The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 67, July 1963 - April, 1964 Page: 340
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: Southwestern Historical Quarterly and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Texas State Historical Association.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
desire to have the City of Austin placed unequivocally before the
people of the State for their undivided vote by having such "non-
division" tickets printed and circulated, with such other information
as to enable all citizens alike to vote intelligently and unerringly
upon the question. Our Ticket
"For location of entire University of Texas: Austin."
In accordance with the proclamation, issued in accordance with
the law by Governor O. M. Roberts.5'
This proclamation was signed and issued by eighty or ninety
men, dominantly from the strongly organized German population
of Austin. Their tickets were printed and distributed, but most
of their work was done within Travis County, and their ballot
was used almost exclusively in the county.
When the election was held on September 6, 1881, the wisdom
of using the Wooldridge ballot more than proved itself, but the
suspense lasted until October 17, when the canvassing board
declared that Texas voters had divided the university and that
Austin was elected as the home of the main branch with Gal-
veston the seat of the medical school. The totals in the elections
showed that 56,480 votes were cast. Of these, 38,117 were in favor
of separation while 18,363 were against separation. As the site
of the main university, Austin received 16,30o6 votes and for the
site of the entire university only 14,607, giving the capital
a total vote of 30o,913. The nearest competitor for the main uni-
versity was Tyler, which received 18,420 votes or 2,114 votes more
than Austin received. As Tyler received only 554 votes for the
seat of the entire university, Austin won by a margin of 11,939
votes. The citizens of Tyler were somewhat irate at the outcome
of the election and insisted that their city ought to be proclaimed
the victor. A careful review of the canvassing board's August 1 g
decision convinced the citizens that they had in fact, under the
law, lost the election, so Tyler accepted the result.55
After getting off to such a slow start, Texas became extremely
eager to have the doors of the university opened. No time was
lost in selecting members of the first Board of Regents and on
November 15, 1881, the board met for the first time. At the third
54Wooldridge, A History of the Location of the University of Texas, 16-17.
55lbid. This carefully written twenty-page manuscript was very helpful in setting
the scene of the fight to locate the university.340
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 67, July 1963 - April, 1964, periodical, 1964; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101197/m1/398/?q=%221777%22: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.