Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, Volume 10, Number 1, January 2000 Page: 20

Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal

However, Schmidt, too, was destined to lose a bond war with the county court.
On July 24, he submitted a bond for $12,000, with Robert Tendick and his wife Kate, John
Rosenfield, and Edward Wilson as bondsmen. The court accepted it, but raised the amount
to $20,000 and ordered him to get another bond. Meanwhile, Schmidt appointed former
sheriff Johann Baptist Leyendecker as his deputy, finally removing Green from authority.
Schmidt submitted his new bond on August 28, but it was rejected when one of the new
bondsmen, John William Schoellmann, withdrew his support. He tried again on September 4,
and was again rejected. This time the court noted that part of the pledged property was a
homestead and that the bond did not state that all of the pledged property was unencum-
bered. Further, they doubted the ability of a married woman, meaning presumably Kate
Tendick, to pledge her separate property. Schmidt gave up and returned to his role as cattle
and hide inspector. Shortly, the governor received a petition, signed by 76 persons, most of
whom were black, recommending that he appoint Leyendecker to the post, a letter, signed
by four men endorsing Brooks, and a letter from Lindsay endorsing Good. Davis, however,
appointed James H. McCulloch on November 9, 1871. But McCulloch apparently did not
even live in the county, and he apparently never submitted a bond to the county government.
The governor finally gave up and appointed Good sheriff on December 22, 1871. Good's
bond was approved by the court four days later. Shortly, Robert Tendick and Schmidt found
themselves under indictment; Tendick for perjury on the grounds that he had overstated his
wealth on Schmidt's bond; and Schmidt for acting as cattle and hide inspector without autho-
rization, and, because he had solicited fees while doing so, for swindling. Tendick's first trial,
on February 24, 1872, resulted in a hung jury. Schmidt was acquitted of both charges on
October 15, 1873. Tendick finally secured his acquittal on February 13, 1874.24
Like the successive Republican candidates for sheriff, Camillus Jones, the Re-
publican who had been elected the county's presiding justice, came under increasing attack
by the Democrats. Jones's behavior evidently had never been satisfactory, even to his fellow
24 Colorado County Police [Commissioners] Court Minutes, Book 1862-1876, pp. 215, 216,
217, 219, 222, 232; Colorado County Bond and Mortgage Records, Book H, pp. 148, 152; Colorado
County Election Returns, Register of Elected and Appointed State and County Officials, 1870-1875,
both in Secretary of State Papers (RG 307), Archives Division, Texas State Library, Austin; Colorado
County District Court Records, Criminal Cause File No. 915: State of Texas v. Robert P Tendick,
Criminal Cause File No. 916: State of Texas v. Charles Schmidt, Criminal Cause File No. 916: State of
Texas v. Charles Schmidt, Minute Book E, pp. 250, 260, Minute Book F, pp. 44, 45, 113; Colorado
Citizen, November 16, 1871, February 29, 1872, March 7, 1872; Livingston Lindsay to Edmund J.
Davis, September 10, 1871, Edward Wilson, et al. to Edmund J. Davis, November 3, 1871, Petition to
Appoint Johann Baptist Leyendecker Sheriff, November 3, 1871, Edmund J. Davis Records (RG 301),
Archives Division, Texas State Library, Austin. The Colorado Citizen, in reporting on Tendick's trial,
speculated that the jury had been packed with Tendick supporters, including "eight gentlemen of
color... three German citizens and one native American," prompting an angry reply from Tendick the
following week.

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