The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 11, July 1907 - April, 1908 Page: 297
vii, 320 p. : maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Presidential Reconstruction in Texas.
297
ignorant of the civil law and impatient of a less direct method
than that to which the camp had accustomed him, or from the
judge who sought to uphold the dignity of the civil authority and
felt constrained to base his acts upon what remained of the old
code.
The first serious trouble was at Victoria, where Colonel I. T.
Rose, of the 77th Pennsylvania, was stationed. Eight distinct
charges of outrageous conduct on the part of Rose were laid before
the Governor.1 Finally, a white man, M. M. Gwinn, who had killed
a negro and had been acquitted in a preliminary trial in open
court, in which the testimony of negroes was freely admitted, was,
after being released, rearrested by Rose and confined in jail. A
certified copy of the proceedings of the court was put in the hands
of the Governor, who sent a peppery letter to the Colonel, de-
manded the release of Gwinn, and laid the matter before General
Wright. Wright ordered the release of Gwinn and soon afterwards
Rose was transferred to duty elsewhere.
A more serious affair occurred at Jefferson. R. L. Robertson,
acting as Treasury agent, was indicted on three distinct charges,
two of swindling and one of theft, by a grand jury. He was re-
leased by the interference of Captain Jones, the post commander.
He was again arrested and his release was ordered of District
Judge Gray by Major Clingman, at Marshall. After the judge had
twice refused, Captain Jones with a body of soldiers forcibly took
Robertson from jail. The civil authorities appealed to the Gov-
ernor; the military appealed to their superiors. General Canby
issued the following: "State courts have no jurisdiction over
their (Treasury agents) official conduct, nor can they, without
usurpation, investigate the title of property held by the United
States as captured and abandoned." Concerning this Judge Gray
wrote to Hamilton: "The District Court of Marion County has
'Among these charges were the following: (1) Robert Tippett was con-
fined in jail for nine days on no charge whatever. He employed counsel,
who was threatened with imprisonment if he pressed matters. (2) A
negro, arrested and jailed for horse-stealing, was released by Rose. (3)
Another negro, committed on two distinct charges, was likewise released
by soldiers. (4) Judge L. A. White, who had gone to <Rose to complain
of depredations of soldiers, was cursed, abused, shot at, and jailed by the
drunken colonel. He was released only when he agreed to drop the mat-
ter.-C. Carsner and others to Governor Hamilton, MSS. in Official Cor-
respondence.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 11, July 1907 - April, 1908, periodical, 1908; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101045/m1/301/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.