(The strip
of land referenced in the first paragraph was between Louisiana and East Texas
and was governed by neither the United States nor the Republic of Texas.)
By Kathy
Weiser
Legends of
America
The first
major feud to
break out in Texas was
born during Texas’ days as a republic. For years, a strip of land in East Texas
that bordered Louisiana and Mexico had been ignored by Spanish, Mexican and
Texas authorities. By the time Texas became a republic, the swatch of land had
developed into a lawless place where land frauds, cattle rustlers, and killings
were common.
In an attempt to
control the rampant crime, a group of vigilantes formed who called themselves the “Regulators,”
but this group was so extreme in their attempts to stop crime, that another
group of counter-vigilantes soon formed to “moderate” the Regulators. Before
long, each faction grew to include sympathizers from miles away, spreading the
“war,” which had been primarily located in just Harrison and Shelby Counties,
to involve Nacogdoches, San Augustine and other East Texas Counties.
Leading the “Regulators” were two men by the names of
Charles W. Jackson and Charles Watt Moorman. The whole affair began with a
dispute between a man named Joseph Goodbread and Sheriff Alfred George in 1840.
When the sheriff asked for Charles Jackson’s assistance in the matter, Jackson
shot and killed Goodbread. Ironically, Jackson, a former Mississippi riverboat
captain, was a fugitive himself from Louisiana. Arrested for Goodbread’s
killing, Jackson was released pending a trial. Sometime later, he organized the
Regulators to rid the area of cattle rustling. Soon afterward, the Moderators
were formed with principal leaders being Edward Merchant, John M. Bradley, and
Deputy Sheriff James J. Cravens.
On July 12, 1841, Charles Jackson’s trial for the killing
of Goodbread was scheduled before Judge John M. Hansford in Harrison County,
Texas. Hansford had been a friend of Goodbread’s and was a well-known supporter
of the Moderator faction. Jackson’s friends, figuring that the man would not
get a fair trial before Judge Hansford, arrived at the courthouse armed to the
teeth. When Hansford saw the armed men, he fled the courthouse, leaving a note
for the local sheriff stating: “I am unwilling to risk my person in the
courthouse any longer, when I see myself surrounded by bravos and hired
assassins.” The trial ended before it even began.
This, of course, enraged the Moderators, who soon took
matters into their own hands, ambushing and killing Jackson, as well as an
innocent bystander by the name of Lauer. Afterward, the violence escalated,
when the Regulators burned the homes of two families siding with the
Moderators. Charles Watt Moorman, allegedly a fugitive from Mississippi,
now led the Regulators, spreading the reign of terror north into Panola and
Harrison counties, hanging Moderators and driving others out of the area. The
group soon numbered so many men that Moorman actually considered overthrowing
the Texas government and declaring himself the dictator. In the
meantime, residents were beginning to live in constant fear.
In October 1841, Moorman led a party to avenge the Jackson-Lauer
killing, surprising the assassins 25 miles north of Crockett. “Arresting” the
McFadden brothers, all were hanged with the exception of the youngest brother.
In the meantime,
articles of impeachment had been filed against Judge John Hansford for his
failure at bringing Jackson to trial. On January 19, 1842, Hansford left office
to escape the impeachment and retired on his farm near Jonesville. Two years
later, a mob of regulators appeared at his house, demanding possession of some slaves that he was holding under a writ of sequestration.
When Hansford refused to hand over the slaves, the Regulators killed him.
In August 1844,
more than 200 Moderators attacked some 60 Regulators near Shelbyville in what
became known as the Church Hill Battle.
Finally, Texas
President Sam Houston had
had enough. Previous to this time, Houston had stated: “I think it advisable to
declare Shelby County, Tenaha, and Terrapin Neck free and independent
governments, and let them fight it out.”
However, by this time, Houston was
working to annex the Republic of Texas with the United States. The Civil War taking place in east Texas was not helping
matters and on August 15, 1844, he ordered state militia to Shelby County to
put an end to the “war.”
There was some initial resistance from both sides, but the
show of force by the Republic put an end to the conflict. Leaders from both
sides were arrested, including Charles Watt Moorman. Some years later after his
release, Moorman was shot and killed in Louisiana in 1850.
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