The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 50, July 1946 - April, 1947 Page: 146
582 p. : ill. (some col.), maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
on murders and outrages; reports on murders and assaults; reports on ra-
tions issued destitute freedmen; and reports on schools. The reports are not
arranged by number of district, and to find those from Brazoria County,
it would be necessary to go through each group for each month or other
period covered until that for Brazoria County was reached. There are also
fragmentary records created in a few of the districts themselves. For the
Fourth District these consist of copies of letters sent, 1867-68, abstracts
of contracts, 1866-68, and abstracts of complaints, 1867-68.
The records of the Bureau for the other States are similar to those for
Texas.
The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands was closed
on June 30, 1872, but there are few records dated after 1868 because an
act of Congress of that year provided that as of January 1, 1869, all work
of the Bureau should cease except that relating to education and to claims.
An examination of the records of military commands shows that exten-
sive research would be required to locate documents relating to particular
counties and that probably very little material would be found. These
records are arranged by title of command. From Raphael P. Thian's Mili-
tary Geography of the United States, 1813-1880, it is possible to find out in
what major commands each of the Southern States was located during Re-
construction, but before a search can be made for documents on a particu-
lar locality, it is necessary to obtain information concerning the internal
organizations of the major command. This can generally be done only
through considerable research in the records. For instance, an examina-
tion of the records of the Department of Texas, in which Texas was located
from June of 1865, to August of 1866, showed that the Department was
divided into three or four districts, one of which was the Eastern District
in which Brazoria County was located. A search of the records of the
Eastern District disclosed only one document relating to Brazoria County
-a report of Major E. P. Curtis, Inspector General of the District, of a
visit to Brazoria and Matagorda counties in August, 1865, when he inves-
tigated the condition of the freedmen. The records are not indexed by
names of places.
A similar examination of the records of the Fifth Military District, in
which Texas was located from March 11, 1867, to March 30, 1870, was
made. This District comprised the States of Texas and Louisiana and was
divided into the District of Texas and the District of Louisiana. A search
of the correspondence between the Commanding Officer of the District of
Texas and the Commanding Officer of the Fifth Military District for 1868,
showed that it is considerable in volume and relates chiefly to military
posts and the assignment of troops. It contains incidental references to
counties in which posts were located, but no reports on general conditions
and affairs in the counties nor papers relating to Brazoria County were
found. There is no indication that there were any military posts in Bra-
zoria County.
Soon after the establishment of the Fifth Military District an Army
officer was appointed for the transaction, under the Commanding General
of the District, of business of an exclusively civil character. He was
known as the Secretary for Civil Affairs, and the records of his office con-
tain correspondence with civil officials and officials of the Bureau of Refu-146
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 50, July 1946 - April, 1947, periodical, 1947; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101117/m1/163/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.