The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 73, July 1969 - April, 1970 Page: 28
605 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
tionship between major towns of the period and Whig voting strength.
There were five towns in 1850 with populations of 1,ooo or more.
In order of population they were Galveston (Galveston County), San
Antonio (Bexar County), Houston (Harris County), New Braunfels
(Comal County), and Marshall (Harrison County)." With the excep-
tion of Comal, these counties were among those listed above as areas
of greater Whig strength. The relationship between important towns
and Whig voters is further demonstrated by the location of Browns-
ville (population-2,734 by 1860) in Cameron County, Gonzales
(population-1,o72 by 1858) in Gonzales County, and Victoria (popu-
lation-1,440 by 1858) in Victoria County; and Clarksville (Red
River County), Jefferson (Cass County), and Corpus Christi (Nueces
County), which were already beginning their growth."' Although
there were obviously some counties with important towns-such as
Comal (New Braunfels), Anderson (Palestine), Smith (Tyler), and
Travis (Austin)-that did not give the Whigs more support than they
received statewide, the positive relationship between the Whig vote
and major towns seems unmistakable.
The correlation of Whig strength with important towns would seem
to indicate support from commercial interests. This possibility is
strengthened by the fact that all of the counties in which the most
serviceable ports along the Gulf Coast were located in the years before
the Civil War returned higher percentages of Whig votes than that
received statewide by the party in 1848 and 1852. In addition to Gal-
veston, these ports and counties were Sabine Pass (Jefferson), Mata-
gorda (Matagorda), Indianola and Port Lavaca (Calhoun), Corpus
Christi and Port Aransas (Nueces), and Brazos Santiago (Cameron
County, near present-day Port Isabel) ." Whig strength in northeastern
areas may be explained to some extent by the fact that the Red
River, which was used commercially to a point six miles above Jones-
borough in Red River County, was the most important in Texas river
navigation in this period." The geographical distribution of the vote
thus indicates that Texas Whigs drew greatest support from areas in
which commercial interests were most numerous and in which federal
internal improvements were likely to have the greatest appeal.
Information on the occupations of Whig leaders in Texas, drawn
4"Richardson, Texas, Lone Star State, 165.
4"Walter B. Moore (ed.), The Texas Almanac 1964-z965 (Dallas, 1963), 122-126.
4"Webb and Carroll (eds.), Handbook of Texas, II, 299. Houston also served as a
port through the use of Buffalo Bayou. Richardson, Texas, Lone Star State, 157-158.
"Webb and Carroll (eds.), Handbook of Texas, II, 449-451, 479-
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 73, July 1969 - April, 1970, periodical, 1970; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117147/m1/44/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.