William Pitt Ballinger

William Pitt Ballinger PDF Author: John Anthony Moretta
Publisher: TX A&m-TX St Historical Assoc.
ISBN: 9780876111994
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Few people have played a more important role in the history of Texas than William Pitt Ballinger. Though not as well known as legendary figures Stephen F. Austin or Sam Houston, Ballinger is one of those individuals whose behind-the-scenes life had a major impact on the events of his time. This thoroughly researched and engagingly written biography brings Ballinger to life as one of the most complete men of his time: lawyer, soldier, public servant, civic leader, author, editorialist, naturalist, education reformer, and bibliophile. In his long and illustrious career as a lawyer, Ballinger was usually the picture of calm and confidence, but on the morning of April 21, 1881, he found it difficult to maintain his composure as he awaited a conference with Jay Gould, the legendary "robber baron" of the Gilded Age, who had written Ballinger just six days earlier "to obtain the best legal advice I can." After four hours of consultation, Gould left Ballinger's office with the legal opinion he sought and a bill for $2,500. Gould was looking for "a lawyer with great ability and nerve," and he later remarked dryly that Ballinger's insightful opinion convinced him of his ability, and that the size of the bill convinced him that Ballinger had the nerve. Jay Gould was just one of the many significant figures who befriended or worked with Ballinger: Daniel Webster, William Seward, Albert Sidney Johnston, Jefferson Davis, Samuel Colgate, and William Tecumseh Sherman, to name but a few. Within Texas, Ballinger's list of friends and acquaintances read like a "Who's Who" of the mid-nineteenth century: Sam Houston, Michel Menard, Samuel May Williams, William Marsh Rice, and Francis Lubbock, among others. His brothers-in-law, Guy Bryan and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Miller, were both instrumental in getting Ballinger nominated to the Texas Supreme Court and to the Supreme Court of the United States. The reserved Ballinger declined both opportunities. Ballinger served Texas in a number of areas, from helping make Galveston the state's premier antebellum city to devoting his service to the Confederacy (although he had been a staunch Unionist). After the war, he helped negotiate Texas' surrender and played a key role in the drafting of the state's 1876 constitution. But Ballinger's life was not just about the law; it was about living life to the fullest. He was an intense, driven man, devoted to his family, his law practice, his nation, and his beloved state. In Ballinger's fascinating life and career we see reflected some of the most important issues of his era, including secession, slavery, corporations, and the law. The social, political, and cultural climate of Texas, the South, and the nation are revealed through the life, eyes, and mind of this remarkable, articulate man whose life spanned much of the nineteenth century. JOHN MORETTA received his Ph.D. in history from Rice University. He is professor of history at Central College, Houston Community College, and teaches at the University of Houston.

William Pitt Ballinger

William Pitt Ballinger PDF Author: John Anthony Moretta
Publisher: TX A&m-TX St Historical Assoc.
ISBN: 9780876111994
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
Few people have played a more important role in the history of Texas than William Pitt Ballinger. Though not as well known as legendary figures Stephen F. Austin or Sam Houston, Ballinger is one of those individuals whose behind-the-scenes life had a major impact on the events of his time. This thoroughly researched and engagingly written biography brings Ballinger to life as one of the most complete men of his time: lawyer, soldier, public servant, civic leader, author, editorialist, naturalist, education reformer, and bibliophile. In his long and illustrious career as a lawyer, Ballinger was usually the picture of calm and confidence, but on the morning of April 21, 1881, he found it difficult to maintain his composure as he awaited a conference with Jay Gould, the legendary "robber baron" of the Gilded Age, who had written Ballinger just six days earlier "to obtain the best legal advice I can." After four hours of consultation, Gould left Ballinger's office with the legal opinion he sought and a bill for $2,500. Gould was looking for "a lawyer with great ability and nerve," and he later remarked dryly that Ballinger's insightful opinion convinced him of his ability, and that the size of the bill convinced him that Ballinger had the nerve. Jay Gould was just one of the many significant figures who befriended or worked with Ballinger: Daniel Webster, William Seward, Albert Sidney Johnston, Jefferson Davis, Samuel Colgate, and William Tecumseh Sherman, to name but a few. Within Texas, Ballinger's list of friends and acquaintances read like a "Who's Who" of the mid-nineteenth century: Sam Houston, Michel Menard, Samuel May Williams, William Marsh Rice, and Francis Lubbock, among others. His brothers-in-law, Guy Bryan and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Miller, were both instrumental in getting Ballinger nominated to the Texas Supreme Court and to the Supreme Court of the United States. The reserved Ballinger declined both opportunities. Ballinger served Texas in a number of areas, from helping make Galveston the state's premier antebellum city to devoting his service to the Confederacy (although he had been a staunch Unionist). After the war, he helped negotiate Texas' surrender and played a key role in the drafting of the state's 1876 constitution. But Ballinger's life was not just about the law; it was about living life to the fullest. He was an intense, driven man, devoted to his family, his law practice, his nation, and his beloved state. In Ballinger's fascinating life and career we see reflected some of the most important issues of his era, including secession, slavery, corporations, and the law. The social, political, and cultural climate of Texas, the South, and the nation are revealed through the life, eyes, and mind of this remarkable, articulate man whose life spanned much of the nineteenth century. JOHN MORETTA received his Ph.D. in history from Rice University. He is professor of history at Central College, Houston Community College, and teaches at the University of Houston.

William Pitt Ballinger

William Pitt Ballinger PDF Author: John Moretta
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Lawyers
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description


Slavery and Freedom in Texas

Slavery and Freedom in Texas PDF Author: Jason A. Gillmer
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
ISBN: 0820351326
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 266

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Book Description
In these absorbing accounts of five court cases, Jason A. Gillmer offers intimate glimpses into Texas society in the time of slavery. Each story unfolds along boundaries—between men and women, slave and free, black and white, rich and poor, old and young—as rigid social orders are upset in ways that drive people into the courtroom. One case involves a settler in a rural county along the Colorado River, his thirty-year relationship with an enslaved woman, and the claims of their children as heirs. A case in East Texas arose after an owner refused to pay an overseer who had shot one of her slaves. Another case details how a free family of color carved out a life in the sparsely populated marshland of Southeast Texas, only to lose it all as waves of new settlers “civilized” the county. An enslaved woman in Galveston who was set free in her owner’s will—and who got an uncommon level of support from her attorneys—is the subject of another case. In a Central Texas community, as another case recounts, citizens forced a Choctaw native into court in an effort to gain freedom for his slave, a woman who easily “passed” as white. The cases considered here include Gaines v. Thomas, Clark v. Honey, Brady v. Price, and Webster v. Heard. All of them pitted communal attitudes and values against the exigencies of daily life in an often harsh place. Here are real people in their own words, as gathered from trial records, various legal documents, and many other sources. People of many colors, from diverse backgrounds, weave their way in and out of the narratives. We come to know what mattered most to them—and where those personal concerns stood before the law.

A Continuous State of War

A Continuous State of War PDF Author: Maria Angela Diaz
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
ISBN: 0820373273
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 243

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Book Description


Texas Divided

Texas Divided PDF Author: James Marten
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813183952
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
The Civil War hardly scratched the Confederate state of Texas. Thousands of Texans died on battlefields hundreds of miles to the east, of course, but the war did not destroy Texas's farms or plantations or her few miles of railroads. Although unchallenged from without, Confederate Texans faced challenges from within—from fellow Texans who opposed their cause. Dissension sprang from a multitude of seeds. It emerged from prewar political and ethnic differences; it surfaced after wartime hardships and potential danger wore down the resistance of less-than-enthusiastic rebels; it flourished, as some reaped huge profits from the bizarre war economy of Texas. Texas Divided is neither the history of the Civil War in Texas, nor of secession or Reconstruction. Rather, it is the history of men dealing with the sometimes fragmented southern society in which they lived—some fighting to change it, others to preserve it—and an examination of the lines that divided Texas and Texans during the sectional conflict of the nineteenth century.

Loathing Lincoln

Loathing Lincoln PDF Author: John McKee Barr
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 0807153850
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 568

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Book Description
While most Americans count Abraham Lincoln among the most beloved and admired former presidents, a dedicated minority has long viewed him not only as the worst president in the country's history, but also as a criminal who defied the Constitution and advanced federal power and the idea of racial equality. In Loathing Lincoln, historian John McKee Barr surveys the broad array of criticisms about Abraham Lincoln that emerged when he stepped onto the national stage, expanded during the Civil War, and continued to evolve after his death and into the present. The first panoramic study of Lincoln's critics, Barr's work offers an analysis of Lincoln in historical memory and an examination of how his critics -- on both the right and left -- have frequently reflected the anxiety and discontent Americans felt about their lives. From northern abolitionists troubled by the slow pace of emancipation, to Confederates who condemned him as a "black Republican" and despot, to Americans who blamed him for the civil rights movement, to, more recently, libertarians who accuse him of trampling the Constitution and creating the modern welfare state, Lincoln's detractors have always been a vocal minority, but not one without influence. By meticulously exploring the most significant arguments against Lincoln, Barr traces the rise of the president's most strident critics and links most of them to a distinct right-wing or neo-Confederate political agenda. According to Barr, their hostility to a more egalitarian America and opposition to any use of federal power to bring about such goals led them to portray Lincoln as an imperialistic president who grossly overstepped the bounds of his office. In contrast, liberals criticized him for not doing enough to bring about emancipation or ensure lasting racial equality. Lincoln's conservative and libertarian foes, however, constituted the vast majority of his detractors. More recently, Lincoln's most vociferous critics have adamantly opposed Barack Obama and his policies, many of them referencing Lincoln in their attacks on the current president. In examining these individuals and groups, Barr's study provides a deeper understanding of American political life and the nation itself.

Courtwatchers

Courtwatchers PDF Author: Clare Cushman
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442212454
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description
In the first Supreme Court history told primarily through eyewitness accounts from Court insiders, Clare Cushman provides readers with a behind-the-scenes look at the people, practices, and traditions that have shaped an American institution for more than 200 years. This entertaining and enlightening tour of the Supreme Court's colorful personalities and inner workings will be of interest to all readers of American political and legal history.

Lineage Book

Lineage Book PDF Author: Daughters of the American Revolution
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 468

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Book Description
Includes inclusive "Errata for the Linage book."

Galveston and the Civil War

Galveston and the Civil War PDF Author: James M Schmidt
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 1614236887
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description
One of the oldest cities in Texas, Galveston has witnessed more than its share of tragedies. Devastating hurricanes, yellow fever epidemics, fires, a major Civil War battle and more cast a dark shroud on the city's legacy. Ghostly tales creep throughout the history of famous tourist attractions and historical homes. The altruistic spirit of a schoolteacher who heroically pulled victims from the floodwaters during the great hurricane of 1900 roams the Strand. The ghosts of Civil War soldiers march up and down the stairs at night and pace in front of the antebellum Rogers Building. The spirit of an unlucky man decapitated by an oncoming train haunts the railroad museum, moving objects and crying in the night. Kathleen Shanahan Maca explores these and other haunted tales from the Oleander City.

Alexander Watkins Terrell

Alexander Watkins Terrell PDF Author: Lewis L. Gould
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292797281
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
Alexander Terrell's career placed him at the center of some of the most pivotal events in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century history, ranging from the Civil War to Emperor Maximilian's reign over Mexico and an Armenian genocide under the Ottoman Empire. Alexander Watkins Terrell at last provides the first complete biographical portrait of this complex figure. Born in Virginia in 1827, Terrell moved to Texas in 1852, rising to the rank of Confederate brigadier general when the Civil War erupted. Afterwards, he briefly served in Maximilian's army before returning to Texas, where he was elected to four terms in the state Senate and three terms in the House. President Grover Cleveland appointed him minister to the Ottoman Empire, dispatching him to Turkey and the Middle East for four years while the issues surrounding the existence of Christians in a Muslim empire stoked violent confrontations there. His other accomplishments included writing legislation that created the Texas Railroad Commission and what became the Permanent University Fund (the cornerstone of the University of Texas's multibillion-dollar endowment). In this balanced exploration of Terrell's life, Gould also examines Terrell's views on race, the impact of the charges of cowardice in the Civil War that dogged him, and his spiritual searching beyond the established religions of his time. In his rich and varied life, Alexander Watkins Terrell experienced aspects of nineteenth-century Texas and American history whose effects have continued down to the present day.