Reminiscences of reconstruction in Texas ; and, Reminiscences of Texas and Texans fifty years ago Page: 24 of 58
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24 RECONSTRUCTION IN TEXAS.
are gone, good-bye." From that hour to this the writer has never
seen or heard of Horn. On going to the capitol the next morning,
the writer saw a number of negroes and some white men with arms
in their hands slink out of the basement of the capitol and scurry
across the capitol grounds like scared rabbits. The die was cast.
Coke was inaugurated, reconstruction finished, and Texas redeemed;
and the people who had waited, trusted and suffered, received their
reward.
The incidents related and statements made in this paper, as to
the sentiment and feeling of the people of Texas during the days
of reconstruction, are, of course, in a great measure local, being
confined to the personal observation of the writer; but at the same
time he feels sure that they are truthful representations of the
feelings of the people, and of what was occurring all over Texas
during the dark and gloomy days of reconstruction.
The writer of the foregoing pages, without any personal feeling
or prejudice against any section of the Union, has endeavored to
make a faithful chronicle of some of the incidents occurring under
his own observation in Texas during the period of reconstruction;
and the feelings of the people with whom he was associated during
that time. In order that a correct and truthful history of this unhappy
period in Texas may be written, a knowledge of the events
occurring and the sentiments and feelings that actuated the people
is necessary. Principally to further this end and purpose have
these pages been prepared.
The bitterness and animosities engendered by the war and reconstruction
have long since been relegated to the past. The Blue and
the Gray can now claim a common country. The union of the
States is better cemented and stronger than ever before. Mason's
and Dixon's line, the imaginary boundary between freedom and
slavery, has been forever obliterated. The issues arising from secession
have been finally and fully settled. A Union, steadfast and
strong, spreads its protecting arms over the North and the South.
Every man, be his home in any one of the States, feels a glow of
pride and exultation when he contemplates the greatness and
grandeur of the Union, and felicitates himself that he is a citizen of
this mighty Republic.
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Wood, William D. Reminiscences of reconstruction in Texas ; and, Reminiscences of Texas and Texans fifty years ago, book, 1902; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth14387/m1/24/?rotate=270: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.