Swedes In Texas In Words
And Pictures
1st Edition 1918 – in Swedish
2nd Edition 1988 – English Translation
3rd Edition 2007 – WEB Translation
NOTE: This 3rd Edition 2007 does not
contain the Family/Individual Photos and Text.
Return to www.swedesintexas.com
to Search for your ancestors. There you
will find all the Photos and Text embedded with each Family/Individual.
SWEDES
IN TEXAS
IN
WORDS
AND PICTURES
English
Translation
1838
1918
Copyright ©1994
New Sweden 88 Austin Area Committee
SWEDES IN TEXAS
IN
WORDS AND PICTURES
English Translation
1838 1918
Translator:
Christine
Andreason
Coordinating
Editor:
James
Christianson
Christine
Andreason of Mercer
Island, Washington
and
formerly of Round Rock, Texas was the
translator
of this book. Christine is a native born Swede
from
Boras, Sweden. She attended Goteborg University
and
is finishing her degree at Upsalla University in
Sweden.
Dennis
Andreason also of Mercer
Island,
Washington and formerly of Round Rock, Texas typed
this
text. He is a native Texan from Galveston, Texas
and
graduated from Washburn University.
James
Christianson of Austin, Texas was the
coordinating
editor and reviewer of this work. He is an attorney and certified public
accountant and is presently the Chairman of the City of Austin Historic Landmark Commission. He has been a member of the commission
since 1975.
DEDICATION
This
translation project is dedicated to those
Texas
Swedish Pioneers who took the long
and
dangerous journey to settle in a new place
called
Texas, where they built churches, homes,
businesses
and farms. This project is further
dedicated
to those Texas Swedish Pioneers
who
had the vision in 1918 to preserve the
history
of our Swedish ancestors so that future
generations
may learn of their past.
New Sweden
88 was a celebration in 1988 of 350 years of Swedes in America and 150 years of Swedes in Texas.
The
celebration began in October 1987 with the signing of a State of Texas
proclamation
by Texas Governor William P. Clements. Representatives from New Sweden
88
Committees in Austin, Dallas and Houston attended the signing ceremony in the
governor’s reception room.
Numerous
events were held beginning inDecember 1987 witha Santa LuciaFestival
at
Hutto Lutheran Church and Julotta, the traditional Swedish
Christmas morning service, at
the
New
Sweden Lutheran Church.
Hundreds
attended a Swedish smorgasbord held at the Balcones Country Club in
Austin in January 1988 with guest speaker United
States Congressman Charles Stenholm of
Texas. Special guests included former Austin
Mayor Lester Palmer, University of Texas
baseball
coach Cliff Gustafson, and Caren Patman, former Democratic Committee woman
from
Texas. All are descendents of Texas Swedish
Pioneers. Our Swedish musical heritage
was highlighted in April 1988 in a Swedish Musik Fest held at Perkins Chapel on
the campus of Southwestern University in Georgetown.
Numerous talented musicians along with the large Jubilee 150 Choir
assembled from area churches of Swedish heritage performed before a crowd of
over 700 people.
A
highlight of the Jubilee year was the visit in April to Dallas and Houston by
Swedish
King Carl Gustaf and his wife Silva as part of a Royal Cities tour in honor of
New
Sweden 8 8. A national traveling Swedish Heritage
exhibit sponsored by the Swedish Council
of
America opened in May in the State Capitol rotunda
in Austin,
The
annual Midsummer Day celebrations were held in Elgin and Palm Valley in
June.
The jubilee year closed with a Hog Massa program at Decker Methodist Church in
September
and a Grand Finale program on New Year’s Eve at Gethsemane Lutheran Church
in
Austin.
These
programs were not possible without a host of volunteers. The following
individuals were members of the New Sweden 88 Austin Area Committee and deserve
a special thanks.
New Sweden
88 Austin Area Committee
Bert
Magnuson - Co Chairman
Jim
Christianson - Co Chairman
Eric
Carlson
Robert
G. Carlson
Rod Johnson
Margarita
Smith
Julibeth
Swenson Parrish
Valerie
Hawkinson Armstrong
Dorothy
Lundgren
Marilyn
Samuelson
Alpha
Gustafson Cannon
Pastor
Karl Gronberg
Johanna
0. Wimberley
Carvin
0. Youngbloom
Mary
Nell Carlson
Clifford
W. Carlson
Ruth
C. Bengtson Olson
Eric
Wahlquist
Caria
Lind Jefferies
Earley
Magnusoii
Hildegard
Hall
Jack
Ransom
TRANSLATION
The
original preface to the book Swedes of Texas In Words and Pictures first
published in 1918 states “it would have been more logical to publish this work
in the English language, but it was considered unfair to the many forefathers
who are still alive and who better understand the gamla mordersmal (the old
mother tongue).” For many generations following its publication this book,
Swedes in Texas in Words and Pictures, was simply only
pictures because the words were not understood.
This
book, however, preserves an important part of Texas Swedish history. Even though it included only a fraction of
the some 7,000 Swedes who settled in Texas and although many Swedish families are not
included in this book, we can all leam from the experiences told here and
better understand what all our people experienced in this new land called Texas.
In
this text we read the stories of eighteen and nineteen year old young men and
women caught up in “America fever” who said goodbye to a mother or a
father that they probably would never see again. We read the stories of whole
families who sold everything and left their homeland, never to return again and
go to a place they had never seen.
This
massive effort to translate this book took almost five years and involved
scores of volunteers who help translate and review the text. The final product
is far from perfect, and yes, you will discover mistakes, but the original text
had many mistakes and in some parts were not well written. Sometimes the
Swedish words in the text were no longer used, and we had to seek the help of a
1920 Swedish -English dictionary. But one thing can be said regarding this
effort -no one can at least fault us for trying to translate this book and
preserve its history for future generations. That is our legacy.
The idea for translating this text begin
during New Sweden 88, the celebration in 1988 of 350 years
of Swedes in America and 150 years of Swedes in Texas.
The New Sweden 88 Committee of the Austin Area asked Marilyn Samuelson of Elgin to contact numerous people in various old
Swedish communities in Texas to see if they would help translate the text. Many supplied
translations which were later used in reviewing the text.
With
money raised during New
Sweden 88 and
with a grant for the Austin Heritage Society, the New Sweden 88 Committee of
the Austin Area decided to have Christine Andreason of Round Rock, a native
born Swede, to translate the text. Her husband Dennis Andreason would type the
text.
After
the translation was completed many volunteers coordinated by Jim Christianson
of Austin reviewed the text. One particular
volunteer deserves special mention. Her name is Jean Sellstrom of Austin who volunteered many hours in
reviewing the translation and translated many sections in the original effort.
After
the project was completed Bert Magnuson, the President of the Texas Swedish
Pioneers Association, coordinated the effort to sell the book to those who were
interested. At 85 years of age Bert had the enthusiasm of someone a quarter of
his age. Bert died shortly after this text went to the publisher. For any
project that promoted our Texas Swedish heritage, Bert was always there to
volunteer his time and support the effort.
We
must also give special thanks to Carv^n Youngbloom and the Hutto State Bank who
faithfully kept the financial records of the New Sweden 88 Committee of the
Austin Area and the moneys raised in this translation project. In addition we
would like to thank Cheryl Rae of Austin who with the help of the computer made all
the revisions for this text.
Finally
we cannot forget our many volunteers who participated in some way in this
translation project, as translators, reviewers, or sellers of books. We say
thanks to all of the following people.
Dorothy
Lundgren
Evelyn
Carlson
E.
H. Johnson
Astrid
Larson
Mildred
Magnuson
Ruth
Bengston Olson
Judith
Palmer
O.C.
Olson
Clifford
Carlson
Emil
Cederblom
Valarie
Armstrong
Alpha
Gustafson Cannon
Hazel
Tholin
Evelyn
Lundgren
Agnie
Tholin
Dagmar Lind
Mabel Lindell
Quinton Christianson
Rod Johnson
Ruby
Christianson
Dorothy
Lax Dytrich
Earley
Magnuson
Elin
Criswell
Margot
Peel
Ruth
Seth
Dorothy
Hermanson
Henry
Peterson
Hilma
Peterson
Belinda
Berkman Oman
Edith
Johnson
Bemice
Micklethwait
Tina
Stallings
Annie Helge
Bert Magnuson
Lydia Hanson
Virginian Lee Malmstrom
Harry Hanson
Hanna Bergstrom Sutton
Ann Mart Lindbloom
Eric
Holmquist
Marilyn
Samuelson
Christine
Andreason
Eric
Carlson
Dennis
Andreason
Johanna
Wimberly
Evangeline
Teichman
Doris
Wallin
Hildagard
Hall
Evert Ryden
Jean Sellstrom
Jim Christianson
Carvin
Youngbloom
Gladys
Bergstrom
Mrs.Martin
Berklund
MAP
OF SWEDEN

THE SWEDES IN TEXAS
IN WORDS AND PICTURES
1838-1918
A HISTORICAL-BIOGRAPHICAL
WORK
COLLECTED AND PUBLISHED
BY
ERNEST
SEVERIN
EDITED
AND COMPILED
BY
DR.
ALF. L. SCOTT
PASTOR
T. J. WESTERBERG
EDITED
AND OVERSEEN
BY
PUBLISHER
J.
M. OJERHOLM
PUBLISHER
AND EDITING STAFF
Pastor
T. J. Westerberg Dr. Alf. L. Scott
E.
Severin J.M. Ojerholm
PREFACE
“The
Swedes in Texas”, which is hereby presented “in words and pictures”, is not a
romanticized story of just a few or many, more or less famous personalities, or
some scientific report about the Swedes’ economic, social and religious
standing in this state, but simply a collection of facts and statistical
information as well as true to life pictures and illustrations covering a
timespan of over three quarters of a century of the Swedes’ common history in
Texas, collected with quite some effort and printed so these facts would not be
forgotten in the future.
Our
Nordic forefathers took measures to preserve the memory of their dead for both
their contemporaries and descendents with rock-carvings and rune-stones, which
are now highly valued and appreciated, a thousand years after they were drawn.
The value of this historical and biographical information shall be better
understood as time goes on, when those, who with tenacity and determination in
living actions, wrote the first chapters in the “History of the Swedes in
Texas”, have passed on and joined their forefathers.
To
better meet the linguistic needs of the younger generations, it would have been
more
logical to publish this work in the English language, but it was considered
unfair
to
the many forefathers who are still alive and who better understand the old
mothertongue than the language of our new country. When the need arises in the
future for a continuation of the history of the Swedes in Texas, it should be published in the language of
this country to be of greater use to the public. The publisher has devoted three full years to
collect the statistical information and material for this
historical-biographical work. From Stamford in Northern Texas to Galveston in the South, no Swedish home has
intentionally been bypassed. The completeness of this work has been made
possible only through the support of the pastors and leading men of the
different Swedish congregations. The publisher expresses his gratitude to these
individuals, to the tireless staff, to the printing firm E. L. Steck, which has
done the printing with such merit, and to the Swedish public, without whose
help it would have been impossible to publish such thick volumes of “The Swedes
in Texas in Words and Pictures”.
Sincerely,
The
Publisher
CONTENTS Page
The
History of Texas, Carl
Fromen................................................ 1
The
Physical Geography of Texas, J.J. Hamilton......................... 15
Location............................................................................ 15
Area
..................................................................................
15
Borders..............................................................................
15
Coastline...........................................................................
16
Topography.......................................................................
17
Sea
level............................................................................
17
Drainage............................................................................
17
Lakes...................................................:.............................
19
Mountain
Areas................................................................ 19
Climate
Conditions........................................................... 19
Soil
Conditions................................................................. 20
Forest................................................................................
21
Industry
in the
State...................................................................... 22
Communication
and Transport..................................................... 31
Form
of Government....................................................................
33
Political
Division..........................................................................
37
Texas School System, F.L. Hagberg
............................................ 39
Immigration
to the United
States
and the foundation of
Swedish Churches, Alf. L.
Scott................................................ 44
Swedish
Churches in Texas..........................................................
46
The
Lutheran Church........................................................
46
The
Methodist Church......................................................
85
Camp
Meetings............................................................... 109
The
Epworth League ...................................................... 110
The
Free Church..;.......................................................... 112
The
Texas Scandinavian Free Mission Organization..... 124
The
Mission Church
....................................................... 126
The
Baptist Church.........................................................
128
Swedish
Colleges........................................................................
131
Texas Wesleyan College, T.J. Westerberg..................... 131
Trinity College, J.A. Stamline........................................
Societies......................................................................................
142
The
Pioneer Society, Aug. Anderson ............................. 142
Svea
................................................................................
144
Gota
................................................................................
145
The
Southern Swedish Singing Society, J.M. Ojerholm 147
The
Waco Hundredman Society, F.L. Hagberg
............. 149
The
Swedish Immigration and Earlier Conditions, Severin....... 151
The
First Swedes in Texas, J.A. Stamline
.................................. 164
Texas-Swedish
Communities and Biographies ..........................
The
Austin Colony.......................................................... 182
The
Palm Valley Colony
................................................ 299
The
New Sweden
Colony............................................... 371
The
Brushy Colony......................................................... 444
The
Georgetown Colony
................................................ 473
The
Taylor Colony.......................................................... 515
The
Hutto Colony........................................................... 562
The
Decker Colony......................................................... 605
Ericsdale.........................................................................
638
The
Ericsdale Colony ..................................................... 639
Jonah...............................................................................
698
The
Jonah Colony........................................................... 699
Elroy
...............................................................................
708
The
Elroy Colony ........................................................... 708
Kenedy............................................................................
750
The
Kenedy Colony........................................................ 751
Manor..............................................................................
774
The
Manor Colony.......................................................... 775
East Sweden....................................................................
790
West Sweden
.................................................................. 790
The
Brady Colony .......................................................... 791
Melvin..............................................................................
826
The
Melvin Colony......................................................... 827
Forth
Worth .................................................................... 849
The
Forth Worth Colony
................................................ 849
El
Campo...................................................................... 886
The
El Campo Colony.................................................... 887
Dallas..............................................................................
945
The
Dallas
Colony.......................................................... 945
Waco..............................................................................
964
The
Waco
Colony........................................................... 965
Lund................................................................................
991
Type................................................................................
991
Kimbro.......................................................................... l043
The
Kimbro Colony...................................................... 1043
Manda...........................................................................
1057
The
Manda Colony....................................................... 1057
The
Ganado Colony...................................................... 1081
Crosby...........................................................................
1095
The
Crosby Colony.......................................................
1095
Elgin..............................................................................
1109
Louise...........................................................................
1119
The
Louise Colony....................................................... 1119
Galveston......................................................................
1131
The
Galveston
Colony.................................................. 1131
Olivia............................................................................
1146
The
Olivia Colony ........................................................ 1146
The
Temple Colony......................................................
1160
Swedonia
...................................................................... 1162
The
Swedonia Colony .................................................. 1162
Bishop...........................................................................
1165
The
Bishop Colony....................................................... 1165
Swensondale.................................................................
1167
Lyford...........................................................................
1168
The
Lyford Colony....................................................... 1168
San Antonio..................................................................
1170
Houston.........................................................................
1172
Our
Boys Under the Flag................................................ 1175-1209
1
TEXAS
HISTORY
By
Carl Fromen
The
history of Texas starts with the white man. The few Indians
(maybe twenty thousand), who lived spread over its wide land area, lacked all
culture necessary for history. The coastal tribes stood on a very low level and
lived off raw fish and shellfish. Those who lived further inland were hunters,
and they say that when the immigrants gave them corn to sow, they ate it. Some,
like the Tejas Indians after which the state has been named, and in whose area
on the banks of the Neches
River the first Christian church was built,
lived in real houses and grew beans, corn and tobacco. The only trace of the
Indians are names of places and the arrows of flint which more than one settler
has found when he has plowed his field. Those who live in Texas now have come from other areas, and those
who were here, have left the state or disappeared among the closely related
Mexicans.
The
French and Spanish competed over who would be the first to settle here. The
Frenchman, La Salle, died during his third expedition to Texas in 1687 while looking for the Mississippi River, or rather, was killed by his accompanying
men near the Trinity
River, not far
from present Navasota. His expedition perished because of
illness, massacres by the Indians, and some of the survivors were spread out
among Indian tribes. At the arrival of the Spanish, they found the skeletons of
those who had died so sadly, and Fort St. Louis was in ruins. The French were more
successful in Louisiana where they had earlier gained a foothold
and started building a settlement. It
was the rumor of the French expedition which hastened the Spanish in their
attempts to colonize Texas.
They
started the establishment of missions for missionary work among the
Indians. The first church in Texas, “The Mission of San Francisco”, was built
in 1690 around 25 miles northeast of the present city of Crocket, and just west
of the Neches River.
The three main reasons for the Spanish colonization were: (1) the orders
of the Spanish king, (2) the fear that the French would conquer Texas and (3) the desire of the Catholic priests
to conduct missionary work among the Indians.
The first settlements were built in both the eastern and southeastern
part of the state. Those which were
started in East
Texas were built
to stop the French from settling in this country. One of these missions,
Guadalupe, stood just where present Nacogdoches is situated. Those which were built in the
southwestern part, around San Antonio, were larger and lasted longer. In
addition to the communities, ruins of their most famous buildings (the
so-called “Missions”) are still there in many places.
2
It
is thought that the old ruin of a monastery, Alamo, in San Antonio, was part of the mission, San Antonio de
Valero, which was built in 1718. These missions were half monastery, half
fortification, which were partially responsible for the spreading and
preserving of civilization. Around them the immigrants settled and under the
supervision of the monks, the land was cultivated by more or less unwilling
natives, who were neither interested in work nor Christianity, but appreciated
the protection they received from the other wild tribes. The civilization of
the Indians went slowly because even though many of the monks and priests
honestly tried to work for the welfare of the Indians, their work was hindered
by the rest of the white people. To a large part, these consisted of the worst Spain had left of the uneducated and lazy
adventurers, who had crossed the ocean or come from Mexico with the hope that they would quickly gain
honor and riches without any effort, but they were disappointed in their hopes.
The Spanish remained the only “lords of the land” until the end of the 17th
Century, when visitors started to arrive from the east. Slowly but surely, the
Americans came conquering the wilderness. The first were adventurers and
businessmen, or as they were usually called/Traders”, who were trying to trade
goods with the Indians. However, this was strongly forbidden to all foreigners,
but those who were successful spread the rumor to others of the riches and
beauty of the land. More of them came, not only temporary visitors, but also
those who were looking to settle and farm. One of these was Philip Nolan who in
1800 came to Texas with a small troop of men and settled near
the present city of Waco. This expedition had a sad ending,
however. As soon as the Spaniards found out that Nolan was in Texas they decided to capture him. Heading a
hundred soldiers, Lieutenant Musquis found Nolan’s hut at dawn on March
21, 1801. He
divided his troop into three divisions and approached with the intent to
surround Nolan’s men. They were barely a hundred feet from the hut when Nolan,
to the surprise of the Mexicans, came out and let them understand that if they
came closer, they would have to be responsible for their own lives. When Nolan
refused to surrender, they started to shoot at the hut, and in less than ten
minutes, Nolan had died from a bullet through the head. His men continued the
fight until around nine o’ clock, when they surrendered since they were out of
ammunition, many of them were wounded, and their leader was dead. They were
taken to Nacogdoches where they expected to be set free and
returned to the United States, but instead they were held as prisoners
for six years before they were sentenced. The sentence was that every fifth man
should be hung. As there were only nine men left, the kindly disposed judge
decided that only one should die. The remaining men were still kept imprisoned
and moved from one fort to another until it is not known what happened to more
than one of them. Ellis Bean escaped from imprisonment, and then had a varied
history during the Mexican civil war as an officer, and after the war, he
served as an officer at Nacogdoches for many years. He died in Mexico in 1846.
After
the United
States
bought Louisiana from France in 1803, more and more
settlers
arrived. Around 1813 some adventurers tried to drive both Spaniards and
Mexicans
from Texas. This expedition is called the Gutierrez
and Magee expedition,
3
and
was undertaken eleven years after the death of Nolan. The one who headed the expedition was Lt.
Augustus Magee, who had resigned from the U.S. Army, but the one who had
actually planned the expedition was a Mexican, Bernardo Guiterrez. The reason
they gave was that they intended to help Mexico in the ongoing Revolutionary War against Spain by first freeing Texas, and then helping Mexico. However, this was barely half the truth,
because they wanted to conquer Texas for themselves. First they took Nacogdoches in August of 1812, and in April of 1813
even San
Antonio
fell into their hands. But the Mexicans soon received reinforcement. In August
of the same year, in a battle by the Medina River, under the command of Col.
Toledo, eight hundred and fifty Americans, six hundred Indians, and about
fifteen hundred Mexicans met a Spanish division, but the former were led into
an ambush and killed so that of the eight hundred and fifty Americans, less
than one hundred returned to tell the story of their failed attempt. The last of these intruder-expeditions to Texas was the so-called Long’s Expedition led by
Dr. James Long from Natches, Mississippi, in 1818. Many Americans thought that all
of Texas belonged to the United States through the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, and were disappointed in the
government’s negotiations at the Florida Treaty of 1819 through which the United States gave up all jurisdiction and ownership of Texas west of the Sabine River.
Dr.
Long was one of these. He succeeded in gathering three hundred men with whom he
marched to Nacogdoches, declared Texas independent from Spain, and set up a government of sorts. He was
determined that Spain would not have Texas, even if the United States did not want it. But even Long failed, his
men were dispersed by Spanish troops and were driven from the province. Long
did not give up his attempt, and managed to mount another expedition with which
he conquered Goliad and enjoyed temporary success. However, he soon had to
capitulate. He was taken prisoner and brought to Mexico where he was soon freed. But not long
thereafter he was killed by a Mexican soldier. These three expeditions, with
the purpose to free Texas from Spain, had failed, but even so, they had served
an important purpose, that is, to acquaint Americans with Texas.
At
this time, or in 1821, when Mexico had shed the Spanish harness, another era
began, and they started to systematically plan an American colonization in Texas.
The
man who was in charge of this effort was Moses Austin, who received
permission
from the Mexican government, to move to Texas with three hundred
families.
Moses Austin arrived in San Antonio in November of 1820 after a long and
trying
journey through the wilderness from Missouri. His first visit with the governor
was
not successful, and he was ordered to immediately leave the province. On his
way
from the governor, he unexpectedly met an old friend. Baron de Bastrop, from
the
United
States.
Baron de Bastrop was a good friend of the governor, and with his
help
Austin received another audience, with
4
the
result that the governor, Martinez, recommended his colonization to the one
in charge. General Arrendondo Montery.
Austin returned home but did not live to see his
big plan realized. On his way home he was attacked by bandits and his followers
deserted him. However, he did make it home and after a short time, he had the
pleasure of hearing that his plan had been approved. It was not meant to be
that the old man should have to endure the trials and tribulations that such an
undertaking would bring. He died on June 10, 1821. His son, Stephen Austin, then only 28
years old, took over the project according to his father’s wishes. He
immediately set out for San Antonio where he was received well by the governor
as the legal representative of his father, and this is how the peaceful
American settlement of the area began.
The
first immigrants settled along the Brazos River. Every married man received four thousand,
four hundred and twenty-eight acres of land from the government. In 1835, there
were nearly thirty thousand Americans in Texas, a mixed population from many nations, of
many professions and characters, but with the courage of the pioneer and the
bravery of the hero in their veins.
It
was obvious that the Americans would not let themselves be governed by Mexicans
for long, and the Mexicans eventually started to realize this. While trying to
keep the recently arrived Americans under their rule, they gave them one reason
after the other to be first disappointed and then rebellious. Inexperienced and
incompetent at governing themselves, the Mexicans were even worse at governing
others. The two races were so different that under the circumstances that
existed, they could not live peacefully together for long. The white people
looked down on the Mexicans as a lower race. They were different in religious
beliefs and thinking. Their ways of life were different, and both groups considered
their language the best and they did not want to change it under any
circumstances. As they lived in the same
communities, disagreements often arose between them, and both appealed to the
authorities. If they judged in favor of the Mexicans it was considered, and in
most cases it probably was, a biased opinion by the authorities. This is how one of the colonists and an
impresario, Hayden Edwards, got the authorities against him. He started a
rebellion and declared Texas independent under the name “The Fredonia Republic”, but he
did not have the support of the other colonists, and he and his followers had
to flee over the border to the United States after six weeks, on January
31, 1827. But even
though he had failed, the rebellion had its results. The suspicion and fear the
Mexicans had that the Americans would take over increased more and more.
Therefore they attempted to stem the flow of immigration to Texas, and placed troops of soldiers here and
there in strategic places. These soldiers were often involved in fights with
the Americans, who finally rebelled and chased them away until only a few
remained.
When
the Mexican General Santa Anna rebelled, the white settlers took his side and
hoped
to win him over to their side by this action. He accepted their support, but
was
5
determined
to crush them at the first opportunity. Since dissatisfaction had arisen, for
many reasons which we cannot enumerate here, the settlers called a meeting in
San Felipe in April, 1833, to discuss what should be done, but could not agree.
Some wanted to separate from Mexico, and others, with Stephen F. Austin as
their leader, only wanted to separate Texas from Coauhila and wanted Texas to remain as a separate state within the
Mexican republic. A suggested constitution was drawn up by General Sam Houston, who had recently come to the
state, and it was accepted at the meeting. Stephen F. Austin was selected to
travel to Mexico, even though he was not in total agreement
with the decisions that were made, to present to President Santa Anna the
wishes of the settlers. He was not successful in his mission, and during his
return he was taken prisoner and returned to Mexico, where he was imprisoned for fifteen
months. During this time, Santa Anna had started to send larger divisions of
troops to Texas and commanded that the leaders should be
arrested and sent to Mexico for punishment. The Texans were
determined, however, not to let any of their men be taken to Mexico, and when
Austin came back from his imprisonment, and expressed his opinion that the only
solution to the problems was a complete separation from Mexico, people believed
him, because he was known as a man of peace, and they all knew that if he had
seen another way out than rebellion, he would have advocated it. It was from
this moment that Stephen F. Austin became their leader. On September
19, 1835, a
chain-letter was sent out and on his command, messengers were sent to all parts
of Texas to gather weapons, ammunition, and men. Austin was elected commander-in-chief and in the
first minor skirmishes, the Texans had the upper hand. One of the fiercest of
these battles was the conquest of San Antonio led by Ben Milam with only three hundred
volunteers. Meanwhile, the rumor was
spreading that Santa Anna was approaching with an army of six thousand men and
that he had threatened to drive the last of the Texans over the Sabine River. A new meeting of elected delegates
convened in November in San Felipe and a temporary government was formed. Henry
Smith was elected governor, James W. Robinson, lieutenant governor, as well as
a man from each district to make up the Congress. Sam Houston was elected Commander-in-Chief of
the Army, and Stephen F. Austin, William H. Wharton, and Branch T. Archer
representatives to the United States to negotiate for assistance. Those in
charge soon disagreed over who had the greatest power, which made another
meeting necessary and one was called to take place on March
1, 1836, in Washington on the Brazos River. The governing body which had been elected
at the first meeting was disbanded. Texas declared its independence and a new
temporary government was formed with David G. Burnet as President, and Lorenzo
de Zavala, vice president, with a cabinet of good advisors, among whom were
Col. Thomas J. Rusk, Secretary of War. The newly elected government was to
serve until a general election could be held.
Let
us remain for a while at this point in time. We are in the era of patriots and
heroes.
Even though the troops were small compared to those of the Twentieth
Century,
brave men fought even then for home and
6
freedom,
and no country has more wonderful memories of noble men who sacrificed all in
the struggle against its country’s oppressors. When General Houston took
command, the small troops were spread out all over Texas. Col. Fannin was stationed at Goliad with
a force of four to five hundred men. Dr. James Grant had less than one hundred
men at San Patricio, and Col. William B. Travis was at Alamo, San Antonio, with one hundred and fifty brave men,
among whom were the veterans, James Bowie, and the famous Davy Crockett. The
rumor that the Alamo had fallen came to the meeting in Washington on the Brazos. Col. Travis and all his men had been
defeated by Santa Anna, who had taken the fort with around three thousand men,
and wanted to fulfill his threat to drive each and everyone of them and their
people from Texas.
The rumor was true.
The
Battle of Alamo has no equal in world history. Col. Travis arrived in San Antonio and took command of the fort in Alamo at the beginning of February, 1836.
He
immediately realized that it was impossible to defend it with only one hundred
fifty
men against

The
Battle of Alamo
Santa
Anna’s approaching forces. Therefore, Travis wrote again and again to
Governor
Smith for help, but he had none to send. A small troop of thirty-two men
from
Gonzales made their way past the enemy and came to their aid on March 1. On
March
3, Travis wrote “a blood-red flag waves over Bexar’ s church and in the enemy
camp
as a sign that this is a war of revenge against the rebels, but their threats
don’t
scare
me or my men. We are determined to die defending our country’s freedom and
our
own honor.” On the following day, Santa Anna held a war council, and a decision
was
made to storm the fort. Early at dawn on Sunday morning, March 6, orders went
out
to begin the attack. At first they approached quietly but soon the trumpets
sounded,
“No Pardon”, and the attack began. The fort was surrounded by an outer
wall,
from which the Texans first
7
directed
the defense. But the line of defense was too long for the few Texans to defend
and guard, so the Mexicans stormed the wall and the Texans in small groups now
started a deadly fight with their hated enemy. No pardon was asked and none
given. Travis and Crockett were fighting
as ten men, and Bowie, although confined to his bed, sold his
life dearly. The Mexican forces were too powerful, and in less than an hour
every defender of the Alamo lay dead. Then the Mexicans piled the
fallen Travis and his soldiers into a heap and burned their bodies, but the
ashes of these heroes were later collected by the Texans and buried with
honors. “Thermopylae had her messenger of defeat, but the Alamo had none.”
Three
weeks after the fall of the Alamo, the bloodbath at Goliad followed. Col.
Fannin was forced to surrender there with a force of around four hundred
men, surrounded by over two thousand Mexicans, after a brave but hopeless
fight. A few days later they marched out in small groups, and in spite of all
promises, laws, and rules of war, they were shot on Santa Anna’s orders.

President
Houston’s Residence 1837-1838 in Houston, Texas
But
the day of revenge drew near. When General Houston received the message
about
all these sad defeats and about the great forces of Santa Anna, he decided to
retreat,
especially as he knew that his forces were too weak to attack or withstand such
force.
During the retreat, he stopped where it was suitable to train his troops. The
road
was
filled with men, women, and children who had left their homes and all they
owned
to
flee from the enemy. Santa Anna’s victory at the Alamo had made him overconfident,
and
when he heard about another victory over Fannin, and the retreat of General
Houston, he thought there was not much more to do
but to take Texas. Therefore he
hurriedly
left San
Antonio
8
for
San Felipe, where he arrived on April 7. The city already lay in ashes, so he
hurriedly
marched to Harrisburg, where he intended to take President
Burnet and his
cabinet
as prisoners. However, the government had been warned and fled to
Galveston only a few hours before the arrival of
Santa Anna. Upset that his “prey”
had
escaped, he burned the city and marched along Buffalo Bayou and the San
Jacinto River to New Washington. Santa Anna was far from his main army,
and this
was
the opportunity that General Houston had been waiting for. At a quick march,
he
set out after Santa Anna, and on April 20, the two armies met in the area of Buffalo
Bayou
and the San
Jacinto River. The battle did not start

GENERAL
SAM HOUSTON
The
First President of the Texas
Republic
until
the next day at three in the afternoon. Meanwhile, Santa Anna had received reinforcements,
so his force was now around thirteen hundred men, while Houston’s was only eight hundred. The Texans were
anxious for revenge, and when General Houston gave orders to attack, it was
greeted by unanimous approval. Silently they marched forward until they were so
close that the Mexicans could hear them when they raised the war-cry, “Remember
the Alamo”, “Remember the Goliad”. At a “running
march” they attacked the surprised Mexicans to whom the attack was totally
unexpected. Santa Anna and many of his men were asleep, some were cooking their
dinner, while others were watering their horses, and before they had time to
reach for their weapons, the Texans had attacked them. They made a vain attempt
to resist but failed, and soon the whole Mexican army had scattered in wild
flight, pursued by the Texans.
9
According
to General Houston’s own report it was a fierce but short battle, which lasted,
at most, eighteen minutes. But they continued to pursue the enemy until
dusk. It was a remarkable battle. Fannin
and Travis were avenged because the Mexicans lost six hundred dead, and seven
hundred and thirty were taken prisoners. Of those, two hundred were wounded.
The Texans had only lost two soldiers, and twenty three were wounded, but of
those, two later died from their wounds. General Houston himself got shot in
the ankle. This remarkable battle took place on April 21, 1836, and was called the Battle of San Jacinto.
Santa
Anna managed to escape, but was taken prisoner the following day. It was his
disguise that saved him, because he was so hated that if the soldiers had known
who he was, instant death would have been his lot.
General
Houston and Santa Anna immediately drew up a peace treaty which was signed on
May 14, by President Burnet and General Santa Anna, and was called the ‘Treaty
of Velasco”. The conditions of peace were (1) that hostilities

The
Texas Republic’s First Capitol in Columbia, Texas, 1836
should
immediately cease, and the entire Mexican army should retreat as soon as
possible across the Rio Grande River, (2) that Mexico should compensate or pay
for all private property that had taken from the Texans, (3) that Santa Anna
should be freed with the right to return to Mexico, where he promised to use
his influence to get the Mexican government to recognize Texas’ independence
from that nation. According to the
above-mentioned peace treaty. General Filisola, the successor of Santa Anna,
led the Mexican Army out of Texas, General Houston went to New Orleans to receive medical care for his wounds
received at San
Jacinto, and
General Rusk took command of the army. A new era had begun; Texas had driven its hated enemy across the
border,and messengers were sent in all directions to spread the good news to
the refugees who jubilantly returned to their homes.
10
The
Texas revolutionary history would hardly be
complete if nothing was mentioned about the aid which was sent from the United States. Stephen Austin, William H. Wharton, and
Dr. Archer had been sent to request aid, and in this matter they met with much
sympathy. Large sums of money was loaned and donated, as well as food,
clothing, and ammunition, and hundreds of men enlisted as volunteers in the Texas army and gave their lives for the freedom
of Texas. Without this generous help from the United States, it is doubtful that the revolution would
have been successful. In the Fall, on
the first Monday in September, 1836, there was an election when people were
asked to vote on three important issues: (1) The constitution of the new
republic, (2) President and Vice President and members of Congress and (3) The
question whether Texas should remain an independent republic or join the United
States if the United States would allow it. The constitution was adopted and
General Sam Houston was elected the first President of
the Republic, and as the answer to the third question, the people expressed
their wish to join the United States.
General Sam Houston was one of Texas’ most intelligent and brilliant men. He
was born in Virginia in 1793, and died in Huntsville, Texas, in 1863. Twice he was elected President
of the Republic, first from 1836 to 1838, and then again from 1841 to
1844. From 1846 to 1859, he represented
the state of Texas in the United States Senate, and from this
time to 1861, he was Governor of the State of Texas.
Big difficulties met the new republic in all areas. They still did not
feel secure from Mexico, which refused to recognize Texas as a Republic, and the Indians were also
hard to please. Another danger was the sudden immigration from the United States by men unfamiliar with conditions in the
South, and because of this, they were the cause of fights and trouble instead
of being of help. President Houston developed peaceful politics and wisely
avoided problems. To counter the financial difficulties from which Texas suffered after the war, he prescribed a
strict economy. During its ten years as
a republic, Texas had, except for Sam Houston, two other presidents, Mirabeau B.
Lamar from 1838-1841, and Dr. Anson Jones from 1844-1846, and when Texas joined
the United States the same year, he transferred the power of ruling the state
to J. Pinkney Henderson, who became the first governor of the new state.
President
Lamar was, in contrast to Houston, more contentious in his politics and therefore battled with
both Mexico and the Indians. Lamar was of the opinion
that the Indians were a hindrance to immigration and that people feared coming
to Texas because of them. The most feared were the
Cherokees in the vicinity of Nacogdoches. Fearing
that they would ally themselves with the Mexicans, President Lamar decided to
drive them out of Texas. He was willing to pay them for their land
and homes, but when they refused to sell, they were driven out of Texas in 1839. At the beginning of the war with Mexico in 1835, there were from 12-15000 Indians
in Texas divided into different tribes.
11
Despite
the unsettled conditions, the animosity of the Indians, and the threats of the
Mexicans, the immigration increased, and between the 1836-1846, several
thousand families came. Many came from Germany, some from England, but the majority came from the United States. In 1846 there were in Texas 102,961 whites, 38,753 slaves, and 295
freed slaves.
As
we’ve already mentioned, Mexico had never recognized the peace-treaty of
Velasco in May, 1836, and declared that Santa Anna as prisoner did not have the
authority to sign the treaty, and they had not given up the idea to send an
army to Texas at the first opportune moment to
discipline the rebels. Therefore, when President Lamar

Ruins
of President Houston’s Residence in Washington on the Brazos, Texas, 1842-44
did
not take measures to stop the Texans from helping supply manpower to the
Liberal Party in Mexico, which was then fighting against the government with
the purpose of establishing a republic in Northern Mexico, and caused further
trouble with the Santa Fe expedition in 1841, a Mexican army was sent to Texas,
which occupied San Antonio, and simultaneously, in 1842, both Goliad and
Refugio. However, the Mexicans left as
quickly as they had arrived. San Antonio was occupied a second time in September by
a Mexican force. This time they resisted, and the Mexicans retreated with
sixty-seven prisoners whom they took with them to Mexico. The Texans were now angered, and over a
thousand men in San
Antonio
were ready to march over the border into Mexico. Houston, who was now President, was
against becoming involved in another war with Mexico and did not encourage the venture which
had a sad outcome.
Several
smaller expeditions were sent out and the animosity between Texas and
12
Mexico continued, much blood was spilled, and
many had to suffer imprisonment in Mexico before Texas joined the United States.
Texas
requested to join the United States in 1836, but even though this country had
accepted Texas as a republic the same year, it was not immediately ready to
accept Texas as a state in the union for two important reasons: (1) The United
States knew that Mexico would declare war as soon as Texas was made one of its
states, (2) Texas was also a slave state, and there were many in the United
States who were working against a union because of this. This angered the
Texans so much that they withdrew their request in 1838.
In
the following years however, the United States learned the value of Texas, and in addition, the rumor was spread
that England wanted Texas, and they started to say that the United States had to accept it to prevent England from being given a chance to acquire it.
The slave question was still disturbing, and the United States Congress did not
let Texas join the Union until 1845.
At
the time of union, Texas was allowed to keep public land which in
other states belonged to the government. The state sold a part of this to the United States a couple of years later for ten million
dollars, and this sum was used to pay the debt from the days of the Republic.
Three million acres of this land was used to pay for a colossal state capitol
building which was built of granite. Much of this land has also been given to
the railroads to encourage railroad construction. The entrance of Texas into the union did as feared cause war
between the United States and Mexico. This war which started in 1846 continued
barely two years, and peace was declared in February of 1848, and was called
the “Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo”, as it was signed in this city only a few
miles from the Mexican capital. In this treaty, Mexico gave up all ownership and governing power
over Texas, and accepted the Rio Grande as the border between Texas and Mexico. It also relinquished to the United States for a sum of fifteen million dollars, the
vast land area which is now California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, part of New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming. As the result of this treaty, which was
the indirect result of Texas entering the Union, the history of these small Texas colonies which were established by Austin
and his men has become of greater importance.
Texas now had peace and the opportunity to develop
its resources. But it was still in great debt. The United States gave an additional three million dollars
in 1855 as payment for the expenses Texas had had because of the problems with the
Indians and to create more peaceful conditions and encourage immigration, the
rest of the Indians were moved from Texas to Oklahoma.
In
spite of the stormy times, immigration had continued in such numbers that the
population
in 1860 had grown to 421,411 whites with 180,682 slaves, and 339 freed
slaves,
all in all 602,432. Farming and
13
cattle
raising were the principal sources of livelihood. In the river valleys there
were large cotton plantations, worked by black slaves, and out in the wild
plains, large herds of cattle were grazing.
In
1852, the building of the first railroad to Harrisburg was begun with twenty miles built in
August the following year, 1853. To encourage the building of railroads, the
legislature passed a law which promised more than ten thousand acres of land
for every mile of railroad built. Laws for the founding of the state’s public
schools were passed in 1853 at the suggestion of Governor E.M. Pease. Times of unrest were approaching and they did
not have a long period of time to devote to peaceful development. The reason
for this was mainly the slave-question, and then the Civil War broke out in
1861. Among the states which were in favor of slavery and seceded from the
Union were South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana,
Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas. They formed their own
republic with a government similar to that of the United States with Jefferson Davis from Mississippi as President. The new republic took the
name of the Confederate States of America. Sam Houston was governor of Texas at this time and used his influence to
convince Texas to remain in the Union.
However, they no longer listened to the formerly-loved leader and
veteran, and when he refused to pledge allegiance to the new republic, he was
removed from office and Edward Clark. Lieutenant Governor, was installed in his
place. Houston died two years later in his home in Huntsville.
Texas was very little affected by the horrors of
war. Only two or three attempts were made by the army of the North to enter Texas which were unsuccessful. Texas could correctly be called the warehouse of
the Southern States army during the war.
When the other southern states were prevented from all trade by the
United States Navy which blockaded their coasts, Texas carried on in their substantial trade with
Mexico.
Goods
bought in Mexico were immediately shipped to the Southern
States army. Industry within the state
also benefitted to a large degree. Factories were built for the manufacture of
cloth, hats, shoes, blankets, tents and other necessities; the state prison in Huntsville was converted into a factory where large
quantities of war materials were made for the Texas soldiers or sold to the confederate
government. Texas was therefore considered to be in better
shape at the end of the war than any other of the southern states.
Home
life, however, was one of hardship and self denial. Many things which we now
consider necessities were then luxury items. Printed calico was then worth
$50.00 per yard (Southern States money). Coffee could not be bought at any
price, because it was not available. Instead of coffee-beans, they used roasted
sweet potatoes, rye, okra-beans, etc., and instead of soda, they burned
corncobs and used the ashes. In almost every home one member of the family was
missing because the father or son had been called to serve in the army.
After
four years, this sad war ended, on April 9,1865, when the
14
great
southern general, Robert E. Lee, had to surrender to an army more than three
times the size of his own at Appomattox, Virginia. With the end of the war came the era of
reconstruction with its great problems, which if they had been left to be
solved by the population of the south who understood them, would not have been
difficult to solve. Those in power in the North made the same mistake as they
had done in the other southern states. They put the governing power in the
hands of the military, often uneducated Negroes, who could neither read nor
write, and carpetbaggers from the North, who were lacking in both insight and
experience regarding the people and conditions of the South. The war itself did
not produce as bitter feelings towards the North as the Reconstruction Era did.
Texas’ place as one of the states was restored
in 1870, but it did not get a governor, Richard Coke, until 1874, and he was
elected by a popular majority. Texas was again not just a state, but its
government was in the hands of its own people. However, one thing remained - it
must have a new constitution - the old one reminded them too much of the bitter
Reconstruction era, and therefore a new constitution was written in 1875, and
it was ratified in a popular election in 1876.
A
time of flourishing and development now commenced. Railroads were built, new
cities appeared, and old ones grew. Lawlessness which was widespread after the
war, was suppressed. In 1881, when Roberts was governor, the old state house in
Austin burned down. The legislature was called
for an extra session and it decided to have a new building erected for which
the cornerstone was laid on “Texas Independence Day”, in 1885, and it was
completed in May of 1888. This building, which was made of red granite, is next
in size to the capitol in Washington. The inhabitants of Texas were only eight hundred thousand in 1870,
compared to 1910, when it was slightly less than four million. Of all the
states in the Union, only New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Ohio have more inhabitants and with the ongoing
immigration to the state Texas, it should within a few years, have surpassed even these
states in population.
The
peaceful development has made rapid advances. Politically, the Democrats have
always had the majority even if they have been divided among themselves, which
has served the same purpose as if the powers had been divided among two
parties. At one time the debate was about control of the railroads within the
state, and it ended with the formation of the so-called Railroad Commission,
with the power to investigate complaints and decide freight and passenger fees.
Later Prohibition has been the foremost political question. Time after time, it
has been defeated until 1918, when a law was passed, which on June 25 of the
same year, closed all bars in the state.
Texas is called ‘The Lone-Star State” (Den
Ensamma Stjarnans Stat). This star is hardly seen among so many thousand others
in the sky of history, but it shines clearly, and the person who has once
gotten to know it loves to stay in its radiance.
15
TEXAS
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
J.J.
Hamilton
Location
Texas can, with reason, be counted among the
southern states, because next to Florida, it is the southernmost state of the Union. But Texas could also be counted among the central
states because its location is about halfway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific, measuring from east to
west. Its capital, Austin, is situated upon basically the same
latitude, or as far south as Cairo in Egypt. There is the same distance to the polar
circle in the north as to the equator in the south, which makes Texas in the heart of the northern mixed-belt.
Area
The
acreage of Texas is the largest among the United States of America. It has 265,780 square miles. Of these,
262,290 square miles are land, and only 3,490 square miles are covered by
water. Within the state there are 167,865,600 acres of land, or enough to
supply every person in the United States with over 1.5 acres each. From north to south there is a distance of
750 miles, and from east to west there is a distance of over 790 miles. The
length of the state from north to south is about half the length of the United States in the same direction, and its width from
east to west is about a third of the entire country. Texas is 242 times as large as the state of Rhode Island, 30 times as large as the state of Massachusetts, and nearly 6 times the size of the state
of New
York.
The German Empire could be placed within the area of Texas, and a fourth of the state would still not
be covered, and Great Britian and Ireland could be placed within half of Texas. Sweden would occupy three-fourths of the state.
If Texas was as densely populated as the state of Rhode Island, there would be 90 million people within
its borders. Someone has figured out that if every person who has ever lived on
this earth returned all at once, we would be able to offer them nearly two
square feet of land in Texas.
Borders
Texas borders the state of Louisiana to the east where the border towards the
north
is
the Sabine River up to the 32nd parallel. From here the
border continues northward
at
the 94th meridian along Louisiana and Arkansas to the Red River. Westward from
here
16
the
border along Arkansas and Oklahoma is the Red River to the 100th longitude. Here the border turns northward along this
longitude on the edge of Oklahoma approximately to the 36th latitude and the
border to Oklahoma, turns westward to the 103rd meridian.
From here the border runs along this longitude to the south along New Mexico to the 32nd latitude, after which the
border continues west along New Mexico to the Rio Grande River. Along this river, which is the border
toward Mexico, the borderline continues in a
southeasterly direction to the Gulf
of Mexico, which
in a northeasterly direction stretches along the Texas coast for nearly 500 miles.
The Coastline
Texas has what we can call a slowly sloping
coastline. Along all of the coast of both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic, the ocean floor is even, and it barely
slopes outward. The ocean is therefore very shallow for quite some distance and
a slight raising of the ocean floor would cause it to rise above sea level.
This is what has actually happened on the Texas Coast. After the ocean floor has risen, it has
again lowered so that the ocean has been able to penetrate here and there in
the dells, and a series of bays have been formed along the coast, such as Galveston Bay, Matagorda Bay, Esperitu Santo Bay, and Corpus Christ! Bay. These bays,
originally not very deep, are constantly being filled with material carried
there by the river and by ocean waves and streams. As a result of this, the
ports are not very good, except at Galveston. There they have built long stone walls
and wave-breakers, so-called “Rock Jetties”, which reach out into the ocean for
miles, and therefore they have managed to keep a harbor of 30 feet constantly
open, and can receive the deepest and heaviest loaded ships. Because of these
port facilities and the excellent location, Galveston is the second city in the nation in
regards to shipping.
Another
peculiarity which we meet on the Texas coast are the many sandy islands
which
probably more deserve the name sandy reefs. These stretch along the entire
coast.
The larger waves of the ocean cannot reach the coast, but break where the
water
is deeper, sometimes miles out in the ocean. Where this happens the ocean sand
is
thrown up into reefs, and as one wave follows the other with its load of sand,
the
size
and height of the reef increases until it rises above the surface of the water
and
creates
an island. What the ocean water has started, the wind completes as it
continues
to pile up the continuously gathering sand. The islands, which are created
in
this way, are usually much longer than they are wide, and run parallel with the
coast,
and behind them there is usually an area of calm water. The most important
islands
which have been formed in this way are Galveston Island or as it is also called,
“Treasure Island”, Matagorda Island,
17
St. Joseph Island, and Padre Island, the later 100 miles long and in its own
way, the most unusual in the world.
Topography
It
is obvious that in a state as large as Texas there must exist a lot of variety
regarding the topography, but you can say that mainly Texas is one slightly sloping plateau, gradually
lowering towards the southeast, or the Gulf of Mexico. This enormous plain can be divided into
three parts: first, the lowlands, or the coastal plains, consisting of rich
grazing areas, which gradually have been cultivated and consist of the part of
the state which lies along the Gulf
of Mexico. Then
there is the prairie, which is largely covered with small trees and bushes,
slightly hilly and particularly fertile, and this is in the middle part of the
state. The third part consists of the mountains in the southwest, which is
divided by the Apache Mountains and an extension of the Guadalupe mountain
chain, and some separate groups of mountains. The highlands north of these
mountains also belong to this area and it is known as El Llano Estacado, or the
Staked Plains. Here nothing grows but grass.
It is an area totally bare of trees, located 4000 feet above sea level.
This area is so flat that if you go out in this enormous area it seems as if
you are standing in a big pot where the sides are slightly sloping upward,
meeting the canopy of the sky at the horizon around you.
Level above the Sea
Even
though the largest part of the state is lower than 1000 feet over sea level,
the medium level above the sea is 1700 feet. The most fertile part of the state
and the one which is most densely populated, is the one located from 500 to 700
feet above sea level. The highest mountain is Guadalupe Peak, which rises 9000 feet over ocean level.
Drainage
The
Texas drainage system consists of all in all
forty-four rivers of more or less importance. Most of them run in a
southeasterly direction and empty into the Gulf of Mexico. Two of them, the Red River and the Canadian River, are tributaries of the Mississippi River. Commercially, the rivers in Texas are of slight importance.
During
a large part of the year the rainfall west of the Brazos is negligable, and the
rivers
which are situated there shrink into little creeks, and during times of drought
they
are hardly more than a series of puddles. These rivers have clear water however,
and
during times of heavy rainfall, they swell and overflow their bed and become
very
rapid. The water in the more important rivers seems
18
murky
and has a reddish brown color, which is caused by the leeching out of the soil
in the areas where it flows through. The most important of the rivers which
originate inside the state is the Brazos River. It is the drainage canal for an area of
59,000 square miles or an area as big as the State of Georgia. Its source is located in Lamb County, just below “The Staked Plains,” and it
empties into the Gulf
of Mexico. It is
navigable to shallow-draught ships up to Columbia, a distance of 40 miles, and they are
working on making it navigable all the way up to Waco. The complete length of the river is 950
miles. Second in importance is the Red River,
which has its source in “The Llano Estacado” at a height of 2,500 miles above
sea level. Along a large part of its length, it makes up the border between Oklahoma and Texas and Arkansas and Texas, and then it runs through Arkansas and Louisiana and empties into the Mississippi River. It
is navigable up to Shreveport, Louisiana, and at times, shallow draught ships
venture up as far as Jefferson, Texas. It has a drainage area within Texas of 29,000 square miles. The Colorado River has its source near that of the Brazos, and empties into Matagorda Bay. It is known for the scenic beauty along
its shores. Austin, the capital of Texas, has a beautiful location along this
river, 200 miles from its mouth. The
most important tributaries are the Concho, The Llano, and the San Saba Rivers.
It
is the drainage canal for an area of 900 square miles, or an area equal to the
State
of
Tennessee. The Trinity River flows in a southeasterly direction from
“The Grand
Prairie,”
almost parallel with the Brazos River, and it empties into the Gulf of Mexico
about
40 miles from Galveston. The cities of Fort Worth and Dallas are located by
the
Trinity River, and the United States government is considering plans to make
this
river
navigable all the way up to Dallas. The Sabine
River, which
makes up the border
in
the east to Louisiana, is 500 miles long and has a drainage area
in Texas of 17,000
square
miles. It was named after the trees which are so plentiful in this area, the
Cypress, which in Mexican are called “Sabinas”.
The Rio
Grande
has its source in
the
Rocky Mountains in the southwestern part of Colorado, and it flows in a
southeasterly
direction for a distance of close to 1,800 miles after which it empties
into
the Gulf of Mexico. It has only one tributary, the Pecos River. From El Paso to
the
Gulf of Mexico, it makes up the border between Texas and Mexico. In its upper
portion
the flow is plentiful but it is used a large part for irrigation, and what is
not
used
for this purpose, disappears by seeping through the riverbed which in the upper
portion
to a large part consists of sand. Just below El Paso, the riverbed is scarcely
more
than a sandy area with a slight indentation and sometimes it is totally dried
out,
or
with stagnant water in hollows here and there. At other times, when rainfall is
plentiful,
the river overflows and floods a large area of the surrounding land and
causes
a lot of destruction. Further down towards the mouth of the river, it gets
deeper
and
the water
19
more
plentiful and at times it is navigable to smaller ships for a few miles.
Lakes
Only
about one-eightieth of Texas is covered by water. There are a number of small lakes with
both salt and fresh water, but there are no lakes of any importance. The most
important are Lake Wichita in Wichita County in the north. Grand Lake in Colorado
County, and Clear Lake in Harris County in the southeastern part of the state,
some saltwater lakes in Hidalgo and Cameron counties in the southern part of
the state, and between the Diablo and Guadalupe Mountains in the west, as well
as by “Llano Estacado” and the Sabine Lake by the border to Louisiana.
Mountain Areas
We
have mentioned before that Texas is mainly one giant plain, sloping towards the ocean in the
southeast. In the northwestern part of the state there are rock formations
which even though they do not deserve to be called mountains are still more
than hills or slopes. And in the southwestern part, the part which lies west of
the Pecos River, we can really find mountain chains as
well as single mountains. “The Callahan
Divide” is the name of a group of enormous hills in the northwestern part of
the state, including Coleman, Comanche, Brown, Eastland, Callahan, Mitchell,
Taylor and Runnells counties. Here the area takes on the look of highlands and
rises from a height of 700 feet in the eastern part to 2,500 feet in the west.
The formation of the surface is very varied, depending on the disintegration,
decomposition and leeching out of different materials and constituents which
has been created by the influence of air and water. A number of hills or
mountains in miniature looking like enormous inverted pots or pans, are spread
out over this highland giving it the impression of huge quays placed close
together. West of the Pecos
River in the part of Texas which juts out with El Paso as its furthest point and lies between New Mexico and Mexico, we find four different branches of the Rocky Mountains reaching into Texas from New Mexico. These branches do not take the form of
closely connected mountains or a continuous chain, but give the impression of
separate mountains which rise from the plains without any visible connection
between them and are, therefore, included in the type of mountains which are
called “Lost Mountains.” These mountains and groups of mountains are from west
to east: the Franklin Mountains; Hueco, Quitman and Eagle Mountain, the Comanche, Wind and Diablo Mountains; the Guadalupe, Davis and Santiago Mountains.
The highest peaks in Texas are: Guadalupe Peak, which is 9,000 feet, Livermore Peak, which is 8,500 feet, and Mt. Emory, which is 8,500 feet.
Climate Conditions
In
general, Texas offers three types of climate: what we could
20
call
low, humid and cold, what we could label low, humid and warm, and what could be
classified as high and dry. In the northeast we find the first type, on the
coast, the second, and in the western part, the third. The average temperature
in the coastal area is 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and in the far northwest, the
average temperature is 56 degrees. The hot season lasts from May through
October. During this time the heat is fairly severe, and the thermometer often
shows 110 degrees Fahrenheit. The heat is seldom oppressive because the air is
fresh and clear and the cooling winds from the Gulf of Mexico makes even the
hottest day bearable, at least if you seek the shade. Things like sunstroke or
overheating are hardly known, or are at least very rare. The nights are
particularly pleasant because of the Gulf winds, which are strongest at that
time. In the southern and middle parts of the state there is no winter to speak
of, but it can sometimes get fairly cold, and it feels much worse because it
happens seldom and when it does, it comes very quickly in connection with a
strong northern wind. When these northerly winds occasionally sweep down, the
temperature can drop by many tens of degrees. The “Northers” are usually
preceded by a few hours of unusual heat caused by the approaching wind, which
forces the air to the south and causes it to becomes hot and heavy. “Northers”
usually do not last for more than three days and arrive quite unexpectedly and
with irregular intervals. Sometimes it
can happen that a new “Norther” can follow immediately after a preceding one
and prolongs the cold-spell in this way. Sometimes these northern winds are
mixed with rain, snow, or even sleet and are then called “Wet Northers”. In some parts of the state, the temperature can
fall as low as 0 degrees Fahrenheit, and it has happened even in the southern
and central parts of the state that the mercury has fallen as low as to 4
degrees above zero. These are exceptions, however. The climate can all in all
be said to be fairly healthy, and regarding the winters, southern Texas has milder and more pleasant ones than any
other state in the Union.
Soil Conditions
Texas offers a rich variety of different kinds
of particularly fertile soil. The variety
of
good soil means that there is hardly any type of crop of the more common ones
which
cannot be grown in some parts of the state. It is not common to add fertilizer,
and
in most cases it is not necessary. Thousands of acres have been cultivated for
sixty
years or more and give as good a harvest today as it ever did. The richest soil
is
the waxy black loam, which is mostly found in central Texas. This soil is most
suitable
for growing different kinds of grain and above all, cotton. This black waxy
soil
has gotten its name because of its color and adherent nature. It is from one to
several
feet deep. The
21
second
richest is the black sandy soil, which can be found in the southern part of the
state and on the coast. This soil is easier to cultivate than the former and is
particularly suitable for growing rice and sugarcane. Fruit and vegetables also
grow well in this soil. The black sandy, the red sandy, and the gray sandy
soils which are to be found in eastern Texas, have long been known as
particularly suitable for growing fruit. In the river valleys, particularly
those of the Brazos, Colorado, Red River
and Trinity Rivers, there are deposits of soil, and these
vary, depending on the soil in the areas the rivers flow through. These river
valleys receive constant deposits of soil when the rivers overflow. Deposits of
a depth of an entire inch have occurred at one single flooding of the river. In
some areas, it is said that the soil which has been created in this way over
the centuries is as deep as fifty feet. The Brazos riverbeds are said to have the richest
soil of this kind. It is darker and more waxy, while the soil west of the Brazos is more sandy because of the sandy area
where the river flows in its upper course. In the northern part of the state,
the soil of these river valleys is particularly suitable for growing corn, but
in the south it is more favorable for cotton, rice and sugarcane which gives
excellent yields.
Forest
The
lumber industry is one of the sources for the riches and wealth of Texas. It is true that Texas does not have much to offer of hardwoods
which are used for lumber.
Still,
an area of 64,000 square miles is covered by forest, a larger area than in any
other
State
in the Union. The types of wood which are available in
large amounts are pine
and
cypress. The true forest areas are limited to the eastern parts of the state,
and the
types
of wood which are available are two types of pine, i.e., with long or short
needles.
The long-needled pine is found in the east from Harris County in the north
and
down towards the Gulf
of Mexico, to
within around twenty miles from the coast
where
it stops growing. Around 25,000,000 acres of land is covered by this type of
pine.
From here building material is shipped to all parts of Texas as well as
Oklahoma, a part of Kansas, and other states in the west. The
short-needled pine
takes
over in the north from Harris
County along the border-areas, and further up it
is
mixed with other types of wood, such as walnut, maple, ash and poplar. Pecan
trees
grow
in large numbers in the river valleys and along the riverbanks. The pecan nuts
are
very tasty. The lumber is used mostly for tools like handles for shovels,
pickaxes,
and
similar things. Additionally, we find, particularly on the black soil prairies,
woods
such as elm, oak, and live oak among others, which obviously do not grow
well,
but have taken on a dwarf type of growing, except maybe the live oak, which
is
better acclimatized than some of the other trees. Among the trees which are
most
suitable
as shade trees, hackberry
22
is
the foremost. It also grows wild on the black-land prairies. All of the latter
types of wood have no significant value as lumber, but are mainly used as
firewood and other less important uses where hardwoods are not needed.
INDUSTRY IN THE STATE
General
Overview. The general idea of those who have been lacking in closer knowledge
of the true conditions in Texas, has largely been that the state is mainly one giant pasture,
and that the most important, yes almost the only industry, is cattle ranching.
This is totally erroneous, because among all sources of livelihood, farming
comes first, then ranching, and in addition there is important industry and

Rice-thrashing
in El
Campo, Texas
substantial
mining within the state. Texas is not only the promised land of the cowboys, but also that
of the industrialist, farmer, craftsman, and miner. We have to admit that some
of these fields are in their infancy, but great opportunities lie ahead for
them as well.
Farming.
Texas’ foremost resource is its rich soil, and
thus the most important
industry
is farming. The riches of the state lies mainly in the enormous and
inexhaustible
production of the rich soil. There are already over half a million farms,
worth
about two and a half billion dollars. According to an official report in 1910,
the
income from farming within the state reached $650,000,000 yearly. This is a sum
equivalent
to $160.00 for each person, man, woman, or child within the state. Only
within
a part of the state, the one which
23
lies
east of the 100th parallel, is the rainfall sufficient to bring in a harvest
using
conventional
means of cultivation. West of this meridian, they must use irrigation, or
so-called
dry farming. Water for irrigation is created in two ways, either by damming
up
the rivers, or by digging wells. By using the former method, they have managed
to
create a system of irrigation in the Rio Grande area, which is among the best of its
kind
in the United
States.
The Medina Dam just below San Antonio, which has been
created
by damming the Medina River, will supply an area of 150,000 acres of
land
with
water for irrigation. Up in the Panhandle, in and around Hereford, Plainview,
Tulia
and other

Weighing
and transporting of cotton to a gin
places,
they use the latter method to drill wells to supply water for watering the
fields. When growing rice, they are
totally dependent on irrigation and for this purpose, they use water from
rivers, brooks, and wells. Another way to produce a harvest where rainfall is
not sufficient using conventional methods, is by so-called “dry farming.”
The
basic principle for this kind of farming is to preserve the moisture which
exists
and
not let it evaporate in areas where the rainfall is sufficient, but does not
come at
the
right time. To achieve this they use suitable methods; deep plowing and
constant
turning
of the soil to keep the surface loose and crumbly, and therefore prevent
moisture
from reaching the surface and evaporating. Through this method, large areas
of
land in west central Texas
24
and
up in the Panhandle area which would otherwise be almost useless, have been
able
to give ample harvests. Experienced leaders in agriculture are encouraging the
use
of this method in even more areas and advise its use even in areas where the
precipitation
is sufficient. Another difficulty which meets the farmer is in the form
of
too much water

Field
of sugareane in southern Texas

Corn
cobs from the Black-loam belt
in
the areas where the water remains on the ground after continuous rain, because
of insufficient drainage. Large areas of land were considered useless or at
least useless for anything but grazing until they were given proper drainage,
and have now become the most productive fields in the state. They are now most
suited for fruit and vegetable farming. We have mentioned before the excellent
soil in the river valleys.
In
spite of the value of these areas, they have been left uncultivated at least
near the
mouth
of the rivers closest to the ocean since the rivers now and again have
overflowed
and
25
washed
away all that has been planted. Nowadays this problem has been solved in many
areas by constructing so called levees, a kind of dam so that the river water
is held back even during times when the river rises to its peak. With this
method, millions of acres of the most fertile land in the state have been made
productive.
The
Main Farm Products. The most important farm product is Texas is cotton.
Texas is the leading state in the Union in the production of this product. The
yearly production of cotton is on the average around four million bales. Around
50,000 square miles in the state are particularly suitable for growing cotton.
But while the state is foremost in the production of cotton, conditions are
still suitable for almost all kinds of the more common kinds of crops, in
addition to other kinds of semitropical crops for which the southern climate is
suitable. They grow for example, corn, wheat, oats, sugarcane, rice, kaffir
corn, milo maize, peanuts, potatoes and a large number of products too numerous
to mention. In a state where cattle ranching is as advanced as in Texas, it is obvious that hay and feed of
different types make up a large part of the production. Even tobacco is grown
on not such a small scale. To give an idea of how much is produced of the more
common types, we can mention that the yearly production of corn has in the
latter years been on the average 250,000,000 bushels, and wheat, 25,000,000
bushels. Kaffir corn, milo maize, feterita and related products have been
introduced in Texas comparatively recently, but are now among
the leading products especially in the plains in the south and in the Panhandle
district in the Northwest. A field of kaffir corn or milo maize offers
excellent grazing and as feed it is considered far superior to the common
maize. Rice is grown in the coastal area all the way from the Sabine River to the Rio Grande, and from 80 to 100 miles inland, an area
which compares with the state of South Carolina. In
the cultivation of rice, only one state supercedes Texas, and that is Louisiana. The yearly harvest of rice reaches a
value of $5,000,000 on the average. Even though the sugar industry has not yet
reached an important level, quite a large amount of sugarcane is still grown,
particularly in the river valleys at the mouth of the Brazos, Trinity,
Colorado, and Guadalupe Rivers, encompassing a combined area of half a million
acres.
Fruit
Growing and Market Gardening. Texas has long been renowned for its
suitability
for growing vegetables and it is also becoming known and is finding its
place
as a fruit growing state. The coastal area is particularly suitable for growing
vegetables
and the climate is ideal for this purpose since a lot of vegetables can be
grown
throughout the year because of the warm and mild climate. Regarding
fruitgrowing, apples can easily be grown in the northern part of the state
while peaches
from
the eastern part are among the most delicious in the world. Figs are grown in
the
coastal area, mostly in Galveston, Harris and Jefferson counties. Satsuma oranges
are
also grown
26
with
great success. The areas along the Rio Grande River are famous for their juicy
and
sweet grapes. Thousands of boxcars filled with produce, such as wild
strawberries,
muskmelons, potatoes, cabbage, cucumber, onion, tomatoes, spinach,
etc.,
are shipped out of

Peaches
from orchards in East
Texas
the
state yearly, and as profitable products, they are second to cotton and corn. Tobacco is grown in ninety-eight of the
state’s counties. The tobacco harvest is not important in regards to quantity.
However, quality-wise, it is the very best.
27
Cattle
Ranching. Next to farming, cattle breeding or so called “ranching” is the
most
important industry. The west part of the state, or the so-called “Plains
Region,”
is
particularly suitable for this purpose. Because of the scarce rainfall in this
area,
farming
is not suitable here, but the precipitation is still enough to support good
growth

A
herd of cattle on the SMS Ranch in Texas

“Cowboys”
changing horses on the SMS Ranch in Texas
of
the grass which offers the finest grazing for cattle, sheep and goats. Texas
surpasses
all the other states in the number and size of these ranches. In size they
vary
from a few thousand to several million acres. The biggest among them is the
so-called
X.I.T. Ranch, which encompasses several counties, including an area of
3,000,000
acres of land, the size of Connecticut, and the
28
property
of the Swenson brothers, the well-known SMS Ranch, in northwest Texas, of around 400,000 acres. Over one hundred
thousand head of cattle move about in these enormous grazing areas. When the
cattle are well fattened up, they are shipped to Dallas, Fort Worth or Houston
within the state, or Kansas City, St. Louis or Chicago to be slaughtered and
prepared for the meat-market. About ninety million dollars is brought into the
state yearly through this industry. The raising of sheep and goats, horses and
mules, swine and poultry is carried out on a large scale as well. Beekeeping is
also important within the state.
Hunting
and Fishing. The state of Texas offers a good supply of wild animals for hunting. In some parts,
especially in the western part of the state, there is a good supply of deer and
wild birds. Wild doves and partridges are almost every place in the state. Hare
and wild rabbit are abundant. Fishing is still not very well developed, at
least not to the extent that it can be considered an important industry within
the state. It is mainly in the bays
along the coast where they fish, but in the rivers, the sport fishermen can
find lots of enjoyment and rewards for his effort. Oyster fishing is particularly
rewarding in the various bays and river mouths along the coast. Port Lavaca,
Matagorda and Galveston are the main areas for oyster fishing.

Swedish
cotton gin and saw mill, Crosby,
Texas
Industry.
We have already mentioned farming and ranching as the main industries
in
Texas. But because of the riches and great
availability of raw materials in
additional
to the abundance of cheap fuel, the industry in the state is developing rather
strongly.
Since they discovered how to extract oil from cottonseed, they have also
learned
to use the byproducts as feed for cattle, and in this way they have lately
started
to
29
concentrate
more on the dairy industry than before. Important slaughter houses are located
in the bigger cities within the state where the meat is prepared for the
market. There are large mills where the
grain is ground and made into flour. Since a lot of wheat and corn are grown
within the state, this industry is well developed. The timber industry in Texas ranks seventh in the Union. Next to the lumber industry in importance
is the production of cotton-oil and cottonseed cakes. For a long time they
thought that the cottonseed was useless for anything but sowing, so they did
not save more than what was needed to plant for next year’s harvest. The rest
was left to lie and rot. Later, a part of it was used as feed, but only a very
small amount. Now it’s very different. The seed will soon be considered as
important as the rest. The oil which is pressed out of the seed is used instead

The
Rice Harvest is Brought to the Mill, El Campo, Texas
of
olive oil, lard, and in the production of soap and a number of other things.
The shells are used as feed instead of hay. The flour which remains when the
oil has been extracted from the shelled seed, is used as feed and is also
widely used as fertilizer.
Texas produces around 30,000,000 gallons of
cotton oil yearly, which is one fifth of
the
production in all of the United States. When it comes to industry in general, it
is
basically
in its infancy in Texas. There is some mechanical industry, but
mostly it is
only
repair shops which are connected to the railroad. Cotton factories were also
constructed
here and there, but are not of importance. In addition, there is naturally
a
lot of other industry, such as printing, etc. In addition, every community has
one
or
more “Gins”, where the cotton is separated from the seed, and the “lint” is
pressed
into
bales. In the areas where fruit is grown on a large scale,
30
there
are also important fruit packing plants, in the oil districts there are
refineries, and in the rice-belts, there are rice mills. “Chalkburning” is a
fairly important industry in certain areas. In general, we cannot say that
industry is of great importance in Texas, if you compare it to some of the other
states in the Union.
Mining.
Even though it is yet only slightly developed, mining in Texas offers rather good, yes, important
resources. There are rather rich deposits of minerals, even though they have
not had time to use these resources to any large extent. Among the metals, we can mention that silver,
iron, lead, zinc, copper, manganese, quicksilver, and even gold are available
in profitable amounts. Large deposits of iron-ore has been discovered in
eastern Texas, as well as in Llano and Burnet Counties in central Texas. Gold, silver, copper and lead are found
in the central mining area in the western part of the state along the Rio Grande, or the border to Mexico. Here there are even quicksilver mines of
rather great importance. Gypsum, asphalt, building-stone and coal are available
in fairly large quantities. Gypsum is found in Hardeman and surrounding
counties, asphalt in Montague, Cooke, Anderson and Uvalde counties, and in the Neches Valley in eastern Texas. Building-stone, such as limestone,
marble, granite, etc., is found in great abundance. From the granite quarries
in Burnet County, they have gotten all the granite which
was used to build the State Capitol in Austin, and to erect the seawall at Galveston, as well as the seawalls or wave-breakers,
built in Galveston Harbor, the so-called “Jetties”. The coal which is available is mainly of two
types, bituminous and lignite. Lignite coal varies in color from brown to
“coal-black”. This type of coal is found in layers of three to twelve feet in
thickness, and is found in almost all of the fifty-two counties, which lie
between Red River and Webb counties along the Rio Grande River. The most important mines that are worked
now are Santo Tomas near Laredo, Vogel in Milam County, and Calvert Bluff in Robertson County. There are two important layers of
bituminous coal in the northern part of the state, beginning in Montague and Wise Counties, and reaching to the southwest through
Jack, Palo Pinto and Stephens Counties, and then ending in Eastland and Erath Counties. A third layer of coal is found along the Rio Grande from Eagle Pass to Laredo. This area is known as the Eagle Pass
Coalfield. The Hartz Mine in the vicinity of Eagle Pass is the most profitable in this area. It is
estimated that the Texas coal-district encompasses an area of
around 40,000 square miles.
Oil
Deposits. Petroleum has been found in quite a lot of places in Texas, such as
Corsicana, Sour Lake, Nacogdoches, Beaumont, Humble, Saratoga, Goose Creek,
all
in Harris County; Hoskins Mound in Brazoria County; Markham, Matagorda
County;
Gaston in Bastrop County; Cardin in Hardin County; Petrolia, Clay County
and
Thrall, Williamson County. Oil was discovered at Corsicana in 1894 while
drilling
for water. Two types of oil was found there, one which was used for fuel and
one
for the oiling of machines. A particularly rich deposit was found at Spindle
Top
near
Beaumont on
31
January 10, 1910. A large number of wells were so called
“Gushers”. The oil was thrown by its own force as high as 100 feet or more into
the air. The well there gave from 25,000 to 50,000 barrels a day. Since this
oil field was discovered, it has produced 40,000,000 barrels of oil. Now the
oil must be pumped out of this field as well. The Humble oil field in Harris County is now the most productive, and Sour Lake is second in production. Gas pockets have
also been discovered in many places within the state. In Dallas, Fort Worth, Waco and other cities, this kind of gas is used
both for cooking and heating. Other places use gas from wells with “natural”
gas. Laredo receives gas from the Webb County oil and gas fields.
Water
Resources. No life can exist and be sustained without water, and whether there
is water available or not, decides mainly if an area can be inhabited by humans
or not. Texas is fortunate to have an ample supply of
water through wells and aquifers. Texas is also well-known for its many and
valuable health-spas. Water at these spas comes from springs as well as from
drilled or dug wells. The most important of these establishments are: Mineral
Wells in Palo Pinto County; Wooten Wells in Robertson County; Marlin Springs in Falls County; Sour Lake Mineral Springs in Hardin County, Lampasas Springs, Lampasas County and Hot Sulpher Wells, Bexar County.
COMMUNICATION AND TRANSPORT
General
Importance. Of greatest importance for the development of a state and the
comfort and enjoyment of its settlers, is communication and transport. The
easier it is to get in touch with each other and travel back and forth and
transport products, the easier and more profitable it is for the people within
a specific area or community. If we
examine the Texas railroad system in regards to miles, Texas has the longest distance of tracks of any
state in the Union. But much is not said by that regarding
how it meets the existing need since it is the largest state in the Union. Texas railroads have a total length of 14,300
miles. This is only a few miles more than that of New York, which is only one fifth as large as Texas. But we should also consider that it and
other older states are more densely populated and that Texas is a comparatively recently settled state.
The main lines, which run north to south are The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe, the Houston and Texas Central, and the Missouri, Kansas and Texas lines.
The
two main lines in an easterly and westerly direction are the Texas Pacific, and
the
Southern Pacific. These lines and their side-lines unite all places of any
importance
within the state. The most important rail centers are Fort Worth and
Dallas in north Texas, El Paso
32
in
the far west, Amarillo in the “Panhandle”, and Houston in the southern part of the state. Galveston is the second city in the nation and the
first in the South, when it comes to exporting marketing goods. The railroads,
which run from the north to the south through Texas and lead to Galveston, are the ones which the northwestern
states use in particular to export their enormous masses of products. A great
and important trans-continental transport is handled by the Southern Pacific
railroad system, usually called ‘The Sunset System”, which also controls and
expedites important ocean traffic and transport via Galveston.
Steamer
Traffic. We have already mentioned in the description of Texas Physical Geography,
that the rivers in the state are only partially navigable. Because of this
condition, shipping within the state is of minor importance. However, there are
plans to facilitate traffic on some of the rivers suitable for this purpose,
and the United States Government in cooperation with the local state government
are yearly spending large sums for this purpose. By constructing locks in
different places, they are planning to make the Trinity River navigable for light ships all the way to Dallas.
They are working on a plan to make the Brazos River navigable up to Waco, and it has been strongly advised that the
Colorado River is to be made navigable to light ships all
the way up to Austin. By using Buffalo Bayou and then digging a
canal, Houston has been connected with the open sea, and
the deepest ocean-going ships can now come up all the way to Houston with their cargo. The Houstonians have
great hopes for their “Deep Sea Channel” and are soon expecting important
import and export through this area. Improvements are also in progress where
they expect light ships to be able to traffic the Sabine River and the Neches River all the way to Beaumont and Orange. By connecting bays along the coast with
canals, an inland waterway has been created reaching from Galveston to Corpus Christi. In this way, they have greatly
facilitated the constantly increasing coastal traffic. A plan is in progress to
extend this waterway from Galveston to the Sabine River in the east, and from Corpus Christi to the Rio Grande in the south. In this way, they would get
a channel of about five feet deep and an average of forty feet wide along the
entire Texas coast.
Electric
Train lines. As the population increases, the demand for faster and
cheaper
transportation increases as well. They are trying to meet this demand by
building
an electric train system between the larger cities and through the most
densely
populated areas. Such railroads have been built between Dallas and
Denison, Dallas and Fort Worth, Dallas and Waco, Fort Worth and Cleburne, Belton
and
Temple, Houston and Galveston, and they are entertaining plans to extend
these
lines
from Waco south all the way to San Antonio and Houston. The first electric
railroad
between two cities in Texas was built between Denison and Sherman, and
it
was opened to traffic in 1900. These “intercity” railroad
33
connections
fill a long-known need for cheaper and faster connections between larger
communities than can be established by the railroads. Highways. A strong force has been established
in this country which wants to improve the highway system. They are making
strong efforts to make every important road within the state not only drivable
in all kinds of weather, but also comfortably so. This is being accomplished
with federal aid, which is generously given, with state means, and through
local taxation. They are making efforts to make ‘The King of Trails”, which is
a continuation of “The Meridian Highway” which reaches from Quebec, Canada, and is intended to reach the Mexican
border, into one of the most modern and finest highways in the country. You
cannot overestimate the importance of a good highway system. For the transport
of farm products to the market place, for pleasure trips or whatever it may be,
the country dweller mainly uses the roads. Lately the highways have been
appreciated for another reason: they started to realize how valuable the roads
were to transport troops and war material.
And Texas has been found to be more suitable than
any other state in the Union for the establishment of military posts
and encampments. Because of this fact, the state’s highways will be noticed by
the federal as well as local authorities even more, and in all areas we can
expect the state’s transport system to see a great upswing.
GOVERNMENT
Constitution
or Constitutional Amendments. Early Texas history is very much connected with the
history of Mexico which country Texas was once a part of until 1836, when the
part of Mexico which is now Texas formed a separate Republic. In 1846, the Republic of Texas joined the Union of the United States. During the early years, the constitution
was therefore the same as the Mexican states except for the ten years when it
was a separate republic. The present constitution of Texas was written and ratified in 1876 and gives
the state the same right to self-government as the other states in the Union. In this constitution we find the
principles in accordance with which all state laws must be written. We also
find rules regarding the power of state officials and agencies as well as their
duties. According to this constitution, the state shall be governed by three
different bodies or departments, that is: the Legislative Department or
Congress, the Courts or Judicial Department, and the Executive Department.
The
Legislative Assembly or The Legislative Department. The legislative
power
belongs to the Senate and the House of Representatives, which together
34
are
called the Texas Legislature. The Senate consists of thirty-one members who
serve for four years. For this purpose, the state is divided into thirty-one
senatorial districts which can each consist of no less than one county. When
one senatorial district contains more than one county, they must be bordering
each other. After each federal census, these districts must be re-zoned. This
is what is called “redistricting” and it is carried out by the legislature.
After the census new senators are elected, which are divided into two groups,
those who will serve for two years and those who will serve for four. Then half
of the senators are up for re-election every other year until a new census is
done and a whole new group of senators are elected and grouped as mentioned
before. The House of Representatives can never exceed one-hundred-fifty
members. Their term is only two years because the Legislature meets only every
other year. The size of the district from which each representative is elected
depends on the density of the population, because the district is formed
according to the size of the population, by dividing the total population of
the state by 150. Every county has the
right to as many representatives as its population entitles them to according
to the above-mentioned rules. If a county does not have enough population to
qualify for its own representative, it will be joined with a neighboring county
and thus forming a “joint district”. When a county is entitled to a fraction
more than one or more “whole” representatives, the part of the county which is
superfluous can be joined with a neighboring county in the same situation, and
form what is known as a “Floating District”. The representative who is chosen
from such a district, is usually called a floater. Presently there are
twenty-three such districts in the state. The legislature meets only every
other year, and then it meets on the second Tuesday of January in the Capitol.
The regular session cannot last for more than ninety days, but extra sessions
can be called by the Governor, and these cannot last for more than thirty days.
The
Courts or Justice Department. The Justice Department is divided into different
courts which are grouped into higher and lower ones. The higher courts are The
State Supreme Court and the Appellate Courts. The Courts of Appeal are divided
into two classes, one for criminal and eight for civil cases. The “State
Supreme Court” has its seat in the Capitol Building in Austin. Three judges jointly hear each case which
has been referred to this court. This court is in session from October 1 to
June 1 every year. The judges are chosen directly by the people for a term of
six years, and they are elected so that the term lapses for one of them every
other year. The Appellate Court or Court of Appeals for criminal cases has its
seat in the Capitol in Austin, and it too is chosen by the people for a period of six
years. There are eight Courts of Appeal for civil cases within eight different
districts, and there are positioned as follows:
35
1st
District, Galveston; 2nd District, Fort Worth; 3rd District, Austin; 4th
District, San Antonio; 5th District, Dallas; 6th District, Texarkana; 7th
District, Amarillo; 8th District, El Paso. These courts have three judges each
which are also elected for a period of six years. They can only hear cases
which come to them from County or District courts within their own respective
district. From these, one can in certain cases appeal to the Supreme Court, but
in most cases their decision is final. These courts are also in session between
October and June. The lower courts are District Courts, of which there are a
large number which are located in the main cities of each county. County
Courts, of which there is one in each county with its seat in the courthouse of
each county. Justice of the Peace, of which there can be no less than four and
no more than eight in each county. In addition, the large cities have their own
Municipal Courts, or “Corporation Courts”, and Police Courts. District Courts
must be available for at least two terms yearly. In these courts, they hear the
most severe criminal cases and civil cases as well. The District judges are
elected by the people for a term of four years. They must live in the district
where their court is located. County
judges must be available at least once each quarter and more often if the need
arises. County judges are elected by the people for a term of two years. The
County Courts have jurisdiction over minor civil as well as criminal cases. The
Justice of the Peace must hold court at least once a month and be ready to hear
criminal cases and judge when someone has been arrested under suspicion of a
crime, whether he should be jailed or released under bond, awaiting trial, or
if the suspicions are sufficiently well founded, to hold the suspect for
further questioning by a higher court or a “Grand Jury”. The right to have your
case judged by a “jury” is given to each person. In the lower courts, the jury
consists of six men, and twelve in the higher courts, the so-called District
Courts. In the Appellate Courts and in the State Supreme Court, the verdicts
are handed down by the judges themselves without a jury.
The
Executive or The Executive Department. The Executive Department
consists
of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, State Treasurer, Comptroller of
Public
Accounts, Land Commissioner, Superintendent of Public Schools, the Attorney
General,
and the Railroad Commissioner. All are elected for a period of two years,
except
for the Railroad Commissioners whose terms of office last for six years. Other
members
of the Executive Branch are the Secretary of State, the Insurance Commissioner,
the Banking Commissioner, etc. who are appointed by the Governor and
whose
term are equal to that of the Governor’s. The Governor’s duties are very much
like
those of governors in other states. He has to ensure that the laws are enforced
in
all
respects within the state. To accomplish this, he has the right to command the
state’s
militia to maintain law and order anywhere,
36
or
wherever the need arises. We have already mentioned that some of the state
executives are appointed by the governor. He has the power to appoint a large
part of the state’s executives and commissioners. If the Senate is in session,
the governor makes these appointments. It is his duty to submit the names of
those whom he intends to select. If they are not approved by the Senate by
two-thirds majority, the governor must make another selection until the chosen
individual is confirmed. If none of those are selected by the governor while
the Senate is in session, the governor will fill the post with someone who is suitable
and can legally hold the position, but none of those whom the Senate has vetoed
can be appointed. The governor also has the right to pardon prisoners who have
been granted a stay of execution or sentencing. He has to personally handle all
correspondence and all official business between Texas as a state and the federal government. At
the opening of the legislative session, it is his duty to send a message in
which he is expected to summarize the state of affairs within the state, make
suggestions for new laws, propose new taxation based on existing need, and give
a complete account of the handling of all public funds, and be able to show
receipts for the use of those funds. At the end of the session, it is his duty
to make a summary of all work that has been carried out by the legislature, and
to them send a message about that. He can call an extra session whenever he
sees the need, but must specify the reason for the extra session in this
message. When the session is open, he can suggest other business, but no other
than those which the governor has proposed can be considered during the extra
session.
The
Lieutenant Governor in the capacity of his post presides over the Senate. His
duty is to serve as Governor when the Governor is incapable to fulfill his
duties;when the Governor is out of state, severely ill, or when accused by the
Senate because of misconduct.
The
Secretary of State is in charge of the state’s archives, its books, maps,
documents, protocol, and other papers, as well as the State Seal for all
proclamations and documents issued by the Governor. He also issues permits for
corporations of different types to carry out business according to the
regulations established by the legislature. He must always be ready to give all
information to the Legislature which he has access to according to his
position. He must print and distribute all new laws passed by the Legislature
so that the public will be informed of these. He must keep careful records of
all elections held within the state and give to the Legislature the complete
election information during their session.
The
Superintendent of Public Schools is in charge of all public schools within the
state.
“The
Comptroller of Public Accounts” is actually the state’s accountant.
37
In
his office are kept all records regarding money, public lands and other
property belonging to the state, as well as all records of indebtedness owed to
the state and all morgages in which the state is interested.
The
duty of the State Treasurer is to control all money belonging to the state and
to make payments according to directives signed by the Comptroller. The first
Monday of November of every year, it is the duty of the State Treasurer to make
a complete statement to the Governor regarding the state’s finances. When so
requested, he must turn over all books, receipts and other papers in his office
to the Legislature for examination or to a committee appointed by the
legislature for their scrutiny. The
Railroad Commissioners, which are three in number, have as their duties to
negotiate between the railroad companies and the general public, and above all,
to insure that the rightful demands of the general public are met by the
railroad companies.
The
duties of the Insurance and Bank Commissioners are to protect the general
public from being defrauded by swindlers in the form of insurance companies and
bank institutions, which are willing to take the public’s money without being
able to meet their obligations to them when requested. Before the bank can be opened
or an insurance company can be formed, their business principles as well as
their assets are carefully scrutinized by their respective commissioners who
have been appointed for this purpose. They will then have their books and
accounts opened for auditing whenever these commissioners arrive for this
purpose. The State’s Attorney Generals
duties are described by his title. He is the State’s representative in all
legal affairs. He must interpret all legal paragraphs, and when requested, give
his opinion. He is the advisor in all legal questions concerning the State to
the Governor and all state executives.
The
duties of the Commissioner of Public Lands are to keep careful accounts of all
negotiations of the sale of state lands to private individuals, and to protect
the state from unfounded claims regarding the state’s lands and in general, to
hold in trust all public property.
POLITICAL DIVISION
Politically,
the state is divided into 251 different counties. Their original number was 23.
By dividing these original counties, the numbers have been increased to the
current one, and as the population increases it is probable that continued
division will be done. Some counties are still comparatively large, for example
El
Paso County,which alone encompasses an area as large
as all of the State of Massachusetts. The smallest county within the state,
that is Rockwall, has an area of 149 square miles.
38
The
inhabitants of the state of Texas in 1910 were 3,896,542, or 14.8 people per
square mile. If Texas were as densely populated as the state of New York, it would have over 50,000,000
inhabitants.
The
most densely populated counties within the state are as follows: Dallas, with
the city of Dallas, Bexar, with the city of San Antonio, Harris, with the city
of Houston, Tarrant, within which we find the city of Fort Worth, McLennan,
where Waco is situated, Grayson, with the cities of Denison and Sherman,
Travis, with the capital city, Austin, Ellis, with the city of Waxahachie, and
El Paso, with the city of El Paso. We find the state’s densest population
within the “Black-land Belt”. The state
has 131 cities of which four have a population of over 100,000. According to
the latest estimates, Dallas has 129,632 inhabitants, San Antonio, 135,610 inhabitants, Houston, 112,215
inhabitants, and Fort
Worth
has a population of 104,562. Among cities which have over 25,000 inhabitants,
but under 100,000 inhabitants, we can mention El Paso with 63,705, Galveston with 52,289, Austin with 34,814, and Waco with 45,237. The different military camps
near many of these cities have lately practically doubled the number of
inhabitants, and most of these “cantonments” will probably become permanent
institutions. The different counties
have no right to legislate, but are ruled in this area by the state’s
legislature. However, the cities can promulgate and accept particular
restrictions which are called city ordinances, but these cannot conflict with
state laws. Regarding other legislation,
each county is represented by a representative in the House of Representatives
who has been elected by the county, alone or in conjunction with a nearby
county and by the Senator chosen by the senatorial district to which the county
belongs.
In
Congress in Washington, the State of Texas is represented by 16 Congressmen
who
represent in the House of Representatives, and like other states in the Union, by
two
Senators.
39
THE TEXAS
SCHOOL SYSTEM
F.
L. Hagberg
The
educational system in Texas consists of public schools, high schools which
give
an education in agriculture, national economics, home economics, teachers
colleges,

Southwestern
University, Georgetown, Texas

Southern
Methodist University, Dallas, Texas
schools
for women teaching home economics, schools for agriculture, vocational schools
and the State University.
The
Public Schools in Texas have received larger donations than the
schools in any other state in the Union,
and the permanent school-fund has now reached $84,055,636.
This
fund has mainly been created by selling large land areas which from time to
time

The
State University
41
have
been set aside by the state. Presently (1913), this state-fund consists of
land, and promissory notes to the value of $50,909,287, interest-bearing bonds,
$16,703,361, unsold land $3,000,000, stocks in railroads $ 1,172,817, and cash
funds $90.729. In addition to the permanent fund which cannot be touched, there
is also another state fund which is at the disposal of the schools. This fund
which amounts to around seven million dollars is partly derived from the yearly
interest from capital and still unsold land areas, partly through a yearly
taxation on all male citizens from the age of twenty-one to sixty, as well as
an additional tax of twenty cents per one hundred dollars on all property.

Baylor University, Waco, Texas

The
Main Building at A & M College, College Station, Texas With a Company of Cadets
This
fund is divided proportionally to the schools in the different counties. The
school districts are also allowed to collect a local school tax not exceeding
fifty cents for property of a hundred dollars value. This local taxation
usually reaches five million dollars, and this sum, in addition to the seven
million available from the state fund, a total of twelve million dollars, can
be used for the yearly upkeep of the schools.
According
to the state laws, the schools are kept open at least six months every year,
and
the school age is from seven to seventeen years of age. The public schools are
42
under
the supervision of the State Education Department consisting of the Governor,
the Controller of Public Funds, and the Secretary of State. The Superintendent
of Schools is the Secretary of the Department of Education. There are four
schools for the education of white teachers, that is: Sam Houston Normal Institute in Huntsville, North Texas State Normal College, Denton, Southwest Texas State Normal School, San Marcos, and West Texas State Normal School in Canyon. The Normal and Industrial College for the education of teachers of the
colored race is situated in Prairie View. Normal schools are professional, and
their main purpose is to educate teachers for practical subjects in the
schools.
The
Agricultural and Mechanical College near Bryan, Brazos County, is a division of The State University and

The
Sam Houston Normal Institute, Huntsville, Texas
teaches
mechanics and connected sciences. This school has established so-called
‘testing stations’ in different parts of the state where scientific
advancements are used in practice on land donated by the state for this
purpose. The Government gives funds for this glorious work, and supports “the
Office of Dry Land Agriculture” in Dalhart, the Office of Grain Investigation
in Amarillo, and the Bureau of Plant Industry in Chillicothe.
The
College of Industrial Arts, a state school for women, is situated in Denton. Here they teach home economics, crafts
and business, stenography and typing. The school also has a department for
education in singing, piano and violin. All courses are free.
The
State University is located in Austin. It was opened on September
15, 1883,
and
all education is free to residents of the state. Students from high schools affiliated
with
the University of Texas are admitted with a diploma from such a
school. The
University
awards the same degree as the other American universities, but no honor
degrees
are given. In addition to the academic courses, there are courses in home
economics,
crafts, agriculture,
43
architecture
and business. There is also a correspondence school for those who cannot attend
classes. To keep the university in close contact with the other schools in the
state, there is a special lecturer with the responsibility to visit the schools
in the state and advise their leaders about the best methods of carrying on the
education. For the upkeep of the
university, the legislature sets aside a certain sum of money each year as well
as the interest from the real estate set aside by the state for the university.
The
state has two schools for the deaf and dumb, and for the blind, both located in
Austin, and a home for the orphans, the State
Orphan Home in Corsicana. In
addition to the schools organized by the state, there are institutions of
higher learning for both the white and colored races, which are supported by
churches and private individuals. Among those are: Baylor University, Waco,
supported by the Baptist Church; Southwestern University, Georgetown and Dallas,
and the Polytechnic College, Fort Worth, belong to the Methodists, Texas
Christian University, Fort Worth, is supported by the Christian Church and the
Austin College, Sherman, and Trinity University, Waxahachie, by the
Presbyterian Church. St. Mary’s College, Dallas, belongs to the Episcopal
Church, and St. Edward’s College, Austin, belongs to the Catholic Church. Rice University, Houston, was founded by William M. Rice with a
fund of ten million dollars and was opened in October, 1912. This institution
with its great resources will certainly take a leading role among the
educational facilities in Texas.
44
IMMIGRATION TO AMERICA
and
the Foundation of Swedish Churches here
Alfred
L. Scott
History
tells about three large waves of immigration from the Nordic countries. The first age of immigration, which is
partially obscured by the mist of the fairy-tale, started about 1000 A.D. The
second exodus happened during Sweden’s era of empire when Gustav n Adolf’s
grand idea for a Swedish colony in the new world was realized. The third and
probably the last immigration actually started in the 1840’s. The only thing we know about the Nordic
colonies in “Vinland the Good”, is that they once existed.
Without carefully examining the historical facts which lie behind the statement
that the Norsemen (Swedes, Norwegian, Danes and Icelanders) discovered North
America around 1000 A.D., I only want to point out a few things in this country
which stand there as a reminder from a time when our old forefathers went west.
One such is the Assonet Rock or the Dighton Writing Rock at Assonet, on the
bank of the Cohammet River in Massachusetts. On this rock, which is about 12 feet
tall, there are several Latin letters and primitive hieroglyphs which
researchers consider to be an illustration to Thorfinn Karlsefne’s story. The
writing, deciphered, goes like this: “Thorfinn’s 151 men took possession of
this land.” Another ancient monument is the ruin of a round building in Newport, Rhode Island, probably used by the Norsemen as a
church. When Christopher Columbus later steered his ships over the Atlantic
waves, these daring journeys to Vinland
were a lodestar for him. But we leave “Vinland the Good” of the middle ages with the
impression that Christianity was first preached in this country by our
ancestors. It is in the spring of 1638,
when the second wave of immigration from the High North commences. A “New Sweden” is founded in the New World. Swedish is spoken and evangelism is
preached according to the Lutheran faith for nearly 200 years, and we also see
one after the other of the Swedish churches joined with the English-Episcopal Church. The last Swedish pastor, Nils Collin,
entered the Kingdom of God on October 7, 1831. The Swedish Mission in Delaware which lasted for 193 years is now just a
memory but a valuable and educational one. On the rock by the Delaware River where our Pilgrim forefathers landed. The
Delaware Society of Colonial Dames erected a stone on the 200th anniversary of
the landing.
You
can read on the granite block: “This stone is a portion of the rock on which
landed
the first Swedish colonists in America,
45
29 March, 1638.” On this spot stood Fort Christina. Here the Swedes held their first Civil
Courts, and in the Chapel of the fort they celebrated their first Christian
worship in the New
World.
Eighteen
years after the death of Nils Collins in 1849, the Swedish Lutheran pastor,
Lars Paul Esbjom arrived in the U.S. and started his work in Andover, Illinois, among his fellow Swedes. Four years
earlier, the Father of Swedish Methodism, O.G.
Hedstrom, preached to a few Swedes at the Bethel Ship in New York, and on December 15,1846, the world’s first Swedish Methodist Church was founded by five people in Victoria,
Dlinois. It was pastor Jonas J. Hedstrom, the brother of O.G. Hedstrom, who was the founder and pioneer of
Swedish Methodism in the West.
Around
16 miles north of Victoria, .Eric Janson founded the Bishop Hill
Colony.
This
was in 1846.
The
first Swedish Lutheran Congregation during the later period of immigration was
founded in New
Sweden, Jefferson County, Iowa, in 1848. On March 18,1850 the previously mentioned Pastor Esbjom
founded the Lutheran congregation in Andover, Illinois. This congregation is considered by many
to be the first, but the New
Sweden
congregation in Iowa should be just as qualified for first
place even if its organization was not quite complete.
We
also count the Swedish Episcopal minister, Gustav Unonius, as a founder. He was
not a minister when he came to America in 1841, and settled with his followers on
Pine Lake (Tallsjons) in the State of Wisconsin. When he arrived, he had planned to
peacefully spend his days on the beautiful shores of Pine Lake. But circumstances took him on a different
road than he had anticipated. This activity led him to a newly built bigger “Pine Lake” and other colonies where laid a strong
foundation in the area. In 1849 he was
called to become the minister of the Swedish congregation in Chicago. He returned to Sweden in 1858 where he died in 1902.
46
SWEDISH CHURCHES IN TEXAS
The
Founding of the Swedish Lutheran Church in Texas
and
the Northern States
Alfred
L. Scott
The
large numbers of strong young men and beautiful blue-eyed maidens who emigrated
from Smaland and came to Texas during the latter half of 1849, and in the 1850’s, 1860’s,
and 1870’s, were, without exception, Lutherans. It may be true that their rich
heritage of Nordic strength and deep faith lay unused. Here however, it would
come to use. In the transformation of the Texas wilderness and the creation of happy
communities with the advantages of Christianity and civilization, these early
immigrants got deeply involved and made lasting contributions. The oldest colonies we can find in Texas are in Austin, Brushy and New Sweden.
In
these communities, Swedish Lutheran work started early. It was natural that the first Swedish
immigrants to Texas turned to their old homeland to get
pastors. The Swedish Lutheran Augustana-Synod in North America was at that time really new, and its work
was barely known in Texas. In the beginning of 1870, we can find two
Lutheran pastors, Karlen and Tillman, the first from Sweden and the latter from Finland, working for a time among their countrymen
in Texas. Little is known about Karlen; Tillman
founded Swedish Lutheran churches in Austin and Brushy in 1870. He did his best as
long as he was here, but as soon as he returned to his homeland, the Swedish
pioneers again had to look around for pastors.
This
time they turned to the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Augustana-Synod of
North America with the result that the Pastors S.P.A. Lindahl, L.A.
Hocanzon, and
J.O.Cavallin,
one after the other, visited the Swedish communities in Travis and
Williamson
Counties. Hocanzon founded in 1875 the congregations in Austin and
Brushy,
and Cavallin organized the congregation in New Sweden in the beginning
of
1876. In the summer of 1876, Pastor Martin Noyd came to the Brushy
congregation,
and in addition to that one, served both Austin and New Sweden
churches.
As the first permanently stationed Swedish Lutheran Augustana pastor in
Texas, Pastor Noyd is thus the pioneer of our
church. After his 42 years as pastor
in
the Augustana-Synod, he spent over 30 years devoted to the spiritual work in
the
field
of the Lutheran Church in Texas. The experienced veteran from
47
many
spiritual battlefields is still active in one of our outposts in the South, a
faithful guardian on the walls of Zion.
In
1882, six years after Pastor Noyd arrived. Pastor J. A. Stamline came to Austin. In
addition to the congregation there, he also served New Sweden. He had worked in Texas before as a student, so he was not a
stranger to the conditions here when he arrived as a pastor. With the exception
of a few years when he worked in the missionary field of the Conference, he has
spent all of his career in Texas. For many years he was also the headmaster of Trinity College, Round Rock, Texas. He has retired from active service as a
pastor, but is still very active visiting missionary areas and vacant
“pastorships” where he preaches the gospel. He has been present from the
beginning and witnessed the founding of our church. He is not only a founder;
he has also helped build the foundation.
The
third pastor who has carried out blessed work within our church in Texas was Gustav Berglund. His first post was in
New Sweden. With his arrival in 1886, the first three
Swedish congregations in Travis and Williamson Counties had acquired pastors. Berglund later
became pastor in Austin and in Brushy, where he died in 1899.
The
Swedish Lutheran Church in Texas was founded with the above mentioned
congregations and joined with the Augustana-Synod. Among the founders we count
the pastors, M. Noyd, J. A. Stamline, and to some extent, Pastor Gustaf
Berglund. During the years the Church
has grown and now in 1918 it has 19 congregations and 15teachers. The members
are 1,910, and the entire congregation is 3,015. There are 844 children taught
in Sunday school by 114 teachers. The expenses for different purposes in 1917,
amounted to $23,500. The congregations are divided into two missionary
districts, Austin and El Campo, which are joined organizationally to the Kansas
Conference of the Evangelical Lutheran Augustana-Synod of North America.
The Augustana-Synod was founded in the Norwegian Lutheran Church in Clinton, Rock County, Wisconsin, June 5, 1860. It consisted of Swedish and Norwegian
congregations and mixed ones. At the founding meeting in Clinton, the Augustana-Synod counted 36 Swedish
congregations with 3,753 members and 17 pastors, 13 Norwegian congregations
with 1,220 members and 10 pastors. There were 21 Swedish churches and 8
Norwegian ones. For ten years, the Swedes and Norwegians worked together. At a
meeting in Andover, Illinois, in 1870, they decided to divide. During the ten years they were together the
synod developed and in 1870, it had 99 Swedish and 30 Norwegian congregations;
13 were mixed; it hadl6,376 Swedish and 1,784 Norwegian members; and there were
46 Swedish and 27 Norwegians pastors.
The
work of the Augustana-Synod, and its growth during the years 1860-1917, is
shown by the following statistic: Year 1860 - 17 pastors, 36 congregations, 21
churches, 3,753 members, total expenses $9,171.00.
48
Year
1917: 710 pastors, 1,225 congregations, 1,110 churches, 191,390 active members,
278,333 members, total expenses $2,383,920.
The synod owns and controls 32 charitable establishments, with an
estimated value of $2,203,628: a theological seminary and ten colleges with a
property value of $2,300,000. The synod’s church property is valued at
$2,207,404. The total value of all property belonging to the Synod amounts to
$6,711,032. The Augustana-Synod contains
12 conferences and 4 missionary districts.
The Swedish Lutheran Church in North America has grown during a period of 70 years
(1848-1918) to the point that it now has 1,225 congregations served by 710
pastors.
These
are just some outlines of the history of the Swedish Lutheran Church in Texas and some recollections about the founding
of our church and its early development in this country. “Now we see through a
mirror in a hazy way, but later we will be face to face; now we feel only
partially, later we will feel totally, like we will also be known.”
GETHSEMANE
CONGREGATION IN AUSTIN,
TRAVIS
COUNTY
This
is the oldest Swedish Lutheran Church in Texas. In 1915 there was the celebration of its
fortieth anniversary.
The
facts for this review are taken from the church history compiled by Pastor
Gideon C. Olson and read by him at the above-mentioned celebration. From the information received from an early
immigrant, there were 16 families living in Austin in 1868 as well as 50 unmarried young
farm-hands. Two Lutheran preachers, Karlen and Tillman, the former from Sweden and the latter from Finland, were the first to preach in the Swedish
tongue to our people in Texas. Their activities here were very short in duration.
A
Swedish Lutheran Congregation was established in Austin in 1870. It was reorganized under Pastor
Tillman in 1871. According to the churchbook, this congregation consisted of 39
members among whom were Anders Liden, Gustaf Johan Lundell, Johannes Manson,
Olaus Nelson, Karl Rydell, Adolf Skogland, Johannes Swenson, Otto Swenson,
Johan Peter Swenson, Karl Tornblom, and Nels Johan Westerberg. On February
11, 1872, the
group decided to build a church. An organization named Svea took care of the
building of the church. The church was dedicated on March 10,1874, by a Norwegian Lutheran pastor called 0.
0. Estrem. On November
15,1874, Dr. S. P.
A. Lindahl preached in the new church, and was the first pastor within the
Augustana-Synod to preach for the Swedish people of Texas. Because of his account to the directors of the missions, they sent Pastor L.
A. Hocanzon to serve for a time among
the Swedes of Texas. On February 14,1875, he organized the Swedish Lutheran Gethsemane Church in Austin.
At
the founding of the church, the congregation consisted of 8 8 active members
and
46
children. The first church was built on West 9th Street. “It was”, said Pastor
Hocanzon,
49
“small and simple, and located between two
Negro churches, which was very disturbing.”
During
the Fall of 1875, Pastor J. O. Cavallin arrived in Texas and worked here six months. The following
year, the Austin and Brushy congregations joined together
to form a pastorate, and called theology student, Martin Noyd, who accepted the
call. As soon as he was ordained, he
came to Texas, settling in Brushy in July, 1876. Of his experiences, he writes, “In July, I
took charge of the congregation. Since I had to live in Brushy and also had to
take charge of the New
Sweden
congregation, I could not give the Austin group anywhere near the attention they
needed. In addition to occasional evening services, I preached in Austin regularly, every other Sunday. At
different times I also had to go to Manor in the afternoon so that Austin received no more than a high mass. Those
who attended services did so regularly, and valued the opportunity to hear the
Word and showed me much devotion. The congregation increased almost
unbelievably.
While
I saw clearly that if any good was to be done at least one more man must be
secured, I resigned and advised the congregation to call a student.” In
October, 1879, Pastor Noyd resigned from the congregation. The Austin-Brushy
pastorate dissolved, and Austin and New
Sweden combined
to form a pastorate. During the vacancy, the students, J. A. Stamline, C. J.
Collin, and J. R. Hemborg, served the congregation.
Theology student, J. A. Stamline, was called as pastor for the Austin-New
Sweden pastorate, and accepting the call, he came to Austin in July, 1882. He carried on the pastorate
work here until November, 1887. In the
Fall of the same year, the congregation agreed to sell the church property and
to buy in a more suitable location. A subscription was taken up, the old church
building was sold for $900, and a new place was bought for $ 1600.00. The
location chosen, which is the present one, is on the city’s most prominent
street. Congress
Avenue,
two blocks from the Capitol. The work went so well and was done so promptly
that in November, 1883, the new church was dedicated by Pastor J. A. Stamline who was the only pastor in the
district. The student, Ostergren, Professor Anderson, and the deacons of the
church assisted at the dedication. With the exception of the steeple, the new
church cost $6,500. We are aware that it was well built for even today it is
the place of worship for the congregation.
Theology
students, G. Landin and E. Glad, took care of the congregation during
the
vacancy between 1887-1889. In the beginning of 1889, Pastor GustafBerglund
took
charge of the congregation in Austin. He was pastor in Austin until August,
1892.
After he moved away the church was served by the students, C. 0. Strom and
A.
E. Johnson. Pastor G. A. Dorfcame to Austin in July, 1895, the same year he was
ordained.
Services and Sunday school classes were held in Decker during this
period.
Church work was continued in Elroy with the result that a church was
established
there in 1897, and a building was finished in 1899. Pastor Dorf moved
away
in August, 1899, and the following
50
November,
Pastor C. G. Widen, arrived. Austin and Elroy combined to form a pastorate, and
Pastor Widen served the same until his death. May 13, 1907.

The
Swedish Lutheran Church and Parsonage, Austin, Texas
In
the fall of 1899, a pipe-organ was installed at the cost of $1,150.00. The
congregation celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary in 1900. Concerning this
celebration. Pastor Widen said:
“Our
congregation celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary on December 9th. For
Saturday
51
night,
the Gustaf Adolf Society had arranged an exceptionally good concert performed
by the choir and the orchestra, which was well attended. This tended to put the
congregation in tune from the very beginning. The church had been renovated and
with the beautiful pipe-organ, it was clad in holiday array. All the preachers
in the district were at hand, and distributed among us, the Word of Truth. At the three services which were held during
this holiday, the church was filled to capacity with attentive listeners. With
gratitude to the Lord for His work among us during the past 25 years, we wish
to raise the banner in His name.” Pastor J. S. Ryding took over the
congregation in May, 1908, but remained only a year. Pastor G. A. Ekman came in
September, 1910, and was the congregation’s pastor until July, 1913. Concerning
this period. Pastor Ekman writes as follows:
“It
is not up to me to praise my own work, but the services were all well attended
with the exception of the week-day services. The young people seemed to take
more interest in the weekly services than the older people did. The different
organizations were very active and helpful in keeping the treasury strong. A
new electrical lighting system was installed by the Luther League, cement
sidewalks were put down by the Ladies Aid, the church was renovated, and paving
of the street in front of the church on Congress Avenue was contracted for. The expenses for
missions and schools were paid regularly. Everything moved along peacefully and
smoothly; there was no friction, and the congregation grew. The Austin congregation is probably one of the
Synod’s most active groups. May the Lord bless to the utmost His Swedish
Lutheran Zion in Austin.”
Theology
student, Gideon C. Olson, was called to be pastor of the congregation, after he
was ordained at the synod meeting in 1913. He came here in the late summer of
the same year. At the yearly meeting in 1914, the congregation decided to build
a new parsonage. A building-committee was elected, consisting of Pastor Gideon
C. Olson, Carl Bergstrom, Carl Widen, Dr. J. A. Udden, William Anderson, John
Bergstrom, Alfred Tornquist, Aron Wetter, Otto Danielson, Adolf Bergstrom and
Olaus Nelson. A beautiful and practical parsonage was built for $4,500.00. Services in English began during Pastor
Olson’s tenure and were held the first Sunday night of each month. The old
parsonage was remodelled to serve as a Luther Hall.
The
Luther League has bought and installed a fine piano in the church. August
Swenson from Hutto gave a chime clock to the congregation at its fortieth
anniversary in 1915.
At
the yearly meeting in 1918, there were 253 members of which 180 were
communicants. In June, Pastor Gideon Olson left Austin to take charge of a congregation in Woodhull, Illinois.
Sunday
School has been conducted during the entire period of the existence of the
congregation. Mr. Carl Bjorkman served as Sunday school director for many
years.
C. J. Carlson, John Ljunggren, C. A.
Holm, N. Mellin,
52
Oscar
Carlson, C. J. Ekman, Alfred Tomquist, and Victor Bengtson have since filled
this position. Including the “cradle roll” in which 30 are enrolled, there are
85 children taught by 9 teachers.
A
school for the entire congregation has been held every summer for many years.
Organizations
The
Ladies Aid has worked without interruption since 1883. It has been the
congregation’s best financial aid, and without its assistance, it would have
been hard to meet outstanding expenses.
The
Luther League. This organization is a continuation of the Gustaf Adolf group.
The group meets twice a month, and the meetings are held alternatively in
Swedish and in English. In addition to its normal work, this organization has
worked for the financial aid of the church.
The
Art Club, Dorcas, was established by Pastor C. G. Widen during the Spring of
1901. At first the girls would do handicrafts at their meetings. They have
ceased doing this, and now the young people gather for a social meeting in
various homes to which they are invited. The purpose of the group is to bring
together the young people and to add to the church treasury.
The
Choir. Church singing and music has had a prominent place in the Austin congregation and there has always been a
choir. During the time of C. G. Widen, there was an orchestra. No one has done
as much for music and choir-singing as Miss Hilda Widen who has been organist
and choir director for many years.
PALM VALLEY CONGREGATION IN WILLIAMSON
COUNTY
The
first Swedish immigrants who came to Texas settled as a rule in the beautiful country
where live oak, elm, and pecan trees flourished in the river valleys. By the
riverbed they built their log-cabins, because there was a ready supply of water
and the ancient live oaks provided shade. The open prairie became the best
grazing land; the possibilities for cultivation were great. The wide
out-stretched prairies belonged during the first part of the pioneer period to
the ranchers, and the cowboy was king over his long-homed Texas cattle.
The
second oldest of the Swedish colonies in Texas is Brushy. The name for the community was
derived from Brushy Creek near which the first settler built their homes. Among
those settling in the Brushy valley was the famous Palm family, and thus this
area was called Palm Valley. Since then, tlie Swedish Evangelical
Lutheran congregation in Brushy has used this name. The Lutheran Church in Brushy and the Lutheran Church in Palm Valley are therefore different names which apply
to the same congregation. The most important events in the history of the
congregation were recalled by Pastor 0. M. Bloom’s historical account, read at
the fortieth anniversary of the congregation.
53
The
first settlers speak in particular of two of the pastors of the Swedish church
who were drawn to Texas. These were Karlen and Tillman. The former
is almost forgotten while Tillman with his quaintness is still remembered by
the older people. In the old church
book. Pastor Tillman has written: “Churchbook for the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Brushy Church in Williamson County, Texas, North America, founded on November 27,1870, because that was when the undersigned
preached for the first time in the schoolhouse. On April 21,1872,1 made my farewell sermon there. D. M.
Tillman, Swedish Lutheran pastor from Gla parish, Finland, Sweden, where I have now returned.” Some are
still alive who remember Pastor

The
Swedish Lutheran Church, Palm Valley, Texas
Tillman’s
farewell sermon. In another place in the
church-book, he writes: “On November 27,1870, on the first Sunday in Advent, the
undersigned preached for the first time in the Brushy congregation’s
schoolhouse, situated in Mr. Cauldwells field.” In another entry, “On February
10,1872, one acre of the 22 acres of ground, which Mr. Consul S. M. Swenson
from New York gave to the congregation as a cemetery, was solemnly dedicated in
the presence of a large group of people.” According to Pastor Tillman, the
first Lutheran church in Brushy, was founded on November 27, 1870.
A
Norwegian Lutheran pastor, Estrem, from Bosque County, Texas, preached
54
for
the settlers, and administered the Holy Communion. He, too, founded a church in
Brushy on May 17, 1874. A constitution was drawn up and was
included in the first book of records. In the “Memoirs of C. Chamquist”, we
find the following:
“Pastor
Tillman had many good qualities, and great knowledge. As a preacher, he was
orthodox and adhered to ceremony, staying close to the Swedish state church
ritual. In sermonizing, he surpassed all other pastors which the Smaland people
had ever heard.” Concerning a sermon that Pastor Tillman gave on Christmas
morning, 1871, he says the following: “Pastor Tillman does not deserve any
praise for being excellent in extemporaneous speaking, because his sermon was
only a compilation from beginning to end.”
Thus
both Karlen and Tillman have come and gone; and it became evident that if our
people in Texas were to have spiritual teaching and
fellowship, they

The
Swedish Lutheran Parsonage, Palm Valley,
Texas
must
turn to the founding church in this country, that is, the Swedish Evangelical
Lutheran Augustana-Synod. Anders J. Nelson read the Augustana-Synod newspapers,
and was very familiar with its work. He wrote to Dr. T. N. Hasselquist and
asked him to send a pastor to Texas to take charge of the Swedish people. In
answer to this plea, Dr. S. P. Lindahl, pastor of the Swedish Lutheran Church in Galesburg, Illinois, came here. He preached in the Swedish
communities in Travis and Williamson counties and investigated the district. As
a result of this investigation, Pastor L. A.
Hocanzon
was sent here to organize the work. A. J. Nelson sent Dr. Hasselquist
$50.00
of his own money for Pastor Hocanzon’s trip and promised that his travel
expenses
would be paid. Pastor Hocanzon came to Brushy in January, 1875, and on
February
14, the following year, he founded the Brushy congregation. From this
date,
the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Brushy or Palm Valley Church counts its
existence.
The number of “charter” members was 156, of which 95 were active
members.
Of these first members, many have had to lay down the staff of life
55
and
now rest in hallowed graves; a few have moved to other areas, and others have
gone to other denominations. The charter members who lived and belonged to the
congregation at the fortieth anniversary in 1915, are as follows: Mrs. H. T.
Stark, Mr. and Mrs. C. A. Bjork, Mrs.
John Berg, Mrs. Anders J. Nelson, Mr. Sven A. Anderson, Mrs. Carl Forsman, Mr.
and Mrs. Johan Israelson, William Hörd, Mr. and Mrs. P. J. Peterson, Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Palm, Mr. A. Peterson,
Mr. and Mrs. C. A. Engstrand, Mr. Adolf Engstrand, Mr. Gottfrid Anderson, Mr.
A. J. Seth, and Mrs. J. Johnson. At the
synod meeting in Vasa, Minnesota, 1875, the congregation was taken in as a
member of the Augustana-Synod. The synod’s missionary board called Pastor J.
0. Cavallin to work for a time among the
people of Texas. At the yearly meeting in 1876, the church
called theology student, Martin Noyd, to become their pastor. He accepted the
call, and after he was ordained at the synod meeting in Jamestown,

The
Swedish Lutheran Church Cemetery, Palm Valley, Texas
New York, on June 25, the same year, he came to
Brushy, Texas. Young and powerful both in body and in
soul and burning with a desire for the spiritual welfare of our people, he used
his youthful strength on the spiritual field among his people in Texas, not only in Brushy, but also in Austin and New Sweden. As the first Swedish Lutheran pastor who
has held a pastorate in Texas Dr. M. Noyd is the founding father of the Swedish Lutheran Church in Texas.
The
old church was built in 1874. During the first years the church also served as
a public schoolhouse. At the yearly meeting in 1882, a decision was made to add
to the church. From time to time, necessary repairs were made, and the little
place of worship was always beautiful and inviting.
The
congregation grew. New times brought new demands. At a special meeting in
March,
1890, it was decided that a new church should be built, and at a meeting held
in
August the decision was made that the church was to be built of wood. They did
not
stick to this decision, and at the yearly meeting held in 1891 the congregation
agreed
that the church was to be of brick or stone. B ut no church building came about
56
because
they could not agree on a building plan. At a special meeting in April, 1984,
all previous decisions regarding church building were repealed and new plans
were made. A building committee was appointed, consisting of the following:
Pastor GustafBerglund, Anders J. Nelson, John A. Nelson, J. E. Gustafson, P. J.
Peterson, A. J. Palm, J. F. Blad, A. J. Anderson, and N. J. Westerberg. The
cornerstone for the church was laid on June 19, 1894. The church is built in the Gothic style
and is of red brick. It is 70 feet long, 40 feet wide, 20 feet high along the
walls, and has a high steeple which can be seen from far away. It is the
largest and most beautiful of the Swedish churches in Texas. Dedication of the church took place on April
12,1896, at the
same time as the Kansas conference held its yearly meeting in
Brushy. Only five pastors have had the
pastorship in the Brushy congregation. They are as follow: Theology student.
Dr. Martin Noyd, 1876-1883, Pastor A. W. Stark, 1885-1886, Dr. Martin Noyd, 1887-1892,
Pastor GustafBerglund, 1892-1899, Dr. R. P.
Acsell, 1899-1905, and PastorO. M. Bloom, from 1905 until the
presenttime. Pastor Berglund passed away while pastor in Brushy, April
6,1899, and is
buried in Brushy. As a symbol of
gratitude to their devoted pastor, the congregation has erected a beautiful
monument on Berglund’s grave.
The
congregation has constantly been concerned with the Christian upbringing of the
children and the young people. Sunday school and a Swedish-Christian weekday
school have been held during the existence of the congregation. In the church the following organizations
work: the Luther League, the Willing Workers, the Mission Society, and the
Ladies Aid.
There
has always been a choir to sing at the services and for special occasions. The church now includes 380 communicant
members and 219 children, for a total of 599 members. The church property is
valued’at $20,000. Pastor 0. M. Bloom
finished his description of the congregation, during its first 40 years, with
these words: “In God’s kingdom there is much that belongs to eternity. Now we can see only a part, and of that part
I have presented only a bit. A beautiful day is dawning forGod’s people when
all shall be revealed in the light. Then we shall see all.”
NEW SWEDEN
CONGREGATION IN NEW SWEDEN,
TRAVIS
COUNTY
The
Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Congregation in New Sweden, Travis County, Texas, was established on February
23,1876, in Manor,
and carried the name Manor until 1887 when it was renamed and took the name, New Sweden. Pastor J. 0. Cavallin served as chairman and G. J. Ax as
secretary.
The
following persons and families signed as members: Gustaf Johanson Ax and
his
wife, Johanna Swenson, the son of the preceding couple, Johan Axell and his
wife,
Anna
Carolina, and their son, Henry; Anders Johan Almquist and his wife, Stina
Catharina
Nilson, and
57
their
children, Emelia Christina, Anna Augusta, Maria and Johanna Matilda; Adolph
Fredrik
Anderson and his wife, Josephina Christina, and their daughter, Anna
Josephina;
Claes Johan Skog and his wife, Hedvig Larsberg, and their children,
Johanna
Rosalie and John Oscar; Carl Johan Johanson Krut and his wife, Anna Stina
Johanson,
and their children, Nels Johan Lindstrom and Christina; Anders Gustaf
Swenson
and his wife,

The
Swedish Lutheran Church, New Sweden, Texas
Maria
Carlson, and their children Frans Oscar and Anna Sofia; Carl Peter Manson and
his
wife, Emma Katharina Johanson, Peter Johan Swenson and his wife, Emma
Wilhelmina
Frick, and their children, Ida Maria and Johan August, C. L. Wandali,
born
in 1871 on the ocean, and Joseph William; Johan Alfred Stenholm and his wife,
Mathilda
Maria Gylfe, and their sons, Carl Herman and Sven August; Gustaf Frederik
Hedberg
and his wife, Anna Sofia