Tomb stone for Hardin Hart, Texas Senator who represented Hunt County in 1849. He later became Eight District Judge for northeast Texas.
Last weekend I spent several hours reading the Journal of Texas Senate for 1849-1850, online. Boring? A little bit, but it was raining outside, and this needed to be done.
I found some interesting information, but not what I was looking for. The Journal was handwritten each day, approved the next day, and kept in a safe, fireproof location. The Texas Capital burned in 1887 but these documents survived. I suspect that unemployed secretaries during the Depression were hired by the WPA to transcribe and type-set their work. In the last few years they appeared on line. I simply googled the title and there it was. No name recognition index, though.
The United States annexed Texas in late December 1845. Suddenly the Texans had to create laws and statutes for the new state. It was in 1849 that school lands were created; lands set aside for county schools that could be sold with the revenue going into a fund to finance education. We still use those revenues.
The Texas Senate and House approved all marriages, adoptions, name changes, and divorces one by one. That’s why the first 95 marriage records in Hunt County are found in the back of Deed Book A. It was 1851 before counties began keeping those records.
Often the defending attorney asked for a change of venue to a nearby county if he/she believed the client might not receive a fair trial otherwise. In 1849 the party asking for the change had to pay all costs. The proper officer of the receiving county was required to provide security before the suit could be filed.
It was only in 1849 that county residents could vote for District clerks, and then not in all counties. The county court was given the right to appoint jailors. The county courts became regulators of county roads, bridges, ferries, and appointed road overseers.
The Senate spent several days trying to work out usable and economical mail routes. Getting mail once a week was a treat.
Senator Pease introduced a bill to authorize any two county commissioners to perform the duties of Chief Justice (today the County Judge), when the office was vacant or when the Chief Justice was absent from the county. The same conditions existed if the Chief Justice was disqualified to act or deceased.
Senator Van Derlip introduced a bill to prohibit the execution of a mortgage or lien upon a homestead of a family by the husband without the consent of the wife. It passed the Senate, but I do not know if the governor signed the bill into law.
Shortly after Texas entered the Union the Mexican War began. Governor Henderson left his office to lead troops in the war and appointed Albert Clinton Horton acting governor. Horton, in turn, filed a lawsuit against Charles Fenton Mercer and the Mercer Colony. Part of the colony was in Hunt County where 136 families who held Mercer contracts were left with no legal rights to the land they settled. In 1849 Texas Senate passed a bill along with the Texas House for the General Land Office to look into the case. If the contracts were valid, the 136 families were issued clear titles to their land.
One last item I found was a bill for relief of C. C. Taylor. That’s my name but I haven’t seen any funds from the Texas Senate of 1849-1850.