THE QUARTERLY OF THE TEXAS STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
VOLUME XIV JULY, 1910, TO APRIL, 1911
PUBLICATION COMMITTEE A. W. Terrell, Eugene C. Barker E. W. Winkler Z. T. Fulmore W. J. Battle EDITOR Eugene C. Barker ASSOCIATE EDITORS E. W. Winkler Charles W. Ramsdell AUSTIN, TEXAS PUBLISHED BY THE ASSOCIATION 1911CONTENTS.
NUMBER 1; JULY, 1910.
The State Finances of Texas During the Civil War E. T. Miller 1
Reminiscences of Henry Smith Henry Smith 24
Book Reviews and Notices 74
Affairs of the Association 83
NUMBER 2; OCTOBER, 1910.
The State Finances of Texas During the Reconstruction E. T. Miller 87
The City of Austin From 1839 to 1865 Alex W. Terrell 113
The Last Hope of the Confederacy — John Tyler to the Governors and Authorities of Texas With an Introduction by Charles W. Ramsdell 129
General Volney Erskine Howard Z. T. Fulmore 146
Albert Triplett Burnley Martha A. Burnley 150
The Release of Stephen F. Austin From Prison 155
Notes and Fragments 164
Affairs of the Association 170
NUMBER 3; JANUARY, 1911.
George Pierce Garrison H. Y. Benedict 173
Stephen F. Austin: A Memorial Address Alex. W. Terrell 182
Apache Relations in Texas, 1718-1750 William Edward Dunn 198
Affairs of the Association 275
NUMBER 4; APRIL, 1911.
The Southwestern Boundary of Texas, 1821-1840 Thomas Maitland Marshall 277
Some Historical Activities of the Texas Library and Historical Commission E. W. Winkler 294
Life of A. Horton and Early Settlement of San Augustine County A. Horton 305
Micajah Autry: A Solider of the Alamo Adéle B. Looscan 315
William T. Malone G. A. McCall 325
Notes and Fragments 328
Book Reviews and Notices 337
Affairs of the Association 341
Vol. XIV. JULY, 1910. No. 1.
The publication committee and the editors disclaim responsibility for views expressed by contributors to The Quarterly.
Texas was perhaps the most fortunate of the Confederate States during the war. Her territory was not a battleground and was free from devastating invasion. That part of her population which was not in the armies was free therefore to follow agriculture and other pursuits unmolested. Proximity to Mexico provided a comparatively safe outlet to a market for cotton and inlet for needed supplies of various kinds. The possession, too, of a large amount of disposable assets in the form of United States bonds obviated the need of an early resort to high taxation or an extensive use of the state's credit. Full advantage of these favoring circumstances or geography and assets could not, however, be taken. Transportation of products to the Mexican frontier proved to be slow, expensive and dangerous, while the United States bonds were only partially productive and served but to stay temporarily the evil day of financial disorder. In the end the financial story of Texas was the same for this period as that of the other Southern States, though the details are less direful. It is one of trust funds violated, of debt accumulated, and of receipts and expenditures, swollen fictitiously by the depreciation of the paper money in which 2they were payable, mounting large to meet a growing desperate situation.
The expenditures of 1861 do not reveal the state of war except those for the Constitutional Convention and for the regiment ordered raised by the convention. Total warrants drawn for these purposes amounted to $79,870.33 of which only $2,139.35 was for the regiment. The total net expenditures for the year were $577,593.51. The total net expenditures for the war period proper, or from August 31, 1861, to June 8, 1865, were $4,863,790.55. 3 The portion of this that was of a military character is $3,180,275.97. This amount does not represent fully, however, the expenditure attributable to the war. To obtain this amount there should be added to military expenditures those for hospital facilities and for the support of the needy families of Texas soldiers. In 1862 and 1863 warrants drawn on account of the hospital fund were $104,493.58, for the soldiers' families, $306,305.74; in 1864 and 1865 the amounts were $107,446.02 and $1,127,814.73 for the respective services,—or a total for the four years of $1,646,060.07. There were refunds of $41,950.77, leaving a net amount of $1,604,109.30. The amount of these warrants that was paid cannot be stated. Since after May 28, 1864, civil appropriations and those for the support of soldiers' families were payable in treasury warrants, it may be assumed safely that the warrants drawn in 1862 and 1863 were paid and were therefore included in the Comptroller's items of expenditures. Because of this element of conjecture, however, no attempt is made to state the absolute amount of expenditures incident to the war, but to rest content with the statement that more than three-fourths of the expenditures were attributable to it.
A part of the military expenditures were chargeable to the Confederate States' government, and for such the state had a claim for refund. The reports do not indicate that there were any such refunds, but at the close of the war the Confederate government was indebted to the state in the sum of $399,751.90 for ordnance, quartermaster, medical, and such stores. 3
At the beginning of the war all expenditures were made through the State Comptroller and the State Treasurer and were pursuant to specific legislative appropriations. In December, 1861, Judah P. Benjamin, Secretary of the Confederate Treasury, proposed to Governor Lubbock the exchange of the United States bonds then in the State Treasury to the credit of the school fund for Confederate bonds. 4 The need of secrecy about such a transaction and the necessity also of some organization to superintend the defence of the state of a more continuous and adaptable character than the legislature led to the creation on January 11, 1862, of the Military Board. 5 This board was known as the Old Board and was composed of the Governor, the Comptroller and the Treasurer. It was reorganized on April 12, 1864, in accordance with the act of December 16, 1863, to be composed of the Governor and two appointees, and was known as the New Board. 6 The duty in general of the boards was to provide for the military defence of the state by securing supplies of arms, ordnance, ammunition and other stores.
The two boards drew from the treasury a total of $1,651,621.85, divided as follows: 7
With these receipts as a basis the boards carried on the varied and complex operations of purchasing, exporting, and selling cotton, of purchasing and importing supplies, of manufacturing arms and munitions, and of working the salt deposits in Van Zandt County.
The Old Board purchased, so far as can be ascertained, 5736 bales of cotton for which $544,438.23 was paid mostly in Confederate notes and 8 per cent State bonds. One hundred and twelve bales were burned or otherwise lost, and 5551 sold for $434,454.38. The New Board purchased 266 bales, 211 of which are accounted for by sale. The disposition of 128 bales of the total purchased by both boards is unaccounted for. Besides these direct operations in cotton, contracts were made with individuals for the export in the name of the board of cotton owned by them. These contracts contemplated some benefit to the state, as for example, the return of supplies which would be subject to purchase by the board. There is little to show, however, that any important amount of supplies was introduced as a result of these private contracts. The direct operations in cotton, though, resulted in the securing of such needed supplies as arms, cartridge boxes, powder flasks, powder, shoes, cotton cards, quinine, etc.
Most important of the funds turned over to the board were the United States 5 per cent bonds belonging to the school fund. On January 13, 1862, an agent of the Confederate States' government received from the Military Board 100 of the bonds of the denomination of $1000 each. In accordance with the plan proposed in Secretary Benjamin's letter, a like amount of 8 per cent Confederate bonds were to be given in exchange. Secretary Benjamin shortly decided, however, that he had no authority to make this exchange, but that he would purchase of the State any arms or munitions of war which might be procured for the bonds. The failure at this time to negotiate the bonds for supplies terminated the whole matter between the State and the Confederate governments, and the bonds were returned to the Military Board. 8
Of the 634 bonds the Old Board received 364 with 3311 interest coupons of $25 each,—a total par value of $546,775.00 These bonds and coupons were sent to Mexico and Europe for disposition, but fear of their repudiation resulted in but few of them being sold. Only 44 bonds and 310 coupons were sold by the Old Board. Their par value was $49,750.00, and they were sold for $38.022.50.
The New Board was responsible for 139 bonds and 633 coupons. Four of the bonds and 22 of the coupons were sold for $4550, and 135 bonds and 611 coupons were turned over to White and Chiles for cotton cards and medicines. The state did not receive the supplies contracted for, as, according to White and Chiles, they were destroyed in transit by disbanded troops. 9 Nineteen bonds and 80 coupons were turned over by Governor Murrah to an agent to be disposed of for medicine and cotton cards. There is no evidence of any such purchase, however, and the person to whom they were alleged to have been given denied that he received them of the agent. 10 The remainder of the bonds to the number of 109 and 959 coupons were returned to the treasury upon the institution of the Provisional Government.
The Old Board erected a state foundry in Austin for the manufacture of cannon, also a factory for the making of percussion caps. The foundry cost, including expenses of operation, $172,725.12; the cap factory, $100,292.29. The disappearance of the military demand for the kind of cannon made at the foundry, and the greater cost of public over private operation of the cap factory, resulted in the abandonment by the New Board of the operation by the State of these enterprises and in their lease to private parties. 11
The boards and their successors returned to the treasury a total of $1,006,279.30. There was returned for the most part in 1864 and in Confederate notes the sum of $543,958.28. In 1865, unused United States bonds and coupons to the amount of $129,975.00 were turned over to the Provisional Government, and during the period from October 13, 1865, to August 13, 1866, $33,205.25 was returned in specie, United States currency, 8 per cent state bonds, and state treasury warrants. In 1876, a net amount of $298,825.22 was recovered by the state on account of United States bonds and coupons of the par value of $357,175.00 entrusted by the board in April, 1862, to Mr. J. W. Swisher for disposition and which were committed by him to English and German bankers for sale. 12
The penitentiary was not a source of expense to the general treasury during this period, but was self-sustaining. The expenditures of the school fund were small, amounting to only $114,544.26 in the four years 1862-1865 as against $119,351.60 in 1861. The heaviest item of civil expenditures was the support of the indigent families of Texas soldiers. 13 The county courts were the agencies of distribution, and beginning in May of 1863 and extending to the close of the war the assistance extended was nominally large but really small on account of the depreciated value of the notes and treasury warrants. After May, 1864, the medium of payment was treasury warrants, but these soon became practically worthless. The ordinary civil expenditures or those for salaries, support of departments and state institutions, were on a moderate scale. Salaries remained unchanged throughout the war period, and their recipients were subject to the hardship of having to meet with the same nominal receipts prices that were steadily increasing by reason of scarcity of products and inflation of the currency.
Texas entered upon the war period in an unsatisfactory financial condition. In 1860 the means for defending the frontier against Indian uprisings were largely provided by the use of the United States bonds belonging to the university fund. Despite the recommendations of the governor no increased taxation was voted at this time. By January 19, 1861, the treasury deficit was $817,827.00, and the revenue which was to come in before the end of the fiscal year was estimated to fall far short of the deficiency. 14 Each subsequent year saw deficiencies, and at the close of the war the amount of treasury warrants outstanding was $2,068,997.90.
Net receipts in 1861 were $509,788.64, and the total net receipts during the war period, 1862-1865, were $8,161,928.58. Roughly, about 40 per cent was from taxes, 8 per cent from sale of bonds, 38 per cent from the penitentiary, and the remainder, 14 per cent, from interest on the bonds in the school fund, the sale of land, land dues, the sale of public property, and fees. The proportion of receipts derived from the sale of bonds does not indicate, however, the extent to which the state used its credit, for it does not show the extent of indebtedness to special funds for assets transferred, or the floating debt.
By the close of the war a complex tax system had been developed consisting of property and poll taxes, salary and occupation taxes.
The ad valorem rate of the general property tax remained, against the counsel of the governor, at 12½ cents in 1861, with an additional 4 cents, collectible in specie, to meet the interest and provide a sinking fund for the $1,000,000.00 loan authorized by the act of April 8, 1861. 15 In 1862 the rate for all purposes was raised to 25 cents, and in 1863 to 50 cents, which was the rate also in 1864. At the above rates the taxes assessed were $465,494.00 in 1861, $700,609.00 in 1862, $1,675,954.00 in 1863, $1,790,959.00 in 1864, —a total of $4,633,016.24. Assessed values showed a decrease in 1861 and 1862, but in 1863 they were $335,190,700.00, and in 1864, $358,101,886.00 as compared with $294,315,659 in 1860. The number of acres of land, of negroes and other objects of assessment changed but little during these years, so that the increase in assessed values was due to higher valuations which were the result mainly of the inflated state of the currency.
The act of April 3, 1861 16 permitted non-residents of the counties to return land for taxation either in the county of their residence or in the county of its location, and the result was, as formerly, that a large amount escaped. Unrendered land amounted to 34,659,321 acres in 1861, 29,320,425 in 1862, 47,854.029 in 1863, 34,970,258 in 1864, and 56,821,220 in 1865. 17 The lands sold to the state for taxes for the years 1861-1864 were 7,100,000 acres. Since from the beginning of statehood to 1861 the total sold was 17,594,229 acres, the forfeitures during the war were extraordinarily large. The total number of acres redeemed during the period 1846-1863 was only 1,065,600. 18
By the act of January 13, 1862, 19 the poll tax was raised from 50 cents to $1.00, and was assessed throughout the war on all male persons over 21 years of age. The assessments were as follows:
An extensive system of occupation taxation was begun by the act of January 13, 1862. 20 Some features of this act were the reimposition of a license charge upon doctors, lawyers, and dentists, —a practice which had been in abeyance since 1848; a tax of $50 upon insurance companies,—which marks the beginning in this state of special taxes upon corporations; and the absence of any occupation taxes upon mercantile establishments other than the regular ad valorem rate upon goods purchased or received for sale. By the act of March 6, 1863, 21 lawyers and doctors were exempted from payment of a license charge, and in order to discourage the conversion of corn into liquor, a tax of $1000 was laid on each still. The still tax was repealed in December, 1863, but was reimposed in November, 1864, as were also the license taxes upon doctors and lawyers. 22
A system of taxes on the sales of distilled spirits, fermented liquors and wines was adopted December 15, 1863. 23 The taxes were payable monthly, and the rates were proportioned to the value per gallon. These taxes were described in the statutes and were popularly known as “income” taxes. By the act of December 16, 1863, those engaged in the sale of merchandise were subject to a tax of 50 cents on each $100 proceeds of sales, and merchandise was subject to no other state taxation. This was known as the “merchandise tax.” Assessors and collectors were required to call once in every three months and get returns of sales under oath. The act of November 15, 1864, replaced the graded liquors income tax by one that levied simply 5 per cent on gross sales, and modified and extended the taxation of gross receipts. The several occupations and professions taxed were classified and different fixed charges and percentage rates applied. Wholesale merchants were subject to a tax of $300 and 1 per cent on gross receipts; retail merchants, druggists, and auctioneers, $100 and 1 per cent. Those keeping a billiard hall or nine or ten pin alley, doing a storage business, and cotton compressing and insurance companies, were subject to a tax of $100 and 2 per cent of gross receipts. Railroad companies were subject to a tax of one-fourth of 1 per cent on their gross receipts; but no special provision was made for the determination of the amount of gross receipts or for the collection of the tax.
Under the amended constitution of 1861, as under the original of 1845, the legislature had the power to lay an income tax. A beginning of income taxation was made in the act of January 13, 1862, which imposed on each person having a fixed annual salary, whether as a public officer or by private contract, 25 cents on each $100 of such salary over $500. 24 The tax was self assessed and no penalties were prescribed for failure of returns. This salary tax was not re-enacted in the act of December 16, 1863, which applied the principle of income or receipts taxation to the merchandise business, as it had been applied to the liquor business in the act of December 15, 1864. It was not until November 15, 1864, that the principle was extended, though it was yet so restricted as to make the tax an occupation tax rather than an income tax in the accepted sense of the term. Dentists and lawyers became subject to a tax of 2 per cent of the gross receipts from their professions, and presidents, directors, conductors, engineers, secretaries and clerks of railroad companies, and doctors to a tax of 1 per cent. Those engaged in agriculture and mechanical pursuits and those in general who enjoyed fixed incomes were not taxed on their income as such. The income tax as thus levied was therefore a partial one.
The financial reports of this period do not classify the receipts from the several taxes, and for the general propery tax and the poll tax one must rest content with the assessments to get an idea of their importance in the tax system. The amount received from license taxes in 1861 was $43,097. No similar statistics are available for 1862 and 1863. In 1864 the tax on sales of merchandise brought in $54,315.76; the liquor receipts tax, $67,423.35; while the license tax on distillers produced $43,883.28, and the taxes on other callings only $13,392.62. More than 62 per cent of the taxes, other than ad valorem, in 1864 were thus obtained from the liquor business. The act of November, 1864, was very productive, the revenue in 1865 on account of it being $308,582.39. The license tax on distillers and other callings contributed $172,279, the merchandise and income tax, $136,303.
The laws imposing the gross receipts taxes especially were not strictly drawn and this fault and the disorganization of conditions generally resulted in evasion and in the imperfect assessment and collection of all taxes. 25 As to the tax on professions, which is the tax nearest to income taxation in the financial history of Texas, Governor Throckmorton later said that its yield was small and that it operated oppressively and unequally. He recommended a minimum exemption with a graduated but moderate rate on the remainder. 26
In estimating the burden of taxation account must be taken of the taxes levied and collected by the Confederate States' government. In the administration of the Confederate taxes there was a chief collector for the state and assessors and collectors for the districts into which the state was divided for purposes of taxation. Texas was one of the two states, Florida being the other, which did not permit their tax officers to serve in the same capacity for the Confederate government. It was also one of the two states, Mississippi being the other, which did not assume their quota of the Confederate direct taxes. 27 Confederate taxation was much heavier and more rigorously collected than state taxes, and amounted for the four years 1861-1864 to the huge sum of $37,486,854.43. Only $26,904.64 of this amount was in specie. 28
The act of February 9, 1861, authorized the receipt of 10 per cent interest warrants in payment of land and the 2 per cent sinking fund of railroad bonds held by the school fund, and the act of January 11, 1862, made all treasury warrants receivable in payment of land. 29 After January 11, 1862, treasury warrants and Confederate notes were receivable for taxes and all other public dues, except for the specie loan tax, and for interest and principal of the railroad loans by the school fund. 30 The act of December 16, 1863, however, made treasury warrants, bonds and interest coupons of the state receivable in payment of railroad indebtedness to the school fund. 31
The great depreciation of Confederate notes led in the spring of 1864 to the enactment that after the last day of June next and until October 31, Confederate notes of the old issue of the denomination of $100 should not be receivable for public dues except at a discount of ⅓ and that no Confederate notes bearing interest should be received after the last day of June. 32 The purpose of this legislation was to compel the funding of the old issue into Confederate bonds and to sustain the value of the new issue.
The specie needed to meet the interest and sinking fund requirements of the $1,000,000 loan issue of 1861 was provided for by a special specie tax. 33 This special tax began to fail in the early part of 1863, and for the year ending August 31, 1864, produced only $1,352.77 in specie. By the act of March 3, 1863, it was provided that the tax might be paid in other funds, and the Military Board was authorized to obtain the specie required for interest. 34 The history of this special tax well illustrates the disappearance of specie from general circulation. Receipts in 1862 on account of it were $36,900.06, all of which was in specie; in 1863, $123,608.09, of which $57,549.18 was in specie; in 1864, $152,369.94, of which $1352.77 was in specie. In 1865 the specie receipts were not derived from taxation, but were provided by the Military Board.
By the act of January 14, 1862, the disbursement of Confederate notes was restricted, except for about $30,000, to the payment of military appropriations. 35 Other appropriations were payable in specie or in treasury warrants. Inasmuch, however, as the revenue was collected principally in notes and to a much larger amount than military expenditures could absorb, the act of March 6, 1863, provided that all appropriations should be payable in notes. 36
In the spring of 1864 the Confederate currency was rated in specie at from 20 to 30 cents on the dollar. 37 The state recognized by the act of May 27, 1864, a depreciation of 33⅓ per cent, and by the act of May 28, 1864, made appropriations for the support of the civil departments of the government and for the indigent families of Texas soldiers payable in treasury warrants. These warrants, however, enjoyed no better credit than the notes had had, and were quoted in the fall of 1864 at 8 and 10 cents on the dollar. 38 The constitutionality of the issue of treasury warrants which would perform some of the functions of money was questioned, but a majority of the senate judiciary committee held that they were not money and were not intended to circulate as money. 39 This was also the opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States in 1899 in the case involving the validity of the payments of warrants to the school fund by the railroad companies. 40
The bulk of receipts during the war period was in Confederate notes and treasury warrants. During the five years 1861-1865, $948,711.34 of treasury warrants was received, distributed as follows:
No distinction was made in the financial reports between Confederate notes and specie until the year beginning September 1, 1862, which would indicate that by that date the disproportion in the amounts of notes had begun to complicate the operations of the treasury. During the three years 1863-1865, specie receipts amounted to only $163,647.37, the most of which was credited to the special loan account and was secured for this account by the Military Board. The specie receipts were distributed as follows:
Receipts of Confederate notes were $957,137.96 in 1863; $3,652,813.91 in 1864, and $1,559,757.88 in 1865—a total of $6,169,709.75. In the Fox table of currency values, the average value of $1 in gold was $5.88 in Confederate notes in 1863; $19.89 in 1864. On the basis of this scale of depreciation the receipts in Confederate notes in 1863 were equivalent to $162,778 in specie; the receipts in 1864 to $183,650 in specie. 41
Besides the excessive amount of Confederate notes in circulation which the receipts of the state and the Confederate government would indicate, there were state treasury warrants, city and county warrants, and the notes of individuals and corporations. The effect of this inflation of the circulating media, together with the scarcity of commodities, was an enormous rise in prices. As early as January, 1862, the currency became redundant, and before the end of the year public meetings were called in various parts of the state to consider the rise in prices. The depreciation of the currency was popularly ascribed to the perversity of “merchants” and “capitalists,” and tariffs of prices and other coercive measures were suggested as remedies, but none were enacted. 42
From the beginning of statehood to 1860 Texas had no public debt other than that inherited from the Republic. The inadequacy of the revenue system and the increase in expenditures due to frontier defence led to a deficit in 1860, one consequence of which was a practical suspension of payment of what remained of the debt of the Republic. There was paid on this debt, however, $8520 in 1861, $1783.80 in 1862, and $20 in 1863. Another result of the deficit was the appearance of a floating debt. The act of February 14, 1860, authorized the issue of 10 per cent interest warrants, when there was not money in the treasury; and the act of March 20, 1861, authorized the issue of $300,000, 10 year, 8 per cent bonds for the purpose of funding the warrants issued for the protection of the frontier from Indian and Mexican depredations. 43 This funding act was repealed January 11, 1862, after $16,000 of warrants had been funded.
The important loan act during the war period was that of April 8, 1861, which authorized a loan of $1,000,000, to bear 8 per cent interest and to run 16 years. 44 A specific tax of 4 cents on the $100 to pay the interest and maintain a sinking fund was also authorized by the act, but it was not until January 11, 1862, that it was provided that this tax should be a specie tax. 45 Under the provisions of this act $917,000 of bonds were issued, $294,000 of which were used in funding state warrants, $28,000 in paying debts contracted under the authority of the Constitutional Convention of 1861, and $595,000 were turned over to the Military Board. Seventeen thousand dollars of the bonds given to the Military Board were returned and $1000 mutilated, leaving a net amount outstanding of $899,000. The net amount for which the Military Board was responsible was $578,000. 46
The act of December 16, 1863, authorized the issue of $2,000,000, 7 per cent bonds, payable 6 to 12 years after the close of the war, for the purchase of cotton. 47 Certificates for these bonds to the amount of $195,190.29 were issued, but only 45 bonds were issued and delivered in redeeming certificates. This debt with interest amounted at the close of the war to $211,130.83. 48
The only other bonds authorized and issued were 6 per cent bonds to fund the treasury warrants received by the school fund for interest and principal payments by the railroads. 49 Of these there was issued a total of $320,367.13, all of which was held by the school fund. 50
The 8 and 7 per cent bonds were disposed of to citizens of the state for cotton, currency, and military equipment and supplies. The cotton purchased was transported to Mexico and either exchanged for military supplies or sold and the proceeds used to purchase the supplies. After the organization of the Military Board it issued a stirring circular address to the people of the state calling upon them to take the bonds at par for their cotton. The cotton growing part of the state was divided into districts and agents were appointed in each to take subscription to the loan in either cotton or money. Upon the purchase of any cotton, or the sale of bonds for money, the agent took a bill of sale and delivery and executed a receipt or certificate to the seller, which certificate entitled the seller to bonds of even date. 51
The interest on the 7 and 8 per cent bonds was payable in specie. Specie interest payments were $6009.61 in 1862, $46,586.11 in 1863, $40,502.90 in 1864, $72,696.61 in 1865. These amounts were paid, though apparently somewhat irregularly, but despite them the value of the bonds fell in 1864 to less than 25 cents on the dollar. 52 The provision in the 8 per cent loan act for a sinking fund was not observed so far as regards a specie fund.
Treasury warrants outstanding at the close of the war amounted to $2,068,997.90, about $180,000 of which were 10 per cent interest warrants. In 1863 and 1864 these had a value in specie of 8 and 10 cents on the dollar. 53 There were at all times in 1863, 1864, and 1865 enough Confederate notes in the treasury to redeem all the outstanding warrants, but the holders held them back with the expectation of ultimately getting something better in payment. 54
The state was indebted to special trust funds to the amount of $1,455,913.86 on account of United States bonds and specie used and for evidences of state indebtedness received in the collection of revenue. The school fund was due $1,137,406.05, the university fund, $283,514.22, and other special funds, $34,892.49. 55
The amount due soldiers and for supplies was estimated at $3,150,000; the unpaid debt of the Republic at $110,613.23; miscellaneous debt at $199,176.76. 56 The total debt was $8,110,832.58. Deducting the debt of the Republic, there remains $8,000,219.35 which represents the debt incurred from 1860 to the close of the war.
The convention of 1866 declared the debt created in aid of the war null and void, this being directed by the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Excessive zeal led it to go beyond this and to repudiate the civil debt contracted between January 28, 1861 and August 5, 1865. 57 The constitution of 1869 went still further and provided that “all unpaid balances, whether of salary, per diem, or monthly allowances due to employees of the state who were in the service thereof on the said 28th day of January, 1861, civil or military, and who gave their aid, countenance or support to the rebellion then inaugurated against the government of the United States or turned their arms against said government” were forfeited. Also, “all the 10 per cent warrants issued for military services, and exchanged during the rebellion, at the treasury, for non-interest warrants” were declared to be fully paid and discharged. 58
Under the above provisions the Reconstruction auditorial boards recognized a debt of $251,048 to be due individuals. In 1876 and 1883-6 the school and university funds received $857,240.71 of the amount to which they appeared creditors at the close of the war. Of the $8,000,219.35 there was, therefore, $1,143,181.26 recognized, leaving the repudiated portion $6,857,038.09.
The amount due the school fund at the close of the war was $1,137,406.65; $766,700 of this was for United States bonds and interest coupons transferred to the Military Board in August and November of 1862; $331,604.84 for state treasury warrants received; $26,927 for specie used, and $12,173.93 for interest on state bonds.
Receipts of the school fund from taxes, land sales, and interest on securities amounted during the four years 1862-1865 to $643,525.81, while expenditures, exclusive of investments, amounted to only $114,544.26. In 1862, $185,520 was loaned to railroad companies. The railroad companies made no interest payments in specie during this period, but in accordance with the act of December 16, 1863, and November 15, 1864, paid in state treasury warrants a total of $320,367.13 for interest and principal of bonds. The state funded the warrants in 6 per cent bonds, and the latter remained of doubtful validity unti 1883 when they were paid. The legality of the payments of the companies in warrants was subsequently contested on the ground (1) that the warrants were issued for the purpose of being circulated as money and so were in violation of the State Constitution; (2) that they were bills of credit emitted by the state and were therefore in violation of the Constitution of the United States; and (3) that the acts under which they were issued and paid were in aid of the Rebellion and were therefore void. The decision of the Supreme Court of the United States was against the state on all three points. 59
In 1876, $297,758.22, out of a total of $357,175 in United States and coupons originally transferred, was recovered by the state and returned to the school fund.
The indebtedness to the university at the close of the war was $283,514.22. This was for United States bonds to the amount of $100,000 and specie from interest and land sales transferred to state revenue account in 1860-1862, and for treasury warrants and Confederate notes received in payment of land sales. Receipts of this fund from land sales during the four years 1862-1865 amounted to $134,183.39. There were no disbursements other than transfers. In 1866, 5 per cent state bonds to the amount of $134,472.26 were placed to the credit of the fund to replace the United States bonds and interest used, the balance of the debt not being recognized. The bonds thus credited remained of doubtful validity until 1883, when they were paid with accumulated interest; $10,300.41 of this old debt of war was also validated and paid in 1883, but without interest.
The effect of the war upon the school and university funds was to strip them of their sources of revenue, and as a result of conditions brought about by the war education in Texas was set back by more than two decades.
On June 8, 1865, the total cash balances on hand amounted to $3,368,510.07. This was made up of $2,908,038.34 in Confederate notes, $445,074.37 in state paper, and $15,397.36 in specie. Only $362,548.11 of the Confederate notes were actually in the treasury, the remainder, $2,535,490.23, were old issues, and had been turned over to the Confederate States' depository to be exchanged for new issues. In addition to the above balance there was in the hands of the Military Board $129,975 in United States bonds and interest coupons. This latter and the specie were the only part of the balance that was of value.
The finances of the war period which secession inaugurated ends June 8, 1865. At this date the pen which traced the ledgers of the fiscal department of the state government stops off shortly and until October 13, 1865, when the work of accounting is again resumed in a new handwriting, a gap of blank pages follow—mute witnesses of the end of a disastrous struggle and of the temporary dissolution of state government. Social disorder attended the breakup of the Confederacy and on the night of June 11, 1865, the state treasury was broken into and looted. There was little of value in it that was negotiable, so that the loss, except for something less than $5,000 in specie, was not serious.
The Tri-Weekly Telegraph under date of July 15, 1864, contains the Fox Table of currency values. It says: “The following table showing the fluctuations in the gold market here (Houston) has been furnished us by Mr. Henry S. Fox, a reliable merchant of this city. One dollar in gold has been worth the following amounts in Confederate treasury notes at the times mentioned:
1861
Sept. 1-30 par
Oct. 1-31 1.05
Nov. 1-30 1.10
Dec. 1-15 1.25
Dec. 15-30 1.50
1862
Jan. 1-Feb. 8 1.50
Feb. 8-Apr. 8 1.75
Apr. 8-20 2.00
Apr. 20-May 12 2.50
May 12-22 2.75
May 22-June 12 3.00
June 12-19 3.25
June 19-Aug. 9 3.50
Aug. 9-Sept. 14 3.75
Sept. 14-Oct. 31 4.00
Nov. 1-30 3.75
Dec. 1-31 4.00
1863
Jan. 1-5 4.00
Jan. 5-18 4.50
Jan. 18-Feb. 9 4.75
Feb. 9-Mch. 19 5.00
Mch. 19-Apr. 5 4.75
Apr. 5-14 5.00
Apr. 14-May 3 5.25
May 3-7 6.00
May 7-17 7.00
May 17-June 20 8.00
June 20-July 4 7.00
July 4-7 8.00
July 7-8 8.50
July 8-10 9.00
July 10-August 6 9.50
Aug. 6-Sept. 9 10.00
Sept. 9-24 11.00
Sept. 24-Oct. 5 12.00
Oct. 5-12 11.00
Oct. 25-Nov. 7 12.00
Nov. 7-13 11.50
Nov. 13-16 12.50
Nov. 16-17 13.25
Nov. 17-20 15.00
Nov. 20-25 15.50
Nov. 25-Dec. 6 16.00
Dec. 6-14 17.50
Dec. 14-16 18.00
Dec. 16-31 19.00
1864
Jan. 1-3 19.00
Jan. 24-31 24.25
Feb. 1-4 24.00
Feb. 16-22 20.00
Feb. 22-Mch. 4 21.00
Mch. 24-Apr. 5 22.75
Apr. 20-May 5 26.00
May 25-31 44.00
June 1-3 43.00
June 30 28.00
July 1 31.00
Comptroller's Ledger, 1861-1865. Archives of Comptroller's Department.
Comptroller's Reports, 1860-1865.
Comptroller's Warrant Register, 1861-1865. Archives of Comptroller's Department.
Executive Records, Nos. 279, 280, 281. Archives of State Department.
Gammel, Laws of Texas, V.
Journals of the House of Representatives, 8th Leg., regular and extra sessions.
Journals of the Senate, 9th regular and extra sessions, and 10th regular session. In manuscript in archives of State Department.
Lubbock, F. R., Six Decades in Texas. (Austin, 1900.)
Miscellaneous papers on Military Affairs, 1861-1865. Archives of State Department, File cases Nos. 54-55.
Ramsdell, C. W., “Texas in the Confederacy,” in The South in the Building of the Nation, III. (New York, 1909.)
Records of the Military Board. Archives of State Department.
Reports of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1868, 1899.
Smith, E. A. The History of the Confederate Treasury.
The Texas Almanac, 1860-1861-1862-1863-1864-1865. Galveston.
The Tri-Weekly Telegraph, 1861-1865. Houston.
The Weekly Southern Intelligencer, 1865. Austin.
Brazoria 18th Novr. 1836. To the Honble M. B. Lamar Respected Sir
In endeavoring to comply with your request, I find myself greatly at a loss. The destruction of my office and papers at the burning of San Felipe, during the invasion of the enemy, puts it entirely out of my power to furnish you with such data as would at once, not only satisfy your enquiries, but at the same time afford me infinite pleasure. The only means left within my power is to furnish you with such scraps and portions of official and other documentary proceedings as may be within my reach and draw on a very treacherous memory to complete the chain. In doing this I cannot descend to minutia or be particular as to dates, but only give a general outline of the changes and rechanges, actions and counteractions which have taken place in Texas, within the times named. And as this is done on the principles of epistolary intercourse, it will be laid on the plain basis of simple narrative, with a strict adherence to truth, but without embellishment, and with perhaps, very little comment.—I will commence with a short biographical sketch—not by way of writing my life, a matter in which neither you nor the world would feel any interest, but for the purpose of making comparisons, and shewing when and from whence I came to Texas. In doing this I will only trace back to the old dominion.
My father James Smith emmigrated from Bedford County Virginia at a very early period, and joined company with Col. Daniel Boone, the great pioneer of the west, on his second trip to the wilds of Kentucky where he settled with his family at a place called Smiths Station [in what is] now Garrard County, where he secured by his early introduction what was then termed a settlement and preemption right and at which place he reared a large family and died when I was about nine years of age. At that place I was born on the 20th of May 1788, was the youngest son, and was afforded such opportunities in my course of education as the situation and newness of the country would at that time permit, which by the by were quite limited, until I arrived to the age of 17 years, from that time I was engaged in various business pursuits and traveling, exploring new countries etc until about the close of the war [of 1812]. In the fall of the year [18] 15 I removed to Missouri, which was then a Territory, and there I had to suffer all the privations and inconveniences incident to new and wilderness countries, which it is unnecessary to enumerate, for it was proverbially called the land of milk and honey, and does realy in some degree deserve the appellation. Though many seemed delighted and pleased with the country, I must frankly acknowledge I never was. I had many faults to find, lived in various parts of it, and finally settled near a little Town called Chariton, in the upper part of Howard County, where I lived for several years. I would here remark that previous to my emmigration to Missouri and during my residence there, I had traveled over a great part of Alabama, the Western District of Tennessee Arkansas Illinois, Indiana and in fact very nearly all the new countries that were then open for settlement, and was finally brought to this conclusion—that a man born and raised in the part of Kentucky that I was, would be very hard to please in any new country, that was then within my knowledge or at least which I had visited.
In the course of my rambles I had heard something said about Texas both for and against: very little however was known of the country at that time for but few had yet visited it, and but few publications had been circulated respecting the country or the inducements held out to emmigrants. Being however, dissatisfied and desiring a more mild and healthful climate and having a Geographical knowledge of the localities of the country I determined to identify my fortunes with it, be it for better or for worse. And having met with some misfortunes and reverses in Missouri, was determined to leave it, believing I had everything to hope for,—that I could neither be worsted in climate, health or society, and as such determined in the spring of the year 1826 that I would in the fall of that year set out for Texas; which I accordingly did early in the month of November. I put my family and effects on board of a flat-boat, and descended the Missouri and continued on to New Orleans. The waters at that season of the year were very low which rendered the trip both tedious and hazardous. I met on the way and particularly at N Orleans many discouragements, every person who pretended to know any thing of Texas, either from personal observation or hearsay, depicted it in the most shocking and horrid point of view—cannibals, savage wild beasts of every hue and form were innumerable and in waiting to destroy the deluded emmigrant, and if even they should be eluded—the sword of civil war, then raging, famine or pestilence would surely close the scene. This portraiture, combining so many great evils unmixed with any seeming good, or even any probable means of escape, was certainly calculated to damp the spirits of any but a true back woodsman. Indian stories and Indian depredations were not new to me, for much had happened within my own recollection. My Mother had been captured by them in her youth in Augusta County Virginia, if my recollection serves me, and my Father was 18 months a prisoner with them since my own recollection, so that it may be fairly presumed that so far as Indian tales were concerned they would be fairly appreciated. And as it respected the innumerable beasts of prey and destruction, however inconvenient and troublesome they might prove to be, I felt an assurance that they would at least preclude the idea of starvation. It will be recollected that about that time the Freedonian party, about eighteen in number, raised the flag for Independence at Nacogdoches which created some little stir in Texas, and give rise to the rumor, in New Orleans and elsewhere, of civil war raging in Texas, which however was soon quieted and corrected. At that time there was but little commerce between New Orleans and Texas, the coast was but little known and it was with much difficulty I could procure a vessel to make the trip, but finally succeeded in procuring a good schooner, commanded by a worthy and experienced seaman, had a favorable passage, found and entered the mouth of the River Brazos without difficulty and ran up and landed at the place where the Town of Marion 61 is now situated on the 8th day of March [18]27 making just four months from the time I embarked on the Missouri River until I landed in Texas.
The arrival of vessels in those days were so seldom that the news immediately spread over the country and the people collected for many miles around to hear the news, see and be seen, and procure such necessaries as might be within their power. This was the case on our arrival, but there were then, comparatively speaking, but few people in the country and them scattered over a large territory. As I had just arrived in a new and wild country it is natural to suppose I would spare neither pains nor opportunity in making inquiries respecting the health and different localities of the country. The first Texian citizen, with whom I became acquainted, was a Captain — his dress was the full, and fashionable, uniform of the country—leather cap a pie—which was by no means uncomly for it seemed to combine in an eminent degree the grand prerequisites of elasticity, pliancy and duribility. I very soon found the Captains disposition to be that of an open frank and friendly backwoodsman—to speak freely and frankly what he thought, and think what he pleased. I immediately commenced my enquiries with the Captain, during which time however, the bottle had been circulating freely, without producing any deleterious effects, but on the contrary to brighten ideas, give scope to the imagination and untrammel the organs of articulation and emphasis. His replies to my enquiries were truly laconick, and verbatim as follows. Well Captain, you have been in the country some time and from what you have seen of it, and from your knowledge of new countries generally, I would have great confidence in your judgement; in what part of the country would you advise me to pitch my tent? I wish to combine the advantages of health good land etc etc? Well ... Sir, you must recollect you are now in Texas, and it is large, and a d—d fine country. ask such a man, pointing to him, and he will tell you that such a point combines more advantages than any other, because he made his own selection, and lives there. ask such another one, and he will tell you that some other point is the most desirable, for the very same reasons, and so of all the rest. but, continued he, throwing aside all jesting and joking, partialities and prejudices, I'l ... d—d if a certain section of country, naming it, does not only combine more advantages than any other portion of Texas, but ... sir, it is the cream of the world. In what section of the country have you located yourself Captain? Wy! right there as a matter of course ... sir, where else would you suppose ha ha. I soon found on pushing my enquiries, that the Captains replies, though laconick, were in the main correct, that every man deem'd his own judgment in selection preferable to that of his neighbour, and all seemed mutually pleased, as every man in the country seemed to be satisfied in his own mind that his particular choice was preferable to all others.
Such was the happy state of feeling in the country at that time, which is certainly not common to be met with in new countries. Unfortunately however, this state of things did not continue to exist very long. For so soon as the hardy and adventurous pioneers had by dint of industry and indefatigable perseverance pruned the wilderness of some of its asperities, and by many a hard fought skirmish dispersed the cannibal, and other savage bands, that infested the country, and rendered its settlement hazardous, things by degrees began to wear a new aspect. It was ascertained by degrees that emmigrants to Texas, were not immediately eat up by cannibals nor torn to pieces by wild beasts—that the sword of civil war was sheathed, and that their bodies were not entirely ematiated by famine—that they possessed a fine champaign country, with a mild and salubrious climate, soil inexhaustible in its fertility, and that a kind and munificent Providence sent them rain in due seasons—and isolated neglected, and despised, as Texas then seemed to be, without notice or commerce, that her hardy pioneers, by working their own soil, and ranging their own forrests, if they could not procure all the epicurean delicacies, and shine forth in fine trappings, that they could at least, from their own industry, abundantly produce all the substantial, and many of the real luxuries of life independent of all other countries. Superadded to this she possessed an extent of sea coast, indented with many fine harbors bays and inlets, and pierced with many fine navigable Rivers extending far back into the interior of the country; so that it required no great streach of imagination to plainly see that Texas ere long was not only calculated from her peculiar juxtaposition to become a land of agriculture but of commerce of science and of laws—and would ultimately serve as a kind of entrepot to eradicate by degrees the gross errors and fast bound superstitions which now enshrouds the whole Mexican Republic. After a few years the character of the country became by degrees better known abroad, and emmigration from the various parts of the world began to set in more rapidly and its commerce increased in an equal ratio. The country now being open and all the hazards and asperities removed—the bone-pickers began by degrees to make their appearance, such as land jobbers, agents, proxies, company agents, swindlers for themselves and others etc etc until the country by degrees became infested on every side. It was not who should have this league, or that league, but who should have this or that colony. Cupidity on the part of the land speculators and swindlers continued to show itself in a greater or less degree, while deep rooted jealousy evinced itself on the part of the Government, by the passage of the law of the 6 of April 1830 prohibiting the further introduction of colonists from the United States of the North, of which more will be said hereafter.
As before observed, the settlers of Texas at the time of my arrival were few and much scattered. All appeared to be well contented and satisfied with their lot. Universal hospitality and friendship seemed to prevail throughout the whole country, and continued so for several years oweing no doubt, in a great degree to their mutual dependence on each other for protection. The Empresario then possessed the sole governing power over the colonists, who established, for the time being, a set of colonial laws for their better Government. Laws however, were of but little use, as their commerce was very limited, and crimes but seldom committed.
The colonial system prevailed until the Provinces of Coahuila and Texas were joined together forming one state and a constitution adopted for its Government. An organization then took place under the constitution. All the country West of the River Trinity including the Gaudaloupe formed but one jurisdiction, entitled to one Ayuntamiento which was presided [over] by one Alcalde. To make these terms a little more intelligible, suffice it to say, the Alcalde is a judicial officer possessing great power, and is president of the Ayuntamiento when in session—the whole body may be compared to the Mayor and Aldermen of a city. The Ayuntamiento is the petitioning authority—all petitions to the Government must emanate from that body and pass through the Chief of Department otherwise they would be deemed unworthy of attention. It is unnecessary to say more on this subject as I confidently hope that we are now done with the use of those terms, and that their names may be lost in Texas forever. They will however serve to refer to as circumstances may require in the course of my narrative. Population increasing the lower section of the colony including Brazoria was laid off by the Ayuntamiento of San Felipe into a precinct called Victoria, to be presided [over] by a Comissario whose functions are somewhat like those of a justice of the peace in the United States. I was elected to fill that office in 1832.
It may be well to remark here that all the colonists were presumed to be Roman Catholics, or bound to become such, as that was one of the necessary prerequisites to become a citizen—and no marriage could be consummated by law without the presence and permition of a Priest and none as yet had thought proper to reside amongst us, and as necessity is the mother of invention, the system of provisional marriages by bonding was introduced, requiring the judicial officers, who were by law ex oficio Notary Publics, to take the acknowledgement of the parties to a bond conditioned in a sufficient penalty to be married by a Roman Catholic Priest so soon as an opportunity might offer. This however exceptionable it may appear, was certainly the most sensible and natural mode which could have been adopted under the existing circumstances, but lacking the sanction of the law, it lacked everything calculated to constitute a marriage in fact. Many couples however, not finding the marriage state to possess all the alluring charms which they had figured in their fond imaginations have taken advantage of this slip-[k]not plan—sought the bond, and by mutual consent committed it to the flames—returned to the world as young as ever and free as the air.
From the passage of the law of the 6th of April [18]30 the Genl Government had determined mischief against the colonies. She feared their increasing power and intelligence and had secretly determined to oppress or exterminate. And no doubt remains with me, but that much of the ill feeling possessed by the Govt. against the colonies, which were now various, was excited by the secret workings of unprincipled land speculators. Be this however, as it may various Garrisons were erected commanding all the ports of Texas—and the inmates of all the calabooses of Mexico were turned loose upon us, as soldiers, to fill those Garrisons comprising in all from 1000 to 1500 of certainly, the most wretched and abandoned set of cutthroats and outlaws that ever made a track on the soil of any country. The ostensible purpose was, to guard and protect the colonies from Indian invasion, protect the customs etc. These troops had been brought in by degrees and their numbers not known, as they had been concentrated at so many different points. Customhouse officers were at the same time introduced to enforce the collection of duties. Their tariff was unreasonable, and many of the indispensible articles used in the country were contraband, and the duties so high on others that it would amount to a prohibition. They were very industrious in erecting their fortifications, and the colonists for the time being, remained in statu quo.
About this time the Town of Brazoria was in a prosperous and flourishing condition emmigration was pouring in rapidly notwithstanding the interdict. Commerce was brisk and every House and shed was filled up with emmigrants and their effects. The Merchants which were much more numerous than at the present time, were frequently compelled to pile their Goods on galleries and even leave them in the streets for weeks together, without guard or police to protect them; and permit me to say sir, notwithstanding I well know the opinion that prevails abroad respecting the inhabitants of Texas, that but few thefts or depredations of any kind, were committed here, in the time to which I allude—and during my administration as Comissario in the lower precinct, but one or two only were complained of, though opportunities and temptations were continually to be met with, as the universal honesty which seemed to pervade, had set at rest even suspicion. A few idle and dissolute vagabonds, who pursued nothing but idleness and dissipation for a livelihood, had become congregated and in order to have full scope at their favorite employment concluded at night to remove a barrel of whiskey from the street to a neighboring thicket to which access could be had at pleasure. The barrel after some days was missed by the Merchant, but search was made in vain. It was not long however, until an unfortunate artizan received a stab from one of the party and instantly died. The citizens allready tired of their dissolute and idle habits became now greatly incensed, and called on me to have the offending parties arrested which was promptly performed before escape could be effected. The principal and one as accessory was apprehended, and brought to trial. Our laws respecting criminal proceedings were very defective and like most of the Mexican laws every thing was sacrificed to forms. I was a constitutional officer and compelled to obey and execute the laws. I had a right to arrest and if found necessary hold the prisoner in custody, but could not try and inflict punishment. By the law it was my province to take the testimony in the case and transmit it 800 miles to the seat of Government to be investigated and tried by the Supreme Court. All this was required to be done in Spanish and in legal form, which but few if any in the country were capable of performing. The slightest omission in form, even the lack of a scroll below the signature of a name, was considered a sufficient defect to vitiate the whole record, and it would be sent back for correction. This was not only the case in criminal, but civil suits when taken up by appeal. To return however to the criminal—we had no jails or calabooses as in the interior, and it was difficult to know what disposition to make of him. It was evident he deserved punishment, and was then under my controll as an officer. In order that he should have justice and to relieve myself from the dilemma, I summoned twelve good and respectable citizens as a jury of enquiry, in order that the testimony could be made out. the testimony was examined—the proofs plain, and the fact not denied. The jury retired and very soon served me with a truly polite note, complimented me highly for my assiduity and promptness in arresting and securing the prisoners, and concluded with a notice that they had then no further use for my official services—that I might consider the prisoners as arrested from my charge, and that they would deal with them as, in justice, their crimes merrited I could not resist the multitude and of course was compelled to acquiesce. The jury very soon agreed in their verdict and as good men generally will do, yielded to the calls of mercy, as they were not willing to inflict death without a lawful warrant, they substituted the lash. The culprits were taken to the grave of the unfortunate who had been but recently burried, and there tied and whipped by the jury by turns, until an attending physitian said they had enough. They were then set across the River, faced to the east, and ordered to leave the country forthwith. they took up the line of march and I have not heard of them since. As the ferryman was crossing them over the river, the officer who had arrested them was in possession of the unfortunate weapon, a kind of dirk, which had done the mischief—the bank was crowded with people, and he threw it over the bank into the river after them, and as from a kind of instinct, some twenty or thirty followed the example and for ought I know, there was not a dirk or dirk-knife in the possession of the bystanders that was not committed to the deep. The balance of the party precipitately dispersed and Brazoria had peace and quiet for a little season. I will here remark that no man probably has a greater regard for law and order than myself, and none can more detest and abhor arbitrary or mob laws as they may be termed, than I do, but situated as we were at that time, necessity required it, and I am proud to say, with but few exceptions, that when that course has been resorted to, that it has generally been managed with prudence and discretion.
The government having determined to put the colonists to every possible test, about this time, sent all the way from the City of Mexico, a Priest to reside among us and administer to our necessities. He purported to be a man of great consequence if titles could make him so, for it took up half a column of a newspaper to contain them all, such as minister plenipotentiary, vicar General, . . . He was an Irishman by birth, and had frequently licked the blarny stone before he left the emerald Isle. he wore a wig, or was white headed from age—grave gentlemanly and prepossessing in his appearance and manners at first interview, but proved to be as vain vulgar and very a scamp as ever disgraced the colony . . . Thus much I can say for the venerable Padra whose province it was to redeem the colonists from Herecy and infidelity, and make them true Christians. His sage appearance and seemingly good manners caused him to be kindly received by the colonists, as a kind of necessary evil, which they could not well avoid. Every courtesy and attention was paid to him, and for a time, him and his parishioners got on very well together. he never troubled them with church service, but confined his duties to baptism and marriage ceremonies. This was a snug little money-making business, two dollars for baptism and twenty five for marriage, when it is recollected that all both old and young were subjects for baptism, and all who wished to marry as well also as those who had been bonded for years, had now to come forward and have the slip[k]not made fast. he immediately issued his edict forbidding provisional marriages, which rendered it very inconvenient to the people, who lived scattered over a district of country several hundred miles in extent. They however, paid very little attention to his edict except those immediately in his vicinity. It realy looked dry and peculiarly odd to me to see those who had for years been living together as man and wife, and had perhaps a large family step forward to the marriage alter. It seemed to carry with it a kind of acknowledgement of both, error and crime. Immediately after his arrival a number of these old married people determined to save trouble by having one grand wedding and give the Padra an opportunity do a whole sale business. They accordingly fixed on a convenient point and an arrangement made with the Padra to meet them there at a time fixed. Every preparation was made and a splendid barbecu prepared, with all the necessary exhilerating libations abundantly provided, so as to make it a day of rural felicity. I had taken it upon myself to attend to the reception and comfort of the Padra and suit, and accordingly had a snug little house fitted up for his reception, at a convenient distance from the main crowd and bustle. The bed was comfortable and tastefully caparisoned—the table groaned with its weight of the abundant luxuries of the country tastefully arranged with a pyramid of the most transparent and luscious honey comb in the centre. The day was fine and every countenance seemed to brighten with the prospect of the anticipated enjoyment, not for the pleasure of being, or seeing, the old people married over again entirely, but the baptism, the wine—the dinner, the dance and with many, the sight of a Roman Catholic Priest was equal to a rare show in Texas—a thing of which they had long heard, but never seen—and realy with some, having heard much said about them, they were at a loss to conjecture whether the Priest could be a natural man, or some kind of a beast. Expectation was on tiptoe—the Padra arrived and was conducted to his mansion, and it was soon discovered, that he looked like a man, and talked like a man, and finally concluded that he was nothing but a common man—and an Irishman at that. The Padra seemed to be well pleased with the provision made for his comfort passed many encomiums on the taste displayed and seemed much surprised to find so many of the real luxuries of life in the wilds of Texas. So soon as he had become rested and taken the necessary refreshments with a few glasses of generous wine, I was called on, being generally acquainted with the people, to act as a kind of precurser, and requested to go and take down the names of the candidates for matrimony, in order that the necessary certificates be prepared and in readiness. This I complied with and returned with a muster roll of twelve rank and file, no new candidates having offered. While these things were in preparation I was requested to return and make out a roll of the names of all the candidates for baptism. now the test was to be made, though no religious societies were tolerated in Texas, yet prejudices deep rooted by early education rose up in strong opposition, and with many the idea of being baptised by a Roman Catholic Priest carried with it an everlasting stigma and disgrace. I applied to those who seemed the elders among the people, and I found very few without some kind of excuse, either that they had been baptised when they were young, or that they had belonged to some religious order before they came to the country and that they by no means considered a second baptism necessary, as such I met with poor success and immediately returned and made my report I told the Padra that fortunately for the good people of Texas they had generally emmigrated from Christian countries and had many of them been baptised before they came here, and some had religious scruples respecting the propriety of a second baptism. I never had been baptised myself and as such was a willing candidate because necessity required it, but was anxious to draw him out on that point. He requested me to go and tell his good parishioners, that they need have no scruples on that account, that he did not consider a second baptism necessary provided they had evidences that they had been baptised in the true faith. Well Padra there are so many different faiths now in the world I am entirely at a loss to know which is the true faith? You will excuse me for the enquiry, what do you call the true faith? the true faith is the Roman Catholic Apostolic, all other is herecy.
I returned to the company with my explanations, still there seemed to be great unwillingness, with much exertion and argument as to the absolute necessity; but with very many, the pill could not be so gilded as to be tamely swallowed, and I only succeeded in procuring a list of about forty, out of a company of perhaps two hundred. I reported my list, and told the Padra that I had probably enrolled as many as he could conveniently get through with that evening, and the balance would have to wait another opportunity. I did not wish to let him know that any persisted in refusing after being informed that if they had previously been baptised that he would baptise them conditionally. Everything now being arranged, I was requested to muster my forces. I immediately issued orders for a general parade. During this time however, the brides and grooms being used to married life, did not feel that intense interest that is common for young expectants and they had become scattered and separated so that it was with much difficulty they could be paired, and a complete hurly burly commenced. have you seen any thing of my wife? have you seen any thing of Jim? I cant find him. I cant tell what in the plague has become of him. have you seen any thing of Polly I cant find her to save my life. all was hurry scurry and one hour at least was spent before they were ready to fall into line, and even then one poor woman had to march without her husband, for find him she could not. I comforted her however, by telling her she should not be disappointed, that if he did not come in time she should certainly have another. They were marched up in solid column and formed a hollow square around the Priests table. The delinquent had not been found though many were in search of him.
The ceremony now to be performed was by a Catholic Priest . . . something new in Texas, eyes, years [ears] and mouths were all open. the baptism commenced first, as heretics could not be lawfully joined in matrimony until they were baptised in the true faith. Next commenced a kind of liturgy—that finished, the marriage ceremony, which was short and a mere conjoining in lawful wedlock closed the scene. They had all been conjoined but one couple and the lone woman, when her husband made his appearance quite out of breath, his hair flying his eyes walling with a wild and frighted look. He did not know how much harm he had done nor realy what it all meant, for he had been raised with hue and cry and told to hurry, or the Priest would take his wife from him. The scene take it all in all, was truly ludicrous in the extreme. Most of them had children and some five or six. To see brides on the floor, and while the marriage rites are performing, with the bosoms open and little children sucking at the breast, and others in a situation realy too delicate to mention, appeared to me more like a burlesque on marriage than a marriage in fact. It was a fine scene for a painter and afforded much for amusement, and much for serious and sober reflection.
The reign of the Padry among us was however, a short one, and his conduct soon brought him into contempt . . . I know not whether he was a fair sample of the Priesthood of that order, and as much would not be understood as aiming to cast reflections on any but himself.
The military had now become pretty strongly fortified in their various Garrisons, and began to shew us their true intentions by making us feel their power. The civil arm was paralized, our citizens incarcerated for slight and trivial offences, and trial by the civil authorities refused. This state of things could not long be borne by those who considered themselves freemen. The commandant of the post of Anahuac had by his arbitrary and unprincipled conduct become odious to the colonists, and the reduction of that post was first contemplated. Public meetings were got up, committees appointed and resolutions adopted with patriotic address[es] circulated calling for volunteers to rally and release from arbitrary confinement their fellow citizens and redress their public wrongs. It was not long until from four to five hundred volunteers were concentrated on the plains of Anauhuac. A demand was made for the release of the prisoners and a conference was had and a treaty entered into. The stipulations were formally drawn up and signed, and on the faith of which many of the volunteers had returned to their homes. As soon as this was ascertained, the Mexicans, as they are very capable of doing, committed a breach of faith and the treaty went for nothing. This greatly exasperated the volunteers and runners was despatched to the various parts of the country to recruit, and also to procure some small pieces of artillery which were at Brazoria. There happened to be a fine American Schooner in the River at that time. She was immediately pressed to take the Guns ammunition etc to Anauhuac. 62
It will be recollected that there was a strong fortress at the mouth of the river Brazos [Velasco] garrisoned by about one hundred and fifty men, well armed and provisioned with one long brass nine mounted on a carriage and one iron four pounder on a pivot. This fortress had to be passed, and whether the commandant would permit the vessel to pass out was questionable. The citizens, and the officer of that garrison were at a good understanding, but he was subordinate to the commandant of Anauhuac. A public meeting of the citizens was called and a consultation had. I urged the reduction of that place first, and to take it by surprise. This however was opposed and a committee sent to see if permition could be had for the vessel to pass out, but as might have been expected, permition was refused. I then urged the immediate reduction of that post, and a committee was raised to take the matter into consideration and recommend to the meeting what course should be pursued. The committee met in consultation, of which I was one, and still continued to urge the propriety and necessity of reducing the fort at Velasco, by strategem if possible, or otherwise by storm, and with much pursuasion and argument a majority of the committee concured with me in opinion, and we so reported. This was now evening and 10 oclock the next morning was the time appointed to rendezvous on the east side of the river armed and equipped for the contest. At the time appointed about one hundred men and boys were assembled with such outfit as the shortness of the time would permit them to procure. Officers were elected and the line of march immediately taken up for Velasco. We arrived in sight by 10 oclock the next morning and encamped on the river about two miles above the fort where we were well sheltered by an intervening point of timber. Here we had to remain several days to make the necessary preparation for a storm, as we found the garrison was advised of our approach and designs, and the commandant being an energetic and efficient officer could not be taken by surprise. The vessel which had been procured was now intended to cooperate with us in the attack. She was mounted with four six pound carronades and one swivel. But few round shot could be procured, and balls were made of drawing chains wound up to suit the caliber, and slugs cut of square bar iron and junk bottles filled with buck shot. This was the best preparation that could be made to storm a fort in which a breach could not have been made by the heaviest mettle. The men on board was protected by a breastwork of cotton bales During the time our vessel was getting in readiness, we had prepared a kind of breast work for the land forces which was made of cypress plank ten or twelve feet in length nailed on battons to the widths of about four feet which were to be set up with props. During this time scouts were ranging every night to surprise their picket, but none could ever be found and as such the fort was closely reconoitered every night, and such observations made as circumstances would permit. The enemy during this time were not idle. Every vigilance was used to strengthen their works and secure provisions. All things being in readiness the plan of attack was agreed to. The vessel was to be furnished with a sufficient number of men to manage her guns. She was to drop down the river and moor herself at a certain designated point, distant from the fort one hundred and sixty yards. From our place of encampment it was much further by water to the fort than by land. The vessel was to drop down to a certain point and there await a signal. We had also a keel boat, on board of which was put our palisadoes, spades, hoes axes etc. One company consisting of about twenty men was ordered to strike the Gulf east of the fort and follow the beach down to a certain point, and lodge themselves in the drift logs, within about one hundred and fifty yards of the fort, and bring on the attack by opening a fire on the fort at a given hour. It will be recollected that we had a bayou, called east union, to cross which was within about half a mile of the fort—was a deep and muddy tide water bayou across which a bridge had been thrown previously, but the Mexicans had anticipated us, and removed the planks, though they had not time to get away the sleepers, which however, were narrow and full of long iron spikes, which rendered a passage on them not only tedious but dangerous. We well knew they had the bearing of that bridge and if they could only find us out in crossing, that we must suffer severely from the effects of their nine pounder, but this we were obliged to hazard. The balance of the men were divided into two companies. One a select band of about twenty whose duty it was to act as pioneers to march in front and afford protection to the others who bore the palisadoes and other implements, and to serve as a breast-work to them, and protect them from any sally that might be made from the fort until the breast-work was planted and the ditch made, and then to take shelter behind it. This select band I had the honor to command, and Captain John Austin took command of the other. So that the land forces were divided into three companies, but with a view that all would ultimately cooperate at the breast-work so soon as it could be planted. It was believed that the company sent round to the east to bring on the action would employ the attention of the Garrison until the vessel could drop down to her moorings and then she was to open her battery, and under the two fires it was presumed that the palisades could be planted and the breast-work made and remain unobserved until daylight, when every shot would tell, and if they would not then surrender that a sufficient number would jump into the ditch, which surrounded the fort, with spades hoes axes etc and cut their way thrugh while the remainder afforded them protection from the breast-work. This was the contemplated plan of attack, and every thing ordered and prepared accordingly. All things in readiness we took up the line of march about eight oclock at night, and reached the bayou and their awaited the arrival of the vessel. The wind being high and contrary she could not get down so we were compelled to return to our encampment which took up very nearly the whole night. The next night however, was a calm clear star light night, and the second attempt was made with success. The company ordered to bring on the action marched in front and crossed the bridge first and continued on to their destination, the balance crossed over and obliqued to the left halted and lay down on the grass awaiting the time for further action. Our vessel presently rounded the point and hove in sight, all was yet as still as the grave, as soon however as she had cleared the point so as to be discovered from the fort, it was ascertained that the enemy was not asleep, they let off their nine pounder and threw a double headed shot through her rigging, but she sustained no injury. We were lying directly in a range between the fort and vessel and the shot passed immediately over our heads. The stillness of the night, the flash and report of the gun, and the peculiar noise of the ball, caused thoughts to hurry through the mind, the pulse to vibrate and the blood with an unusual flow to thrill briskly through the veins. This was the signal, not only that there was an enemy there, but that he would fight. It was not long however, before our own company opened a full volley on the fort. Issue was now joined and the battle commenced. The tide was setting out and the vessel soon got to her moorings and opened her battery also. The sight was truly sublime and the effect thrilling. The fort was a complete circle enclosing but a small area 63 so that it was full and completely manned. The nine pounder was planted on an elevation in the center of [or] perhaps, ten feet above the musquetry. As soon as our company opened on the fort it seemed to ignite instantaneously and flame like a volcano. And from that time until the battle ended, the fort seemed to emit one continued blaze of fire—directed to all points. They had burned all the houses but two, one was used as a custom house, and the other a small office, everything else had been burned and the whole coast was cleared for action.
Our keel boat has quietly slipped down under cover of the bank and lodged in behind the custom house, to which point we were immediately ordered to repair. It may well be supposed from their mode of firing that the bullets were cutting the air in every direction. We had however by this time learned one thing, and that was in some measure to escape the shot of the nine pounder. She was so much elevated above the musquetry that we could allways distinguish her flash and immediately fall flat to the ground until she fired and then up and on again—by this means we frequently saved ourselves from destruction. Captain Austins command took shelter behind the custom house in order to prepare for carriage the things necessary for the breast-work, and my own command halted some fifty yards to the left in the open plain all lying close to the ground and waiting the movements of the other company. So soon as I found them in motion I immediately took up the line of march direct for the fort with a brisk step, and marched in front of the other company. We were then within one hundred and fifty yards of the fort. Captain Austin had from some unfortunate neglect put his company in motion too soon and was compelled to call a halt and at the same time halted very nearly all of my company without my knowledge. Never having looked back from the time I took up the line of march I did not know what had happened, until I halted within a few feet of the ditch, where I expected to form the line, when to my surprise I found I had but five men, what had happened I could not tell, I stooped low to get the light of the Gulf and river but could see nothing in motion. I concluded that they had received a destructive fire and were killed and dispersed. The fire during all this time was tremenduous, and the place I occupied was truly a warm one, and [my men being] too few in number to effect any thing I retreated back to the keel boat where I soon found out what was the matter, had some little altercation about it, but proceeded to rejoin the company took up the line of march under a tremenduous heavy fire, and without sustaining the slightest injury planted the palisades within thirty paces of the fort so that their nine pounder could not be depressed enough to bear upon us, but [we] were compelled to stand the four pounder and musquetry. It was understood that we were not to fire a gun until daylight unless a sally from the fort compelled it, but unfortunately for us, before we had time to brace the palisades one of our men from being too highly excited fired his gun which notified the garrison of our presence and they threw in one of the most destructive fires upon us that can be imagined. The unfortunate man who fired his gun immediately fell, with many others. We soon found that our breast-work without a ditch and embankment afforded little or no protection. Every exertion was used in throwing up sand by one part while the others were fighting, and we finally succeeded in getting our situation a little more secure. Our company who brought on the action did not come to our assistance as was expected. And what we had suffered from desertions, deaths, and in wounded rendered our number of effective men contemptible in numbers by the time day light appeared, but the little band could not be discouraged, though greatly fatigued and exhausted, as they had then been two nights without sleep and a long time without water or any sort of refreshment. After day appeared a Mexican dare not shew even his eye or it was [k]nocked out if only a finger it was shot off, and even the hair of the head would be shaved, until they became alarmed at our perseverance and determination and their battery was very nearly silenced. The morning was lowry and about eight oclock there came on such a heavy storm of wind and rain as is seldom to be met with and we were literally drownded out and compelled to retreat without sustaining however any injury. Most of the effective men took shelter on the vessel and all the wounded that were able made their way to the camp, of which number I was one, though not very serious, and but few at the breast-work that escaped entirely except those who fled at the onset. Immediately after the storm had subsided, the white flag was seen flying at the fort which led to a capitulation and surrender and a treaty [was] entered into, and on the next day they marched out and gave us possession and they had permition to leave the country, which was all we wanted.
The Garrison lost thirty two killed and a great many wounded, We lost seven killed in battle and three more who soon died of their wounds, some badly wounded and a great many slightly. Our company located in the drift [had] done the enemy no injury nor did they receive any. Our vessel [had] done the enemy no injury but had one man killed and one wounded.
Our breast-work was riddled literally to pieces and it would seem impossible that a man could possibly escape death who was behind it. Take this battle all together, and History in the most chivalrous times cannot equal it—the number engaged, the hurry in which they were called, totally undiciplined, badly armed, and under a heavy fire to march up cooly and deliberately within thirty paces of a strong fortress of disciplined troops well armed and very nearly double their numbers, with a determination to succeed, realy seems to savor more of wreckless hardihood than of true courage 64
So soon as it was ascertained that the fort of Velasco was reduced the commandant of Anauhuac deserted his post at night and fled for New Orleans and the Garrison surrendered. The people of the vicinity of Nacogdoches raised in arms and reduced that post, and finally the troops were glad to get out of the country and the old Padra with them. Texas was now cleared of custom-house officers, the military and Priesthood and we then had peace for a little season. Much might be said here of the acts of our famous Ayuntamiento of San Felipe about that time, how strongly they opposed us, and called us rebels, called on the militia to put us down etc all of which should be matters of History, but in as much as they could effect nothing, and their acts not very creditable to themselves, I hope they may be forgotten and for ever buried in oblivion. It will be recollected that at this time Bustamenta [Bustamante] was in power in Mexico and had abandoned the constitution and was aiming to establish a central or military Government and Santa Ana was in opposition to him and batling for the constitution. We had declared in favor of Santa Ana, not that we had any choice in names for we had no more confidence in one Mexican than another, but we had been sworn to support the constitution and were willing to redeem our pledge. the fact is we were determined to protect ourselves from insult and injury. We could not be called rebels, because we were battling for our own constitution and too, under the Mexican flag which we had nailed fast to the mast head, with Constitution in large capitals marked upon it, so that it could not be mistaken. Proper representations having been made to the Government, things went on smoothly for a time. the Government found that though we were young and feeble, still we would not easily submit to imposition and abuse how specious soever might be the pretexts. Our remonstrances, though courteous and respectful, were bold manly and spirited, and calculated from our bold and dignified manner, to show to the Mexican Nation, that our constitutional and vested rights should not be infringed with impunity and that if we were not respected by them, that we at least respected ourselves as freemen
The Congress of the State of Coahuila and Texas had now divided the country west of the Trinity into two jurisdictions and Brazoria was made the capital of the lower one, and in [18]33 I was elected the Alcalde for that jurisdiction. This was an office of high trust and responsibility, and rendered more particularly so owing to our great distance from the seat of Government of the state which was then located at Monclova and the Political Chief for the Department of Texas was located at the Town of San Antonio de Bexar. The jurisdiction over which I was elected to preside was a commercial one, and business of great importance and involving large amounts were daily to be adjudicated and settled. The entire want of laws and precedents, rendered the discharge of the duties of that office one of ardent solicitude. I feel proud however to say that my administration, though one of arduous labor and solicitude, received from my fellow citizens that ascent of universal approbation, which is ever grateful to the feelings of a man who felt the responsibilities of the trust reposed and discharged his incumbent duties with an honest zeal commensurate with his abilities
I will remark here that immediately after Texas was rid of the military and before the excitement had entirely subsided, Texas considering herself as possessing all the prerequisites required by the Federal Constitution to form a state Government, had determined to be separated from Coahuila, who had ever treated the colonies like a stepmother, and form a separate state Government. Primary meetings were called committees raised and a convention of all Texas met at San Felipe and framed a constitution. I was elected a member to that convention but owing to indisposition did not attend. The Government was ably and respectfully memorialized and petitioned on the subject and an agent despatched to Mexico to procure a ratification. He was thrown into a dungeon and our memorial treated with contempt. These efforts on the part of the colonies had caused our own state Congress to treat us with a little more attention and some laws were passed for our benefit. Texas heretofore composed but one Department, and it was now divided into three as follows—the Department of Bexar, [of] Brazos and [of] Nacogdoches each to be presided by a Political Chief, and in addition to the Alcaldes we were allowed primary judges in the several jurisdictions and also a superior judge possessing appellate jurisdiction. By his Excellency the then acting Governor of the State I was commissioned the Political Chief for the Department of Brazos. This was the highest trust that could be conferred on an adopted citizen by the Constitution, and one that I had neither sought nor anticipated. I entered on the duties of that office in the fall of the year [18]34.
During all this time emmigration continued to flow in rapidly and the cupidity of land speculators to increase in an equal ratio. The name of Empresario had long since incorporated itself with that of swindler, and every thing connected with the settlement of the country seemed to be objects of barter and sale and speculation. I had allways been viewed by the speculating mania as their evil genius, and as being ever in opposition to their swindling interests. They were now strong, united, unprincipled and managing, ruled elections and had all appointments made to suit, and be subservient to their own purposes. The office I then occupied was a kind of intermediate one, everything to and from the Government had to pass through my hands and in a great measure subject to my controll, hence it was necessary that they should use their combined efforts to remove me and have my place filled with a material which would yield more readily to their purposes as they had then in contemplation large and important speculations. Coahuila had now become divided herself, the cities of Saltilo and Monclova were contending for power and each had their own Governor, and all was confusion. It will be recollected that Santa Ana by this time had succeed[ed] and put down and banished Bustamenta [Bustamante] and instead of restoring the constitution had determined on centralism. Saltilo had declared in favor of the plan and Monclova opposed or rather waived a declaration. The State Congress sat at Monclova in the spring and the land speculators taking advantage of the confusion went on prepared to buy up the Congress to sell them land and pass such laws as they might dictate all of which they effected without any great cost or trouble, 65 for money will do any thing with a Mexican, ... These things greatly incensed the Saltilians who had got no share of the booty and they determined to put down the Governor who had shared some of the benefit, and united with a few military troops they compelled him to desert the Capitol. All was then entire confusion—the Ayuntamiento was immediately convened and with all the pomp and parade imaginable declared the Executive chair vacant, and immediately proceeded, in conjunction with a few military officers and a few bystanders, in all about fourteen in number, to elect a new Governor for the State, and the individual elected was a military officer who was formally conducted to the Executive chair under the ringing of bells and the roar of artillery. The State of Coahuila and Texas then had one constitutional Governor one military Governor and one factional Governor all however resident in Coahuila. This really seemed like confounding confusion itself.
The constitutional Governor being removed I ceased my correspondence with the Executive Department until it again seemed to be organized Constitutionally. About this time I wrote a piece called Security for Texas which I herewith transmit marked A. 66 It was hastily drawn up and thrown before the people under the then reigning anarchy and confusion. I would remark here that the convention had created a Central Committee at San Felipe and Sub Committees in every jurisdiction as a means of disseminating information on any emergency as we were much scattered and had no mails. When this piece was thrown into circulation the Central Committee met in San Felipe, which however had undergone many changes in its members since its first creation, oweing to deaths removals etc and at that time were in a great measure subservient to the views of the speculating party, and as such they made strong opposition to my publication in one of their own which they circulated throughout the country, and which I herewith transmit marked B 67 I immediately replied to them in another communication which you will find marked C 68 which piece they never answered. The truth was the speculators had not completed their business and they were determined that Texas should make no move until their objects were completed. The General Government not being sufficiently settled down on the new plan and wishing to keep the colonies lulled, the President usurped the power and ordered a new election for Governor and that the military Governor should hold his seat until the Governor elect should be installed. The speculating mania were in waiting to get the new Governor to confirm and complete their unfinished business. The military were not however pleased with the choice of new Governor and determined to oppose him. The Congress was in session and had appointed a Governor ad interim until the new one could be installed the roads were guarded by the military to prevent his approach to the Capitol. They finally succeeded in getting him there by stratagem but his reign was a very short one. the speculators endeavored to get him into Texas in order that their business could be completed. The Congress was dispersed the Governor overtaken and sent a prisoner to a foreign Calaboose, and the speculators scampered for life and fled into the colonies. About this time communications were received from an anonymous writer in the City of Mexico signed O. P. Q. informing us that misc