Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, Volume 9, Number 1, January 1999 Page: 13
46 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Consider the Lily. The Ungilded History of Colorado County, Texas
At the same time, Harris got into a conflict with a local freedmen's school
teacher named Margaret Hartnett. On February 15, Harris complained of her conduct, re-
marking that, for him, it was "almost impossible to keep out of' a quarrel with her. Soon,
the trustees of the freedmen's church in Columbus had joined the conflict. On March 16,
1867, the trustees petitioned that Hartnett be removed from the school, claiming that she
was a poor teacher, and that she was far too territorial with regard to the church's building,
where her school was conducted. Harris added his recommendation that she be removed.
His superior, however, while allowing that Hartnett had a quick temper, regarded her as "an
honest and moral person, experienced and faithful in her duties," and seemed to want her to
continue to teach in Columbus. He recommended that she be transferred, but only because
he realized that she would thereafter have a poor relationship with Harris. Shortly, Hartnett
left and the school closed.21
Harris seems to have been in continual conflict with teachers. He, and his wife
and mother, with whom he lived, seem to have questoned the chastity of two unmarried
female teachers sent to Alleyton by the American Missionary Association. Later in 1867,
Harris had another conflict with teachers at Columbus. The school had been reopened on
July 22 with two teachers, James T. Jamison and his wife. About a month later, a yellow
fever epidemic swept Texas, and, in keeping with the common practice of the time, the
Jamisons left town and set up a camp in the country to avoid the disease. Despite their
precautions, Jamison became ill (though perhaps not with yellow fever). As his illness
intensified, his wife repeatedly entreated Harris to send a physician and medical supplies.
None came, and, after nearly three weeks of suffering, Jamison died. By then, his wife had
also become quite ill, but she arose from her sickbed and rode the four miles to Harris'
Columbus office in the back of a freedman's cart. There, she accused him of killing her
husband by his inattention to their requests. Harris had the sick woman taken to his house
and laid on a pallet on the floor. She remained there overnight; then was taken in by a local
black family and nursed back to health. As soon as she recovered, she began telling her
story to any Freedman's Bureau official who would listen. In his defense, Harris stated that,
because so many people were ill, no physician could be induced to attend Jamison. None-
theless, the affair, and two subsequent, blistering reports by an inspector who also im-
pugned Harris' honesty, led to his removal. Rumors that Harris had kept monies generated
by cotton sales that were due to freedmen swept the county. It would develop later that
Harris had robbed estates of which he had been made administrator. On February 26, 1868,
Louis W. Stevenson arrived in Columbus and relieved Harris of duty. Harris' contingent of
21 Petition of Benjamin F. Williams, Edmund Eason, Ed Tobin, and Isiah Tobin and accompanying
letter from Enon M. Harris, March 16, 1867, Notes from sub-assistant commissioner's field notes: Letter of
Enon M. Harris, February 15, 1867, both in Barry A. Crouch Collection (Ms. 41), Archives of the Nesbitt
Memorial Library, Columbus.13
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Nesbitt Memorial Library. Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, Volume 9, Number 1, January 1999, periodical, January 1999; Columbus, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth151405/m1/13/?q=nesbitt%20memorial%20library%20journal: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Nesbitt Memorial Library.