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BRAMAN'S
INFORMATION ABOUT TEXAS.
CAREFULLY PREPARED
BY D. E. E. BRAMAK,
OP MATAQOKDA, TEXAS.
PHILArELPHl A : J. B. LIPPINCOTT ^.00
185 8. '■
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Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.,
hi the Clerk's OfiBce 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 de- finite 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)
IV 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, Texas,
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
Page
Information for Emigrants about diflferent portions of Texas, 9
CHAPTER II.
Description of Counties 24
Anderson county 24
Burleson " 25
Coryell " 26
Denton " 28
Ellis " 29
Goliad " 30
Gonzales " 31
Hays " 32
Henderson, and adjoining counties 33
Johnson " , 36
Kerr " 36
CHAPTER III.
Description of Counties (continued) 37
Medina county , . 37
Matagorda " 39
Llano " 47
1* (v)
VI CONTENTS.
Page
Navarro county 48
Orange " 49
Parker " 51
Polk " 51
Ptobertson " 52
Rusk " 53
Smith " 54
Travis " 54
Van Zandt " 55
Washington " 55
Young " 57
CHAPTER lY.
Stock-Raising 61
CHAPTER V.
Sheep — Honey-bees 74
CHAPTER YI.
Wheat 77
CHAPTER YII.
Credit 80
CHAPTER YIII.
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
CONTENTS. VU
CHAPTER X.
Heirship, and Rights to Property by Inheritance 98
Marital Rights 101
Forms for proving up Heirship 102
Advice to Heirs 105
CHAPTER XI. Conveyances of Real Estate , 107
CHAPTER XII.
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
VIU 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-Officeg 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 beheve 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 coun- ties generally arrives by water, and is not so nume- rous 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 cer- tain arbitrary designations, as follows, viz :
Northern counties, all above 32° of north latitude.
(9)
10 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 wdth 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 allu- vial lands ; in the aggregate they are vast, and inex- haustible in herbage.
Emigrants having 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 cha- racter, 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 eacli 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 pro- fitable and comfortable to accept all the boons of
INFOKMATION ABOUT TEXAS. 11
IsTature, and not to be confined to one calling or pro- duct exclusivel}'.
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 l!Teches rivers, and their tributaries, are very fertile, and quite densely tim- bered. The cotton planters w^ho leave the seaboard settle here. Population is verj^ generally diffused over the interior counties, and the cities, towns, pub- lic 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 equiva- lents, 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, w^est 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,
12 INFORMATION ABOUT TEXAS.
have much excellent land ; the farther 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 tim- ber 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. In- dustrious emigrants from the older States will better their conditions amazingly by seeking homes in Mid- dle 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 win- ter'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
INFORMATION ABOUT TEXAS. 13
being within habitable bounds, has already a large population.
I was told by some gentlemen, who recently tra- velled through Cook County, the most northern ter- ritory 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 inces- santly flow, through all seasons.
The climate is exceedingly healthy, and the sea- sons 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 oiFers supe- rior 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 E'ew York, that he afterwards moved to Ohio, and from there to Illinois, but that he had never seen such excellent 2
14 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 lack- ing. 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 l^orthern Texas, is the same that was practised by the first emigrants from ISTew England to Ohio and the Western States, across the Alleghenies : highly pri- mitive, and suggestive of patience and long sufiering.
Xorthern Texas is infected with none of the pes- tiferous miasmatic vapors which arise, in many, other- wise 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. ISTevertheless, 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
INFORMATION ABOUT TEXAS; 15
avoided : drink not the cold spring water when heated, be careful 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 recom- mend 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 news- papers, 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 ofiensive 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
16 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 problem- atical future, all conduce to unhealthy excitement, and disease ; and, eyen in their native climate, under like mental and physical exertion, sickness would result. I can imagine what a destructive, trying, and expen- sive 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 arrange- ments— 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
INFORMATION ABOUT TEXAS. 17
dwelling, protected, at the north, by timber or irre- gularities in the land ; let the house, in the improve- ments, 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 any- where should be dispelled. After the human dwell- ing 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. Emi- grants 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*
18 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 incumbrances, 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 ascer- tain if all taxes are paid ; after which, he may con- clude his purchase, alwaj's being sure to take a con- veyance, with full covenants.
After the dwelling and cow-pen, the next labor is to select the richest soil out of the tract for cultiva- tion, and plough enough for the first year's corn, wheat, potatoes, oats, millet, and minor vegetables. He should commence ploughing immediately after arrano'insT a shelter for his familv, and an enclosure for a few milch-cows. Xo matter what time he 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
INFORMATION ABOUT TEXAS. 19
States, surrounded with the ties of relations and friends, with local attachments for home, and all its recollections and Jieai-t-iies, 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 life- long 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, be- fore a final remove; but distance, expense, and consumption of time, generally prevent such cau- tionary 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 disap- pointed, 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.
20 INFORMATION ABOUT TEXAS.
The sparseness and distance of neighbors (and per- haps 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 crea- tion ; even the sky above is not the native heaven, the phenomena of IsTature 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 affec- tions of the family gradually become concentrated on the new home. A few years of quiet industry pass by, the neighborhood fills up apace, small vil- lages start up and grow with unprecedented rapidity, roads and cross roads and parallel roads mark the country, stores and churches and schools are not dis- tant 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 usefulness.
Emigrants should bring with them as many garden and other rare seeds as convenient ; the more com- mon seeds will be found in the country. Everything else let them turn into money, for it will be more ex- pensive to bring cumbrous household and farming
INFORMATION ABOUT TEXAS. 21
implements than to purchase them, unless they intend settlino; near the coast.
Emigrants from the Eastern, Southern-Atlantic, and Middle 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 family binds himself to furnish so much money for the general object; then ascertain the wholesale cost of transporting all of the families and efiects 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 fur- nish the community until the next harvest, the land can be divided among them according to their re- spective 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
22 "information about texas.
retained, while land and property become immedi- ately 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 sel- dom fail. 'No portion is sickly, but all is favorable to the life and energy of man and beast. The prin- cipal grass on the prairies is the far-famed 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 Xueces, Eio Frio, or some of their branches. This is a desirable part of "West- ern 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 lyeecan, hackherry, several kinds of oalc^
INFORMATION ABOUT TEXAS. 23
ci/press, 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 capi- tal, and fill the measure of his utmost expectations and desires.
CHAPTEE 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 OP COUNTIES. 25
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 countj^-seat from Gal- veston 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 stea- dily advancing in value. Unimproved bottom lands are worth ftlO per acre; uplands are w^orth from two to three dollars per acre.
The *'01d San Antonio road," which divides Rob- ertson and Brazos counties, east of the Brazos Eiver, 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 con- tains seven dry goods and other stores, and fortu- nately 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
26 DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
capacious and best built brick court-houses in the State ; also a Methodist and a Baptist church build- ing. 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 Eiver 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 north- west 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 abun- dance. There is also some sandy post oak land,
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 27
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. Many 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. Cowhouse 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, fire- wood, and fencing; a very good stock country, and well 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 mills in the county ; one owned by R. G. Grant, a quarter of a mile from Gatesville, on the Leon ; the other belonging to Mr. 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; ia
28 DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
common seasons, mills on 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, on 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-
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 29
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 immi- gration is rolling in like a flood-tide in a northern latitude. Pork is worth 2^ cents per lb.; flour $3-50 per cwt. ; corn 60 to 70 cents per bushel ; and wheat 75 cents. The present low price and abun- dance of provisions offer great facilities to the emi- grant, and those persons who desire new homes can- not 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" coun- try, 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 beau- tiful and rising town, situated contiguous to a good supply of timber, blessed with plenty of excel- lent water, healthful, and surrounded with the best wheat-growing region to be found. Emigrants with small means, and who desire to cultivate a remune- rating soil, cannot do better than go to Ellis County. Sheep, cattle, and horses do well, and have an abun- dance of free pasture. 3*
30 DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
GOLIAD COUNTY.
This is a western county, and lies near the Gulf of Mexico ; 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 suffi- ciently 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 family, 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 cultiva- tion of cotton, and stock-raising. It has an intelligent and refined population, and is favored with two well- conducted 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 from the heights of La Bahia is indeed an enchanting one,
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 31
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 over- shadowing 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 sur- rounded b}^ broken w^alls 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 set- tled in the early history of Texas. There are exten- •sive 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 culti- vated. 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
32 DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
of corn averaged from twenty to forty bushels. The scenery is beautiful, of the description known as roll- ing prairies. The long slopes are covered with thick, soft grass, and crowned with groves of noble live oaks and 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 intelHgent and substantial men ; people of means, liberalit}^, and enterprise, who will take much interest in building up churches and schools, to meet the in- creasing 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 stock- raising and farming county, and has a genial climate ; here are some of the most valuable water privileges in the State of Texas ; coal, iron, salt, and other minerals and metals, are said to abound. The dis- tance from' the centre of the county to Port Lavacca is 135 miles. San Marcos 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 savs : — " There is not a more beautiful and
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 33
romantic spot than the San Marcos country ; on the north the mountains afibrd protection against the ^I^orthers,' on the south the country spreads out in beautiful prairie valleys, which make most excellent farms; on many of them are now (January, 1857) laro^e fields of wheat in a flourishino^ 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 Eiver, 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 ma- chinery ; 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 Enofland towns. The San Antonio and Gulf Rail- road, 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. Lauds 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 indus- trious population. Public attention has been more turned to this section of late, and w^e are convinced,
34 DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
from the inducements offered, that no portion of Texas will improve, for the next ten years, in in- creased population and wealth, more than it will. As an average of the production of the timbered coun- ties, 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 seem 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 j^ears 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, w^hich 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
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 35
about 4J cents net ; corn is worth 50 cents per bushel; cattle about $6 per head by the stock; poultry abun- dant;. butter 20 cents per pound. The lands lay generally level, and there are very few rocks to inter- fere 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 count3^-seat of Smith County. The court-house is a fine sightly brick building; the bouses 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 Uni- versity 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. Corn 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.
Sumpter, in Trinity county, is a new place, it being only two years old ; but gives evidence of much pub- lic 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 rail- road (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 in- creasing, by large and substantial additions of emi- grants. 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 w^ith 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 set- tlers, 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.
CHAPTER 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. Cas- troville, 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 Me- dina; is surrounded by gentle, well-timbered hills, from the top of which the e^'C embraces the whole valley, which has been made a perfect garden by the settlers. Twelve years ago, Castroville was one of the most attracti/ve hunting-grounds of the fierce Lipan Indians. It derives its name from Mr. 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)
88 DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
amongst themselves, althongli most of tliem 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 inesti- mable 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 incor- porated limits, independent of a large rural popula- tion in the close vicinity.
The court-house is a substantial buildinsr: 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, indi- cate thrift and prosperity. The dwellings and im- provements 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 military posts farther west. The hauhng of stores and subsistence for the army is also an important and profitable branch of business. •
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 39
Three settlements, viz., Quilii, Yandenbargh, and Dhanis, are west of Castroville, and improve fast. This portion of Texas will, in a few 3'ears, be thickly settled ; and American enterprise and energy, joined with German industry, perseverance, and frugalitj^, will make it the wealthiest portion of our State.
MATAGORDA COUNTY.
This county is bounded on the north by "Wharton county, on the south by the Gulf of Mexico, on the east by Brazoria county and Gulf of Mexico, and on the west b}' 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 ia this count}", 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 timber, not extensive enough for plantations, but well adapted for small farms and stock-raisers.
40 DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
The Colorado lands, iu the lower part of the county, are subject to occasional overflows, with the exception of some choice spots ; and, therefore, not- withstanding the fertility of the soil, not so de- sirable. Old Caney, the most important stream, in an agricultural point of view, runs S. E. and IST. 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, bo- fore 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 Matagorda 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 wild- peach brakes. The cane and peach lands are consi- dered best for cultivation, and have been so nicely compounded and proportioned in the laboratory of Xature, 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, almost wholly within this county, is separated from the Gulf of Mexico, and formed by the "Matagorda
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 41
Peninsula," a strip of land^ixtj-five miles long, and averaging one mile wide. It lies nearly N". E. and 8. W., and is inhabited by small farmers and stock- raisers. A portion of this land, lying back from the Gulf, is an excellent, dark, sandy soil, easily culti- vated, and very productive in all kinds of vegetation which is not injured by the sea-breeze. Notwith- standing high winds, a crop of sugar-cane w-as 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, wdth ease and in abun- dance ; 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, Trespa- lacios, and a portion of Karanqua. The timber is live-oak, post-oak, pin-oak, pecan, ash, cotton-wood, W'hite and red elm, mulberry, red-cedar, and several other kinds, of minor importance.
We have no rock or stone, excepting conglome- rates ; no minerals excepting salt. In the sea-board part of the county, at from five to ten feet below the surface, is found an abundance of strongly impreg- nated salt w^ater, 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 *
42 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 b}' road. An appropriation of §50,000 was made, by our last legis- lature, for this object; which sum, if properly ex- pended, 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 esta- blished the receptacle for the masses of raw pro- ducts, 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 luxurj'' 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 difiused throughout all the regions round about. The various and vast amount of pro- ductions from the interior will attract to our bay the
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 43
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 !N"ature has favored Palacios, above all other sites, with the advantages of a great seaport town. It is estimated 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 coun- ties, and the other productions which seek a market. All this now goes through the slow, expensive, and de- structive process of being hauled to Houston, 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, run- ning 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 j)rairie soil, and the pecu- liarly 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
44 DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
flocks of sheep are kept; these latter animals thrive nowhere else on the seaboard.
T7est of the Colorado, and all that portion of Matagorda County watered by the "Trespalacios," is exclusively occupied by stock-raisers and small farm- ers, to both of which lucrative callings the Trespa- lacios lands, and those bordering on the Colorado, are well adapted ; §300 or §400 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 Matagorda and Pala- cios ; the former is a verj- 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 north- west, 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.
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 45
The town contains about 1200 inhabitants, who rank high in the social scale, on the score of niorahty, hospitality, and superior intellectual endowments; they are also very fashionable in their attire and habits, and in religion are generally Episcopalians. There are many line buildings, and several commo- dious public edifices. The latter is little more, at present, than a town site, or paper town ; neverthe- less, it is the most important place in Texas, consi- dered 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 wdiole 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 sea- way. 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 niainland, is not so subject to serious damage from the destructive hurricanes, or cyclones^ which visit our coast now and then, as are other places more ex-
46 DESCRIPTION OF CGUXTIES.
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 abiding places; and to any one who experienced our memorable storm of September 18th, 1854, or beheld the sad relics of the "Last Island" disaster, the debris lands of the Gulf coast will liardly appear suitable and pleasant for permanent settlements. And Gal- veston 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 resting-place for drift and sea-birds, liable, at any moment, and certain, at no distant day, of being en- gulfed 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 fear- ful 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 attri- butable 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
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 47
of fonnding 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 J^ature for the emporium seaport town of Texas, and, as soon as trade and commerce shall have been turned to their proper channels, will take Buch 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 east- ern boundary, and the Kio Llano runs through the county. A writer in the Texas Christian Advocate 8a3^s: *' 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 Sand}', a small stream. There are many indi- cations of the precious metals in this section. The soil is not of great depth, and is underlaid with im- mense 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 as- cents, called domes, which give to the mountain much of its grandeur. Honey Creek Cove lies within three miles of the Pack-saddle, and is inha- bited by a number of settlers. The creek empties
48 DESCRIPTIOX 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."
NAYARRO COUNTY.
The Pacific railroad line runs through the centre of this county. Its organization 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 sown this year (1857) as last. Corn is worth seventy- five cents per bushel ; the wants of recent emigrants keeping up the price much above the cost of pro- duction. Pork usually sells for about four cents per pound. The expense of getting goods from Houston is 12J cents per pound.
An abundance of good and low-priced land can be bought in Xavarro ; and emigrants will find a cordial welcome, abundance of supplies, and a health- ful climate, and, what is quite as important, good society.
Distance from Houston 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
DESCEIPTION OF COUNTIES. 49
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 county- seat, and a place of considerable importance : there is a Presbyterian church, a female school edifice, a Masonic and an Odd-Fellows' lodge, tv>'0 taverns, two drug-stores, ten laivyers, 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.
Kavarro is one of the most thriving counties of the State ; and was, but a few years since, an un- traversed wilderness.
ORANGE COUNTY.
This county is at the head of Sabine Lake, and is separated from Louisiana by the Sabine river: it is a well-timbered count}^ 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 Madison, is like the Mississippi at E'ew Orleans, on a small scale, and Madison is a miniature I^ew Orleans. The 5
50 DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
houses are tastefully built, and the place has the ap- pearance of quite a city : the principal business done here is the lumber trade. A number of steam saw- mills 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. Immense 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 -fiye miles from the sea-coast, or Sabine Pass, a small town on the Gulf of Mexico. About twenty- fiye 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 laud, which makes a fine stock range. On the way from Sabine Pass, Jeflerson 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, marshy countr}^; 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.
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 61
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 farmers — which meed of praise is alike due to all of the ad- joining counties.
Weatherford, a new town, and the county-seat, is rapidly increasing. ISTot 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 supphed with good water, and with an abundance of timber. There is a fine chalybeate spring about one-fourth of a mile from the public square : it is said to possess valuable medical properties.
Distance from Matagorda 240 miles.
rOLK 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 Sandj^, 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 aflbrd free commons to any number of herdsmen.
Livingston, the county-seat, is a small but thriving
52 DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
town, substantially and tastefully built. Distance from Livingston to Galveston is ninety miles. Mos- cow, 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 Garden of Eden.
ROBERTSON COUNTY.
The 31st parallel of latitude runs through the cen- tre of this count}', and, being situated very nearly in the centre of the settled portion of the State, equi- distant 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 Xavasoto. It is calcu- lated 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 Xavasoto and Brazos), is an almost imperceptible rise through a succession of beautiful sweeps, or long slopes of coun- try, 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
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 53
post oak timber, and are of a deep mulatto or yellow cast, 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 cotton- growing 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 Eobertson County is Ow- ensville, 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 ^N'avasoto, and within one mile and a half of the proposed route for the Hous- ton, 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.
Henderson 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*
54 DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
Eusk conntv, at last general election, gave 2000 votes. Distance from Galveston to Henderson is 175 miles.
SMITH COUNTY.
This county lies above the S2d 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 Eailroad ; it is already a place of considerable importance, and contains many buildings of taste and beauty. The pubhc square is very large, and in the centre is a natural mound, on which the court- house 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 Eiver, about 150 miles from its mouth. Austin, the seat of the State Government, is in this county, on the east side of the Colorado Eiver.
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 $6,262-98. There are 2399 negroes, 4326 horses, and
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 55
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 cli- mate 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.
"Washington 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-
56 DESCRIPTION OF COUXTIES.
able independence, their hard-earned rewards. The county has much substantial wealth. The face of the countiy 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 well suited. Brenharn is the county-seat, and quite a thriving place. At this time (1857) there are signs of vigorous improvement, and many new build- ings going up; and the ox-wagons, the ^'peculiar institution" of this country, are hauling away cotton, and returning with merchandise and building mate- rials. 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, be- speak a thriving community. The location of Bren- harn is beautiful; the rolling hills surrounding the town diversify the scenery ; and the stately trees, left as I^ature planted them, lend a charm to the pros- pect, 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 mast 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 4J to 5 cents per pound. The lands, generally, are noted for their
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 57
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 tim- bered county, and a desirable place to live. Follow- ing 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 meander- ing through the narrow valley. Fort Belknap may be seen in the distance : it is a situation of consider- able importance, and has a spacious magazine, com- fortable 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 neighbor- hood is a bed of bituminous coal, of a superior quality, which, at some future day, will be a valuable
68 DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
product. Following the course of the river 'about three miles up stream, we find, on the west side, the mouth of Post-oak Creek, with farms in close neigh- borhood : 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, afibrding 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 Bra- zos 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 hi^'hest settlement on the river. Takins- 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. Here the deer and the antelope
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 59
freely range, seldom disturbed by the rifles of the white, or the arrows of the red man. The valley of the Brazos, aloove Fort Belknap, averages between five and six miles wide. It has much good land and timber, sufiScient 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. Here 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 abun- dance of mezquit timber, and fine grazing ; but it is rather sparingly watered. South and east of Belk- nap, settlements are sprinkled over the country, at short distances. Salt Creek, running into the Bra- zos 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 Belk- nap, about twelve miles, in a south-eastern direction, over rugged hills, you come to the villages of the Wacos and Tonkaways, upon the "Indian Reserva- tion :" at the distance of a mile is the large trading- house of Charles Barnard, and the residence of the Indian agent. Six miles further, on a beautiful emi- nence 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 w^aters run the whole year, and, unlike
60 DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.
the Brazos, are sweet to the taste. The valley is ah^ady settled as high up as Camp Cooper, and emigrants are coming in daily.
Durmg the year 1856, about 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 Belknap 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 em- ployment, at good rates.
There is every reason to believe that this county abounds in gypsum, coal, iron, and man}^ other minerals, as large lumps of coal, and metallic ores, have been found in the beds of all the streams, and in sioking wells.
CHAPTER IV.
STOCK-RAISma.
The raising of neat cattle and horses is a business in this State well adapted to persons of small capi- tals ; and men in moderate circumstances, with fami- lies, find it very profitable and remunerative employ- ment for their bo3^s, 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 ijicreased 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 compa- nionship of books. The only drawback which exists to educating the ''stock boys," is that the best loca- tions 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)
62 STOCK-RAISING.
have sufficient time during the year to impart much intellectual instruction to their sons. The employ- ment 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 invigo- rating to both body and mind, and models and trains then:i 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 prairie- commons into monej' capital, through the quiet in- strumentality of the lowing herds. It turns that into property and money which otherwise would re- turn 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. Stock- raising rescues from the elements, and turns the tran- sient herbage into propert}^, and makes it yield em-
STOCK-RAISING. 63
ployment and support to many persons, and adds wealth and importance to the State.
The Texas prairies, with their never-faiHng coats of verdure, are alike the property of all for the pur- poses of pasturage, and those who improve these natural advantages are rescuing from the earth wealth which will go to stimulate the general prosperit}^
A stock-raiser commencing business purchases his one or two hundred acres of land, near to, or at the edge 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 protec- tion 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 inter- spersed with ''' motts,'' or ''' islands'' of timber, con- taining from a few rods to many acres ; and some- times they are likewise covered with a growth of ma- jestic live oaks ; nevertheless, with this seeming con- tradiction 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 way- farer to expect evidences of settlements ; the thought
64 STOCK-RAISING.
is that civilization has long held dominion, and that !N"atiire, unaided, never arranged such human-like scenery. These natural groves and parks and mea- dows have no sisrns about them which the traveller would look for in a recently-settled countr}-, but everything betokens long occupation, without show- ing 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 know- ledge, 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 Heaven, 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, beau- tiful, and harmonious as the Garden of our Fore- fathers.
Some of the large prairies have very few islands of timber, or trees, or brush of any kind, and a per- son near the centre can only see a low, dim line of misty green, which is the timber on the water- courses, that define and bound the prairies. Some- times the limits are beyond the vision, and the tra- veller beholds a boundless ocean of grass, here and
STOCK-RAISING. 65
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 mea- dows 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. !N^ear the seaboard, the prai- ries are of the most uniform surface and greatest ex- tent. A man journeying over one becomes asto- nished at the magnificent grandeur of their propor- tions, and is much dissatisfied with his own puny efibrts 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 gar- den ''stuff;'' as he expresses it, "makes a patch 6*
66 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 cattle-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 straj', as an ave- rage 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 atten- tion, excepting in the spring and fall : in March, the herding and marking and branding the young calves are performed : where there are many stocks com- mingled, 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, in
STOCK-RAISING. 67
the same way : this time inchides all the stragglers left at any previous brandiog, 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 with- out 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 con- siderable de2:ree of attention on them is well remu- nerated, and that they become more docile.
There is always a demand for beef and stock cat- tle : men come here, and buy up large droves of the latter, for the Missouri and Illinois farmers, and Cali- fornia 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 baj^, 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
68 STOCK-RAISING.
profits of the stock-raiser. They used to be thought hardly worth saving, and, when saved, the stretch- ing and curing was so careless!}' performed, that very little was received for them : of late, a better eco- nomy 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 Mexico, 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 milking- cows 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 from abroad, in large quantities — foreign butter, in the winter, frequently selling at fifty cents per pound, and cheese at twent^'-five cents.
The term "stock-cattle" is conventional, and means, in five hundred head, the following propor- tions, viz. :
STOCK-RAISING. 69
170 cows, with their calves,
G5 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 ever}^ 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 cov/s — these generally live to the age of twenty years, and frequently have calves the last year. However, 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
70 STOCK-RAISIXG.
have lost over fift}' per cent., from the same cause ; but such a season was never before experienced. Thousands of cattle, in good order, became so para- lyzed 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 blos- somed, and the prairies were clothed with the newest and brightest green, mingled with tender-painted wild- flowers of every hae: flg-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 Xature, 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 sombre brown ; and, from the previous superabundance of graminivorous food, the stock- cattle 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 freezing- point ; and, as 18° is the point that kills annual vege- tation, 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-
STOCK-RAISING. 71
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 nutritiye 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 pre- vious summer, seemed little able to bear the severity. Cattle that were sheltered from the cold winds suf- fered 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 stock- raising ; but the coast counties are preferable to the interior: the former combine many advantages, the prairies being larger than in the interior, w^inters 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.
72 STOCK-RAISING.
The best shipping place for the coast country is the town of Pahicios, which has hereinbefore been re- ferred 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 wholl}- neglected, viz., an im- provement of their cattle, by importing superior stock from abroad : through this oversight or parsi- mony, 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
STOCK-RAISING. 73
breed has been crossed by better stock, the ofispring are superior, and thrive well.
As I before remarked, our cattle have many good traits : the steers are easily broken, and gentle treat- ment 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 f()ur-3'ear-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.
CHAPTEE V.
SHEEP — HONEY-BEES.
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, im- proved 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 ofispring for service and endurance ; and tl cy will maintain themselves in good condition, on the prai- ries, winter and summer, and only require the ad- ditional 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 harh.
(74)
HONEY-BEES. 75
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 males were caught, after .running and counter-run- ning 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 indus- trious producers ; and they require no attention, ex- cepting 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 pater- nal domicil. Wild bees become domestic, and pro-
76 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 pru- dent man, in a new country, make subservient to his profit and comfort the boons of J^ature, 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.
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 unin- habited 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 Houston, a distance of over 300 miles ; and hauling back freights makes the business pay; but nothing, in comparison, is netted to 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 merchant- mills are established, and railroad communication ex- tends from the coast, through the planting sections, to the wheat region ?
7* (77)
78 WHEAT.
ITorthern Texas can supply all the balance of the State with good superfine flour, and successfully compete with the Western States in the jN"ew 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 the 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
Hunt 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 2,133,000
WHEAT. 79
There are seventy counties in the State which pro- duced wheat last year (1856).
The "State Gazette," a rehable newspaper, pub- lished at Austin, says the citizens of Colin County are furnishing Fort Washita with flour at the low price of $2-75 per cwt., or about $5-50 per bbl. ]^ew wheat has been selling, in the wheat-growing coun- ties, duping the last winter, for 50 cents per bushel. It is only a year or so since the farmers in the fore- going counties commenced raising wheat; and, in- deed, 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 des- tined to be the most valuable production of this State. All of the counties north of 31° can depend on wheat as a certain crop.
CHAPTER YII.
CREDIT.
Credit, in Texas, is the universal rule, and prompt pa3^ment the exception ; the system runs through all business, from the smallest account to the most im- portant 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 linall}^ die on tick.
During the Repubhc, 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 stook-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 propert3\ 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 sigiit of, and a disregard to the fulfilment of promises became general. Thus, a man purchased of
(80)
CREDIT. 81
his neighbor, under a solemn promise to make pay- ment in a given time, predicating his obligation on the faith of promises made by others to liim, which, of course, failed; he was necessarily not punctual, because others disappointed him ; his neighbor could not fulfil 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 calcu- lations, 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 w^as impoverished by the taxes on a species of property which possessed no real active market value. Men became disregardful of all punc- tuality 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 peo- ple generally around him, and no one thought him a w^orse man. Careless indifference for the moral obli- gation 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
82 CREDIT.
enormity as a banking law. They forgot that we were to become an important agricultural and com- mercial people; that our exports and imports would, in a few years, become extensive ; that a business medium of exchange, after the fashion of other cis'i- lized communities, would be required; and if we could not have it of our own, our necessities would force us to contribute to the presperity of neighboring States, for the use of their banking paper. The barbaric restrictions in our Constitution against banks, have obstructed all of our comtnercial trans- actions with the people of other States, and 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 intel- ligently 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 deal- ings ; 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 an}^ man to forfeit his word or his bond. The people of Texas., under their new aegis of a State Government, not having the proper con- straints, examples, and incentives, did not reform, to
CREDIT. 83
any noticeable degree, their old habits of running in debt; and when the agricultural wealth of our coun- try began to be developed, and to create commercial business with foreign States, and the merchandise and productions of other people were attracted here for a market, the credit system continued ; the mer- chants 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 re- formation, easily fall into the customs of the country. All merchants' accounts for goods sold to the in- habitants 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 2J per cent, for advancing. He can make no calculation on getting in his debts at any parti- cular time ; and often, after long and vexatious de- lays, rendered doubly annoying by the constant re- ception of polite notes from his friends in ^ew York and 'New Orleans, he is obliged to sue ; this, even if he saves the whole of his debt, is at a cost often 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
84 CREDIT.
all of these losses, of course, are taken into consi- deration in regulating his scale of profits. The mer- chants who go into the great marts to purchase their stocks of goods, under the disadvantages of the repu- tation of being slow and uncertain paymasters, are forced to pay much higher prices than a more prompt class. Therefore, the 'New York merchant who sells to the Texan merchant, knowing the precarious busi- ness 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 pro- bable 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 I^ew 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 far- mers' 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 accumu- lating debts created.
When brief credit accommodates the necessities of
CREDIT. 85
prudent persons, it is beneficial; but, when it minis- ters to the imperative calls of extravagance, its effects are destructive.
Our merchants, with a few exceptions, are inexpe- rienced 3'oung men when they commence business, whose capital consists of the letters of recommenda- tion, which they obtain from responsible persons, and take, in place of more substantial substance, to the commercial cities of the Xorth. 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 home, 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 por- tion 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
80 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 con- sumer. 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 occupa- tions 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 gro- vellers.
In a new country, fast settling with emigration from older States, short credite are useful, and fre: quently 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 re- quired 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 re- quired, 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 Xew 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
CREDIT. 87
give undoubted security on property in Texas ; and then, if men ivill 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 posses- sion such goods, so bought on credit of strangers, have purchased, in 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 necessarj^ to wit: make pro- per security paramount, make prompt payment au 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, much of their values are frittered away by the enor-
88 CREDIT.
mous expenses of the credit system. Credit, at best, is snbservienc}' to a hard master; and, when the peo- ple 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.
CHAPTER VIII.
SCHOOLS.
The people of Texas Lave, by princely munifi- cence, 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 habita- tion, without cost to the recipient, will be the ulti- mate effect of these wise provisions. During the Re- public of Texas, Congress appropriated four leagues of land (or 17,712 acres) to every county, for educa- tional 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. TJ. S. bonds, was also set apart for a
special school-fund ; and, by a law of 1856, the same
was blended with the money derivable from the tenth
8* (89)
90 SCHOOLS.
of the taxes, and the whole is made a general school- fund : 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 from going into general prac- tical effect. By a recent enactment, each county has been laid oif into common-school districts, and a certain portion of the school-fund 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 sufiicieut 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 Bepublic 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 im- portance, they are, year by year, nurturing up males and females in the paths of virtue and high intellec- tual 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
SCHOOLS. 91
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 b}' united force. A few years, and a few more thou- sand emigrants, 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. Emi- grants 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 so- ciety, are accessible and convenient to every commu- nity, and a very superior degree of general intelli- gence 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.
CHAPTER IX.
TAXATION, AND HOW IT AFFECTS THE OWNERS OP PROPERTY.
The rate of taxation is fifteen cents on each hun- dred 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 must 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 anj- county in the State can be given in, and taxes paid in any other count}'.
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.
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TAXATION. 93
TO PERSONS WHO OWN LANDS IN TEXAS, AND HAVE NEGLECTED TO PAY TAXES.
All lands w^hich have not, in years past, been re- c;ularly 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 oft* 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 facie evidence of title in tbe purchaser ; provided, further, that the person whose property has been sold for taxes, shall have two years to 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 pro- perty here is not attended to, it will inevitably be
94 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 reco- vering 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 twent}-- five, 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 concomi- tants, 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
TAXATION. 95
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 pos- session. Our laws of limitation are short; and a defective title, with possession, is quickly ripened into a perfect title.
Thus, lands which are valuable and constantly ap- preciating, are yearly passing from the rightful owners to the proprietorship of avaricious specula- tors ; 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 rew£y;ded for your small ex- pense, 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
96 TAXATION.
sovereignty; and many a man who is now neglecting his Texas lands, will, in a few years, appear as ridi- culous 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 re- gion, 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 tliar for a big spec." True it is, your lands will be pretty much in statu quo, so far as their area and depth are con- cerned ; 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 8 pecuniary benelit, and without one cent of his aid ? It is an injury to any State or country, for non-resi- dents 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 Revo- 'ution — who sacrificed money, time, and health in the cause of our liberties, and even laid down their
TAXATION. 97
lives, amid wretchedness and suiFering, 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 ftimily blood that bedewed the same lands which they have inherited.
To all such I will say, although 3'ou 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 reli- able agent in Texas, setting forth the known or sup- posed 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 3^our 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
CHAPTER X.
HEIRSHIP, AND RIGHTS TO PROPERTY BY INHERITANCE.
Law of March 18th, 1848 — FoZ. 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 functio7iarieSj who are expected to 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.
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HEIRSHIP. 99
2. If there be no children, then to the descendants of the children.
8. 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 de- ceased 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 bro- thers or sisters, then such surviving parent inherits the whole.
6. If the deceased person leave no parent sur- viving, but leave brothers and sisters, or the descend- ants 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 the 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 fol- lowmg manner, that is to say : the grandfathers and grandmothers in equal proportions ; but if only one paternal or maternal grandparent survive, such sur- vivor 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
100 HEIRSHIP.
their nearest lineal descendants ; ahvaj's recollecting, that ^Yben 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 de- ceased, 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 one- third of the personal estate, and an estate for life in one-third of the land and slaves, wdth 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 de- scendants, 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 hus- band 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
HEIRSHIP. 101
brothers and sisters come into the partition, they take j^er capita ; where a part are dead, and a part Hving, 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 sis- ters 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, be- come, 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, de- vise, or descent, and the increase of all lands and slaves thus acquired, shall be and continue his or her own separate property.
3. During the marriage, the husband has the sole management of the separate property of the wife.
4. A married woman cannot make separate con- tracts, 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*
102 HEIRSHIP.
either husband or wife, or both, excepting that in Sect. 2, is community or common property of the hus- band and wife ; and on the dissolution of the mar- riage by death, one half goes to the surviving hus- band 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 go- verned, in their descent, according to the foregoing laws.
Forms for proving uj:) Heirship. Suppose a single man, who died in Texas, has connections in the State of ^ew York, and that his father and mother are also dead.
" State of Kew York, ss. 1 Madison Oounty. }
"Before me, the undersigned, legally constituted authority, personally appeared Samuel Slyke and Jonathan Barlow, two credible witnesses, to me per- sonally 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
HEIRSHIP. 103
Thomas Tilton, who are all residents of Madison county, in the State of New York : and these depo- nents further 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 Simp- son Parkins and Sarah his wife, both late of Mont- gomery county, State of New York, and now de- ceased. And the witnesses further depose, that said Solomon Parkins was never married, so far as they have been informed, by general report, and beheve ; and that the aforesaid James Parkins, Rufus Par- kins, 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 Slyze, "Jonathan Barlow."
" State of New York, ss. "i Madison County. J
"I, Timothy Bundick, Judge of the Court of , the same being a court of record, and hav-
104 HEIRSHIP.
ing a seal of office, do hereby certify that the fore- going affidavit was made, subscribed, and sworn to before me, by the witnesses, Samuel Slyke and Jona- than 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. 185T.
"Timothy Bundick,
[l. s.] "Judge of ."
The foregoing proof may also be made before a commissioner for the State of Texas, resident in the State of Xew 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, Secretaiy of State for the State of Xew York, do hereby certify that the Honorable Timothy- Bundick, whose name and offi- cial 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.
HEIRSHIP. 105
*'In testimony of all the foregoing, I have here- unto set ray hand, and caused to be impressed the great seal of the State of Xew York. Done at Al- bany, 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 th« 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 sol- diers in Texas during the Revolution, and who died
106 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 occu- pied the land for a sufficient length of time to claim by proscription.
Where a person has ever been entitled to any pro- perty 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.
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 instru- ment.
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 witness- ing to be at his request ; but, w^hen 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 re- corded according to law\ All conveyances for land certificates J 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 hereditament.
(107)
108 CONVEYANCES OF REAL ESTATE.
Form of deed in Fee Simple {warrantee),
" The State of Texas, 1 County of Matagorda. )
" 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 Xavarro, 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, heredita- ments, and appurtenances to the same belonging, or in any wise incident or appertaining.
"To have and to hold all and singular the pre- mises 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 war- rant, 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 per- sons 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 twenty- seveiith day of May, a. d. one thousand eight hun- dred and fifty-seven.
''(Signed) A.B. [Scroll.]
" Signed, sealed, and delivered in presence of wit- nesses,
^'L. 0., P. S."
CONVEYANCES OF REAL ESTATE. 109
Remarhs.
Covenants can be inserted according to agreement of the parties.
Persons executing instruments in other States, con- cerning 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 hy grantor to the officer.
:•}
" The State of Texas, County of Matagorda " 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 May, A. D. 1857, for the purposes and consideration therein stated ; and the said A. B. fur- ther acknowledged to me his signature and seal to said instrument of writing, and requested me to au- thenticate 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.] "ITitleofofficeY
10
110 CONVEYANCES OF REAL ESTATE.
Proof of an instrument by a subscribing witness^ where he was present at the execution thereof.
':)
" The State of Texas, County of 3Iatagorda
" Before me [any of the foregoing officers] person- ally 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 Mata- gorda, this 27th day of May, A. D. 1857.
"Peter Jones, [l. s.] '^\_Official designation']"
Where the deed is witnessed at a subsequent period fi'om its execution,
" The State of Texas, 1 County of Matagorda, f
''Before me [any of the foregoing officers] person- ally 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 in- strument of writing, dated May 27th, 1857, as a sub*
CONVEYANCES OF REAL ESTATE. Ill
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, 1 County of Matagorda. J
'' Before me [any of the foregoing officers] person ally appeared John Jones, to me personally well known, w^ho, first being duly sworn by me, according to law, deposeth and saith, that L. 0. 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 unknotvn, 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."
[iTame, official designation, and seal of office.]
After which the instrument may be proven for record.
" The State of Texas, 1 County of Matagorda. )
" Before me [any of the foregoing officers] person- ally appeared John Jones and Samuel Geddes, to me
112 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. and L. 0., the former the grantor, and the latter one of the subscribing witnesses in the foregoing and an- nexed instrument of waiting, dated May 27th, A. D. 1857 ; and these deponents further say, that said sig- natures are the true and genuine signatures of said persons, and that they, these deponents, are wholly uninterested in any matters contained in said instru- ment 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 ofiice." [Official signature and seal.]
Mode of proof luhen the subscribing witnesses are 'per- sonally unknown to the officer.
.s, I
" The State of Texas Matagorda County
"Before me [any of the foregoing oflicers] person- ally appeared Samuel Ilolliday and Henry "Watkins, to me well known, who, being by me first duly sworn, depose and say, that L. O., who now also appears personally present, is the identical person whose name appears signed as one of the subscribing wit- nesses to the foregoing and annexed instrument of
CONVEYANCES OF REAL ESTATE. 113
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 seah]
After which the instrument of writing may be proven up by the unknown witness.
" The State of Texas, 'j County of Matagorda. )
"Before me [any of the foregoing officers] person- ally appeared L. 0., a subscribing witness to the an- nexed instrument of writing, dated May 27th, A. D. 1857, and executed by A. B. : And the identity of the said L. 0. 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 instru- ment 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*
114 CONVEYANCES OF REAL ESTATE.
Mode of authenticating an instrument executed hy a married ivonan, coyicerning 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, Xotary PubUc, or Chief Justice of the county.
Form.
" The State of Texas, | 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, par- ties to a certain instrument of writing, bearing date the 21st day of March, A. D. 1857, and hereto an- nexed ; 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 cO be her act and deed, and declared that she had ■*villingly and understandingly signed, sealed, and de- livered 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 ap- peared the aboveuamed John L. Hunter, who stated
CONVEYANCES OF REAL ESTATE. 115
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] ''' Chief Justice of Matagorda County T
An instrument to be used in Texas, when authen- ticated 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, Charge d'Affiiires, 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.
CHAPTER XII.
LEGAL EIGHTS 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 (Hartley'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 situ- ate, 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 mort- gage, 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 EIGHTS AND REMEDIES. 117
becomes entitled to all the ri2:lits of the orio:iual 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 a like period ; but a fail- ure 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 dic- tate 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 difi'erent 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, j
" Know all men, by these presents, that I, A. B., of the State and county aforesaid, for and in consi-
118 LEGAL EIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
deration of the sum of fifteen thousand dollars, with the interest due 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 my promissory note, to him delivered, and copied below (here copy evidence of debt), have, better to secure the payment of my said debt, granted, bar- gained, sold, alienated, and conveyed, and do, by these presents, hereby grant, bargain, sell, and con- vey unto the said C. D., his heirs or assigns, forever, all of the following described property, viz. (here de- scribe the property) : To have and to hold the same, together with all the rights, members, and heredita- ments to the same in anywise 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 law- fully seized in fee simple of the herein granted pre- mises, 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 inte- rest 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 testimonv of all ^^•hich, I have hereunto set
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES. 119
my hand and scroll seal, at Matagorda, this first day of June, A. D. one thousand eight hundred and fifty- seven.
" (Signed) A. B. [Scroll.]
" Signed, sealed, and delivered in presence of wit- nesses."
Or this form of Mortgages.
Hemphill C. J. in T. E. vol. vi. page 13, remarks as follows: "And here I would suggest the re-adop- tion of the Spanish, or a more simple form of mort- gage. The form in use is deceptive and fictitious. It purports to be a perfect deed of conveyance, with conditions."
" The State of Texas, 1 County of Matagorda. J
" Whereas I, A. B., of the State and county afore- said, being justly indebted to C. D., of the same place, upon a promissory note, a copy of which is copied below (copy of note). Kow, in order better to secure the prompt payment of said recited promis- sory 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
120 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 fifty- seven.
"(Signed) A. B. [Scroll.]
" Signed, sealed, and delivered in presence of wit- nesses."
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 repa}'- ment of his money, and interest, but also the profits of selling the planter's sugar and cotton.
:as, I la. j
Form. "The State or Texas, County of 3Iatagordc "Whereas I, Samuel Kingston, of the State and county aforesaid, planter, have this day entered into ftn arrangement and contract with Kelson Clements and Thomas Hay den, commission merchants, doing business in the city and State of I^ewYork, under the style of Clements & Hayden, whereby I am to have a credit at their estabhshment, in said city, up to the amount of four thousand dollars, and I am,
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES. 121
from this date, to be allowed to draw drafts on said firm, during the present year, in sums to suit my 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 Hayden, all of the crop of cotton growing and to be grown on my plantation during the present year ; which I estimate w^ill be two hun- dred 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 in- crease, for the sole purpose of securing the prompt repayment of said advances of money, be the same 11
122 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 hy 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 wit- nesses."
The foregoing mortgage, after being properly au- thenticated, should be filed for record in the county where the mortgagor lives.
Delays are dangerous ; and a person who is cau- tious enough to secure his interest, by taking full security, should certainly not leave the most impor- tant 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.
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES. 123
" The SxxiTE of Texas, 1
County of Matagorda.
"I, C. D.j 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 propertj^ (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 con- tained in said mortgage, is hereby fully released, and the property described therein, together w^ith 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 seal, 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 wit- nesses."
Lieyis.
According to various decisions of our Supreme Court, an equitable lien exists, in favor of the vendor.
124 LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES,
against the specific property in the hands of the ven- 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 lieu, a contract must be made, in writing, and recorded within thirty days.
Every person who furnishes su2")plies, or does re- pairs or labor, for any domestic vessel, has a lien on such vessel and her freight money, for the security and payment of the same.
3Iarried Women.
"When the homestead is sold, it is necessary for the wife to join in the conveyance, and it must be au- thenticated in this State, by a Judge of the Supreme or District Court, Chief Justice, Notary Pubhc, or County Clerk.
The law requires every married woman to make out a schedule of all her separate property, and pre- sent the same to the County Clerk, and acknowledge it for record.
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES. 125
Schedule,
" The State of Texas, | Qounty of Matagorda, j
"Be it knowD to all persons whom it may con- cern, 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 ray 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 pro- perty which I own in my separate right, for the pur- pose 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, "i County of Matagorda. )
"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*
126 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 my 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 sepa- rate rights. The expense and trouble are very little, and the security which it afibrds 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 apparentl}^ wealthy in property, which really be- longs 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
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES. 127
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 pro- tected.
The property rights of married persons emigrating to this State are governed by the laws of their mar- riage domicil. 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 pro- vided means by which the wife may not only fulfil 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 confi- dence. In fact, all the servile tvife-s\si\ery of the old common law has been abrogated here, and a just me- dium 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 re- straints are very wholesome checks against improvi- dent, reckless, and wricked practices of bad husbands.
All property purchased during coverture, with pro- ceeds of the community, or with the joint or separate earnings of husband or wife, even if the conveyance be made directly to the w^ife, inures to the com- munit3\
A married woman can, by last will and testament, dispose of her separate and her community rights.
128 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 seveyi years from the estate with- out 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 acknow- ledgment 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 coinpos.
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.
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES. 129
9. All contracts concerning lands and slaves, if not to be performed within one year, must be reduced tc writing, and signed by the party to be charged there- with, or by his lawful agent, otherwise the same is within the statute of frauds.
10. All fraudulent conveyances, made for the pur- pose 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 be- comes 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 ivrit of error; the former
1 The filing of a petition in the District Court, on any chxim, and the issuance of process from Justice's Court, are the dates at which the limitation stops running; that is, if the claim was not barred then, it will be secured from prescription by such acts.
130 LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
must be moved for at tlie term of the court at ^vhicla 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 Asso- ciate 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 con- tinue ten weeks.
At Tyler, first Mondays in April, and may continue until first of Jul I/,
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 distinc- tion 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 re- moved to this court for trial de novo, within ninety days, by certiorari, on the party applj'ing showing, by an afiidavit, sufiicient cause to the judge. There is no direct appeal from justices' courts.
Proceedings in the County Courts pertaining to the
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES. 131
estates of deceased persons and wards, may be re- moved 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 juris- diction, when the amount is just one hundred dol- lars.
On a promissor}^ note, judgment is usually ren- dered at the first term of court, after due service of the writ, unless the service were made by publica- tion, when two terms of court are required to obtain a judgment.
Judgments on promissory notes bear interest ac- cording 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 execu- tions 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,
132 LEGAL IIIGHTS 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 pro- ceeding is as follows : The plaintiff files, in the office of the clerk of this court, his petition against the defeudant, setting forth his cause, in the ordinary form ; and if, at any time after such filing, he desires a writ of attacTimeyit, and can make affidavit, in due form, it will be issued. The causes for granting an attachment are: 1. That the defendant is justly in- debted to the plaintiff, and the amount of the de- mand, and that the defendant is not a resident of this State ; 2. Or, that he 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 proba- bly 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 propo-sitions, swear that the attachment is not sued out for the purpose of injuring the defendant.
LEGAL EIGHTS AND REMEDIES. 133
Affidavit.
*' The State of Texas, } j^ -n- . - . n ^ ' \ In iJistrict (jourt. County of Matagorda. J
" Before me, R. L., Clerk of the District Court for the county aforesaid, personally appeared G. T., the plaiutiiFin a suit now pending in said District Court, entitled ^'Eo. — 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 sum of (here describe the debt). Affiant further says, that the said A. B. is not a resi- dent 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 Ma}^, A. D. 1857, which I hereby certify under my my hand and seal of office.
"'ll.'L.— ClerhD. CM. a"
This affidavit may be made by an agent or attor- ney 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 peti- tion, 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
134 LEGAL EIGHTS 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 ma}', on the trial, plead damages, in reconvention or set-oft'.
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 plain- tiff", his agent, or attorney, may have a writ of gar- nishment, by applying to the clerk of the court from which the execution issued, and making an affidavit.
Writ of Attachment.
"The State op Texas to the Sheriff of Matagorda County, greeting : " AYe 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 sum 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
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES. 135
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.] " E. L.— Clerk D. 0. 31. C."
The legal mode of levying an attachment on per- sonal 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 Garnishment.
" The State of Texas to the Sheriff op Matagorda County, greeting :
"Whereas, G. T., plaintiff, has filed, in the District Court of Matagorda county, State of Texas, his peti- tion, bond, and affidavit, in a suit against A. B., de- fendant, 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-
136 LEGAL EIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
house, in the city of Matagorda, within and for said county of Matagorda, on the second Monday after the first Monday in Octoher next, then and there to answer, upon oath, what he, the said C. M., is in- debted to said defendant, or what eifects of the de- fendant he has in his possession, and had at the time of serving this writ of garnishment, and what credits and eflects 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. Ij.— Clerk of said District Court,
'' Given under my hand and seal of office, at Mata- gorda, this day of , A. D. 1857.
[l. s.] "E. J..— Clerk D. C 31. C."
The form of a writ of garnishment issued after judgment, is somewhat variant.
Writs of Sequestration
May be issued by judges and clerks of the district courts, and justices of the peace, in the following cases :
1. T\niere a married woman sues for divorce, and raakes oath that she fears her husband will waste her separate property, or their communit}' 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
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES. 137
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 posses- sion, will injure or ill-treat such slave, or w^aste 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 de- fendant, 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*
138 LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
Form of Sequestration.
" The State of Texas to the Sheriff of Matagorda County, greeting :
"Yon are hereby commanded to take into your possession the following described property, if to be found in your county, to wit (here describe the pro- perty), and it safely keep, subject to the future order of our said District Court, unless J. P., who is de- fendant herein, or any other person, in whose posses- sion 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 Matagorda, on or before the second Monday after the first Monday in October next. "Attest: E. L.,
" Clerk of said District Court.
[l. s.] " Given under my hand and seal of office," &c.
ProiJerty 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 dol- lars in value; all tools, apparatus, and books belong-
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES. 139
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 pro- vision.
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 fiimily, 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 ex- empt 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 ex- emption is entirely changed, and only applies to heads of families ; the remainder of the old exemp- tion law is still in force, and single men avail them- selves 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 valua- tion 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
140 LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
contract, even if the deed of mortgage be made with all the formalities required in an alienation of same propert}^ for the reason, that the intent and end of a mortgage is judicial foreclosure, and a forced sale.
The only mode by which the homestead of a mar- ried man can 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 per- son 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 col- lect 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, wdiich 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 hap- piness, patriotism, and independence of a people, and to the permanent prosperity and good order of a State, as judicious homestead laws.
LEGAL RIGHTS AND EEMEDIES. 141
The hearthstone of the family, although its mem- bers 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 im- moral it3^
Creditors are too prone to view all exeinption 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 gene- ral thing, than those who have no such safeguard ;
142 LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
and the aggregate of bad debts, broken contracts, and absconding debtors, will be ranch greater nnder the rigid rule of strip a man of all he Jiatli^ than under the latter system.
If a few fraudulent debtors are unjustly shielded nnder our good laws, how many more debtors are there, who, by their effect, are enabled to remain honest, to eventually extricate themselves from pecu- niary 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, how- ever 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 un- fortunate 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 segis for the well-being of our fellow-citizens, and a great advance in the happy results of civilization.
Much, 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-
LEGAL EIGHTS AND REMEDIES. 143
ment of benign institutions, and that the laws are not antagonistic to virtne 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 dut}^ 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 suflicient 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 ; afiluence 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 condi- tion of the lower orders, in all despotic and over- peopled governments ; and no familj^, 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,
144 LEGAL EIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
granting letters of administration, letters of guardian- ship and settlement, and supervision of deceased per- sons' 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 ad- ministration 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.
AVhen 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 count}' is divided into a convenient number of justices' precincts, and two justices are elected for
LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES. 145
each precinct. They are designated Class 'Ro. 1 and Class Ko. 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 con- ducted with very little formality, and it is very unu- sual 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 com- mon 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, offer- ing 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 ex- treme portion of the State, Ioxq or six hundred miles distant; and this distance, with our facilities of com- munication, 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
146 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 con- tracts to pay or perform in a particular count}', he may be sued in that county, or in the county of his domicil ; therefore, iu 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 Eichard 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.*
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 directl}^ by the sovereignty, or a subordinate authority, to the individual. The second class consists of inchoate rights to lands., evi- denced by certificates and scrip, issued from various departments of government, on paper, calling for a certain number of acres ; and entitles the holder or
(147)
148 LANDS.
owner to locate and appropriate any of the public domain, not otherwise withdrawn. These certificates and scrip are evidences of debt against the govern- ment, payable in land when applied for.
The first species comprises ail the land titles ema- nating from Spain, Mexico, and the Empresario grants to colonists, and are all in the Spanish lan- o^uage, under rights accruing previous to March 2, 1836, at which time Texas was declared an indepen- dent repubhc. On ISTov. 13, 1835, the land-offices were closed, by the Provisional government, and all land transactions were suspended ; but the Empre- sario 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 esta- blished, at the seat of government, the chief officer being named commissioner: this officer was em- powered to execute all acts touching the public lands, and had the custody of all books and archives con- cerning the same; and all the documents in posses- sion 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
LANDS. 148
perform the public surveying: there was also a register and receiver for each ; and any person who was en- titled to land could have the same surveyed, by ap- pearing before the 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 land- offices were suspended, by different laws, until the first Thursday in January, 1838 ; and, by the subse- quent act, opening the land-office, the whole system was remodelled, and the very expensive machinery heretofore in use abolished. Up to this time, no land 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 do- main, 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 pro- cured 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*
150 LANDS.
local boards. I shall, for convenience, designate as first-class and second-class — the latter of which had certain conditions attached.
Oil 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 cer- tificate which had been issued : they then reported to the general land-office, recommending for patents all certificates which they had adjudged good, and reject- ing all which could not, or were omitted to be, satis- factorily reproven to them. Many persons, honestly entitled to their certificates, lost them, by the death or absence of the witnesses by whom they first esta- blished 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 hun- dreds 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 in- stances, by gain, and, in others, through carelessness, issued many land certificates to persons not entitled,
LANDS. 151
or on very frail proof; but it was far better that the government should Buffer, through its agents, than that individuals should be imposed on by the govern- ment, 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 stock- raising, 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 discon- nected from Mexico, are head-right certificates, mili- tary certificates, land-scrip, which was sold by agents of the Eepublic of Texas, various premium certifi- cates, school certificates, public improvement certifi- cates, 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,
152 LANDS.
were entitled to it, in like manner as the colonists of the Emprcsarios. Volunteer soldiers, who arrived in Texas between March 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 Head-riglits, First Class.
1. Every head of a family, where the family re- sided 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 coloni- zation 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 mar- ried 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 marry- ing, before Dec. 14, 1838, entitled to an augmenta- tion 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
LANDS. 153
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 Mon- day 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 con- ditional 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 which 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 emi- grated with their families.
On the 15th January, 1841, local boards were or- ganized for the purpose of issuing unconditional cer- tificates to all those persons who had received condi- tional certificates of second and third classes.
By a subsequent amendment, these boards became
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empowered to issue unconditional certificates of the second and third classes, to all persons who had be- come 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 con- ditional certificates.
Up to the first day of February, 1856, there were, with certain intervals, local boards of land commis- sioners in every county, which tribunals were empow- ered to issue unconditional land certificates (only).
Of Head-Riglits — 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 com- missioners issued land certificates under the law, in