court for trial de novo, within ninety
days, by certiorari, on the party applying showing, by
an affidavit, sufficient cause to the judge. There is
no direct appeal from justices' courts.
Proceedings in the County Courts pertaining to the
130 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
estates of deceased persons and wards, may be removed to the district courts for revision, at any
time within two years, by certiorari.
The district courts are the tribunals where all
suits for debts of over hundred dollars are brought:
the district and justices' courts have concurrent jurisdiction, when the amount is just one hundred dol
lars.
On a promissory note, judgment is usually rendered at the first term of court, after due service of
the writ, unless the service were made by publication, when two terms of court are required to obtain
a judgment.
Judgments on promissory notes bear interest according to the rate stipulated therein-not to exceed
twelve per cent.
Immediately after the rising of court, executions
are required by law to be issued on all judgments
of the term, and placed in the hands of the sheriff.
If the first execution is not satisfied, a new one
should be issued every six months, or after every
term of court. Judgments, in this court, are liens
on all the real estate in the county, provided executions are properly issued. Personal property must
be levied on before lien attaches: to constitute a
good levy on the same, actual possession must be
taken by the sheriff. All property sold by execution
is without any appraisement. Sales, by execution,
of real estate and negroes, are made on the first
Tuesday of every month, after twenty days' notice,
131 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
by written advertisements. Personal property can
be sold at any time, after ten days' notice.
This court is empowered to issue the summary
writs of attachment and garnishment.   The proceeding is as follows: The plaintiff files, in the office
of the clerk of this court, his petition against the
defendant, setting forth his cause, in the ordinary
form; and if, at any time after such filing, he desires
a writ of attachment, and can make affidavit, in due
form, it will be issued.  The causes for granting an
attachment are: 1. That the defendant is justly indebted to the plaintiff, and the amount of the denmand, arid that the defendant is not a resident of this
State; 2. Or, that hlie is about to remove out of this
State; 3. Or, that he secretes himself, so that the
ordinary process of law cannot be served on him;
4. Or, that he is about to remove his property beyond
this State, and that thereby the plaintiff will probably lose his debt; 5. Or, that he is about to remove
his property beyond the county; 6. Or, that he is
about to transfer or secrete, or has transferred or
secreted, his property, for the purpose of defrauding
his creditors, and thereby the plaintiff will probably
lose his debt.
The plaintiff must also, in addition to any of these
propositions, swear that the attachment is not sued
out for the purpose of injuring the defendant.
132 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
Affidavit.
"THE STATE OF TEXAS, I   n District Court.
County of Matagorda.
"Before me, R. L., Clerk of the District Court for
the county aforesaid, personally appeared G. T., the
plaintiff in a suit now pending in said District Court,
entitled'No.- G. T. vs. A. B.,' who, after being
by me duly sworn, according to law, deposes and
says, that the said A. B. is justly indebted to him, the
deponent, in the sumn of (here describe the debt).
Afflant further says, that the said A. B. is not a resident of this State (or any of the other causes), and
that thereby the plaintiff will probably lose his debt.
Affiant also swears, that this attachment is not sued
out for the purpose of injuring the defendant.
"(Signed)                          G. T.
"Subscribed and sworn to before me, this first day
of May, A. D. 1857, which I hereby certify under my
my hand and seal of office.
"R. L.- Clerk D.C. M. C."
This affidavit may be made by an agent or attorney for the plaintiff. A bond is required to be filed
with the affidavit, in double the amount sworn to be
due.
The plaintiff may, at any time after filing his petition, affidavit and bond, or, at the same time, obtain
writs of attachment against defendant's property, and
writs of garnishment against any persons supposed
12
133 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
to be indebted to the defendant, or supposed to have
any of the defendant's effects or property.
The foregoing summary proceedings, it will be
recollected, are all before judgment; and, if said
proceedings are improvidently had, the  defendant
may, on the trial, plead damages, in reconvention or
set-off.
In ordinary suits for debt or damages, after the
plaintiff has obtained a judgment, and no property
can be found whereon to levy an execution, the plaintiff, his agent, or attorney, may have a writ of garnishment, by applying to the clerk of the court from
which the execution issued, and making an affidavit.
Writ of Attachment.
"THE STATE OF TEXAS TO THE SHERIFF OF MATAGORDA
COUNTY, GREETING:
"We command you, that you attach so much of
the property of A. B., if to be found in your county,
repleviable on security, as shall be of value sufficient
to make the sumni of (here insert amount claimed),
together with the legal interest thereon, from the
day of, A. D. 1857, and costs, to satisfy the
demand of G. T., and such property, so attached, in
your hands to keep and secure, that the same may
be liable to further proceedings, thereupon to be
had at our next District Court, to be holden in the
court-house, in the city of Matagorda, within and
for said county of Matagorda, on the second Monday
after the first Monday in October next, so as to
134 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
compel the said A. B. to appear and plead to the
complaint of the said G. T., when and where you
shall make known how you have executed this writ.
"Attest. - R. L., Clerk of said District Court.
Given under my hand and the seal of said court, at
Matagorda, this       day of, A. D. 18-.
[L. s.]            " R. L.- Clerk D. C. I.  C."
The legal mode of levying an attachment on personal property, is by the officer going to the place
where the property is, and then and there declaring,
in the presence of one or more credible persons of
the neighborhood, that he, attaches said property as
the property of defendant
Writ of Garnishmnent.
"THE STATE OF TEXAS TO THE SHERIFF OF MATAGORDA
COUNTY, GREETING:
"Whereas, G. T., plaintiff, has filed, in the District
Court of Mlatagorda county, State of Texas, his petition, bond, and affidavit, in a suit against A. B., defendant, and obtained from said court an original
attachment against the property of him, said A. B.,
and the said plaintiff having applied to me for a
writ of garnishment against one C. M., a resident of
said county:
"These are, therefore, to command you that you
summon the said C. M., as garnishee in this case, to
be and appear, on the first day of the first term of
our said District Court, to be holden at the court
135 
LEGAL RIGHIITS AND REMEDIES.
house, in the city of Matagorda, within and for said
county of Matagorda, on the second Monday after
the first Monday in October next, then and there to
answer, upon oath, what he, the said C. M., is indebted to said defendant, or what effects of the defendant he has in his possession, and had at the time
of serving this writ of garnishment, and what credits
and effects there are of the defendant in the hands
of any other person, and what person, to the best of
his knowledge and belief.
"And you are commanded to make return of this
writ according to the tenor hereof, certifying how
you have executed the same.
"Attest:   R. L.-Clerk of said District Court.
"Given under my hand and seal of office, at Matagorda, this -     day of, A. D. 1857.
[L. S.]          "R. L.-Clerk D. C. M. C."
The form of a writ of garnishment issued after
judgment, is somewhat variant.
TVrits of Sequestration
Mlay be issued by judges and clerks of the district
courts, and justices of the peace, in the following
cases:
1. Where a married woman sues for divorce, and
makes oath that she fears her husband will waste her
separate property, or their community property, or
remove the same, during the pendency of the suit,
out of this State, &c.
2. When a person sues for the title or possession
136 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
of a slave, or other movable property or chattels, and
makes oath that he fears the defendant, or person in
possession, will injure or ill-treat such slave, or waste
such property, or remove the same out of the State
during the pendency of the suit.
3. When a person sues for the foreclosure of a
mortgage, or the enforcement of a lien upon a slave,
or movable property of any description, and makes
oath that he fears the defendant, or person in possession, will injure or ill-treat such slave, or waste such
property, or remove such property or slave out of the
county.
4. When any person sues for the title or possession
of real estate, and makes oath that he fears the defendant, or person in possession, may make use of
his possession to injure such property, or waste the
fruits and revenue produced by the same, or convert
them to his own use.
5. When any person sues for the title or possession
of any property from which he has been ejected by
force or violence, and makes oath to the facts.
The person applying for a writ of sequestration,
must, in all cases, first make  affidavit of sufficient
facts, and file that, together with his bond, in the
Court in which his suit is pending. The bond is
made payable to the defendant for a sum of money
equal to double the value of the property to be
sequestrated.
These proceedings can be had only after petition
filed in court.
12*
137 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
Formn of Sequestratio?.
"THE STATE OF TEXAS TO THE SHERIFF OF MATAGORDA
COUNTY, GREETING:
"You are hereby commanded to take into your
possession the following described property, if to be
found in your county, to wit (here describe the property), and it safely keep, subject to the future order
of our said District Court, unless J. P., who is defendant herein, or any other person, in whose possession all,or any of the aforesaid property shall be
held, shall replevy the same, according to law.
"Herein fail not, and make due return of this writ
to the office of the Clerk of the District Court for
said county of MAatagorda, on or before the second
Monday after the first Mlonday in October next.
"Attest:                      RI L.,
"Clerk of said District Court.
[L. S.] "Given under my hand and seal of
office," &c.
Property exempt from Forced Sale.
By the law of 1839, there was reserved to every
citizen or head of a family, free from execution, fifty
acres of land, or one town lot, including his or her
homestead and improvements, not exceeding five
hundred dollars in value; all household and kitchen
furniture, not to exceed two hundred dollars in value;
all implements of husbandry, not to exceed fifty dollars in value; all tools, apparatus, and books belong
138 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
ing to the trade or profession of any citizen; five
milch-cows (and calves), one yoke of work oxen or
one horse (mule), twenty hogs, and one year's provision.
The Constitution of the State of Texas, adopted
in 1846, altered that portion of the above exemption
which relates to homesteads, but allowed the other
portions of the old law to remain for future action
by the Legislature.
By the Constitution, "the homestead of a family,
not to exceed two hundred acres of land (not included
in a town or city lot), or any town or city lot or lots,
in value not to exceed two thousand dollars, is exempt from execution, and reserved to the family. It
will be perceived, that by the old law the exemptions
applied to every citizen or head of a family, and that,
by the constitutional provision, the homestead exemption is entirely changed, and only applies to
heads of families; the remainder of the old exemption law is still in force, and single men avail themselves of it, while heads of families claim under the
Constitution.
By the old law, the valuation of the homestead
applies to the land or lot, and all improvements
thereon; by the constitutional provision, the valuation seems to relate specifically to the soil. The
owner of a homestead, if a married man, cannot
alienate it unless by consent of the wife, manifested
in the conveyance, as I have before shown. Neither
can the homestead be mortgaged for any debt or
139 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
contract, even if the deed of mortgage be made with
all the formalities required in an alienation of same
property, for the reason, that the intent and end of a
mortrgage is j udicial foreclosure, and a forced sale.
The only mode by which the homestead of a married mail call be made to act the part of a collateral
security, is to get the husband and wife to execute a
deed of trust on it, with power in the trustee to sell
on failure of payment. The homestead rights are
not acquired in a piece of property against the person from whom purchased, until the property is paid
for. The husband and wife, although ever so much
involved in debt, may sell their homestead, and collect the money therefor, free from hinderance on the
part of creditors.
Thus, it is seen, that our laws are paternal and
equitable, in making wise provisions for the shelter
and protection of the wife and helpless family from
the ruthless attacks of ever-vigilant creditors, and
from the inevitable ruin incident to the conduct of
dissipated and profligate husbands.  In misfortune,
sickness, and old age, the husband and wife, if they
have been provident enough, in their prosperity, to
secure a home, have one sacred retreat, which the
shafts of creditors cannot reach; debts, judgments,
and executions, are as paper pellets thrown at a
castle wall.  Nothing conduces so much to the happiness, patriotism, and independence of a people, and
to the permanent prosperity and good order of a
State, as judicious homestead laws.
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LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
The hearthstone of the family, although its members may be bowed down with sorrow and affliction,
and though dire poverty, misfortune, and distress,
may have assailed on every side, and even entered at
the door, becomes an altar for the stricken family
circle, where hope for brighter days is engendered,
and parental and filial love soothe the broken spirits;
where the holy peace within contrasts strangely with
the tempest of misery without. Is not that man
more noble, who can utter, with the intense feelings
of confident independence- "This domicil, which
shelters my family, although humble; this soil, which
I till for bread, is theirs and mine; and no power of
law, or force of circumstances, can wrest it from us"?
If I had a voice in framing a system of laws, and
sincerely desired to imbue the people with honest
principles, to make virtue and industrious habits
predominate, I would endeavor to exempt from forced
sale ample homesteads.
The want of such a protection is a fruitful source,
in many countries, of vagabondism, crime, and immorality.
Creditors are too prone to view all exemption laws
as merely the coverts for rogues and cheats; but, in
taking this view of the matter, they are only calcu
lating their own immediate losses or gains.
The inhabitants of a State, who, under adversity,
are protected from total ruin by homestead laws, are
far more to be relied on in their contracts, as a general thing, than those who have no such safeguard;
141 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
and the aggregate of bad debts, broken contracts,
and absconding debtors, will be much greater under
the rigid rule of strip a man of all he hath, than under
the latter system.
If a few fraudulent debtors are unjustly shielded
under our good laws, how many more debtors are
there, who, by their effect, are enabled to remain
honest, to eventually extricate themselves from pecuniary involvements, and, in the end, to pay their
debts?
The debtor who has a permanent domicil, and an
interest in the soil, which he can call the property
of himself and family beyond all peradventure, however much he is buffeted by adverse fortune, still
maintains a sense of moral dignity and self-esteem,
that are incentives to retrieve his true position.
The one system would endeavor to make the unfortunate heads of families enemies to all law, and
outcasts and lepers of society, while the other fosters
and encourages them in well-doing, and makes them
supporters of the laws and institutions of their
country. One is an enemy of society, the other an
wgis for the well-being of our fellow-citizens, and a
great advance in the happy results of civilization.
3Iuch, in times past, has been written and said in
favor of imprisonment for debt, and the same, and
no better reasons, may be urged by those relentless
Jews, who are in favor of abolishing the last earthly
refuge of unfortunate human nature. Let us, then,
be thankful, and rejoice that we live under a govern
142 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
ment of benign institutions, and that the laws are
not antagonistic to virtue and happiness. Let it be
the first and last solicitude of every head of a family
to look well to the future protection of those whom
Heaven has entrusted to their care. Every husband
should consider it a sacred duty, whether rich or poor,
to make preparation according to his means, that the
partner of his joys and sorrows, and his little ones,
may not, in the event of his early death or ruinous
misfortune, be cast upon the cold world, homeless
and unsheltered; such a fate, superadded to other
troubles, is sufficient to turn aside from the paths of
rectitude and morality those tender hearts that before
knew no guile.  Sickness, misfortune, and death, are
common to all men, and poverty is the normal state
of all; affluence is not always the result of well-laid
plans, and wealth falls only to the lot of a favored
few.
The ownership of a homestead imparts to the
family an independence and self-reliance which the
mere tenant, and his dependent family, can never
enjoy; tenancy is a relic of feudal times; the condition of the lower orders, in all despotic and overpeopled governments; and no family, in a country
like this, should occupy so degraded a position.
County Courts.
Each county has its county court, which consists
of a chief justice and clerk, and has jurisdiction in
all matters concerning the probating of last wills,
143 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
granting letters of administration, letters of guardianship and settlement, and supervision of deceased persons' and minors' and lunatics' estates.
The clerk is also recorder of deeds, mortgages, and
all other instruments of writing which require to be
recorded.
This court holds its sessions on the last Mondays
of every month.
All claims, of whatever nature, against deceased
persons' estates, must be sworn to by the owner or
agent, and presented to the administrator or executor
thereof, within twelve months after the grant of administration or executorship, for acceptance.  After
approval, they must be presented to the chief justice
for approval; and, if not presented within twelve
months, such claims are postponed until the payment
of all those presented within due time.
If a claim be presented, duly authenticated, to an
executor or administrator, and he or she rejects it,
then the owner of such claim must bring suit in the
district or justice's court (according to amount) within
three months, or the claim is barred.
When a judgment is rendered against an estate
on a money claim, it runs that the same be paid in
due course of administration, and no execution can
be issued.
Justices' Courts.
Each county is divided into a convenient number
of justices' precincts, and two justices are elected for
144 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
each precinct. They are designated Class Xo. 1 and
Class No. 2. No. 1 holds court on the first Saturday
of every month for civil business, and No. 2 on the
last Saturday.
All civil suits can be brought in this court where
the amount or value does not exceed one hundred
dollars, exclusive of interest and costs.
The trials and proceedings in this court are conducted with very little formality, and it is very unusual that any written pleadings are filed. The rules
of evidence are the same as in district courts.
This is not a court of record.
Justices of the Peace have jurisdiction as at common law, to comprehend all vagorem men, and are
general conservators of the peace and good morals.
Promissory Notes.
In a country of such vast extent as Texas, with
such varieties of soil, climate, and production, offering so many and such various inducements for trade,
speculations and employment, men frequently change
their abiding places, and perhaps the person whom
you, six months ago, contracted with, in one of the
seaboard counties, is now a resident of the most extreme portion of the State, five or six hundred miles
distant; and this distance, with our facilities of communication, is as much here as so many thousands
of miles in some other regions.
And it frequently becomes very inconvenient for
the creditor to follow up his debtor, and be obliged
13
145 
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
to sue, under great disadvantages, in a remote county
from the one of the contract. In order to obviate
this, the law has provided that where a person contracts to pay or perform in a particular county, he
may be sued in that county, or in the county of his
domicil; therefore, in taking a promissory note, or
other obligation, it is better to pursue a form that
will secure this advantage.
Form.
"MATAGORDA, TEXAS, July 1, 1857.
"750'00.
"Twelve months after date, for value received, I
promise to pay to Richard Roe, or order, the sum of
seven hundred and fifty dollars, with interest, at the
rate of ten per cent. per annum, from date, until
paid. And I hereby further agree to pay this note
in the city and county of Matagorda.
"(Signed)                     JOHN DOE.'
146 
CHAPTER XIII.
LANDS: HOW THEY ARE ACQUIRED IN TEXAS.
THE State of Texas holds the eminent domain of
all the public lands within her limits; and all titles
to lands, since the Declaration of Independence, have
issued directly from the government.
The United States have no authority over, or right
of interference in, our land system; and, so far as
that is concerned, we are still an independent nation.
The vast extent of our public lands, over and above
all liabilities, constitutes a fund which places Texas,
in point of wealth, far in advance of all the other
States. It is true that this is, at present, dormant
capital, but increasing in money value; and can, at
any time, by legislative enactment, be called into
active use. The land-grants of Texas are divided
into two great classes: the first consists of specifically
designated lands, granted directly by the sovereignty,
or a subordinate authority, to the individual. The
second class consists of inchoate rights to lands., evidenced by certificates and scrip, issued from various
departments of government, on paper, calling for a
certain number of acres; and entitles the holder or
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LANDS.
owner to locate and appropriate any of the public
domain, not otherwise withdrawn. These certificates
and scrip are evidences of debt against the government, payable in land when applied for.
The first species comprises all the land titles emanating from Spain, Mexico,  and  the Empresario
grants to colonists, and are all in the Spanish language, under rights accruing previous to March 2,
1836, at which time Texas was declared an independent republic. On Nov. 13, 1835, the land-offices
were closed, by the Provisional government, and all
land transactions were suspended; but the Empresario contracts were in force until the severance
from Mexico; that is, colonists were allowed to be
introduced, up to that date, under their supervision.
On Dec. 22, 1836, a general land-office was established, at the seat of government, the chief officer
being named commissioner: this officer was empowered to execute all acts touching the public lands,
and had the custody of all books and archives coincerning the same; and all the documents in possession of the various Empresarios were ordered to be
transferred and filed in this office.
The commissioner also became the only source
from which government titles or patents could issue,
and they were to be countersigned by the President
of the Republic.
Texas was also divided into land districts, with a
subordinate land-office in each: a surveyor-general
was appointed for each district, who had deputies, to
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LANDS.
perform the public surveying: there was also a register
and receiver for each; and any person who was entitled to land could have the same surveyed, by appearing before thle register and receiver, and making
proof of his or her right: the survey, after being
made, is sent to the general land-office, for patent.
Soon after, all the functions of the several landoffices were suspended, by different laws, until the
first Thursday in January, 1838; and, by the subsequent act, opening the land-office, the whole system
was remodelled, and the very expensive machinery
heretofore in use abolished.  Up to this time, no
]and certificates had been issued, excepting to soldiers.
The new system established in every county a
board of land commissioners, whose duty it was to
investigate the rights of applicants for head-right
certificates, to take testimony, and to issue or to
reject: if rejected, the claimant had the right of
appeal to the next term of the District Court for the
county.   Head-right  certificates, issued  by  these
boards, could be located on any of the public domain, provided that persons having head-rights, by
emigration, before March 2, 1836, had a right to
make selections six months previous to those who
emigrated after that time.
All persons entitled to lands, and who had procured surveys to be made, previous to the closing of
the general land-office, in 1835, but who had not
received titles, were entitled to patents for the same.
The head-right certificates, issued by the foregoing
13*
149 
LANDS.
local boards. I shall, for convemnience, designate as
first-class and second-class -the latter of which had
certain conditions attached.
On January 29, 1840, Congress passed a law,
making two boards of travelling land commissioners,
consisting of three persons each, who visited every
county, and examined the records of the local boards,
and took testimony concerning each head-right certificate which had been issued: they then reported to
the general land-offlce, recommending for patents all
certificates which they had adjudged good, and rejecting all which could not, or were omitted to be, satisfactorily reproven to them Many persons, honestly
entitled to their certificates, lost them, by the death
or absence of the witnesses by whom they first established their rights, before the local boards- not
having anticipated this readjudication of rights which
they deemed fully vested by law.
It is true, the travelling commissioners reported
to the general land-office the good and the rejected
certificates; but the certificates themselves not being
before them, in their investigations, those that were
condemned, on their face, appeared, to the uninitiated,
as fair as those that were recommended; and hundreds of persons, both in Texas and the United States,
were deceived and defrauded, in purchasing them;
and many such are still afloat. There is no doubt,
that the local boards, being influenced, in some instances, by gain, and, in others, through carelessness,
issued many land certificates to persons not entitled,
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LANDS.
or on very frail proof; but it was far better that the
government should suffer, through its agents, than
that individuals should be imposed on by the government, acting through persons of its own selection.
Claimants whose head-right certificates had been
rejected by the travelling board, had, until July,
1847, a right of appeal to the district courts, or,
more properly, of suing the State in said courts;
and, by a recent act, they can now bring their cases
before the Court of Claims, at Austin.
Under the colonization laws, every head of a
family, whose occupation was farming and stockraising, was entitled to a league and labor (4605
acres); if only stock-raising, one league (4428 acres).
Every single man was entitled to one-fourth of a
league (1107 acres); but it was very common for
two single men to unite, call themselves a family,
and obtain a whole league: these latter grants are
now  considered beyond investigation.   The land
claims issued by Texas, since she became disconnected from Mexico, are head-right certificates, military certificates, land-scrip, which was sold by agents
of the Republic of Texas, various premium certificates, school certificates, public improvement certificates, and colony head-right certificates.
Persons who were living in Texas at the date of
the Declaration of Independence (March 2, 1836),
were considered citizens; and all citizens living in
Texas at the adoption of the Constitution (March
17, 1836), and who had not received their land,
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LANDS.
were entitled to it, in like manner as the colonists
of the Empresarios. Volunteer soldiers, who arrived
in Texas between Mlarch 2, 1836, and August 1,
1836, and had received honorable discharges from
the army, were entitled to head-rights, in the same
proportion as the original colonists.
Of ffead-rights, First Glass.
1. Every head of a family, where the family reeided in the country, was entitled to a head-right
certificate of one league and labor of land.
2. Every single man, of the age of seventeen years
and upwards, was entitled to a head-right certificate
of one-third of a league.
3. All persons who had, under any of the colonization laws, received their leagues of land, as heads
of families, and their quarter of a league, as single
men, were entitled to an additional quantity, viz.,
enough to increase the league to one league and
labor, and the quarter of a league to one-third: this
being an additional grant of 177 acres to the married man, and 369 acres to the single man.
4. Single men, who were in Texas on March 2,
1836, and who were entitled, under the Constitution,
to one-third of a league of land, became, by marrying, before Dec. 14, 1838, entitled to an augmentation of two-thirds of a league and one labor, or 3128
acres, additional.
5. By a law passed Dec. 18, 1837, all persons who
had then been permanently disabled in the military
152 
LANDS.
service of Texas, were each entitled to one league
and labor of land (extra)-the certificates for which
were to be issued by the local boards.
The local boards had no authority to issue any of
the foregoing land certificates, after the second Monday in March, 1840.
The head-right certificates of the first class had no
subsequent conditions attached.
Of Head-rights, Second Class.
Every single free white man, who was not entitled
to a head right of first class, provided he arrived in
Texas previous to Oct. 1, 1837, was entitled to a conditional head-right certificate of 640 acres, and every
head of a family to a conditional certificate of 1280
acres. The conditions were, that the grantee, and
his family, should remain in the country three years,
and do and perform all the duties required of other
citizens; after whichl time, the grantee was entitled
to an unconditional certificate.
All of the second class of claimants who were
single men, and had married before 1st October,
1837, were entitled to an additional certificate of 640
acres, making the same amount as to persons who emigrated with their families.
On the 15th January, 1841, local boards were organized for the purpose of issuing unconditional certificates to all those persons who had received conditional certificates of second and third classes.
By a subsequent amendment, these boards became
153 
LANDS.
empowered to issue unconditional certificates of the
second and third classes, to all persons who had become entitled by length of residence, without ever
having obtained conditionals: the applicant was
obliged to make proof as foregoing.
By a law of 1848, the local boards were prohibited
from issuing any land certificates, excepting to those
persons who had, under previous laws, obtained conditional certificates.
Up to the first day of February, 1856, there were,
with certain intervals, local boards of land commissioners in every county, which tribunals were empowered to issue unconditional land certificates (only).
Of Head-Rights - Third Class.
Heads of families, who emigrated to Texas with
their families, after October, 1837, and before the 1st
day of January, 1840, were entitled to head-rights
of 640 acres, and single men to half of the amount.
The conditions for third class were the same as in
second class; provided, that no sale of a conditional
certificate of the third class was valid.
The act granting third class head-rights speaks of
a conditional and unconditional grant of land; does
not use the word certificate; still the boards of commissioners issued land certificates under the law, in
the same form as second class head-rights. I think
the Legislature intended that the emigrants should
select their quantum of land from the public domain,
and procure it to be recognised in some way by the
154 
LANDS.
local boards; and, after a residence of three years,
that they should be entitled to an unconditional title
for the specific land.  Unconditional certificates were
granted on third class conditional certificates until
February 1st, 1856.
Of Head-Rights -Fourth Class.
Heads of families, emigrating with their families
after the first of January, 1840, and before the first
of January, 1842, were entitled to conditional headright certificates of 640 acres each, and single men
to half the amount. Conditions same as in the foregoing.
Of Military Land Claims.
All persons who performed military services under
the Republic of Texas, in any regularly organized
company, up to 1838, were entitled to land certificates
in the following ratio, over and above their headrights, viz: For three months' services, 320 acres;
for six months, 640 acres; for nine months, 960
acres; for twelve- months, or more (in one tour of
duty), 1280 acres.
Of Special Military Grants.
1. All soldiers who were in the battle of San Jacinto (April 21st, 1836), were entitled to extra land
certificates for 640 acres each, called donation.
2. The soldiers who took part in the reduction of
155 
LANDS.
Bexar (December, 1835), were entitled to land certificates of 640 acres each.
3. Those who were in the action of Mtarch, 1836,
under the command of Cols. Fannin and Ward, were
entitled to land certificates of 640 acres.
4. The heirs of those who fell at the Alamo, under
Bowie and Travis, were entitled to like extra amount.
The heirs of the above men who were single, were
entitled in all, including head-right, to 4036 acres,
and, if married, to 7165 acres. The recipients of
donation certificates were at first prohibited from selling or assigninlg them; but the law has been repealed,
and they now stand onl the same footing of other certificates.
Soldiers' land certificates, of the various kinds, are
a large and truly meritorious class of claims against
the public domain, but, by the destruction of the
adjutant general's office, in 1855, and the law establishing the court of claims, much distrust and difficulty has been thrown around them, while other
kinds, of an inferior grade of merit, have been more
favored.
Of Locations and Surveys.
1. A land certificate of any kind may be located
in two tracts, and the owner receives two separate
patents.
2. District surveyors are allowed $3 for every lineal
mile actually run.
3. The State is divided into thirty-six surveyors'
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LANDS.
districts, and each district includes several counties,
and has a public surveyor.
4. A person having a land certificate, and being
desirous to locate it, writes a description of the vacant
tract of land that he selects, and hands it, together
with his certificate, to the surveyor, whereupon it is
surveyed.
5. All locations and surveys must be returned to
the General Land Office within twelve months after
location, or both certificate and land become forfeited.
A certificate once located can never be raised.
6. Agents charge for locating, surveying, procuring
patent, and paying all expenses, one-third of the
land, or fifteen cents per acre.
14
157 
CHAPTER XIV.
COURT OF CLAIMS.
ON the 1st of August, 1856, our Legislature passed
a law establishing a Court of Claims, which is a tribunal of unprecedented and most extensive and arbitrary power. All land claims come under the scrutiny of the commissioner of this court, and are by
him to be examined and re-adjudicated on, excepting
head-rights, of the first and second classes, which
have been passed on by the travelling boards, and
excepting certificates issued to colonists of Peter's,
Mercer's, Castro's, and Fisher and Miller's colonies,
and the premium certificates of said colonies, and
some few other special certificates of modern invention.
All persons who were entitled to land claims, under
any of the laws granting head-rights or military land
certificates, and who never received their rights, may
obtain the same by making the like proof before the
commissioner, that would have entitled them by the
respective laws under which they claim. The claimant must also prove identity. The applicant and
witnesses, if claiming in any other way than by heir                                       (158) 
COURT OF CLAIMS.
ship, must appear in person before the court at Austin, which makes the business rather unprofitable;
the appropriate record evidence must also be made.
All persons holding any kinds of l].and certificates,
excepting first and second class head-rights, and colonists' and special civil certificates, must present them
to the commissioner of claims, for examination and
registration, within two years from the 1st day of
September, 1856, or they will be forever barred from
location and patent, and, in fact, become of no value.
All persons having land certificates, or any interest
in such property, should bear this in mind; the time,
even now, is too short, and many will be severe sufferers by their neglect or want of information.
Even those land certificates that have been located,
surveyed, and returned to the General Land Office
long since, if they had not been patented on the
passage of this law, are subject to all the conditions
and restrictions therein contained.
It was the common practice, where a man sold his
claim to a military certificate before its issuance, for
the adjutant general, on proper evidence, to issue the
certificate to, and in the name of, the assignee, and
land certificates made out and issued in this manner
have always been considered valid; and the Commissioner of the General Land Office has, heretofore,
when such certificates were located, surveyed, and
returned to his department, without hesitation always issued patents in the name of the assignee.
Hundreds of such certificates have been issued by a
159 
COURT OF CLAIMS.
high functionary of government, ruinning  through
several years, and have entered into many business
transactions, passing from assignee to assignee by the
various mutations of trade and speculation; and they
were issued in consideration of the valuable services
of a meritorious class of persons, and by them transferred for an adequate  payment.   But now,  the
assignees of such land claims, unless they have caused
them to be located and patented, will, very likely,
become losers. And I do not see any cause why the
patents themselves should not be set aside as void;
for, if the claim in its inception were void, no executive action can amend it. The reasonable conclusion
is, that all patents for lands, issued to assignees of
soldiers' certificates, which come under the prescriptions hereinafter set forth, are by law void; therefore,
many persons who are holding patents, and esteeming them conclusive titles to lands, may be reckoning
on empty shadows as evidences of property. In
order to a better understanding of the subject, it will
be necessary to state the case more fully. Formerly,
any person who was entitled to a military land certifticate could sell his claim, and, by delivering the evidences of his services to the purchaser, and the deed
of conveyance, the transfer became complete; the
latter then sent his evidences of title to the adjutant
general, who thereupon issued to the purchaser, as
assignee, a land certificate. During the summer of
1855, the adjutant general's office, together with all
the archives, muniments of titles, and muster rolls,
160 
COURT OF CLAIMS.
were burned and completely annihilated, not only
wiping out all the record evidence of the military
services which had been rendered to Texas, in the
time of her necessities, but destroying what is nowv
considered legal evidence of assignees' titles, viz.,
the muster-rolls on which the original claimants
based their claims, and the written transfers and
conveyances to assignees.
This catastrophe was and is a dire calamity to
many persons, and one which the legislature, instead
of endeavoring to alleviate, have, by their action,
aggravated and taken advantage of, and made it a
source of embarrassment to all persons having any
interest in military land claims. The destruction of
the military archives cannot be considered among
the inevitable providences of God which, at times,
afflict all nations; neither can it be considered an
unavoidable accident, under common precaution;
but one of gross and culpable carelessness, or, more
properly, of the most criminal neglect, showing an
utter disregard and contempt, by those in power, for
the rights of the people. These archives were stored
(not even sheltered) in an old, rickety, infirm loghut, of contracted dimensions, such as had been
built by some squatter, in the early settlement of the
country; affording but questionable protection against
the weather, and no security from casualties by fire,
or premeditated destruction or abstraction, for purposes of fraud. While thousands upon thousands
were lavished by our servants on costly furniture and
14 *
161 
COURT OF CLAIMS.
gorgeous drapery, this important department of
government, second to no other as a custodian of
the people's rights, was consigned to a log-cabin- a
hovel amid oriental public palaces.
The poorest county in the State would not trust
its comparatively unimportant archives so recklessly.
Now, the law establishing the Court of Claims, among
other absurdities, requires a greater strictness, and is
far more stringent towards military claimants, than
ever was before dreamed of; and it says that all
military land claims, before being patented, must be
presented to the Commissioner of the Court of
Claims, for examination, registry,  and  approval.
When a military certificate is presented for said
purposes, and the Commissioner has in his office
any record, or paper, showing the certificate to be
a genuine one, or, if the evidence of at least two
credible witnesses, taken in open court, or before
any officer in this State, using a seal, is produced to
him, that it is a genuine one, he shall file such evidence, and shall write across the face of the certificate the word "approved," with the date of its approval, and sign his name thereto. "Provided, however, that he shall withhold his approval from any
bounty or donation certificate, issued to an assignee
since the 24th day of November, 1851, until the
genuineness of the assignment, and the identity and
residence of the parties and witness thereto, shall be
proved by at least two credible witnesses thereto."
Now, this is most solemn mockery, or a farce: after
162 
COURT OF CLAIMS.
having destroyed the evidences of the assignment,
they now tell the assignee to show his original title:
his rights, acquired under one law, are divested
under another enactment of superior wisdom; but
he is told that, if he can perform an impossibility,
he may still be secured.
163 
CHAPTER XV.
ITIN ERARY.
MILES.
Goliad to Clinton.......................... 28
Gon zales....................... 54
"San Antonio...................90
"   Helena.......................... 36
"    Refugio......................... 28
"    San Patricio.................... 56
"   Corpus Christi, via Refugio 68
"   Brownsville Dist., via San
Patricio..................    216
"   Rio Grande City.............. 206
"    Lanedo..........................  117
Matagorda to Galveston................. 90
MILES.
Powder Horn to Lavacca................ 16
": Victoria................ 46
" Yorktown............ 81
" Sulphur Springs... 121
"       San Antonio......... 151
Victoria to Quaro........................... 40
" Gonzales...................... 80
" Lockhart....................... 110
" Austin.......................... 145
Powder Horn to Goliad, via Victoria  68
Victoria to Goliad......................... 28
Goliad to Yorktown....................... 22
RIVER ROUTES FROM GALVESTON.
UP THE BRAZOS RIVER.
ToWaters's.................................
Richmond................................
Gaston's...................................
Randon's.................................
San Felippe..............................
Crump's...................................
Caney.......................................
Groce's....................................
Peebles's..................................
Lancaster.................................
Warren....................................
Rock Island..............................
Washington.............................
Hidalgo....................................
Lole's.......................................
Munson's Shoals.....................
Moseley's................................
(164)
MILES.
MILES.
To the mouth................................ 60
Calvert's................................... 3
Cashe's.................................... 7
Crosby's.................................. 4
Payne's.................................... 9
Brazoria................................... 4
Columbia................................. 12
Sayre's..................................... 3
Tinsley's................................. 8
Hill's....................................... 3
Towne's.................................... 2
Port Billivan............................. 60
Bolivar..................................... 1
Menard.................................... 3
Lobdell's.................................. 40
Manadue's............................... 4
Big Creek................................. 2
16
20
22
45
45
8
30
8
4
30
2
40
27
6
70
40
25 
ITINERARY.
UP THE TRINITY RIVER.
MILES
To Whiterock................................
Carolina..................................
Mrs. MI'Don's...........................
Evans's Gin..............................
Stubble fields.............................
M'Kinzie's................................
Wright's Bluff...........................
Cincinnati...............................
Gorce's Landing........................
Osceola.....................................
Westmoreland...........................
Clark's Bluff............................
Robbin's Ferry..........................
Bosman's.................................
Cairo.......................................
Alabama..................................
Br'kfiel's Bluffs.........................
Moore's Old L...........................
Kickapoo Shoals........................
Hall's Bluff..............................
Navarro...................................
Magnolia.................................
Blackshears's............................
Parker's Bluff..........................
West Point...............................
~Evans's....................................
Pine Bluff................................
MILES.
To Liberty...................104................. 104
Green's Ferry........................... 6
Hardin's..................................... 22
Robinson's.................................... 20
Tanner's.................................. 3
J. Davis's...................................... 8
Farrior's...................12................ 12
Troy......................18.................. 18
Cherry's................................... 1
Bray's Camp............................. 2
Smithfield..................18.............. 18
Washington's........................... 1
Drew's.................................... 4
Summers's............................... 5
M'Cardles's............................. 1
R. Smith's............................... 2
Cochran's................................. 6
Cedar Landing.........................  2
Victory.................................... 4
Swartwout.............................. 2
Johnson's Bluff......................... 35
Harrell's Landing..................... 10
Patrick's Ferry......................... 15
Jones's................................... 4
Fry's....................................... 6
Ryon's..................................... 4
Sol Adams's.............................. 3
165
12
.5
5
2
8
6
13
3
10
1
20
3
10
6
10
16
20
2
10
3
32
31
10
15
10
12
ir) 
CHAPTER XVI.
GENERAL VIEW OF COAST, FACE OF COUNTRY, ISLANDS,
TIMBER, HEALTH, RESOURCES, ESTACADO, MINERALS,
AND RAILROADS.
THE coast of Texas, along the Gulf of Mexico,
is invariably low: no high lands are to be seen, on
the coast, from the Sabine to the Rio Grande: on
the shore, sea-shells and flat sand-stones are to be
found. The stones are scattered along the coast,
from the former river to within about thirty miles
east of Passo Cavallo, evidently showing, in places,
at no great depth, an underlying of sand-stone rock,
of a grey or yellow color. No stones are found on
the coast, going west from that point, but there is
black mica; and, on Del Padre's island, it is so
abundant, that ship-loads taken from there would
make no sensible diminution. More than threefourths of the whole distance of sea-coast is lined
with long narrow islands or peninsulas, running parallel with the main land, and forming large, irregular, and shallow bays. These lands are made by
accretion, and are yearly enlarging, under ordinary
circumstances; but sometimes one of the West Indian
(166) 
GENERAL VIEW OF THE COUNTRY.
hurricanes alters their configuration. The city of
Galveston is founded on one of the smallest and
most unsafe of these accretions. They are all inhabited by small farmers and stock-raisers, and are
much resorted to, in the summer months, by invalids. All kinds of fish and game are abundant.
The bays so formed are the receptacles of all the
rivers in Texas, excepting the Brazos and Del Norte.
The back country is level, and much prairie, with
timber on the river bottoms. No rock is to be found,
excepting seventy or eighty miles from the coast.
The rotten sand-stone is the first met: it crops out
on the river bluffs. The eastern portion of the State
has more favorable seasons than the country west of
the Guadalupe: from thence to the Rio Grande, the
want of rain is frequently the cause of a failure of
crops, and to such a degree, that settlers are frequently induced to change their locations to more
inland regions: in general, the farther from the seaboard, the more sure are the seasons, for the farmer.
For health, the western portion of the State has
always been unequalled by any part of the worldthe dryness of the climate not admitting of miasmatic diseases.
the water-shed of the country is to the south-east;
and, although the prairies are, to the eye, extremely
level, all the main rivers are rapid.
Pine and cypress are in inexhaustible quantities, in
the eastern portion of the State, on the Sabine, Neches, Trinity, San Jacinto, and their tributaries; and
167 
GENERAL VIEW OF THE COUNTRY.
the lumber trade with the sea-board towns is extensive. The other kinds of timber, pretty generally
diffused, are many kinds of oak, tapulo, gum, ash,
peccan, hackberry, and cedar. Live-oak commences
on the Brazos, and extends westwardly to the Rio
Grande. The mezquit timber is west of the Guadalupe.
The richest lands in the State are between the
Colorado and Brazos rivers, and on small creeks or
beds of rivers not subject to overflow, such as Caney,
San Bernard, and Peach Creek: on these watercourses are over 500 square miles of alluvial bottomland, which is never, under any circumstances, subject to overflow; but this part of the State settles
up slowly, as the lands are held in large tracts: the
health of this region is generally good, to those who
have any prudence. I have no doubt that the cattle
grazing has conduced much to this effect; for, when
the country was first settled, the prairie-grass and
cane-bottoms were of the rankest and densest kind:
now, the vegetation is kept down more by the great
number of cattle and frequent fires, and the mnalarious influences thereby weakened. There are no
minerals, on the sea-board, excepting salt, which, in
the western portion, is in inexhaustible quantities.
The salt region commences beyond the San Antonio;
but its access to market is so obstructed, by shallow
bays, that it has not been much appropriated; otherwise, could a good conveyance be had, it is the best
salt region on the North American continent. Timber
is scarce in that locality.
168 
GENERAL VIEW OF THE COUNTRY.
The middle portions of the State are all of an undulating description, called here rolling prairie; which,
for beauty of scenery, are not exceeded by any State
in the Union, and is considered more healthy than
the planting region of the sea-board.
The north-west portion of the State, called the
Prairie Estacado, and between that and the Rio
Grande, including 100,000 square miles, is useless,
unsettled, and will remain so for years to come: its
want of water, and want of ways of access, will keep
these lands for a long time out of market: they possess the qualities required for cultivation: timber is
scarce in the eastern part. That portion west of the
Pecos is partly timbered: this is a bold, deep stream,
and empties into the Rio del Norte. This region is
not less than 2500 feet above the level of the sea;
and the whole will be brought into notice, and rendered valuable, if the Southern Pacific railroad be
built-of which, at present, there seems to be no
kind of doubt. The road is intended to run through
the southern portion, from east to west; and, should
it be constructed, as the ranges of mountains are
north by east, and the valleys of fifty miles in width
being level, such a railroad would open this almost
unknown region to the uses of our people. Not one
of the least of the great advantages of this important
national work, would be the development of our
mineral wealth: copper, silver, and coal, are known
to exist, in several localities; but their value and
quantity have not been ascertained. Iron of superior
15
169 
GENERAL VIEW OF THE COUNTRY.
quality is abundant in the eastern portion of the
State. Our mineralogical knowledge of the country
is very circumscribed; and research should be, in
some way, stimulated. No State or country in the
world is more favorably situated for building railroads
than Texas-the country being generally level, and,
where there are inequalities in the surface, the rises
aAd descents are generally gradual and moderate.
So well adapted for common roads is it, that wheelcarriages traverse in every direction, without any
regard to beaten tracks; and we have no rises, with
bottomless morasses, or impassible mountain gorges;
and most of the extensive surface is more like an
English lawn, on a large scale, with its romantic
concomitants of streamlet, dell, and slope, dotted
and skirted, here and there, with its groves and
forests, in primeval grandeur and luxuriance.
170 
CHAPTER XVII.
NAMES OF DECEASED LAND CLAIMANTS.
Names of certain persons who died in Texas, in
early times, and whose heirs are entitled to claims
for lands -some of them to between four and five
thousand acres. I have in my possession the evidences of hundreds of other claimants, which will,
from time to time, be published.
Burknapp, Leonard; from N.Y.
or Pa.
Caligrom, John.
Calk, James.
Carlisle, G. W.
Churchill, Thos. S.
Chinn, John.
Coglan, Geo. W.
Coleman, Jacob.
Comstock, Wm.
Conrad, Collin.
Conway, Matthew.
Courtman, G. F.
Crittenden, Marshall P.
Cross, John.
Cunningham, John D.
Dearick, George.
Dickinson, W.
Donal, John O.
Dubose, Wm. P. B.
Adams, J. M.
Allen, Layton.
Allison, Alford.
Armstrong, Wm. S.
Atwell, William.
Austin, Andrew; from NewYork
or vicinity.
Bagly, J. S.
Baker, Stephen.
Barton, J. B.
Barton, John.
Betts, Marvin.
Bond, Burr S.
Bray, Lister J. H.
Bright, John.
Brown, William S.
Brown, W. A. J.
Buller, Bennett.
Burk, Allen.
Burk, David N.
(171) 
172    NAMES OF DECEASED LAND CLAIMANTS.
Dwenny, N. J;.
Dyer, George.
Edich, Henry.
Eddy, Andrew H.
Ehernberg, Herman
Ellis, Michael.
English, Robert.
Equinon, Conrad.
Fanning, John; in 1837, had a
family in Texas, who left.
Fisher, J. H.
Freppard (or Treppard), Francis
J.; printer, from Tenn.
Green, Wm. J.
Hamilton, James.
Harris, William.
Hasty, Henry.
Hatfield, William.
Heck, C. F.
Hitchard, John.
Hughes, Wiley.
Johnson, Charles.
Kelly, James.
Kenyon, A. D.
Kissam, P. F.
Landus, J. H.
Lloyd, Daniel; from N.Y. city.
Lynch, A. M.
Mann, William.
M'Hugh, Michael (Irish); for    merly a merchant here.
Seward, John.
Schultz, Henry.
Scott,   James   (sailor),  was
wounded  in Texan  army:
died in New York city, in
1836: his widow, Mary
Scott,  was  in Texas,  but
returned  to  New York, in
1838, with Captain Higgins.
Smith, Henry.
Smith, Thomas.
Stephens, William.
Stewart, Charles.
Syers, Daniel.
Taylor, Edward M.; left here,
in 1838, in bad health, for
New England.
MI'Lellan, Alexander.
M'Murray, William.
M'Nelly, Bennett.
M'Night, George.
Numlin, John.
Oldum, Benjamin.
Paine (or Payne), George; from
Clark co., Ga.
Patterson, Samuel C.
Pierce, Stephen.
Powers, J. M.
Reed, James.
Rush, Gabriel.
Ryan, Edward.
Tresvunts,
Volickman, J. Q.
Walters, Nicholas B.
Ward, John.
Watson, Joseph W.
Webb, James.
Wentworth, William.
Winningham, William.
Williams, T. J.
Williams, Joseph.
Winns, James C.
Witt, Hughes.
Wood, W. P.
Wrenn, Allen.
Wyatts, Peyton S. 
NOTICE.
NOTICE.
Persons claiming as heirs to any of the foregoing, or having any
other legal business, in Texas, which they desire attended to, will be
promptly answered by addressing me.
D. E. E. BRAMAN.
.Attorney and Counsellor at Law.
[ATAGORDA CITY, Matagorda }
County, TEXAS. I
REFERENCES.
Hon. James C. Wilson, Comm. Court of Claims, Austin; Hon. Stephen Crosby, Comm. General Land Office, Austin; Hon. James IH.
Bell, Judge First Judicial District, Brazoria; Hon. Matthew Talbot,
Chief Justice, Matagorda county; Nelson, Clements, & Co., New
York; Browning, Stewart, & Allen, New York.
15*
173 
CHAPTER XVIII.
POST-OFFICES IN TEXAS, AS FURNISHED BY THE POST      MASTER OF GALVESTON, WITH CORRECTIONS, TO
DECEMBER 1, 1856.
[County towns are designated by an asterisk ( *).]
POST-OFFICES.    COUNTIES.
Bagdad............ Williamson.
BlackJack Grove Hopkins.
Black Oak........ Hopkins.
Black Jack Spr's Fayette.
Barren Ridge... Van Zandt.
Bason Springs... Grayson.
Bastrop*......... Bastrop.
Bean Creek...... Hunt.
Bear Creek.....-.. Sabine.
Bearsden......... Lavaca.
Beaumont*...... Jefferson.
Beaver............ Anderson.
Bedi............... Grimes.
Bellevieu......... Rusk.
Bellville*........ Austin.
Belmont.......... Gonzales.
Belone......... Austin.
Belton*........... Bell.
Belzora........... Smith.
Bendy's Landi'g Tyler.
Ben Franklin.... Lamar.
Bethany.......... Panola.
( 174)
POST-OFFICES.   COUNTIES.
Alma.............. Rusk.
Almond Grove... Red River.
Alta Springs..... Limestone.
Alto................ Cherokee.
Alton............. Denton.
Alley's Mills....C. Cass.
Alum Creek.....B.         Bastrop.
Alvarado......... Johnston.
Alguna............ San Patricio.
Anadarco......... Rusk.
Anagua........... Victoria.
Anahuac......... Liberty.
Anderson......... Grimes.
Antioch........... Lavaca.
Angelina......... Angelina.
Aransas........... Refugio.
Ash Springs..... Harrison.
Ashton's......... Shelby.
Ashville......... Harrison.
Athens*......... Henderson.
Austin*........... Travis.
Avant........ Freestone. 
LIST OF POST-OFFICES.
POST-OFFICES.    COUNTIES.
Caldwell*.........  Burleson.
Caledonia......... Rusk.
Calhoun........... Rusk.
Cameron*........ Milam.
Caney............. Matagorda.
Canton*.......... Van Zandt.
Carizo............ Webb.
Carthage*........ Panola.
Castroville*...... Medina.
Cat Springs...... Austin.
Carolina.......... Falls.
Calloway......... Upshur.
Cambridge....... Rusk.
Camden......... Rusk.
Case's Mills...... Travis.
Caney Head...... Tyler.
Cannonville...... Comal.
Centre............. Rusk.
Cedar Fork......  Kauffman.
Cedar Bayou..... Liberty.
Cedar Creek..... Bastrop.
Cedar Grove..... Kauffman.
Cedar Itill....... Dallas.
Cedar Lake...... Brazoria.
Centreville*...... Leon.
Chalmbersia..... Liberty.
Chambersville... Liberty.
Charco............ Goliad.
Chambers's Cr'k Ellis.
Chance's Prairie Burleson.
Chappel Hill..... Washington.
Chermo........... Nacogdoches.
China Grove..... Gonzales.
Cincinnati........ Walker.
Clayton........... Grayson,
Clarksville*...... Red River
(Clear Fork....... Caldwell.
POST-OFFICES.   COUNTIES.
Bethel............. Anderson.
Berrien........... Smith.
Benton........ Harrison.
Bevelport......... Jasper.
Big Creek........ Fort Bend.
Big Dollar........ Wood.
Billum's Creek.. Tyler.
Biloxi............. Newton.
Birdville*........ Tarrant.
Black Hill....... Kauffman.
Blossom Prairie Lamar.
Blue Hill......... Williamson.
Blue Bluff....... M'Lellan.
Bluff Springs.... Travis.
Boerne*......... Kerr.
Bonham*......... Fannin.
Bonito............ Guadalupe.
Boonville*....... Brazos.
Boston*........... Bowie.
Bould Springs... M'Lellan.
Box Creek........ Cherokee.
Brazos St. Jago Cameron.
Brazos Bottom.. Burleson.
Brazoria*........ Brazoria.
Brackett......... Kinney.
Brenham*........ Washington.
Bright Star...... Hopkins.
Brownsboro'..... Henderson.
Brownsville*.... Cameron.
Buena Vista..... Shelby.
Buffalo............ Henderson.
Bunker Hill...... Rusk.
Burkville*....... Newton.
B13urleson......... Lampasas.
Burnet*......... Burnet.
Butler............. Freestone.
Bryant's Station Milam.
176 
LIST OF POST-OFFICES.
POST-OFFICES.    COUNTIES.
Eagle Lake...... Colorado.
Eagle Pass*...... Kinney.
Earpville......... Upshur.
Edinburgh.......  Cameron.
Egypt............. Colorado.
Elkhart.......... Anderson.
Elm Creek....... Falls.
E1 Paso*.......... ELPaso.
Elwood*......... Madison.
Elysian Fields... Harrison.
Eutaw............ Robertson.
Erin............... Jasper.
Fairfield.......... Freestone.
Fairmount........ Sabine.
Fair Play......... Panola.
Farmer's Bran'h Dallas.
Fayetteville...... Fayette.
Furguson........ Grayson.
Fincastle......... Henderson.
Flintham's T'n'd Red River.
Flora......... Smith.
Flowerdale...... Freestone.
Forrest Home... Cass.
Fort Graham.... Hill.
Fort Worth...... Tarrant.
Fort Belknap*.. Young.
Fort Inge......... Uvalde.
Four Mile Prai'e Van Zandt.
Fredericksburg. Gillespie.
Fredonia......... Rusk.
Freedom......... Harrison.
Frelsburg......... Colorado.
Friendship....... Harrison.
Gainsville......... Cook.
Gallatia.......... Harrison.
Galveston......... Galveston.
Garden Valley... Smith.
POST-OFFICES.   COUNTIES.
Clear Creek...... Denton.
Clinton............ Dewitt.
Clopton.......... Smith.
Coffeeville....... Upshur.
Cold Springs..... Polk.
Coletto............ Dewitt.
Colita.............. Polk.
College Mound.. Kauffman.
Columbia......... Brazoria.
Columbus*...... Colorado.
Comanche Peak Johnson.
Concord.......... Harrison.
Concrete.......... Dewitt.
Copano............ Refugio.
Corpus Christi* Neuces.
Corsicana*...... Navarro.
Cotland............ Newton.
Cotton Gin....... Freestone.
Cotton Plant..... Rusk.
Covington........ Hill.
Crockett*........ Houston.
Crimea............ Hill.
Cusseta........... Cass.
Cuero*............ Dewitt.
Cunningham's.. Bastrop.
Cypress City..... Harris.
Dangerfield...... Titus.
Dallas*........... Dallas.
Danville.......... Montgomery.
Deer Creek...... Falls.
De Kalb.......... Bowie.
Dhanis............ Medina.
Douglass.......... Nacogdoches.
Douglassville.... Cass.
Durk Creek.....Da. Dall            as.
Dresden.......... Navarro.
Duncan's Wood.. Orange.
176 
LIST OF POST-OFFICES.
POST-OFFICES.     COUNTIES.
Hilliard's.........  Shelby.
Hillsboro'.........  H ill.
Hickory Grove..  S mith.
Hodge's Bend...  Fort Bend.
Holly Springs... Wood.
Home............. Walker.
Honey Grove.... Fannin.
Hooker's.......... Hunt.
Hopewell......... Upshur.
Hopkinsville.... Gonzales.
Hortensville......  Kar nes.
Houseville.Ha......  Harris.
Houston*......... Harris.
Howard........... Bell.
Huntsville*...... Walker.
Hornsby.........
Independence... Washington.
Indian Grove.... Grayson.
Indianola........ Calhoun.
Industry.......... Austin.
Ioni................ Anderson.
Jacksonville..... Cherokee.
Jamestown...... Smith.
Jasper*.......... Jasper.
Jefferson.......... Cass.
Johns's............ Liberty.
Johnson's Stat'n Tarrant.
Jonesville......... Harrison.
Jordan's Salines Van Zandt.
Jackson........... Mason.
Jena............... Falls.
Kauffman......... Kauffman.
Keechi............ Freestone.
Kentucky Town Grayson.
Kemp.............. Kauffman.
Kerrsville...... Kerr.
Kickapoo......... Anderson.
POST-OFFICES.    COUNTIES.
Garcita............ Victoria.
Gay Hill......... Washington.
Georgetown...... Williamson.
Gilbert............ MI'Lellan.
Gilmer............ Upshur.
Gilliland Creek.. Travis.
Gold Hill......... Hopkins.
Goliad............ Goliad.
Gonzales......... Gonzales.
Gouldsboro'...... Titus.
Goshen........... Walker.
Glade Springs... Harrison.
Graham's Mills.. Shelby.
Grand Bluff...... Panola.
Grand Cape...... Liberty.
Gray Rock....... Titus.
Greenville........ Hunt.
Grimesville....... Grimes.
Gulf Prairie..... Brazoria.
Gum Spring..... Smith.
Halifax............ Polk.
Hallettsville..... Lavaca.
Hall's Bluff...... Houston.
Hamburg......... Van Zandt.
Hamilton......... Shelby.
Harmony Hill... Rusk.
Harrington....... Angelina.
Harrisburg....... Harris.
Hartville.......... Austin.
Hackberry Gro'e Grayson.
Havanna............... Dallas.
Helena*......... Karnes.
Henderson*...... Rusk.
Hendersonville.. Anderson.
Hesterville...... Dewitt.
Hickory Hill....  Cass.
Highland......... Collin.
17T 
LIST OF POST-OFFICES.
POST-OFFICES. COUNTIES.
Madisonville*... Madison.
Madison......... Orange.
Magnolia......... Anderson.
Magnolia Spri'gs Jasper.
Malakoff......... Henderson.
Maple Springs... Red River.
Marion*......... Angelina.
Marlin*.......... Falls.
Marlow's Mills.. Anderson.
Marshall.......... Harrison.
Matagorda*..... Matagorda.
Mayesville........ Bexar.
Melrose........... Nacogdoches.
Meridian*....... Bosque.
Merilltown...... Travis.
Meyerville....... Dewitt.
Midway........... Madison.
Middletown...... Goliad.
Milam*........... Sabine.
Milford.......... Ellis.
Millhein......... Austin.
Mill Creek........ Bowie.
Millican's......... Brazos.
Millville.......... Rusk.
Millwood......... Collin.
Mission Valley... Victoria.
Mitchell's........ Walker.
Monterey......... Red River.
Montgomery*... Montgomery.
Moore's........... Bowie.
Morales de L'v'ca Jackson.
Moscow.......... Polk.
Moulton........... Gonzales.
Mt. Carmel......  Smith.
Mt. Enterprise.. Rusk.
Mt. Petria........ Dewitt.
Mt. Pleasant*... Titus.
POST-OFFICES.   COUNTIES.
Kidd's Mills..M... Leon.
Kinlock........... Panola.
Kiomatia........ Red River.
Knoxville........ Cherokee.
Lagrange........ Fayette.
Lake.............. Trinity.
Lake Creek...... Lamar.
Lamar............. Refugio.
Lampassas*..... Lampassas.
Lancaster......... Dall                      as.
Laredo*.......... Webb.
Larissa............ Cherokee.
Locust Shade.... Dallas.
Llano........ Llano.
Leona............. Leon.
Lexington....... Burleson.
Liberty*.......... Liberty.
Liberty Hill...... Williamson.
Licke.............. Fannin.
Linden*.......... Cass.
Lineville.......... Panola.
Linflat............. Nacogdoches.
Linwood........ Cherokee.
Little Elm........ Denton.
Live Oak........ Dewitt.
Liverpool........ Brazoria.
Livingston*...... Polk.
Lockhart*........ Caldwell.
Lone Star......... Titus.
Long Point....... Washington.
Lynchburg...... Harris.
Lyons............. Fayette.
Lewisville........ Denton.
M'Goffinsville.... El Paso.
M'Gee's........... Liberty.
M'Kinney*...... Collin.
M'Millan's....... Panola.
178 
LIST OF POST-OFFICES.
POST-OFFICES.    COUNTIES.
Personville...... Limestone.
Perry.......... M'Lellan.
Perryville........ Bastrop.
Petersburg...... Lavaca.
Pierpont Place.. Dewitt.
Pilot Grove...... Grayson.
Pilot Point....... Denton.
Pine Bluff........ Red River.
Pine Hill......... Rusk.
Pine Island...... Jefferson.
Pinetown......... Cherokee.
Pinetree.......... Upshur.
Pin Oak........... Fayette.
Piano.............. Collin.
Pleasant Hill.... Hopkins.
Pleasant Run.... Dallas.
Plenitude........ Anderson.
Plum Creek...... Caldwell.
Plum Grove...... Fayette.
Point Isabel...... Cameron.
Point Monterey.. Cass.
Point Pleasant... Upshur.
Pond Springs.... Williamson.
Post Oak Island Williamson.
Porter's Prairie Burleson.
Port Caddo...... Harrison.
Port Lavaca...... Calhoun.
Port Sillivan..... Milam.
Post Oak.......... Bexar.
Powellton......... Harrison.
Prairie Creek.... Dallas.
Prairie Cottage.. Colorado.
Prairie Lea...... Caldwell.
Prairie Mount... Lamar.
Prairie Plains... Grimes.
Prairieville...... Kauffman.
Preston........... Wharton.
179
POST-OFFICES.
Mt. Vernon......
Mound Prairie..
Alud Sprins....
Mulberry Grove
Murv,,tll..........
Muskeet..........
Mustang..
Myrtle Springs..
Naches............
Nacogdoches*...
Nashville.........
COUNTIES.
Limestone.
Anderson.
Denton.
Grayson.
Rusk.
Navarro.
Lavaca.
Bowie.
Houston.
Nacogdoches.
Milam.
Navarro -..
Navasoto.........
New Braunfels*
New Danville....
Newburg Mills. -
Newport..........
New Salem.......
Newton*.........
New T-Tlm.........
Norl.h Sulphur..
Neucestown......
Oak Grove.......
Oakland...........
Oat Meal.........
Odessa............
Ogsburn..........
Omega...........
Owensville*......
Orizaba...........
Palestine*..
Pallace Hill
Pamplin's Creek
Paulineville......
Parker's Bluff...
Paris*............
Peachtree Vill'ge
Leon.
Grimes.
'Comal.
Rusk.
Parker.
Walker.
Rusk.
Newton.
Austin.
Fannin.
Neuces.
Titus.
Lavaca.
Burnet.
Wise.
Smith.
Upshur.
Robertson. 
LIST OF POST-OFFICES.
POST-OFFICES.    COUNTIES.
Rusk*......... Cherokee.
Rutersville...... Fayette.
Rutherford....... Parker.
Round Rock..... Williamson.
Robertson......l. Hi ll.
Robins's Ferry.. Houston.
Sabine City.....i. Jefferson.
Sabine Town........  Sabi ne.
Sabinal............ Uvalde.
Salado............. Bell.
Salem......... Newton.
Saluria........... Calhoun.
Salt Stream...... Gonzales.
San Antonio*...  Bexar.
San Andres......  Milam.
San Augustine* San Augustine.
San Bernard..... Colorado.
San Cosma......  Rusk.
San Felipe....... Austin.
Sand Fly......... Bastrop.
San Gabriel...... Williamson.
Sand Hill......... Rusk.
San Marcos*.... Hays.
San Patricio*... San Patricio.
San Pedro........ Houston.
Sandy Point..... Brazoria.
San Saba*....... San Saba.
Savannah......... Red River.
Sebastopol.......    —.
Seguin*........... Guadalupe.
Selma............. Bexar.
POST-OFFICES.    COUNTIES.
Price's Creek.... Dewitt.
Prospect......... Burleson.
Prosperity........ Falls.
Providence Hill. Tyler.
Porter's Bluff... Navarro.
Pulaski............ Panola.
Panamaria...... Karnes.
Pine Grove...... Austin.
Pecan Grove..... Gonzales.
Peoria........... Hill.
Palo Alto......... Gonzales.
Quihi.........Medina.
Quintana........ Brazoria.
Quitman*........ Wood.
Rancho........... Gonzales.
Red Oak......... Ellis.
Red Rock......... Upshur.
Red Springs...... -Rs.
Red Top.......... Harrison.
Reed's Settlem't Panola.
Reedyville........ Hidalgo.
Refugio*........ Refugio.
Retina........Hopkins.
Retreat........... Grimes.
Richland Cross'g Navarro.
Richmond*...... Fort Bend
Rio Grande C'y* Starr.
Roadville.......... Anderson.
Rock Island...... Austin.
Rock Hill......... Collin.
Rocky Mills...... Lavaca.
Rockwall........ Kauffman.
Roma.............. Starr.
Rose Hill........ Harris.
Roseland........ Collin.
Round Top....... Fayette.
Round Prairie... Lamar.
Sempronius...... Austin.
Seven Leagues.. Smith.
Seven Oaks...... Galveston.
Scyene............ Dallas.
Shannon's........ Montgomery.
Shelby............ Austin.
180 
LIST OF POST-OFFICES.
POST-OFFICES.    COUNTIES.
Triar.........  Bexar.
Union Bridge.... Titus.
Union Hill....... Washington.
Unionville........ Cass.
Uvalde*........... Uvalde.
Valley............ Guadalupe.
Victoria*........ Victoria.
Vine Grove....... Washington.
Wac        o Village*.. M'Lellan.
Walling's Ferry. Rusk.
Walnut Hill...... Panola.
Wardville......... Johnston.
Warren............ Fannin.
Warsaw Prairie. Kauffman.
Washington*.... Washington.
Waverly.......... Walker.
Waxahachie*.... Ellis.
Weatherford*... Parker.
Webberville...... Travis.
Weiss Bluff...... Jasper.
West Liberty.... Liberty.
Weston............ Collin.
Wharton*........ Wharton.
Wheelock......... Robertson.
White Cottage... Shelby.
White Oak.......  Hopkins.
White Rock...... Hill.
Willow Springs.. Milam.
Winnsboro'........ Wood.
Woods's......... Panola.
Woodland......... Hopkins.
Woodville......... Tyler.
Woodboro'........ Grayson.
Young's Settle't Bastrop.
Zavalia............ Jasper.
Zoar............... Gonzales.
POST-OFFICES.    COUNTIES.
Shelbyville*..... Shelby.
Shermnnan......... Grayson.
Shiloh............ Hunt.
Shockey's Prai'e Lamar.
Sisterdale......... Comal.
Smithfield....... Polk.
Smithland........ Cass.
Skull Creek...... Colorado.
Springfield...... Limestone.
Spring Hill....... Navarro.
Sugar Hill........ Panola.
Sulphur Bluff... Hopkins.
Sulphur Springs Cherokee.
Summer Grove.. Smith.
Sumpter*......... Trinity.
Sutherland Spr's Bexar.
Swartwout....... Liberty.
Swearengen's.... Austin.
Sweet Home..... Lavaca.
Tehuacana Spr's Limestone.
Taos............... Navarro.
Tarkington's P'e Liberty.
Tarrant*......... Hopkins.
Taylorsville*.... Wise.
Telico............. Ellis.
Tenn'e Colony... Anderson.
Texana*......... Jackson.
Timber Creek... Hunt.
Town Bluff.... Tyler.
Travis......... Austin.
Trinidad......... Kauffman.
Troupe............ Smith.
Troutman......... Cherokee.
Troy............... Freestone.
Truet's Store.... Shelby
Tyler*............ Smith.
16
181 
CHAPTER XIX.
COUNTIES AND COUNTY SITES.
[County towns not established are designated by an asterisk ( * ).J
COUNTIES. C      OUNT Y-TOWNS.
Danlas............. Dallas.
Denton............ Alton.
Dewitt............. Clinton.
Ellis............... Waxahachi.
El Paso........... San Eleazario.
Erath             Stephensville.
Falls............... Marlin.
Fannin............ Bonham.
Fayette........... Lagrange.
Fort Bend........ Richmond.
Freestone......... Fairfield.
Galveston......... Galveston.
Gillespie........... Fredericksburg.
Goliad............ Goliad.
Gonzales......... Gonzales.
Grayson........... Sherman.
Grimes............ Anderson.
Guadalupe....... Seguin.
Harris............. Houston.
Hid,,lgo........... Edinburgh.
Harrison.......... Marshall.
Hays............... San Marcos.
Hill................ Hillsboro'.
Henderson....... Athens.
Hopkins.......... Tarrant.
Houston.......... Crockett.
(182)
COUNTIES.    COUNTY-TOWNS.
Anderson......... Palestine.
Angelina..........  Marion.
Austin............. San Felipe.
Atascosa......... Newtown.
Bastrop...........                               Bastrop.
Bell................ Belton.
Burnet........... Hamilton.
Bexar............. San Antonio
Bowie........... Boston.
Brazoria.......... Brazoria.
Brazos........... Booneville.
Burleson......... Caldwell.
Bosque........... Meridian.
Bandera*.........
Brown*...........  -.
Caldwell.......... Lockhart.
Calhoun........... Indianola.
Cameron.......... Brownsville.
Cass............... Linden.
Cherokee......... Rusk.
Collin.............. M'Kinney.
Colorado......... Columbus.
Comal............. New Braunfels.
Cook............... Gainsville.
Coryell............ *Gatesville.
Comanche*..... 
COUNTIES AND COUNTY SITES.
COUNTIES.      COUNTY-TOWNS.
Presidio..........  Presidio Ca. H.
Parker............ Weatherford.
Palo Pinto....... Golconda.
Red River........ Clarksville.
Refugio........... Refugio.
Rusk.......... Henderson.
Robertson........ Owensville.
Sabine............ Milam.
San Augustine.. San Augustine.
San Patricio..... San Patricio.
Shelby............ Shelbyville.
Smith............. Tyler.
Starr............... Rio Grande City.
San Saba......... Rochester.
Tarrant........... Birdville.
Titus............... Mt. Pleasant.
Travis............ Austin.
Trinity............ Sumpter.
Tyler.............. Woodville.
Upshur............ Gilmer.
Uvalde............ Uvalde.
Van Zandt....... Canton.
Victoria........... Victoria.
Walker............ Huntsville.
Washington...... Brenham.
Webb............. Webb C. H.
Wharton......... Wharton.
Williamson...... Georgetown.
Wood.............. Quitman.
Wise*.............
Young............. Belknap.
COUNTIES.     COUNTY-TOWNS.
Hunt......... Greenville.
Jackson.......... Texana.
Johnson........... Wardville.
Jasper............. Jasper.
Jefferson.......... Beaumont.
Jack............... Mesquiteville.
Kauffman......... Kauffman.
Kinney............ Brackett.
Kerr............ Kerrsville.
Lamar............S  Paris.
Lavaca............ Hallettsville.
Leon.............. Centreville.
Liberty............ Liberty.
Limestone....... Springfield.
Lampasas....... Lampasas.
Live Oak*..........
Llano............. Llano.
Matagorda.....M. atagorda.
M'Lennan........ Waco.
Medina............ Castroville.
Milam....... Cameron.
Montgomery.... Montgomery
Maverick......... Eagle Pass.
M'Culloch.........
Nacogdoches..... Nacogdoches.
Navarro.......... Corsicana.
Newton........... Newton.
Neuces............ Corpus Christi.
Orange........... Madison.
Panola............ Carthage.
Polk............... Livingston.
183 
CHAPTER XX.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Elevations of different Points in Texas: mnostly from
.De Cotdova and Fraser's "Traveller's Guide."
FEET.
Llano Estacado....... 2300 to 2500
Guadalupe, m. of Sandies 50
San Antonio...........44 Frtpno 635
Fort Inge................85 otoLt  835
R.  San Pedro, first cross'g 859
Table-lands of Texas................ 2091
High table-land beyond.......... 3008
Rio Pecos Valley............... 2658
Leon Spring.................. 4240
Painted Camp...........,..... 5020
Providence Creek.............. 5492
First point on Rio Grande.. 3700
Mouth of Little Witchira.. 750
Junction of the S. and N.
Forks of Red River... 1100
-FEET.
Lavaca.....................230. 24
Matagorda...............1     Gudlp 12
Cibolo..................350........                       5
Castroville...........,767..........
Leona mt. (near Ft. Inge)  950
Rio San Pedro, last cross'g 1827
Howard's Springs............ 2075
Live Oak Creek............... 2337
Rio Escondido, first cross'g 3950
Highest point; road to E1
Paso................. 5896
Eagle Spring............... 4842
El Paso........................ 3750
Big Witchita.................. 900
Head of main or S. F. of
Red River.......... 2450
The general average of the islands and peninsulas, along the coast,
is not more than five or six feet above sea level.
(184) 
MISCELLANEOUS.
United States Military Stations.
Ringgold Barr's, Starr county.
Fort M'Intosh... Webb      "
Brown..... Maverick"
" Clarke...... Kinney   "
" Davis....... Presidio  "
Leighton.. on the R. Grande.
Bliss........ E1 Paso  "
" Merrill...... Live Oak "
"  Inge....... Uvalde   "
" Ferrell...... Bexar    "
"  M'Kavit...   "            C o
"  Chadbourne   "      "
lexican Land Measure.
In all lands granted by Spain and Mexico, the quantities are designated by leagues, labors, and taras, and their fractions. We have,
therefore, reduced them to English measure, as follows, viz.:
One vara is equal to 833 inches: 5646 square varas, one acre,
equal to 4840 square yards. One labor is 1,000,000 square varas,
equal to 177-i1'36, acres.  One-third league is 8,333.333 square varas,
equal to 1476 acres. One league is 25,000,000 square varas, equal to
4428 acres. One league and one labor is 26,000,000 square varas,
equal to 4605 acres.
To find the number of acres in a given number of square varas,
divide by 5646.
To bring English measure into Mexican, add eight per cent.
16*
185
Fort Mar'n Scott, Gillespie county.
Mason...... Bexar
Croughan.. Burnet
Phan'mHill, Bosque
Graham.... Hill
Worth...... W. F. o
San Antonio..... Bexar
Camp Cooper....
Camanche Age'y
(Tex. Gov.).. Cook
Caddo Agency
(Tex. Gov.).. Young
11
4 4
Trinity.
11
t
I 4
(i 
CHAPTER XXI.
STATISTICS: FROM RICHARDSON'S " TEXAS ALMANAC,"
PUBLISHED BY THE " GALVESTON NEWS."
NEGROES, HORSES, AND CATTLE, IN 1850 AND 1855.
NEGROES.           HORSES.          CATTLE.
NEGROES.
Incr'se
1850.-  t855.  in five
years.
600   1917   1317
196    291      95
1         54   9  2353 804
91        9  17 48 829
B.s6......  466......
u......           73............
389    980    591
1641 1866    225
3 507           4294 787
148   427    279
500   1 0 54                          554
......   150 
274   1171    879
234    352    118
53 15         38
1902   3518   1616
1283   2286   1003
134    438    304
723 1580    857
61    126      65
1    123    122
......   139......
207    481    274
10      79      69
568    963    395
77    517    440
El~~~~aso~~~............................... 4 9....... 2 1
........851......
528    1019     21
1016   2072   1056
1554   1746    192
...... 2167......
714    963    249
5      63     58
213    416    203
601   2140   1539
186    602    416
1680   3177   1497
335   1637   1302
905   1195    290
6213   7014    801
128    517    389
81    411    330
CATTLE.
Incr'se
1850.   1855  in five
y ears.
7621 13350  5729
6371  9196  282.5
22550 33019  10469
18610 25592   6982
...... 16607......
1402......
99 40272  30983
8184   5153  3031
50192 53671  3479
6309 13762  7453
12766 26009 13243
...... 9021......
4042 19238 15196
8278 21089  12811
4319 13424  9105
8157   7297   890
9583  4128  5455
4813 11098  6285
22261 13458  8803
1283 10590  9307
503  4328  3825
......  42   42 
3643 13192  9549
1754  8389  6635
17954 31518 13564
2858 13852  10994
......  2216 
...... 1419 7 
10192 12688  2496
14085 26952  12867
29223 30380  1157
...... 1327  9 
13328 15600  2272
788  10190  9402
7731 18733  11002
29726 38231   8505
5111 13566  8455
22324 18915  3409
11563 26280 14717
29123 45106  15983
12530  7493  5037
1733 4526  2793
3392  381%  425
(186)
Anderson.............
Angelina..............
Austin.................
Bastrop.................
Bell......................
Bosque.................
Bexar..................
Bowie..................
Brazoria..............
Brazos..................
Burleson..............
Burnet..................
Caldwell................
Calhoun...............
Cameron...............
Cass.....................
Cherokee..............
Collin..................
Colorado...............
Comal...................
Cooke..................
Coryell.................
Dallas..................
Denton.................
Dewitt..................
Ellis.....................
E1 Paso................
Falls....................
Fannin.................
Fayette.................
Fort  Bend............
Freestone.............
Galveston.............
Gillespie...............
Goliad..................
Gonzale...............
Grayson...............
Grimes.................
Guadalupe............
Htarris..................
Harrison..............
Hays....................
Henderson............
Henderson............81    4U    330    264,  415   134  3392  381w   425
6
3
5
HORSES.
1850. 1955.
i. fi,
Y,.".
COUNTIES.
1721
569
3447
3031
2119
361
3791
1089
4576
754
1860
703
4113
1131
3884
2010
1265
2316
1869
948
400
789
2642
926
5928
1593
429
1664
2085
4397
2898
1672
831
512
1962
5422
2283
2538
364
226
278
10
41
943
558
2715
1912
......
..; i
1349
2454
448
973
"i
410
942
1340
1618
977
3107
119
68
...E6
7
249
2635
327
:::...
1877
1722
1835
"i
86
432
2319
873
1570
1389
1718
2940
216
264
11
732
1119
i6l'
260
2122  306
887
95
721
2942
670
353
1339
1238
829
332
ii
677
3293
1266
2o8
2675
1063
..i6
426
1,530
3103
1410
968
2257
546
157
. 818
151 
STATISTICS.
NEGROES, HORSES, AND CATTLE, IN 1850 AND 1855.
NEGROES.          HORSES.           CATTLE.
COUNTIES.
till.....................
Hlidalgo...............
Hopkins...............
Houston...............
Ilunt....................
Jackson...............
Jasper..................
Jefferson...............
Johnson...............
Karnes..................
Kauffman.............
Kinney.................
Lamar..................
Lavaca..................
Leon.....................
Liberty................
Limestone............
M'Lennan.............
Madison................
Matagorda............
Medina................
Milam..................
Montgomery.........
Nacogdoches.........
Navarro................
Newton.................
Neuee.................
Orange.................
Panola..................
Polk......................
Presidio................
Red River.............
Refugio.................
Robertson............
Rusk...................
Sabine..................
San Augustine......
San Patricio.........
Shelby..................
Smith..................
Starr....................
Tarrant................
Titus....................
Travis..................
Trinity.................
Tyler....................
Upshur................
Uvalde.................
Van Zandt............
Victoria................
Walker.................
Washington..........
Webb....................
Wharton...............
Williamson...........
Wood....................
HORSES
1850.   1855.
......   887
......  109
850  1870
1028   1501
361  1838
1074   1451
437    613
1927  2785
......  591
303 1122
1988   2487
1456  2107
1202  1901
2451   3203
1248  1799
......  1887
...... 1190
1078   1638
90    300
1151  2565
1006  1037
1486  2378
896  2812
331   496
677   1315
1116   1531
1058  1037
1343   1731
407   1550
710   1584
2480   2712
784    247
1048    946
47    252
1353   941
980   1684
159 1696
953   1053
1511  3746
516
547 713
996  1025
.623 643
1838   2988
1818  1930
2552  4408
274
1173  2179
2223  4045
......   537
Williamson..........155  757  602  2223  4045  1822 21060 21832   772
Wood....................354,..............537.............4069
s
18T
N
GROE
CATTL
1855.
9156
670
18248
1.2949
17871
40437
6127
39C,57
5047
11308
12592
16228
14533
58031
21360
15003
10436
33334
5778
18185
6325
14572
29505
4481
14364
8633
5408
12811
14833
19959
9670
2144
6003
10510
7172
5557
13570
7160
18396
7017
5484
3026
7520
28243
11947
22090
3539
14977
21832
4069
992
157
378
450
35
2
572
834
30
62
313
503
310
889
176
42
645
129
975
1484
142
113
18
186
1722
749
1277
' in
1102
5
290
1464
1582
602
I.""
i. fi" 1850.
y,,..
67
14391
19715
327
10498
3638
444
12361
8066
1675
4981
7555
5452
4693
20240
459
4289
i6ii
10028
i6
4709
8325
2753
5149
3060
8818
3-113
576
12021
322
6443
"L
2447
aid
14955
11976
217
"i
772
1850.
673
41
339
541
269
432
621
892
618
28
436
945
1404
246
426
47
805
ii
19
264
2136
942
1561
3
961
717
467
791
682
... 6
571
1301
2817
iii
155
1855.
254
1595
198
717
991
216
120
1296
1004
1455
922
680
1048
4'9
1518
25
749
1448
1714
1135
602
89
i'66
1450
igi
148
1239
3620
800
1448
21
775
2439
"W6
1216
2068
260
752
1784
' ii
861
2765
4399
iii
757
354
473
1477
3" 7
116
858
652
699
752
551
210
1414
21
892
1916
165
638
21
'i
1143
874
232
537
102
205
412
704
iii
100
2235
'i
29
1150
112
1856
iw6
1822
89
13016
3480
20792
5800
29159
28
1 -4"i
12590
14089
45670
13294
3566
797
10630
11777
9879
9265
4940
10075
, I'
15436
i 
10124
11634
12423
7293
9063
1692
10985
6133
ii6
6838
11953
6
5473
13288
23923
21873
i6
21060 
STATISTICS.
It will be seen that the slave population has increased from 58,161,
in 1850, to 105,704, in 1855. But the number of slaves assessed, in
1850, was only 49,197- showing an increase, by the assessments of
1855, of more than 100 per cent. The ad valorem value has risen
from $361, in 1850, to $505, in 1855. Six counties show a decrease
in slaves, during the five years.  Two, Cameron and Medina, are on
the Rio Grande; and the decrease arises from their proximity to
Mexico, making this kind of property a very uncertain one.  The
other four counties are in Eastern Texas; and the decrease arises,
probably, from emigration to the counties further west. Those counties which, in the column of 1850, are blank, have been organized
since that time; and those in the column of 1855 that are blank, are
not yet organized; at least, three of them have not been, and from
the other two no returns have been made.
Horses have increased from 89,223, in 1850, to 177,444, in 1855, or
nearly 100 per cent. Eight counties, seven of which are in the eastern portion of the State, show a decrease in this stock, during the
five years. This arises from the want of grass in Eastern Texas, the
horses having been removed to the western prairies. To the same
cause is to be attributed the decrease of cattle which occurs in twenty
counties of the State; all in the eastern counties, except Colorado.
The decrease in these twenty counties has taken place in the face of
an increase in the State of more than 100 per cent., during the five
years. This, alone, is sufficient to establish the truth of what we
have elsewhere stated, in regard to the great superiority of the western counties for stock-raising. A careful perusal of the foregoing
table will show the very rapid increase, in this kind of stock, since
1850. In Bexar county, alone, the increase of cattle was from 9289
head to 40,272, or about 450 per cent., during the five years.
The whole number of horses and cattle assessed, in 1850, was
750,352,* valued at $5,222,270; whilst, in 1855, the number had
* The Census Report for 1850 gives the whole number of horses and cattle at
1,019,337, while the assessment for the same year returned only 750,352, making a
difference of 268,985 head. We cannot conceive why so large a difference should
occur; for, admitting that the Census Report is an over-estimate, and the assessment
below the actual number, there is still too great a difference to reconcile by any
ordinary allowance for error. There is no doubt but that the assessed number is,
annually, considerably below the true one.
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STATISTICS.
risen to 1,603,146, valued at $16,916,833, or an increase of about
110 per cent. in number, and of more than 300 per cent. in value.
The above statement shows a most astonishing result, considering
that only twenty years have passed since Texas was, literally, an uncultivated waste. Ten years have now elapsed since the annexation
of Texas to the United States, during which time her wealth has
increased nearly five-fold. It will be seen that the land assessed has
increased from 31,967,480 acres to 45,419,836, and in value from
$17,776,101 to $58,334,624, or more than 300 per cent., during the
ten years. The average value per acre has risen from about 55 cents,
in 1846, to $1-28, in 1855, or more than 230 per cent.
Negroes have increasedinnumberfrom 31,099, valued at$10,142,198,
or an average value of $324 per head, to 105,704, valued at $53,422,663,
or an average value per head of $505. This gives an increase in
number of a little more than 300 per cent., and in value of more
than 500 per cent.
The whole number of horses and cattle, in 1846, was but 411,100;
since which time they have increased to 1,603,146, or 400 per cent.
The increase in value has been still greater, having risen from
$2,929,372, in 1846, to $16,916,833, in 1855, or nearly 600 per cent.
Under the head of money at interest, goods in store, etc., is included
also miscellaneous property, and the value of town lots.  It will be
seen that the increase in the value of the whole has been from
$3,543,501 to $20,649,024, or nearly 600 per cent. The average
increase of all kinds of property, during the ten years, as exhibited
in the column of aggregate taxable property, will be found to be
about 430 per cent., having risen, in the aggregate value, from
$34,391,174 to about $150,000,000.
189 
CHAPTER XXII.
REMARKS ON PRESENT AND FUTURE PROSPECTS.
IT will be seen, by the foregoing tables, that Texas
has progressed, in substantial wealth, in a rapid ratio,
notwithstanding the many adverse circumstances
under which she labors; the most material of which
are, difficulty of access, and lack of railroads, or
other good communications to the interior.   But
emigrants, with willing minds and ready hands, are
all the appliances needed for bringing these things
about, and making her the superior producing and
exporting State of our glorious Confederacy. This
is a country where the rich, the poor, and those who
have a modicum of this world's goods, may find soil,
climate, and productions suited to their various
wants; and never, in any other country, did such a
combination of happy circumstances concur to make
man satisfied with his earthly lot. The wide-spread
and luxuriant prairies, and the rich alluvial loams,
(190) 
PRESENT AND FUTURE PROSPECTS.
invite honest industry to come, till, and reap the
abundant rewards of harvest.
The high wall of despotism with which Spain
and Mexico surrounded this country, and, for a long
time, excluded it from the progressive influences of
the world, has been thrown down by Anglo-Saxon
valor; the vulture and viper of tyrannic misrule
have fled before the American eagle; and the degrading oppression formerly exercised by unbridled
power, through its willing instruments, Mother Church
and the military, has given way to the civic rule of
benign republicanism.
When we look on Texas, and then turn our eyes
to the adjacent country, Mexico, we are astonished
at the contrast, so unfavorable to the latter. While
she is old in theories, crimes, and civilization, with
but the moral stamina and vigor of an ancient de bauchee, Texas, her dismembered province, becomes,
under another influence, vigorous and thrifty, with
well-founded hopes of future greatness. We say to
ourselves, notwithstanding it is unchristian to covet
our neighbor's goods, still, where that neighbor is so
improvident with the bounties which God hath be stowed, and so little thoughtful of the Giver, that
the world would be much benefited with a more
thrifty tenant, and no one could be injured by the
change.
Nations, as well as individuals, are obligated to
certain proprieties of deportment, not only among
themselves, but towards others. It is true, in theory,
191 
PRESENT AND FUTURE PROSPECTS.
that one sovereign nation is independent of all
others; but, in practice, every civilized nation is
dependent on every other; and the bad government
and vicious polity of a degraded nation, without violating any international law, vibrate throughout the
world, and demoralize all peoples.
THE END.
192