Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas Page: 213 of 894
762 p., [172] leaves of plates : ill., ports. ; 30 cm.View a full description of this book.
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INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
191
education. His manly struggle to attain this
worthy end attracted the attention and won for
him the friendship of Judge O'Neill, who supplied
him the means to complete his course in the State
college at Columbia.
He then accompanied Prof. Stafford to Tuscaloosa,
Ala., as an assistant teacher, and devoted his
first earnings to the reimbursement of his friend,
Judge O'Neill, for whom he ever afterward cherished
sentiments of the warmest gratitude and
esteem. Emigrating to Texas, in 1837, he proceeded
to the West and employed himself in locating
and surveying lands. He afterwards went to
Houston and established a school for young men.
Some time there after, Dr. Francis Moore, editor of
The Telegraph, who was regarded as one of the
most finished newspaper writers then in thle State,
wished to spend a summer in the North and induced
Mr. Richardson to assume editorial control of the
paper. The versatility, force and literary excellence
of his writings immediately attracte(l attention,
and probably the expression of public
appreciation of his efforts had much to do with
inducing him to adopt journalism as a profession.
He bent every energy to the upbuilding of the
paper and, prudent, cool and persevering, never
lost faith in the future of the city and in the
country nor in the ultimate success of his own
efforts. He was not content to keep abreast of
tlhe times but sought to anticipate the general
march of progress and development, and move in
advance of others. As a result the News almost
immediately became a power in the land, a position
that it has ever since maintained. He took an
active part both with his pen and by liberal contributions
from his private means, in aiding all worthy
pul)lic enterprises from old( times down to the era
that inaugurated railroad building in Texas. lie
made a powerful effort through the columns of the
News, devoting whole numbers and large extra editions
of the paper to that purpose to in(luce the
adoption by the State of Texas of what was known
as the " Galveston Plan," under which the State
was asked to patronize a system of roads to diverge
from the navigable waters of Galveston Bay into
Eastern, Western and Central Texas.
The plan was simple, comprehensive and practicable,
but was not adopted by the legi,lature and
the State has since struggled on without a system
and under many difficulties and distractions in the
construction of roads by private companies with
State aid and complications have resulted that
threaten protracted and vexatious litigation and hot
civil convulsions in the future. Driven from Galveston
in the year of 1861-2 by the Federal forceshe moved his extensive and valuable newspaper
plant to Houston, where it was a short time thereafter
entirely destroye(d by fire. The establishment
was then, as now, l)y far the most valuable in the
State. It was wholly uninsured and there was no
chance to replace it in full owing to the blockade;
but he met the heavy loss--probably $50,000 in
the original outlay
with entire equanimity and
immediately set to work to collect such material as
was available; resumed the publication of the
paper and kept it up throughout the war, not
returning to Galveston until 1866, after the fall
of the Confederacy. During the war the News
was eminently conservative and outspoken, though
devoted to the Southern cause. He did not hesitate
to denounce tle establ shment and enforcement
of so-called martial law under pleas of military
necessity, under which so many private rights were
outraged and lawless acts perpetrated on both sides
of the contest by those claiming to exercise military
authority. It contained well-written and trenclhant
articles protesting against the arbitrary acts of both
the Confederate congress and the military autlhoities
at a time when one, whose devotion to the
Southern cause was not so well established as that
of Mr. Richardson, would not have dared to speak
so freely. Nor did he feel bound, like so many
editors 6f the day, to give only such news as was
favorable to the South and represented her as
triumphant, when in fact the clouds of adverse
fortune were lowering upon her banners.
He did nothing, however, to discourage any just
hopes of his friends. The course that he pursued
was to publish the facts as lie received tlhem.
.When the final collapse of the Confederacy came
he was prepared for it and rea(ly to render all the
aid possible toward the political and material
rehabilitation of the country. He neither vielded
himself nor desired to see others yield to apathy and
despair; but, both by precept and example, taught
that the duty of the hour was to make a vigorous
and united effort to repair the ravages of war by
the development of the agricultural resources of
the State, increasing transportation facilities, cultivating
commercial relations with the other States of
the Union and stimulating immigration.
During his long connection with the News, commencing
as editor in 18f13, and afterwards as sole
proprietor or partner, Mr. Ricliarlson presented a
mo(del of persistent application to business. Without
any ambition to figure in politics, caring nothing
for ordinary amusements, he found sufficient
entertainment in the active pursuits of life and the
literary labors his vocation involved. He was a
hard worker, but he loved his work and for the
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Brown, John Henry. Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas, book, 1880~; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth6725/m1/213/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.