Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, Volume 5, Number 1, January 1995 Page: 27
66 p. : ill., ports. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Reconstruction in Colorado County, Texas, 1865-1876
important black leader, Cicero Howard, emerged that year, winning the seat on the court
for the southern part of the county that included Eagle Lake. Howard, who had come
to Colorado County with the Union veterans Wilkinson and Ziegler after the war, would
serve four consecutive terms on the court, lose in 1886, and then serve three more terms
beginning in 1888. He would be joined on the court in 1880 by another black, James
Shepard, as Republicans regained control.81 Colorado County did not elect a Democrat
as county judge until W. S. Delaney won the office in November 1890. The county voted
Democratic for the first time in a gubernatorial race in 1888, when it narrowly supported
L. S. "Sul" Ross against Marion Martin who ran as an Independent rather than a
Republican. It also went Democratic for the first time in a presidential election in 1888,
supporting Grover Cleveland over the colorless Benjamin Harrison. Cleveland carried the
county again in 1892, but four years later it went back to the Republican fold when
William McKinley bested the Democrat William Jennings Bryan.82
Thus Reconstruction in Colorado County did not end with a specific election
that Democratic conservatives could hail as "Redemption." Thanks to the county's multi-
ethnic population, Republicans maintained control well beyond the dates usually
associated with the problem of restoring the defeated Confederate states to the Union.
Black voters provided most of the party's strength, but help from the Germans and a
handful of white southern unionists, such as Daniel D. Claiborne, Camillus Jones, and
the Johnson brothers, proved vital. German support weakened once the issues at stake
shifted in 1869-1870 from unionism to the expensive policies of the Davis Administra-
tion, but the areas around Freslburg and Weimar still provided enough votes to give the
Republicans a majority in most elections. On the occasions when Democrats were
successful politically, they won with men such as Fritz Leyendecker, who were
moderates rather than die-hard Confederates. Unlike many counties in the cotton-
producing region of Texas, Colorado County never returned to the control of former
slaveholding secessionists.
Blacks in Colorado County during Reconstruction attempted to take full
advantage of the opportunities provided by Federal policies and by the willingness of
many Germans and some southern whites to cooperate with them politically. Obviously,
the results were far from ideal-equality in any respect remained a dream-nevertheless,
freedmen made important progress after 1865. Blacks gained the franchise in 1867 and
immediately became enthusiastic participants in political life, both as voters and
officeholders. The county's best known African-American leader, Benjamin F. Williams,
served in the constitutional convention of 1868-1869 and the state house of represen-
tatives. Isaac Yates acted as a registrar of voters in 1867-1869 and became the first
black county commissioner in 1870. Alex Kinnerson's election in 1876 followed by
those of Cicero Howard in 1878 and James Shepard in 1880 assured blacks represen-
tation on the commissioners court for well over a decade after Texas was "redeemed."
Freedmen also held numerous lesser offices. For example, from 1870 to 1874 Edmund
81 Election Registers, 1878-1892; Tenth Census [1880], Schedule 1; Stein, ed., "Slave Narratives
of Colorado County," pp. 8-9.
82 Election Registers, 1876-1890; Kingston, Attlesey, and Crawford, Political History of Texas, pp.
62, 76.27
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Nesbitt Memorial Library. Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, Volume 5, Number 1, January 1995, periodical, January 1995; Columbus, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth151393/m1/27/?q=nesbitt%20memorial%20library%20journal: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Nesbitt Memorial Library.