East Texas Historical Journal Volume 22 | Issue 1 Article 1 3-1984 ETHJ Vol-22 No-1 Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/ethj Part of the United States History Commons Tell us how this article helped you. Recommended Citation (1984) "ETHJ Vol-22 No-1," East Texas Historical Journal: Vol. 22: Iss. 1, Article 1. Available at: http://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/ethj/vol22/iss1/1 This Full Issue is brought to you for free and open access by SFA ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in East Texas Historical Journal by an authorized administrator of SFA ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. VOLUME XXII 1984 NUMBER 1 EAST TEXAS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION OFFICERS Bob Bowman _..__ __ __ .. __ .__ .. President William J. Brophy. __ . _. First Vice President Ms. Jewel Cates. _.. .. Second Vice Pre~ident Ms. Tommie Jan Lowery ___ ._ Treasurer DIRECTORS Donald R. Whisenhunt ._ __ ._ Wayne, B. ., 1984 Ms. Margaret Swelt Henson __ .. __ ._ Houston __. 1984 James Conrad __ . __ Commerce _. 1985 Joe L. White .. __ Kilgore 1985 Ms. Alice Gilbert Tyler 1985 Ms. Linda Cross Tyler ,.. 1986 Gwin Morris Marshall _.. J986 Ms. JoAnn Stiles , Beaumont J986 Max S. Lale Marshall ex-President Irvin May College Station ex-President F. Lee Lawrence Tyler Dirutor Emeritus William R. Johnson _ _.............. acogdoches ex·ol/;c;o James V. Reese _.._ Nacogdoches _............... ex·ol/icio EDITORIAL BOARD Allen Ashcraft _ _... College Station Robert Glover _................................................................ .. Tyler Ralph Goodwin __ _ _ _._ _........ Commerce Bobby H. Johnson _............... acogdoches Patricia Kell _._........................... Baytown James L. Nichols _ _.................................. Nacogdoches Bill O'Neal _ Carthage James Smallwood Slillwater, Oklahoma James Wilkins Tyler Archie P. McDonald EXECUTIVE DlREcrOR AND EDITOR MEMBERSHIP INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS PAY 5100 annually. LIFE MEMBERS pay 5250 or more. SUSTAI lNG MEMBER, PATRON pays 75 and BE EFAcrOR pays S50 annually. REGULAR MEMBERS pay 512 dues annually. STUDENT MEMBERS pay $8 dues annually. P. O. BOX 6223 STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVER lTV Nacogdoches, Texas 75962 S7.00 per copy to non·members. 53.00 per copy to members. XXII - East Texas Historical Association EAST TEXAS HISTORICAL JOURNAL Volume xxn 1984 Number 1 CONTENTS VANTAGE ON THE BAY: GALVESTON AND THE RAILROADS by William D. Angel, Jr __ .. ..__ 3 lMA HOGG: THE GOVERNOR'S DAUGHTER by Virginia Bernhard _ __ .__ .. .. ._ ...• __ . __ 19 TEXAS WHIGS AND THE GUBERNATORIAL ELECTION OF 1853 by Ronald Coleman Ellison 33 EAST TEXAS COLLOQUY .42 BOOK REVIEWS .45 Archie P. McDonald, Executive Director and Editor STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY P.O. BOX 6223 NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS 75962 2 EAST TEXAS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION BOOKS REVIEWED Sibley, Lone Stars and State Gazettes: Texas Newspapers before the Civil War, by Max S. Lale Weber, The Mexican Frontier, 1821-1846, by D. S. Chandler Rosenbaum, Mexicano Resistance in the Southwest, by Felix D. Almaraz, Jr. Henson, Juan Davis Bradburn, by Marilyn M. Sibley Raymond, Captain Lee Hall of Texas, by Ben Procter Amis, Emory Rains 1800-1878, by Kenneth Ray Estes Parrish, Between Loaded Guns, by Maury Darst Smyrl, Poley Morgan: Son of a Texas Scalawag, by Maury Darst Committee on History & Tradition of the State Bar of Texas, Centennial History oj the Texas Bar 1882-1982, by Cooper K. Ragan Whisenhunt, A Chronological History of Smith County, Texas, by Bob Bowman Bomar, Texas Weather, by James Smallwood Linsley & Rienstra, Beaumont, A Chronicle of Promise, by J. M. Tanner Holden, Lambshead Belore Interwoven, by Duncan G. Muckclroy Matthews, Interwoven: A Pioneer Chronicle, by Duncan G. Muckelroy Stowers. The Unsinkable Titanic Thompson, by Bill O'Neal May, Marvin Jones, by James E. Fickle Ransom, The Conscience of the University and Other Essays, by William R. Johnson Ash, Protestantism and the American University, by Jerry M. Self Thompson. Tried as By Fire, by Jerry M. Self Erisman & Etulain, Filty Western Writers, by Lee Schultz Jones, Tomorrow is Another Day, by Staley Hitchcock Kyvig & Marty, Nearby History, by Susanne Starling Dcnhardt, Foundation Dams of the American Quaner Horse, by F. Lee Lawrence Rulon. The Compassionate Samaritan, by Anthony Champagne Metcalf & Downey, Using Local History in the Classroom, by Beth Arganbright Bowman, The Best of East Texas II, by Archie P. McDonald EAST TEXAS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION 3 VANTAGE ON THE BAY: GALVESTON AND THE RAILROADS by William D. Angel, Jr. On the eve of the Civil War, Galvestonians cockily proclaimed, "The steady increase in the trade and general business of Galveston leaves no room to doubt that it must ere long rival many of the principal sea ports of the South.'" Indeed, the city possessed loeational endow­ ments so overwhelming that its prosperous destiny seemed certain. Located on an island off the Texas coast, Galveston possessed a harbor which many observers contended was the best along the entire Gulf coast, from Pensacola to Vera Cruz,' and this harbor contributed to the city's antebellum prosperity. In 1860, for example, the port handled almost $16 million in cargo.' Galveston never realized its early pro­ mise, however, and by the beginning of the twentieth century, upstart Houslon replaced it as southeast Texas' premier port. Geographic advantages notwithstanding, human underachievement was responsible for Galveston's relative failure. ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT Locational factors alone do not preordain a city's economic success. Urban capitalists and politicians are important, particularly those who display entrepreneurial characteristics. Urban entrepreneurs are innovative capitalists and public officials who promote the town by creatively applying any soeietal resource to encourage community growth.' They differ from ordinary town promoters who boost the local economy, but in a non-creative, non-innovative fashion. Urban entrepreneurs are builders of infrastructure. Essential to any city's economic success is the provision of an infrastructure which will make the community more economically viable. Such infrastruc­ ture contributes goods or services which local businesses need not pro­ vide themselves (e.g. highways, railroads, canals, waterfront improve­ ments, industrial parks) and which are vital for specific forms of business activity. Although the provision of these goods or services may be publicly or privately administered, the pattern in which they are made available and distributed has a definite bearing on a city's success. This pattern constitutes the infrastructure and can include transportation systems, utilities, educational facilities, and a skilled labor market. Entrepreneurs can affect a city's economy by preparing or planning infrastructural development. They exert this influence by being innovative, that is, by "creatively applying societal resources." They may adopt innovative infrastructure, one which is new to their community and which has not gained wide- William D. Angel teaches history at the Ohio State University, Lima Campus. 4 EAST TEXAS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION spread acceptance elsewhere, particularly among the city's closest rivals. Or they may introduce a more conventional infrastructural form by using innovative strategies, which consist primarily of booster methods which few other communities have applied. Those capitalists or poli­ ticians who begin and direct such innovative initiatives are entre­ preneurs." In a city where the capitalists and politicians are not innovative, the consequences may be grave. The city will be slow to adopt new types of infrastructure that may give it an "edge" Over rival communi­ ties. Or it simply may fail to attract a relatively common infrastructure, but one which-if applied with a bit of creativity-could have a favor­ able impact on the city's economic progress. In either case, the city either will collapse or will decline in relation to its closest competitors. This brief study of Galveston will illustrate these arguments. Although Galveston enjoyed excellent locational advantages, the city's capitalists displayed few entrepreneurial qualities. During the 1850s Houston confronted Galveston with a rather serious challenge. Houston's capitalists had organized and directed a series of railroad projects, which by 1860 established that city as an important rail hub. The Bayou City's railroad tentacles penetrated into north central Texas (The Houston and Texas Central), plunged into the sugar producing region of Brazoria County south of the city (The Houston Tap and Brazoria), and extended to the Louisiana border (The Texas and New Orleans). In addition, the Houston Tap and Brazoria fed into the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos, and Colorado Railway (B.B.B.C.) which ran to Columbus in central Texas.' Galveston's response to this challenge from Houston was hardly an entrepreneurial one, and it would have an important bearing upon consequent developments in those two cities. GALVESTON AND RAILROAD DEVELOPMENT: EARLY ATTITUDES Even though Galveston merchants, financiers, and lawyers were interested in railroads prior to 1856, their interest was not terribly keen. When the Galveston Bay and Red River Railroad (later renamed the Houston and Texas Central) was chartered in 1848, Willard Richard­ son, editor and publisher of the Galveston News, praised the line's Houston promoters but at the same time urged that investment come predominantly from those who directly