The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 74, July 1970 - April, 1971 Page: 26
616 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
opportunities for profit in wholesaling and retailing, particularly in
hardware and grocery commodities." And the expansion of various
types of milling-grain, lumber, textiles-in the Reconstruction period
provided new areas of investment for those willing either to diversify
their economic activities or to break completely from the agrarian
pattern.
Eleven of the Texans who held $100oo,ooo in property in 1860 (E. S. C.
Robertson of Bell County, Nathaniel Lewis and Samuel Maverick of
Bexar County, William Bryan of Brazoria County, F. S. Stockdale of
Calhoun County, Thomas J. Perryman of Guadalupe and Comal
counties,' E. B. Nichols of Galveston County, William R. Baker,
Thomas House, and William Hutchins of Harris County, and J. D.
Giddings of Washington County) still possessed over $100oo,ooo in 1870.
Three of the wealthy prewar Texans, builder Nathaniel Lewis of
Bexar County, lawyer J. D. Giddings of Washington County, and
farmer Thomas J. Perryman of Comal County, actually increased their
property ownership in the war decade. Several others, notably Levi
Jordan and S. S. Perry of Brazoria County, J. San Roman of Cameron
County, B. A. Shepherd and A. Groesbeck of Harris County, David
R. Wingate of Jefferson and Newton counties, and Thomas O'Connor
and J. H. Wood of Refugio County, lost economically during the dec-
ade but still possessed $3o,ooo or more in total property.8
By 1870, the midpoint of political Reconstruction in the state, the
number of Texans possessing $1 oo,ooo had dwindled to fifty-eight. Elev-
en of the fifty-eight were individuals who possessed $1oo,ooo in 186o.
The other forty-seven were newcomers to the ranks of those with great
5See John S. Spratt, The Road to Spindletop: Economic Change in Texas, z875-gor
(Dallas, 1955), lo--12; J. Lee and Lillian J. Stambaugh, The Lower Rio Grande Valley
of Texas (San Antonio, 1954), 144-145; and A. Ray Stephens, "D. A. Orviss: Texas
Merchant," Southwestern Historical Quarterly, LXV (July, 1961), 35-453
Vera Lea Dugas, "Texas Industry, 186o-i88o," Southwestern Historical Quarterly, LIX
(October, 1955), 161-175.
7Perryman resided in Guadalupe County prior to the Civil War, but was listed in the
census enumeration for 187o as living in Comal County.
8San Roman, a Spanish-born merchant, who had $85,000 in total property in 1870,
was wealthiest of the group. Shepherd had $72,000 in property in 1870o; Groesbeck had
$82,ooo in property in 1870; Wingate, formerly of Jefferson County but then residing in
Newton County, had $37,000 in property; O'Connor, stock raiser from Refugio County,
had $72,ooo; and J. H. Wood, also a stock raiser from Refugio, had $4o,ooo in property.
The writer was able to locate in the 1870 federal census only forty-five of the prewar
wealthy Texans in the counties of their 186o residence. Two others, Perryman and Win-
gate, were found in the 1870 census but were living in different counties than in 186o.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 74, July 1970 - April, 1971, periodical, 1971; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101200/m1/38/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.