the time indeed came when the blue and the gray joined hands, and the lone star shone once more in a cloudless sky. but that time was not yet. the years which followed the civil war were bitter and sorrowful ones for texas.
after the surrender general granger continued to hold military possession of the state.
before his arrival pendleton murrah, who had succeeded lubbock in 1863, had left his office in the hands of the lieutenant-governor fletcher s. stockdale, and gone to mexico.
andrew j. hamilton was appointed provisional governor by president johnson. he arrived at galveston in july (1865), and at once assumed the duties of his office.
he ordered an election of delegates to a convention which was called for the purpose of framing a new constitution.
but no man was allowed to vote who had borne arms against the united states. the majority of texas men had fought against the union; they therefore took little interest in an election of delegates for whom they could not vote.
the convention met (february, 1866), the new constitution was drawn up and submitted for ratification to such of the people as were “loyal to the united states, and none others”; and in june james w. throckmorton was elected governor.
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a few months later the united states government decided to place the state again under military rule. louisiana and texas were constituted a military district with headquarters at new orleans. general philip sheridan was placed in command, and general charles griffin was ordered to texas with several thousand troops to enforce military rule (march, 1867). his headquarters were at galveston.
all elections except those under control of his officers were forbidden by general griffin. an oath, known as the “iron-clad oath,” was required of all voters. the newly freed negroes were for the first time placed on juries and encouraged to vote.
it was during this time that the remains of the great soldier general albert sidney johnston were removed from new orleans to austin for final burial.
at houston, when the funeral train rolled into the station, it was met by a procession of five hundred ladies and little girls. the coffin was borne to the old houston academy, where for a day and night it lay in state, amid the mournful tolling of bells.
in july governor throckmorton, upon reports made by general griffin, was removed from office by general sheridan, and e. m. pease appointed in his place.
general albert sidney johnston.
in september, 1869, governor pease, vexed and wearied by the strife and discord around him, resigned his thankless office. for a time there was no governor, a military adjutant performing the duties of the place.
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in 1870 edmund j. davis was inaugurated governor and held the office four years. he was succeeded in 1874 by richard coke, with richard b. hubbard as lieutenant-governor.
the dark and stormy period from the surrender to the close of governor davis’ term of office has since been known in texas as the “reconstruction time.”
at the time of governor davis’ election, the military was finally withdrawn from the state, the citizens were restored to their civil rights, and texas was readmitted to the union. during his administration a homestead law was passed, a one-per-cent tax was levied for the building of schoolhouses, and the growth of railroads was encouraged by liberal grants of land.
but there was still a great deal of trouble and discontent, and it was not until governor coke took his seat that the state, so long shaken by contention, began once more to breathe freely and to put forth the strength within her.
governor coke served from 1874 to 1876; in 1876 he was elected to the united states senate, and richard b. hubbard became governor (1876-1879).
the governors who guided the ship of state from 1879 to 1895 were oran m. roberts (1879-1883), john ireland[43] (1883-1887), lawrence s. ross (1887-1891), and james s. hogg (1891-1895).
in 1894 charles a. culberson became governor, and in 1896 he was returned by a large majority to the same office. on his election by the legislature in 1897 to the senate of the united states, he was succeeded by joseph d. sayers, who was the chief executive of the great state of texas at the close of the nineteenth century.
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these years have been marked by many wonderful changes in texas. not the least of these changes has been the growth of the great public school system. the first free school in texas was opened at san antonio in 1844. a state public school system was organized in 1870. from these imperfect beginnings to the admirable system of to-day, when an army of earnest and gifted men and women are banded together in the noble work of teaching, and countless multitudes of children pass daily in and out of the schoolroom,—from that gray dawn to this blazing noontide, what a change!
the cause of education has indeed been ever in the minds and hearts of the people.
the sam houston normal institute.
an agricultural and mechanical college was founded at bryan, and opened in 1876.
in 1879 a state normal school for teachers, called the sam houston normal institute, was established at huntsville, governor houston’s old home. a few years later the prairie view, a normal school for colored teachers, was established.
a state university was founded in 1881. the fine group of buildings crowning one of austin’s green hills was finished and thrown open to the young men and women students of the state in 1883.
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the first president of the university board of regents was doctor ashbel smith. after his services to the texan republic, doctor smith devoted himself to scientific study and to the free practice of the medical profession. in 1861 he enlisted in the confederate states army. he was elected a captain in the second texas regiment of infantry, and was promoted to the colonelcy on the battlefield of shiloh for personal bravery. he was in command of the post of galveston at the time of the final surrender. he was chairman of the committee sent from galveston to new orleans to escort to texas the remains of general albert sidney johnston.
the university of texas.
his wise counsels were of great service during those troublous times. the joy and pride of this truly great man’s declining years was the university of texas. he lived to see it answer to his highest hopes; and his memory should be eternally associated with its fame.
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in 1895 the board of regents was authorized to manage all lands belonging to the university; at the same time the office of president was created.
a number of charitable and other public institutions have been added to those already in existence. the new penitentiary at rusk (1877), a state orphan’s asylum at corsicana (1881), and two insane asylums, one at terrell (1883) and one at san antonio (1890), are among these. in 1891 the john b. hood camp of confederate veterans at austin was taken under the kindly care of the state, and its name changed to the texas confederate home.
many state questions of importance have been considered; new laws have been made and old ones improved.
the public debt has been reduced. a new constitution has been adopted by the people (1875).
the state revenues have been materially increased by the introduction of wiser and better regulations. the school tax has been raised. arbitration laws have been passed, greatly to the advantage of disputants; and anti-trust laws have been enforced.
in 1895 suit was brought by texas, in the supreme court of the united states, for greer county, a body of land on red river claimed both by the united states government and by texas. the decision of the supreme court (april, 1896) awarded the county to the united states.
the old alamo monument.
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a new court, called the commission of appeals, was created in 1881; the same year an admirable quarantine system was established, with a special station at galveston.
a memorable feature of the year 1895 was the extra session of the legislature called for the purpose of making prize fighting illegal in the state of texas. the brutal and degrading sport was promptly declared a felony, and a law was passed prohibiting it on penalty of confinement in the penitentiary.
on the outbreak of the spanish-american war in 1898 texas furnished more than her quota of eager and determined volunteers to the united states army; the sons of the men who wore the gray donned the blue uniform and wore it proudly and worthily throughout the campaign.
a railroad commission was formed in 1891. in 1891, also, the united states government began at galveston the building of jetties to improve the entrance to the harbor. these jetties, which are a double line of gigantic stone walls, reach out from the land into the gulf. the action of the tides within this artificial channel washes out the sand, and thus deepens it. the channel, though damaged by the great flood of 1900, was not materially injured. similar jetties were built at sabine pass and at aransas pass.
in 1881 the old capitol at austin was burned, and with it many priceless relics of the earlier days of texas. among these was the old monument dedicated in 1857 to the heroes of the alamo. it was built of stones from the ruined fortress and stood on the porch of the capitol. it was inscribed with the names of travis and his men; and the four sides of the shaft bore the following inscriptions:
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north. “to the god of the fearless and the free is dedicated this altar, made from the stones of the alamo.”
west. “blood of heroes hath stained me. let the stones of the alamo speak that their immolation be not forgotten.”
south. “be they enrolled with leonidas in the host of the mighty dead.”
east. “thermopyl? had her messenger of defeat, but the alamo had none.”
a new monument, upon whose summit stands, rifle in hand, the statue of a texas ranger, has been placed in the capitol grounds.
the legislature which met soon after the burning of the old capitol provided for the erection of a new one. three million acres of public lands were set aside to meet this expense. the new building was finished and dedicated in 1888.
the historic old church of the alamo was purchased by the state in 1883. the battlefield of san jacinto has also become the property of the state. this beautiful spot, consecrated by the blood of heroes, is guarded by the same encircling trees, which, clad in the green of spring’s livery, looked down upon the birth of freedom on that long-past 21st of april. may the coming centuries see them still standing, mute witnesses to the bravery of men who had no peer!
