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Timestamp: 2019-04-21 10:09:47+00:00

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The popular image of the self-sufficient frontier family, requiring only an occasional journey to market, falters when one studies the migratory habits of many early Southeast Texas pioneers. An abundance of virgin soil, one-crop farming patterns, and a lack of fertilizer and scientific methods caused many farmers to move to a new location annually. This custom and a perpetual stream of immigrants moving westward across Jefferson County necessitated the maintenance of a network of ferries and primitive roads.
Bi-directional movement of cattle, east and west, was another factor that dictated the requirements for transportation facilities. Most immigrants drove small herds into Texas, whereas the annual drive of a market-bound herd between Jefferson County and New Orleans usually began in the spring of each year.
However, Jefferson County’s peculiar geography made water transportation the most frequently used mode of movement, and, where practical to use, “the rivers offered better avenues of trade and communication than the slow ox wagons or pack trains.”4 Two rivers, the Neches slicing through the center and the Sabine on the county’s eastern border, were navigable throughout the year. Sailboats and small steamboats could, also traverse four large bayous; Adams, Cow, Taylor’s, and Pine Island.5 The marsh areas along the coast and the oft-flooded lowlands that lay east of the Sabine and Neches Rivers also discouraged land transportation.
Under United States treaties, beginning with Spain in 1819 and subsequently with Mexico and Texas, the Sabine River, to its estuary in the sea, was an international boundary. Sabine inland waters, to the point of landfall on the west bank, were territorial waters of the United States.60 Both smugglers and legitimate American vessels considered themselves as being beyond the jurisdiction of the revenue laws of Texas.
Another armed incident occurred between the cutters Santa Anna and Woodbury in Sabine Lake, and again as the Woodbury escorted the schooners Lone Star and Louisiana through the Pass. Captain Simpton was attempting to board the Lone Star when the Woodbury arrived on the scene, “armed and ready for action.” Unwilling to provoke another shooting incident, the Santa Anna’s master docked at the customhouse and remounted his guns ashore. As the Woodbury and the cotton schooners sailed through the Pass, Dashiell and Simpton yielded to discretion and allowed the vessels to proceed.70 The debate in Washington of a joint resolution to annex Texas probably influenced their decision. The Sabine Lake border quarrels vanished when Texas entered the Union.
There were other antebellum steamboats, namely, the Roebuck, Rough and Ready, Grand Bay, Jeff Davis, and Dime, which carried cotton on the Sabine-Neches waters, but very little is known about them prior to the Civil War.119 Two of the largest steamboats based at Beaumont, the 1,800-bale Josiah H. Bell and the 2,500 bale, 220-foot Florilda, did not carry cotton. Purchased by the Texas and New Orleans Railroad Company in 1859, both vessels were used to transport rails, crossties, and bridge timbers to construction sites in Jefferson and Orange counties. As of 1860, the Florilda, under Captain T. A. Packard, had a 17-man crew, which included three of the railroad’s officials, Dr. David Scott, a physician, and two civil engineers.120 Hence, the riverboats helped construct the transportation systems that would eventually displace them. At a later date, the Bell, Florilda, and Uncle Ben performed yeoman service for the Confederacy.
The rafting of logs through the rivers was another transportation medium that reached antebellum Jefferson County. It may seem odd that the county’s first steam sawmill, built by Sidney A. Sweet in 1846, was at Sabine Pass, a marshy sector devoid of timber. The answer was one of economics. It was cheaper to raft logs, towed by steamboat, through Sabine Lake than to ship finished lumber from inland points.124 Beginning in 1856, logs were rafted down the Neches River to the Johnson-Remley sawmill at Port Neches and to the three steam mills built at Beaumont between 1856 and 1859.
In summarization, insufficient shipping, high freight rates, and the lack of a rail system retarded Jefferson County’s antebellum growth. In one form or another, the transportation problems still existed as of 1886. Jefferson County had only two items to sell—cattle and timber products. Cattle could be driven to market, but lumber required a rail system that did not exist.
The irreparable lines continued to hinder the county’s economy until they were rebuilt in the late 1870’s. Although 75,000,000 feet were cut at Beaumont and Orange in 1879 (as well as 82,000,000 shingles),150 it was 1881 before the first train crossed Pine Island Bayou going north or before one could travel entirely by rail from Houston to New Orleans.151 Although lumber demand remained extensive in West Texas, a constant boxcar shortage plagued the mill owners, a situation still unresolved as of 1886.152 During the Reconstruction years, many mill owners, including David R. Wingate, Alexander Gilmer, and Robert B. Russell, solved their transportation problems by owning their own fleets of lumber schooners.
STEAMBOAT LAURA—Stern wheel and side wheel steamers, such as Capt. Andrew Smyth’s Laura of the 1870’s, freighted Jefferson County’s commerce to distant markets.
1 “General Map of The Lower Sabine River,” Map Z-54-4, Record Group 77, National Archives; Volume A, p. 3, Commissioners’ Court Minutes, Jefferson County, Texas.
2 (Galveston) Weekly News, December 2, 1856; F. E. Willcox (compiler), “Records of The Hon. The Board of Aldermen of The Town of Beaumont,” Texas Gulf Historical and Biographical Record, VIII (November, 1972), pp. 62-65.
3 Lewis W. Kemp, The Signers of The Texas Declaration of Independence (Salado, Texas: Anson Jones Press, 1944), p. 108.
4 Cleo F. Burns, “Transportation in Early Texas” (Unpublished M. A. thesis, St. Mary’s University, 1940), p. 71.
5 William Kennedy, Texas: The Rise, Progress, and Prospects of The Republic of Texas (reprint; Fort Worth: The Molyneaux Craftsmen, Inc., 1925), pp. 26-28; G. W. Bonnell, Topographical Description of Texas (reprint; Austin: Texian Press, 1964), pp. 11-13. It is difficult today to view certain streams and realize that large steamboats once traveled on them. This was possible only during the winter rainy season when the streams were at flood stage.
6 Frederick L. Olmsted, Journey Through Texas: A Saddle-Trip on The Southern Frontier (Austin: Von Boeckman-Jones Press, 1962), p. 236.
8 0. H. Delano, county surveyor, “Map of Jefferson County,” April, 1840, Texas General Land Office; Volume A, pp. 86-87, Commissioners’ Court Minutes, Jefferson County, Texas.
9 Volume A, pp. 67-68, 87-89, Commissioners’ Court Minutes, Jefferson County, Texas; Beaumont Journal, December 17, 1905. In 1905, three hundred persons were brought to court for non-payment of road taxes or failure to report for roadwork.
10 Volume A; pp. 66, 68, 82, Commissioners’ Court Minutes, Jefferson County, Texas.
11 Ibid, Volumes A, pp. 86-89, and B, pp. 207-213.
13 Volume B, p. 45, Commissioners’ Court Minutes, Jefferson County, Texas.
14 Volume A, pp. 66, 76, 84, Commissioners’ Court Minutes, Jefferson County, Texas; H. P. N. Gammel (compiler), The Laws of Texas, 1 822-1897 (10 volumes; Austin: Gammel Book Company, 1898), III, p. 329.
15 Volumes A, p. 50, and C, pp. 22, 109, Commissioners’ Court Minutes, Jefferson County, Texas.
16 The writer crossed the river many times on this ferry during his childhood.
17 Volume A, p. 103, Commissioners’ Court Minutes, Jefferson County, Texas.
18 Ibid, pp. 3, 50-51, 68, 76, 84, 102-103.
19 Volume A, p. 76, Commissioners’ Court Minutes, Jefferson County, Texas; Olmsted, Journey Through Texas, p. 245.
20 Record of Retail Licenses, 1839-1851, pages unnumbered, Jefferson County, Texas.
21 Volume A, pp. 3, 50-51, 76, Commissioners’ Court Minutes, Jefferson County, Texas.
22 Beaumont Journal, April 11, 1908. A cattle-crosser was any ferry employee, whose principal duty was the swimming of cattle herds. Some ferries owned trained oxen that acted as lead animals to entice cattle droves to enter the water. Ferrymen usually swam the river on horseback, and their work was extremely hazardous when river currents were swift.
23 (Galveston) Civilian and Galveston Gazette, July 9, 1847; (Galveston) Weekly News, September 21, 1858 and November 29, 1859. Captain O’Brien retained the letter “0” in his surname, although his father dropped it. After the Civil War, the son altered the spelling from O’Bryan to O’Brien. Around 1850, he was the Beaumont to Galveston mail rider, who perhaps rode his father’s coach for a part of the way. See Beaumont Enterprise, April 16, 1905.
24 (Washington) Texian and Brazos Farmer, January 28, 1843. Post routes in Southeast Texas were adjusted constantly to conform to the needs of activated and discontinued offices. In 1855, the Duncan Woods post office in Orange County was authorized, and in 1859, Holmsville (location unidentified) and Grigsby’s Bluff in Jefferson County became post offices. See (Galveston) Weekly News, June 12, 1855 and November 1,1859.
25 (Nacogdoches) Texian and Emigrants Guide, December 19. 1835; Gammel, Laws of Texas, II, p. 831; F. C. Chabot (ed.), A Journal of The Coincidences and Acts of Thomas S. McFarland Beginning With The First Day of January A. D. 1837 (San Antonio: Yanaguana Society, 1942), p. 88.
26 Letter, S. H. Everett to M. B. Lamar, Beaumont, March 11, 1839, as reprinted in C. A. Gulick and K. Elliott (eds.), The Papers of Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar (reprint; New York: AMS Press, Incorporated, 1973), II, p. 491.
27 (Galveston) Civilian and Galveston Gazette, May 17, 1839; “Quarterly Return,” R. C. Doom, collector, to the Secretary of the Treasury, Sabine Pass, June 30, 1839, Port of Sabine Bay Customs Records, File 4-21/10, Texas State Archives.
28 (Houston) Telegraph and Texas Register, October 7, 1840.
29 Ibid, May 17, 1849; Nacogdoches Times, November 4, 1848; (Galveston) Weekly News, October 30, 1848.
30 (Nacogdoches) Chronicle, October 2, and November 6, 1852.
31 (Houston). Telegraph and Texas Register, February 21, 1850; (Nacogdoches) Chronicle, February 14, 1854.
32 K. D. Keith, “The Memoirs of Captain Kosciusko D. Keith” (Luling, Texas: unpublished manuscript, February 5, 1896), p. 11.
33 Beaumont Journal, March 11, 1906; (Galveston) Weekly News, May 20, 1856; (Nacogdoches) Chronicle, March 15, 1853.
34 R. E. Crane, “The Administration of The Customs Service of The Republic of Texas” (unpublished M. A. thesis; Austin: The University of Texas, 1939), p. 186.
35 (Galveston) Daily Galvestonian, December 4, 1841; (Galveston) Weekly Galvestonian, December 6, 1841.
36 (San Augustine) Redlander, March 12, 1846; (San Augustine) Journal and Advertiser, December 17, 1840.
37 A. W. Williams and E. C. Barker (eds.), The Writings of Sam Houston, 18 13-1863 (8 volumes; Austin: Pemberton Press, 1970), IV, pp. 32-34.
38 (San Augustine) Redlander, January 20, 1844; Lois F. Blount, “The Story of Old Pattonia,” East Texas Historical Journal, V (March, 1967), pp. 14-16.
39 Beaumont Enterprise, September 21, 1910; Archie P. McDonald (ed.), Hurrah For Texas! The Diary of Adolphus Sterne (Waco: Texian Press, 1969), pp. 194, 199; (Nacogdoches) Times, January 13, 1849.
40 Burns, “Transportation in Early Texas,” unpublished thesis, p. 82; Volume A, p. 69, Personal Property Record, Jefferson County, Texas; (Houston) Telegraph and Texas Register, May 2, 1850; (Galveston) Weekly News, March 11, 1850.
41 0. Fisher, Sketches of Texas in 1840 (reprint; Waco: Texian Press, 1964), p. 25.
42 Gray, From Virginia To Texas, p. 86; Nancy N. Barker (ed.), The French Legation in Texas (2 volumes; Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1973), II, p. 522; Lt. J. H. Eaton, 3rd U. S. Infantry, “Sketch of The Sabine River, Lake and Pass from Camp Sabine to The Gulf,” 1838, Library of Congress.
43 Texas appropriated money for clearing the Angelina-Neches in 1837, and Robert Patton expended his personal funds for that purpose. Patton won the contract for clearing the Sabine River following another state appropriation in 1856, but died soon after moving to Orange. See Gammel, Laws of Texas, I, pp. 1388-1389; (San Augustine) Journal and Advertiser, January 28, 1841; (Galveston) Weekly News, October 13 and December 8, 1857; November 11, 1858; April 5, 1859.
44 House Document No. 365, 25th Congress, 2nd Session, 1838, Library of Congress.
45 The Velocipede was sufficiently large to gauge the river’s navigation. A former Vermillion River steamer, the vessel was 134 feet long, 32 feet wide, weighed 143 tons, and drew five feet of water. See House Document No. 365, p. 2, and Kennedy, Texas: The Rise, Progress, and Prospects, p. 34.
46 Letter, Isaac Wright to W. G. Belknap, Sabine Pass, March 23, 1838, in House Document No. 365, 25th Congress, 2nd Session, 1838, Library of Congress.
48 Williams and Barker, Writings of Sam Houston, II, pp. 95-96.
49 Gray, From Virginia To Texas, pp. 167-168. Jefferson County records indicate that a Samuel Rodgers lived at Beaumont in 1836, but he died soon afterward. Gray identified him as a “principal proprietor of the town.” Deed records verify his connection with the earliest land promotion, but he was not one of Beaumont’s five proprietors of 1837.
50 “Register of the Texas Collectors of Customs,” Texas State Archives, copy owned by the writer; Williams and Barker, Writings of Sam Houston, II, p. 95.
51 Gulick and Elliott, Papers of Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, III, p. 133; E. W. Winkler (ed.), Secret Journals of The Senate, Republic of Texas, 18 36-1845, in Texas Library and Historical Commission First Biennial Report 1909-191 0 (Austin: Austin Printing Company, 1911), pp. 49, 129.
52 Volume E, p. 372, Deed Records, Jefferson County, Texas; “Quarterly Return,” R. C. Doom, collector, to the Secretary of the Treasury, June 30, 1839, Port of Sabine Bay Customs Records, File 4-21/10, Texas State Archives.
53 Gulick and Elliott, Papers of Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, H, p. 563.
54 Winkler, Secret Journals of The Senate, Republic of Texas, pp. 136, 187, 220, 282-284; “Register of The Texas Collectors of Customs,” Texas State Archives. Other Sabine customhouse employees included T. C. Bunker and S. K. McIlhaney as chief clerks. At various times, the deputy collectors and inspectors included David Garner, W. Williams, Z. W. Eddy, William Swain, Jacob Townsend, R. E. Booth, George A. Pattillo, Peter Stockholm, Wesley Garner, A. J. F. Phelan, W. S. Wilson, Henry Hubbell, and John White. See “Reports of Expenditures,” R. C. Doom, collector, to the Secretary of the Treasury, December 31, 1837 and March 31, 1839, Port of Sabine Bay Customs Records; ibid, J. P. Pulsifer, collector, to the Secretary of the Treasury, December 31, 1840; and R. E. L. Crane, “The History of The Revenue Service and The Commerce of The Republic of Texas” (unpublished dissertation, The University of Texas, 1950), pp. 270, 273.
55 (Galveston) News, February 27, 1846.
56 Letter, W. C. V. Dashiell, deputy collector, to R. J. Walker, Secretary of the Treasury, Sabine Pass, Texas, November 18, 1847, Letters from U. S. Collectors of Customs, 1847, Microfilm Reel No. 000039, General Services Administration, Fort Worth, Texas.
57 Manuscript Returns of Jefferson County, Texas, Schedules I, Seventh and Eighth Censuses of the United States: for 1850, residence 191; for 1860, residence 335. In 1835, Captain Hurd came to Texas, where he was awarded one league of land in Zavala’s colony “on the west side of the Neches River.” In partnership with David G. Burnet, he was one of the republic’s earliest saw millers. His Texas naval career prior to 1845 included service as purser on the Texas schooner Brutus and the flagship Austin.
58 Lt T. J. Lee, “Map of The Sabine River,” Texas-United States Boundary Commission, 1840; Letter, Levi Woodbury to S. C. Phillips, June 11, 1838, in House Document No. 466, 25th Congress, 2nd Session, 1838, Library of Congress, copy owned by the writer; Kennedy, Texas: The Rise, Progress and Prospects of The Republic of Texas, p. 761;(Houston) Morning Star, May 1,1839.
59 George P. Garrison (ed.), Diplomatic Correspondence of The Republic of Texas, in American Historical Association Annual Report, 1907 (3 volumes; Washington: Government Printing Office, 1908-1911), II, pp. 171, 366.
60 Wallace and D. M. Vigness (eds.), Documents of Texas History (Lubbock: Texas Technological College, 1960), pp. 41-42; Robert and Pauline Jones, “Texas Eastern Boundary,” Texana, III (Summer, 1965), pp. 145-146. The complete history of the Port of Sabine Bay customhouse from 1837-1846 is well-documented in R. E. L. Crane, “History of The Revenue Service and The Commerce of The Republic of Texas” (unpublished dissertation, The University of Texas, 1950), pp. 264-311.
61 G. Jackson, “A History of Sabine Pass” (unpublished M. A. thesis, The University of Texas, 1930), p. 14.
62 Letter, John Swain to James H. Starr, Sabine Pass, July 11, 1840, Sabine Bay Customs Records, File 4-21/10, Texas State Archives.
63 Crane, “History of The Revenue Service and Commerce of The Republic of Texas,’ unpublished dissertation, p. 289.
64 Ibid. pp. 270, 290-29 1.
65 Letter, Sam Houston to James B. Shaw, Secretary of the Treasury, February 22, 1844, as reprinted in Williams and Barker, Writings of Sam Houston, IV, pp. 270-271; Letter, W. C. V. Dashiell to James H. Cocke, March 11, 1844, Comptroller’s Papers, Texas State Archives.
66 Letter, Houston to Shaw, as reprinted in Williams and Barker, Writings of Sam Houston, IV, pp. 270-271; Letter, Dashiell to Cocke, March 11, 1844, Comptroller’s Papers, Texas State Archives.
67 Indenture, Eddy, Moss, and Dashiell, and bonds, Eddy and Moss to Dashiell, Sabine Pass, April 17, 1844, as reprinted in Garrison, Diplomatic Correspondence of The Republic of Texas, H, pp. 321-322.
68 Ibid, letter, Peyton to Cucullu, New Orleans, April 26, 1844, and protests, Eddy, Moss, Brown, and Jones, April 23, 1844, pp. 320-322.
69 Letter, Ashbel Smith to A. J. Donelson, February 10, 1845, as reprinted in Garrison, Diplomatic Correspondence of The Republic of Texas, II, pp. 355-358.
70 Crane, “History of The Revenue Service and The Commerce of The Republic of Texas,” unpublished dissertation, pp. 300-310.
71 Ibid, p. 309; Beaumont Journal, November 12, 1905.
72 Letter, Charles Power to Count Dubois de Saligny, June 20, 1842, as reprinted in E. D. Adams (ed), British Diplomatic Correspondence Concerning the Republic of Texas, 1838-1846 (Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1917), p. 77.
73 Crane, “History of The Revenue Service and Commerce,” p. 309.
77 Texas Almanac, 1861 (Galveston: Richardson and Company, 1862), p. 237.
78 “Quarterly Return,” R. C. Doom to the Secretary of the Treasury, June 30 and September 30, 1839, Sabine Bay Customs Records, File 4-21/10, Texas State Archives.
79 Ibid, “Quarterly Return,” N. F. Smith, collector, October 31, 1842.
80 “Quarterly Return,” N. F. Smith, collector to the Secretary of the Treasury, April 30, 1843, Sabine Bay Customs Records, File 4-21/10, Texas State Archives.
81 Ibid, “Entrances and Clearances.” R. C. Doom, collector, to the Secretary of the Treasury, March 31, June 30, and September 30, 1839; (Galveston) Civilian and Galveston Gazette, May 17, 1839. See the maritime columns of the various Galveston newspapers between 1839 and 1845.
82 E. Hollen and R. L. Butler (eds.), William Bollaert’s Texas (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1956), pp. 36, 36n, 41; Crane, “History of The Revenue Service and Commerce of The Republic of Texas,” p. 286.
83 (Houston) Telegraph and Texas Register, January 12, 1839; (Houston) Morning Star, April 8, 1839; “Abstract of Imposts,” N. F. Smith to the Secretary of the Treasury, January 31, 1843, Sabine Bay Customs Records, File 4-21/10, Texas State Archives. Two steamers of 1840, the Laura and Albert Gala tin, should not be confused with two other steamers with identical names, circa 1870. The Lafitte was the first steamboat built in Texas. See (Houston) Morning Star, October 5, 1841.
84 Chabot, Journal of The Coincidences and Acts of Thomas S. McFarland, p. 35.
85 Ibid, p. 61; Kennedy, Texas: The Rise, Progress and Prospects, p. 24; (Houston) Telegraph and Texas Register, July 24, 1839; “Report of Arrivals and Departures,” R. C. Doom to the Secretary of the Treasury, March 31, 1839, Sabine Bay Customs Records, File 4-21/10, Texas State Archives.
86 “Entrances and Clearances,” J. D. Swain to the Secretary of the Treasury, March 31 and June 30, 1840, Sabine Bay Customs Records, File 4-21/10, Texas State Archives; (Houston) Telegraph and Texas Register, April 17, 1839; Lee, “Map of the Sabine River,” 1840; (Richmond) Telescope, April 4, 1840.
87 “Entrances and Clearances,” J. D. Swain to the Secretary of the Treasury, March 31 and June 30, 1840, Sabine Bay Customs Records, File 4-21/10, Texas State Archives.
88 Chabot, Coincidences and Acts of Thomas S. McFarland, p. 66; Beaumont Journal, December 24, 1905. On December 21, 1841, the Albert Gallatin exploded in Galveston Bay with a loss of five lives. See (Houston) Morning Star, December 25, 1841.
89 “Entrances and Clearances,” J. P. Pulsifer to the Secretary of the Treasury, March 31, 1841, Sabine Bay Customs Records, File 4-21/10, Texas State Archives. The careers of Captains Havilland and John Sterrett spanned more than 30 years each along the Texas coast. A subsequent mayor of Galveston, Havilland was also master of McKinney’s steamers Lafitte and Constitution. He was vice-commander of the squadron sent out to guard the Texas coast in March 1842. Sterrett, the most ill fated of all, sank the Putnam in 1840, the Albert Gallatin in 1841, and the Lady Byron in 1844. As second in command of the Texas Marine Department, Sterrett served as superintendent of transports under Colonel Leon Smith during the Civil War. See Hollen and Butler, William Bollaert’s Texas, pp. 38-76; (Galveston) Texas Times, November 6, 30 and December 7, 1842; (Galveston) Galvestonian, April 3, 1840, March 31 and April 1, 1841; (Houston) Telegraph and Texas Register, January 10, 1844 and February 8, 1849.
90 (Houston) Telegraph and Texas Register, March 9, 184 2;(Houston) Morning Star, March 3, 1842.
91 (Galveston) Texas Times, November 6, 1842. The Mustang sank in the Brazos River in November 1843. See (Houston) Telegraph and Texas Register, November 29, 1843.
92 “Abstract of Imposts,” January 31, 1843 and “Quarterly Return,” April 30, 1843, N. F. Smith to the Secretary of the Treasury, Sabine Bay Customs Records, File 4-21/10, Texas State Archives; (Houston) Telegraph and Texas Register, April 12 and June 21, 1843.
93 “Quarterly Return,” April 30, 1844, “Arrivals and Departures,” July 31, 1844, W. C. V. Dashiell to the Secretary of the Treasury, Sabine Bay Customs Records, File 4-21/10, Texas State Archives; (Galveston) Weekly News, May 9, 1842.
94 “Quarterly Return,” April 30, 1844, and “Arrivals and Departures,” July 31, 1844, Sabine Bay Customs Records; (San Augustine) Redlander, January 13, 1844.
95 (San Augustine) Redlander, December 9, 1843.
96 “Quarterly Return,” January 31, 1845, “Arrivals and Departures,” April 30, 1845, and “Quarterly Return,” July 31, 1845, W. C. V. Dashiell to the Secretary of the Treasury, Sabine Bay Customs Records, File 4-21/10, Texas State Archives; (San Augustine) Redlander, March 12, 1846.
97 “Quarterly Return,” July 31, 1845, W. C. V. Dashiell to the Secretary of the Treasury, Sabine Bay Customs Records, File 4-21/10, Texas State Archives.
98 Manuscript Returns of Jefferson County, Texas, 1860, Schedule 1, pp. 54, 61, residences 327, 328, 372.
99 (Richmond) Telescope, April 4, 1840.
100 (Galveston) Weekly News, March 11, 1850; (Houston) Telegraph and Texas Register, May 2, 1850.
101 (Houston) Telegraph and Texas Register, September 6, 1849.
102 (Nacogdoches) Chronicle, November 6, 1852.
103 (Houston) Morning Star, August 14, 1841.
104 Lois F. Blount, “The Story of Old Pattonia,” East Texas Historical Journal, V (March, 1967), pp. 17-27.
105 “Quarterly Returns,” April 30, 1844 and April 30, 1845, W. C. V. Dashiell to the Secretary of the Treasury, Sabine Bay Customs Records, File 4-21/10, Texas State Archives; Crane, “The History of The Revenue Service and Commerce,” p. 300.
106 Crane, “History of The Revenue Service and Commerce,” p. 299.
107 (Houston) Telegraph and Texas Register, May 16, 1851.
108 Ibid, January31 and May 16,1851.
109 (Galveston) Weekly News, April 1, 1856.
110 Texas Almanac, 1859, 150.
111 Lois F. Blount, “Story of Old Pattonia,” East Texas Historical Journal, p. 27; File 195, Estate of Otto Ruff, Probate Records, Jefferson County, Texas.
112 Blount “Story of Old Pattonia,” East Texas Historical Journal, pp. 17-18; (Galveston) Weekly News, March11, 1850.
113 Blount, “Story of Old Pattonia,” East Texas Historical Journal, pp. 19-20; (Nacogdoches) Times, January 20, 1849; (Nacogdoches) Chronicle, August 7, 1852 and November 8, 1852; (Galveston) Weekly News, April 8, 1856.
114 (Nacogdoches) Chronicle, October 30, 1852 and December 13, 1853.
115 Volume B, pp. 145-147, Personal Property Record, Jefferson County, Texas; (Galveston) Weekly News, May 27, 1856 and March 9, 1858.
116 (Galveston) Weekly News, November 9, 1859; (Galveston) Tri-Weekly News, April 6, 1861;(Nacogdoches) Chronicle, March 2, 1858.
117 Volume B, pp. 297-299, Personal Property Record, Jefferson County, Texas.
118 (Galveston) Weekly News, December 15, 1857 and September 21, 1858; War of The Rebellion: A Compilation of The Official Records of The Union and Confederate Armies (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1880-1901), Series I, Volume XXVI, Part 2, p. 337.
119 Captain William Wiess, “Early Steamboats of East Texas,” Beaumont Enterprise, September 21, 1910.
120 Florence Stratton, Story of Beaumont (Houston: Hercules Printing Company, 1925), p. 42; Manuscript Returns of Jefferson County, Schedule I, 1860, Eighth Census of The United States, pp. 46-47, residence 288; E. I. Kellie, “Sabine Pass in Olden Times,” Beaumont Enterprise, April 16, 1905; (Galveston) Weekly News, November 1, 1859.
121 K. D. Keith, “Memoirs of Captain Kosciusko D. Keith” (Luling, Texas: unpublished manuscript, February, 1896), p. 15; (Galveston) Weekly News September 21, 1858.
122 Keith, “Memoirs of Captain K. D. Keith,” p. 15. An oyster reef divided the Texas and Louisiana channels in the Sabine Pass.
123 (Galveston) Weekly News, August 4, 1857; March 9 and June 8, 1858.
124 Volumes F, pp. 166-169, and G, pp. 157, 164, Deed Records, Jefferson County, Texas.
125 S G. Reed, A History of The Texas Railroads (Houston: The Saint Clair Publishing Company, 1941), pp. 87-89, 225; Charles S. Potts, Railroad Transportation In Texas, in Bulletin of The University of Texas, No. 119 (Austin: University of Texas, 1909), pp. 31, 37-38, 50.
126 Gammel, Laws of Texas, III, p. 1145, and IV, pp. 32-34.
127 Reed, History of The Texas Railroads, p. 8 (Nacogdoches) Chronicle, February 28, 1854.
128 Reed, History of The Texas Railroads, pp. 87-88; Volume B, p. 172, Personal Property Record, Jefferson County, Texas; Keith, “Memoirs of Captain K. D. Keith,” p. 13. C. H. Alexander of Sabine and W. A. Ferguson of Jasper were mercantile partners, owning stores in both cities, when they organized the railroad construction company. As may be surmised, they were also two of the railroad’s biggest promoters. A quarrel between them, which developed in 1857, probably had its roots in the construction company, and work on the right-of-way ended at that time. The line’s successors were required to pay them $3,000 for the work completed. In April 1857, Ferguson and Alexander dissolved the partnership and construction company, with Ferguson retaining the store in Jasper and Alexander keeping the one in Sabine. Ferguson’s store in Beaumont was his personal property.
129 Gammel, Laws of Texas, IV, pp. 1239-1244.
130 (Galveston) Weekly News, November 1, 1859; Manuscript Returns of Jefferson County, Schedule I, Eighth Census of the United States, 1860, p. 52, residence 312; Reed, History of The Texas Railroads, p. 88.
131 (Galveston) Weekly News, November 22, 1859.
132 (Galveston) Weekly News, November 1,1859; Keith, “Memoirs of Captain K. D. Keith,” p. 15.
133 (Galveston) Weekly News, May 17 and November 1, 1859.
134 Volume C, pp. 52-53, Personal Property Record, Jefferson County, Texas.
135 (Houston) Telegraph, December 20, 1860.
136 E I. Kellie, “Sabine Pass in Olden Times,” Beaumont Enterprise, April 16, 1905; J. Kellersberg, “Plan of Sabine Pass, of Its Defenses and Means of Communication” October 15, 1863, reprinted as Map 3, Plate XXXII in Official Atlas of The Civil War; J. Kellersberg, “Military Map of Sabine Pass,” Map Z-54-11, Record Group 77, National Archives.
137 Keith, “Memoirs of Captain K. D. Keith,” p. 21; V. Sulakowski, “No. 116--Coast From Sabine Pass to Galveston and Vicinity,” Map Z-54-2, National Archives.
138 Gammel, Laws of Texas, IV, pp. 55-58.
139 Ibid, pp. 744-749; (Galveston) Week4y News, March 10, 1857.
140 Gammel, Laws of Texas, IV, p. 1301; Volume L, p. 496, Deed Records, Jefferson County, Texas.
141 Reed, History of The Texas Railroads, p. 85.
142 Manuscript Returns of 1860, Schedule I, Eighth Census of the United States: for Jefferson County, pp. 48-50, for Orange County, pp. 32-35.
143 Reed, History of The Texas Railroads, p.86.
144 War of The Rebellion— Official Records, Armies, Series I, Volume XXVI, Part 2, p. 133.
145 J. DeCordova, Texas: Her Resources and Her Public Men (reprint; Waco: Texian Press, 1969), p. 39.
146 (Galveston) Weekly News, June 7, 1856 and June 2, 1857;(Nacogdoches) Times, January 20, 1849.
147 (Galveston) Civilian and Galveston Gazette, November 4, 1840 and April 16, 1842.
148 Texas Almanac, 1861, p. 237.
149 Manuscript Returns of Jefferson and Orange Counties, Texas, Schedule V, Products of Industry, Eighth Census of the United States, 1860.
150 Ibid, Tenth Census of The United States, 1880, Microfilm Reel No. 48, Texas State Archives.
151 Reed, History of The Texas Railroads, pp. 29-30.
152 Beaumont Enterprise, March 19 and April 9, 1881; “Letter-book of The East Texas and Louisiana Lumbermen’s Association, 1884-1886,” a 700-page volume of office correspondence owned by Mrs. Lois Parker, Lamar University library, Beaumont, Texas.

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