History and Geography of Texas as Told in County Names . By  Z. T. Fulmore . (Previously reviewed in The Quarterly,  XIX, 209-211.)

My attention has been called to certain misconstructions of my review of Judge Fulmore's The History and Geography of Texas as Told in County Names, which appeared in the October number of The Quarterly, and to certain misapprehensions of my own concerning the plan and purpose of the book. Both of these I wish to correct.

First, as to the misconstructions: In saying that “the origin of county names has been a favorite topic of local Texas history” the reviewer meant merely to state that this is generally a favorite subject of local interest and popular speculation. I mentioned the work of Thrall, Brown, and A Comprehensive History of Texas on county history to illustrate this remark. No implication was intended that Julge Fulmore's book covered the same ground as those. On the contrary, his purpose is entirely different; namely, to “outline the origin and history of county names” and to group the resultant sketches “in such a way as to indicate their places in a general perspective of the State's history.” The usual collections of county sketches give attention to the agricultural, mineral and other resources; Judge Fulmore's book does not touch upon these features, except in a brief appendix (pp. 299-306), but presents a sketch of almost every man after whom a county was named, and of the geographical terms appearing among the county names. The gathering of the data for these sketches involved considerable expense and immense labor and industry. The result is a unique volume, containing a mass of biographical and geographical information not elsewhere available, as well as many curious and interesting facts concerning the history of the State not previously known.

Now, as to my own misapprehensions: My review was written somewhat hastily and I did not grasp what the author considers the essential feature of the book's organization. I will quote the author's own words upon this subject: “It [the book] is made up, in the main, of a series of sketches which outline the origin and history of the county names of Texas, grouped and correlated in such a way as to indicate their place in a general perspective of the State's history. It is not, and does not purport to be, a history of the different counties of the State, nor does it purport to be a history of the State, except in so far as that is involved in county names” (Preface). This plan explains why Nolan is included in Chapter I; it is to that period that his connection with Texas history belongs. Similarly Stephens and Young are grouped in Chapter XV with other names that became prominent during the Civil War. Had they died before the Civil War, their sketches would have been placed in some other group. Atascosa, Bosque and other Spanish names excluded from Chapter I are included in Chapter XVII because they are geographical terms. This plan of the book also invalidates the remark about the length of the book's title, and the date of the naming of a county may safely be disregarded.

The sketches are good. The introductory paragraphs are good. The grouping of the sketches into chapters is successful in some chapters. In the application of this plan to all the sketches, however, results are produced which in the opinion of the reviewer will always make it a question whether the advantages of such an arrangement overbalance the disadvantages.

E. W. Winkler .

How to cite:
Winkler, E. W., "History and Geography of Texas as Told in County Names", Volume 019, Number 3, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, Page 317 - 318. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v019/n3/review_33.html
[Accessed Mon Nov 23 15:21:24 CST 2009]