At Civil War’s end, Marshall area had most slaves in Texas
At the end of the Civil War, Harrison County, Texas (County seat: Marshall) had the highest population of slaves in Texas. This is partly because slave states to the east sent slaves to Texas to keep them from being freed by federal troops.
Marshall was the natural choice, both because it was the nearest substantial slave-holding area and because Harrison County had a number of highest visible and enthusiastic supporters of the Southern cause.
Harrison County already had a large Black population before the move.
A news story in the Feb. 1, 1851 edition of Marshall’s Texas Republican showed the results of a county census taken by Assistant Marshal I.W. Johnson.
Johnson’s census verified that Harrison County had a total population of 11,665 persons and that 6,053 of them were held in slavery. The story noted that there were also some free Black persons living in the county, which would not have been expected, as Texas outlawed free persons of color from residing in the state.
The most numerous creatures living in the county at that time weren’t people at all, but pigs, which were counted in the census at 24,487. Cattle also had a higher population at 11,879.
At the end of the Civil War it is said that there were more than 30,000 slaves housed in the county.
There was no shortage of churches in 1851 for the white population of 5,600. The census listed seven Methodist churches and four of the Baptist denomination.
On to this week’s stories.
BLACK CHILDREN WERE born into slavery from the instant of their first breath. As soon as they were able to do any chores they were put to work. At that point they were no longer children.
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