Texas Terror: The Slave Insurrection Panic of 1860 and the Secession of the Lower South

Illustrations

The Dallas courthouse was one of the few buildings left standing in the business section of town after the fire of July 8. Although the curtains inside its windows were scorched by the intense heat, its masonry construction saved the building from destruction. It was from this building that the three condemned black men were led to their executions on the bank of the Trinity River on July 24. From the collections of the Texas/Dallas History and Archives Division, Dallas Public Library ii texas terror Nathaniel M. (“Nat”) Burford, a former law partner of John H. Reagan, was judge of the Sixteenth Judicial District, which included Dallas, at the time of the Dallas fire and ensuing panic. He attended a meeting of the Dallas vigilance committee, and his later reminiscences provide valuable insight into the deliberations of that body. From the collections of the Texas/Dallas History and Archives Division, Dallas Public Library recto iii A. B. Norton (882), editor of the Austin Southern Intelligencer, and the most important unionist editor in Texas. His persistence in denying there was an abolitionist conspiracy in 860 earned him the wrath of southern-rights Democrats. His hirsute appearance was the result of a vow, made as a young man, that he would never shave or cut his hair until Henry Clay was elected president of the United States. He kept the vow until his death in 893. Brown (John Henry) Family Papers, 69-95 (CN # 00707). The Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin John Marshall moved from Mississippi to Texas in 852. He entered politics, becoming chairman of the state Democratic party in 856. That same year he became editor of the Austin Texas State Gazette, which he made into the most influential southern-rights journal in Texas. He played a key role in publicizing the allegations that led to the slave insurrection panic of 860. Marshall joined the Confederate army after the war began and was killed leading a charge in the Battle of Gaines Mill, June 27, 862. Austin History Center, Austin Public Library (PICA # PICB05770 ) John H. Reagan, of Palestine, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Eastern District of Texas in 857. Although reelected as a committed unionist in 859, he moved steadily toward a secessionist position after John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry. He strongly believed that abolitionists were behind the Texas fires in 860, and during the debate in Congress in December of that year, he argued that the alleged plot justified secession. Austin History Center, Austin Public Library (PICA # CO9253 ) Louis T. Wigfall, a native of South Carolina, moved to Texas in 846. He became one of the most vociferous fire eaters in the state during the latter part of the 850s and was narrowly elected to the U. S. Senate in late 859, after the John Brown raid in Virginia aroused fears of abolitionism in the Lone Star State. He used his position in the Senate to argue that the Texas slave panic of 860 was unquestionably the result of an abolitionist conspiracy, which, together with Lincoln’s election, made it imperative for the South to secede. Author’s collection Fragment of a letter written by Anthony Bewley. Charles Elliott, editor of the St. Louis Christian Advocate, who knew Bewley and defended him from the charge that he was an abolitionist, charged that the vigilantes “invented” William H. Bailey instead of forging a letter from the martyred Bewley, because his distinctive handwriting would have made it difficult to forge a letter with his signature. This fragment provides support for Elliott’s view. Photocopy provided by Bewley’s great, great granddaughter, Mrs. Marilyn Irons, of Dallas, Texas. Broadside containing the controversial “Bailey letter” that purportedly outlined the alleged abolitionist insurrection plot in Texas. Broadside Collection, Center for American History, University of Texas—Austin. ...