The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 73, July 1969 - April, 1970 Page: 508
605 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
1901, the value of the cotton crop of 3,526,649 bales was $177,714,544
and the population of the state was 3,048,710, but the largest city,
San Antonio, had a population only slightly in excess of 53,000."
Without the development of large urban areas either as major dis-
tributive points or as manufacturing centers or a combination of the
two in the postbellum period, large accumulations of capital were
impossible, and without such capital Texas remained an economic
vassal of northern and eastern interests and essentially rural in make-
up. Considering the rapid growth of the population, the supplies
needed to sustain these people, and the wealth produced from the soil
through cotton, together with the great sums invested in internal im-
provement-railroad mileage increased from 591 miles in 1870 to 3,244
in 188o to 9,867 in 1900oo-at least one major urban area with large
capital facilities would have been expected to emerge in the latter part
of the nineteenth century in Texas." That this did not occur was prin-
cipally due to the effects of the revolutionizing of the cotton trade and
all that was implied in that change.
"Bureau of the Census, Statistics of Cities having a Population of over 25,ooo: 9gos-
19o3 (Washington, 1905), 66; Yearbook of the United States Department of Agriculture,
90go (Washington, 1902), 750; U. S. Census Office, Report of the Social Statistics of Cities
(Washington, 1887), Part II, 301, 311, 315, 323, 327; United States Census Office, Twelfth
Census of the United States: zgoo. Population (Washington, 19o1), Part I, 40. The values
of the 186o and 188o crops are approximations figured on the basis of 500 pound bales
and a per pound value for the two years of 11 and 12.02 cents, respectively. These price
figures are averages for the two years and are from the Texas Department of Agriculture,
Year Book: 19o9 (Austin, 191o), 43.
"Reed, A History of the Texas Railroads, 517.
"It is not possible to determine the capital of Texas banks during this period with
certainty, but some reasonable estimation can be offered. In 1880 the 14 national banks
had a combined capital of $1,420,000; in 1899 the number of national banks totalled 199
and their combined capital amounted to $19,205,000. In 188o there were 87 private banks
in Texas, but no capital figure is available. However, in 1899, of the 187 private banks
in the state, 33 reported their capital, $1,468,000. Avery Luvere Carlson, A Monetary and
Banking History of Texas (Fort Worth, 1930), 39, 43, 48, 49. I think capital of
$15,ooo,ooo would be generous for the private banks in 1899. Total capital for the banks
of Texas in the same year was probably between $30,000,00o and $40,000,000. Hutchings,
Sealy & Co., one of the largest, if not the largest bank in the state, had capital of $800,000
in 1897. "Partnership Agreement" between John H. Hutchings, George Sealy, John Sealy,
Sealy Hutchings, and H. O. Stein, June 17, 1897, Ball, Hutchings Papers (Rosenberg
Library).508
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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/m1/554/: accessed April 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.