The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 1, July 1897 - April, 1898 Page: 35

Editors and Newspapers of Fayette County. 35
tial achievement. As an editor, extracts from other papers were
the tree he hid behind to load his gun, his own ammunition falling
short often. As to his legal attainments, his knowledge of courts
must have been very small, for upon one occasion, when a judg-
ment was rendered against him, he indignantly turned to the sher-
iff, and pointing to the judge, said, "Sheriff, arrest that man!" This
circumstance was told the writer by Judge Devine, who was oppos-
ing counsel. After that, he went to the Congress of the Republic
when it met in the town of Washington in 1843. So, you see, in
those days we bestowed honors freely.
It will be seen that our editor was a brave but unfortunate war-
rior, the fates being against him; an editor whose chair of office,
like the tree, could not screen him; a lawyer whose feats as a legal
knight might rival Don Quixote in assumption, and whose wisdom
as a legislator the archives of the Republic alone can tell.
The county paper passed into other hands, and the heading was
changed to "The Far West," exact date unknown, for I have been
unable to find a single copy of that paper. It was under the lead-
ership of Mr. Wm. G. Webb, who informs me that all the files in
his possession were consumed in the fire which destroyed a large
portion of the southern side of the public square in La Grange.
Mr. Winm. G. Webb, editor of "The Far West," settled in La
Grange from Georgia as a young lawyer. A man of cautious, per-
sistent cast of mind, whose success as an editor must have been sat-
isfactory. He became one of the leading attorneys at the La Grange
bar, more from his thorough determination than from brilliancy,
being not unlike one of Dr. Warren's characters, described as lit-
erally crawling over his cases until he mastered every point.
The next record of the newspapers of La Grange attainable was
the "Texas Monument," which made its appearance July 20, 1850.
It was published by a committee, incorporated by the Legislature of
Texas, the proceeds, after the expenses were paid, to be appropriat-
ed to erecting a monument to the decimated Mier prisoners and the
Dawson men, on the bluff opposite La Grange. The bill of incor-
poration was approved January 19, and the paper commenced in
July, with the late Colonel Dancy as editor, and Mr. Launcelot Ab-
bott as publisher. It was an ably conducted paper; would stand
fair, very fair, as a county paper among the present journals of
the State. There was the record of much patriotism and very little