Page 1 of 18

THROCKMORTON STREET - Ed Sebesta 4/3/2018

THROCKMORTON STREET PLACE NAME ORIGIN

Throckmorton Street, in the Oak Lawn area, is named after James Throckmorton, a
Confederate captain during the Civil War and an active white supremacist working to
overthrown Reconstruction and establish a white supremacist Texas.

It was reported in a 1941 Dallas Morning News (DMN) article reporting the death of
Louisa Noble. She was the daughter of Col. Robert Taylor who had been in a law
partnership with James Webb Throckmorton. The article reports:

Throckmorton street in Dallas was named for Governor Throckmorton, a law

partner of Colonel Taylor.1

James Webb Throckmorton had been the governor of Texas.

W.H. Lemmon and O.P. Bowser, developed the Bowser and Lemmon Oak Lawn
addition where they deeded the streets to the city on Nov. 30, 1887 and giving the
streets their names.2

In the map for the Oak Lawn and the North Dallas additions, you can see that they
named a Bowser Avenue, a Lemmon Avenue after themselves and perpendicular to
those two streets a Throckmorton Street, a Reagan Street, a Washington Street, and a
Wellborn Street, which is now spelled Welborn.3 The maps for the other additions which
have Throckmorton Street are at later dates: P.B. Yeargan’s Addition (1907); Clifton No.
2 Addition (1921); Hawkins Oak Lawn Addition (1890); J.D. Cullum’s Oak Lawn
Addition (1890); and Martyn’ Oak Lawn Addition (1890).4

Oliver P. Bowser was an active member of the Sterling Price Camp of the United
Confederate Veterans and had been a Colonel in the Confederate Army.5 W.H. Lemmon
had been a Captain in the Confederate army and also was an active member in the
Sterling Price Camp of the United Confederate Veterans.6

1
No author, “Granddaughter of Dallas’ First Woman Passes,” Dallas Morning News, 11/15/1941, page 3. Further I
am going to quote things exactly as they are and not pepper quotes with [sic].
2
Transfer Deed obtained from Municipal Vault signed and dated by W.H. Lemmon and O.P. Bowser, Nov. 30th,
1887.
3
Map from Municipal Vault, <89-12>, filed Nov. 30, 1887, Red Book 279. Map has 219 on it also.
4
Municipal plats in the author’s possession.
5
“A Grand Charity Ball,” Dallas Morning News, 11/9/1897, page 8; “Col. Oliver P. Bowser Dies Suddenly At Home,”
12/15/1915, page 16.
6
“Confederate Reunion,” Dallas Morning News, 8/16/1887, page 8; “Death of Capt. Lemmon,” 9/5/1893, page 8.
 Page 2 of 18

Indeed, in reading lists of names in Dallas Morning News articles from the 1890s about
the Sterling Price Camp is somewhat like reading a directory of Dallas city streets.7

Clearly, Lemmon and Bowser, Confederate veterans and active in a neo-Confederate

organization, named Throckmorton Street and Reagan Street after two prominent
Confederate and white supremacist individuals: James Webb Throckmorton and John
Henninger Reagan.

There is a mistaken idea that the street was named after a local farm named
Throckmorton. There is no basis for this and it contradicts the historical record. The
mistaken idea originates from the catalog cards for street names on the 7th floor
Downtown Public Library and the inaccurate thesis to which it refers. These cards are
undated and unsigned and are varied, written in cursive, typed, printed and in pencil as
well as ink. They are unreliable and often in poor handwriting and are only good as to
give you some idea where to start or learn the full name.

This card refers to “Early history of medicine in Dallas,” page 12. That is actually, “Early
History of Medicine in Dallas: 1841-1900,” by Marie Louise Giles, a thesis as part of
Giles fulfillment for a Masters in Art at the Univ. of Texas dated June 1951.

7
See “Sterling Price Camp,” Dallas Morning News, 6/11/1893, page 12; “Sterling Price Camp,” 4/7/1895, page 11.
 Page 3 of 18

In Giles thesis, page 11-12 tells of a Dr. Calder from Cedar Spring area who went to
Collins County in 1843 to visit the settlement of Bruckner, where six men were building
a house for Jack McGarrah. He left from there to go to the settlement of Baily Inglish,
but not far from the McGarrah’s house he was set upon by Native Americans. Dr. Calder
attempted to flee back to Jack McGarrah’s house, and the six men from the house
attempted to rush out to save him. However, Dr. Calder was both killed and scalped.
Giles states, “Dr. Calder was buried on the Throckmorton place, near the present Oak
Lawn Avenue. “

However, the Throckmorton Place is in Collins County and was the place of J.W.
Throckmorton and his father and family a pioneer family of Collin County. Giles is in
error.

The account of the death of Dr. Calder is related in the “History of Dallas County, Texas:
From 1837 to 1887,” by John Henry Brown, printed by Milligan, Cornett & Farnham,
Printers, 1887, Dallas, Texas, pages 40-41.

In Brown’s account, Dr. Calder, who is “settled near Cedar Springs, in Dallas, county,”
arrives at the Buckner settlement “en route to Inglish’s.” Calder is seen on foot “rushing
to the house,” and the men working on the house rush to his aid. However, two Native
Americans killed him and scalped him. The relief party rushing to Dr. Calder’s aid find
themselves confronted “by about sixty Indians.” They retreat into the unfinished house
and hold out until night. They then retreat towards the Throckmorton settlement during
the night, and then men returned and took Dr. Calder’s body to the Throckmorton place
and buried him, “besides those of Clements and Whistler.” The Throckmorton
settlement was in Collins County and the Throckmorton place was in the Throckmorton
settlement. Dr. Calder was buried in Collin County at the time when Brown’s book was
published.

The Throckmorton family was famous and J.W. Throckmorton was governor of Texas
and their roles as pioneers in Collin County was well known. It seems that the two
professors who signed and approved the thesis likely didn’t read it carefully or with
much care at all. Critical review of student’s dissertations and theses by their advisors is
how historians learn historiography in the university. Perhaps because Giles was a
woman her writing wasn’t taken seriously or maybe these professors were just careless
in general. We will never really know why this glaring error wasn’t caught.

Further checking the Dallas County census for 1850, 1860, and 1870 doesn’t show any
Throckmorton’s living in Dallas County.8

8
“Dallas County Census for 1850 and 1860: Copied from the Original Census Records on File at Washington, D.C.,”
Compiled and Indexed under the Auspicious of the Dallas Genealogical Society by E.B. Comstock, 1932.
 Page 4 of 18

There is a Throckmorton County in Texas. It is named after J.W. Throckmorton’s father

William Edwards Throckmorton which the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)
states, “Throckmorton County, which was established on January 13, 1858, was named
in his honor, probably as a compliment to his son, James W. Throckmorton, then
senator and later governor.”9

THROCKMORTON ANTEBELLUM BIOGRAPHY

The following is a summary of James Webb Throckmorton’s antebellum history drawing

substantially from the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) online entry for him.
The TSHA entries should always be read carefully and have problems of racial bias or
omission of negative aspects. The discussion of the meaning of this history is the
author’s.

James Webb Throckmorton, the son of William Edward Throckmorton and Susan Jane
(Rotan) Throckmorton was born February 1, 1825 at Sparta, Tennessee. He died April
21, 1894 in McKinney, Texas. His father William Edward moved to Collin County about
1841 and died in about 1842 (see footnote for discussion of these years.) James Webb
Throckmorton studied medicine with his uncle James E. Throckmorton in Kentucky
leaving his family in Texas. He returned to Texas to volunteer for military service in the
Mexican War. He joined Capt. Robert H. Taylor’s company as a private in February
1847. He served three months with that company but became ill with a kidney disease
and was reassigned as a surgeon assistant in Maj. Michael H. Chevallie’s Texas Rangers.
He was given a health discharge on June 8, 1847 and returned to his home.

He went to Illinois to marry Annie Rattan in 1848 and returned that year to build a
home outside McKinney and start a medical practice. He didn’t like the practice of
medicine and went into law and got interested in politics.

In 1851 he was elected as a Whig to the first of three terms for the Twenty-fifth District
of the Texas House of Representatives from 1851 to 1857. In 1857 he was elected to the
Texas Senate and per TSHA entry “entered the chamber as a Democrat.” The Whig party
dissolved in the 1850s.10

“Dallas County Census for 1870: Copied from the Original Census Records on File at Washington, D.C.,” Compiled
and Indexed under the Auspicious of the Dallas Genealogical Society by E.B. Comstock, 1932. Both from the U.S.
Bureau of the Census. Though the libraries tag on the book only says 1850.
9
Kemp, L.W., “Throckmorton, William Edward,” Texas State Historical Association, (TSHA), online handbook,
https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fth37, printed out 4/3/2018.
10
Minor, David, “Throckmorton, James, Webb (1825-1894), Texas State Historical Association, (TSHA), online
handbook, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fth36, printed out 1/9/2018. The problematic dates
for William Edward Throckmorton’s moving to Collin county is because the TSHA entry states, “In 1840 he married
Melina Wilson. The next year he visited Texas and purchased land near the East Fork of the Trinity River in Collin
 Page 5 of 18

Fighting in the Mexican American War Throckmorton helped secure Texas

Independence from Mexico and thus protect slave state Texas from Mexican law which
had abolished slavery. The attempt of the Mexican government to enforce abolition in
Texas was a major impetus for the Texas secession movement.

This was the point where Mexican Americans became an oppressed class in Texas.

Also, as a Whig and later a Democrat in the slave states Throckmorton was surely a pro-
slavery politician. This is an area for further inquiry.

The Bulletin of the University of Texas, September 20, 1916, No. 53, was dedicated to
publish the “Platforms of Political Parties in Texas,’ compiled by Ernest William
Winkler, Reference Librarian and Curator of Texas Books, Univ. of Texas Library.

From this source we can get some idea of what Throckmorton actively supported in
politics.

At the Whig Convention of 1852 he was selected as a presidential elector. The Whig 1852
Convention has adopted resolutions which included instructions to the national
convention delegates. Though Throckmorton was not one of them, the political
viewpoint of this group can be known by the resolutions.

[4] That we have an abiding confidence in the honesty, integrity, and sterling love
of country of the great wings of the Whig party throughout the United States; we
have, therefore, no fears in pledging ourselves to the support of the nominee of
the Whig National convention, believing that that convention will be too honest
to select as a candidate for the Presidency an abolitionist, and too prudent to
nominate an interventionist.

[5] That we recognize the Compromise Measures as an emanation from Whig

policy and to the Whig party must the people look to see them sustained.

[6] That our delegates in the National convention be instructed to exercise their
own free and untrammeled choice in voting for a candidate for the Presidency in
said convention, provided that in no instance shall they cast a vote for any man
who they believe will consent to any repeal or modification of the present
Fugitive Slave Law.11

County, two miles northwest of the site of present Melissa. Later that year he moved his family to their new home.
Less than a year later he became ill and died.” Probably the original sources don’t give dates and explained in
terms as in the entry so it isn’t definitely known which years.
11
Winkler, Ernest William, “Platforms of Political Parties in Texas,” The Bulletin of the University of Texas,
September 20, 1916, No. 53. Ernest William Winkler was the Reference Librarian and Curator of Texas Books, Univ.
 Page 6 of 18

Boldface is added to the above to point out critical items. The Compromise Measures are
in reference to the infamous compromises on the issue of slavery in 1850.12

At the Democratic State Convention, 1858, Throckmorton is a member of the

Democratic State Committee of the Texas Democrats.

There is a motion by the rabid L.T. Wigfall13 for the following resolutions which were
adopted.

On motion of L. T. Wigfall, the following -platform was adopted:

Resolved, 1. That the Democratic party of the State of Texas heartily concur in
and unanimously reaffirm the principles of the Democratic party of the Union
and the Constitution as embodied in their platform of the National Democratic
convention, held in Cincinnati in June, 1856, and the State convention of Texas at
Waco, on the 4th of May, 1857, as a true expression of their political faith and
opinion, believing them to embrace the only doctrines which can preserve the
integrity of the Union and the equal rights of the States.

2. That recent events in the United States Senate create in our minds a serious
apprehension that the great doctrine of nonintervention, as set forth in that
platform, is in danger of being repudiated by Congress through the
instrumentality of members of the National Democratic party, distinguished alike
for their political influence over the public sentiment of the North and their past
declarations in favor of said doctrine, and that we now consider it our duty to set
forth to the country the course that we shall be compelled to take in that serious
and deplorable emergency.

3. That we request the representatives of the people of Texas, in legislature

assembled, to provide at the present session for the Executive of the State
appointing suitable delegates to a convention of Southern States, which may be
hereafter assembled for the purpose of consultation and advice for the general
welfare of the institutions of the South.

The National Democratic Party platform of 1856 was pro-slavery as was the Waco, 1856
Texas State Democratic platform which explicitly mentions slavery and which adopts
the previous Austin 1856 Democratic Convention platform which discusses slavery at

of Texas Library. Pages 51 – 54. This is available at https://archive.org/advancedsearch.php for free and you can
download it as a PDF or view it online and search it.
12
Yes, I know your high school history textbooks have held up the compromises of 1850 as some type of heroic
accomplishment and exemplar of the American way. Consider that you learned it from a high school history
textbook.
13
Louis T. Wigfall was notorious and inflammatory member of the U.S. Congress.
 Page 7 of 18

length. Though the 1858 resolutions may seem vague they refer to prior pro-slavery
documents that will carry the nation to civil war.

The third resolution is calling for a convention of slave states to strategize to preserve
slavery.14

Throckmorton is part of an angry slaveholder movement leading up to a national

explosion.

SECESSION

Throckmorton was against secession and was one of eight delegates that did vote against
it at the Texas Secession convention.15 Many persons in the former slave states saw
secession and the war that would follow as a great danger that could consequently result
in the overthrow the social order in the slave states, the end of slavery. However, once
secession was decided upon they supported the effort. Subsequent events did show that
secession did lead to the destruction of slave society vindicating Throckmorton’s
position. As spoken by Prometheus in Longfellow’s poem “The Mask of Pandora,”
“Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad,” (1875) and so it was with
secession.

CONFEDERATE ACTIVITIES

Throckmorton organized “over 100 men into the Company of Mounted Riflemen from
Colling County in May 1861.” This company secured forts on Texas northern frontier.
The company was disbanded August 1861. Throckmorton then joined the Sixth Texas
Calvary and was in the battles of Chustennallah and Elkhorn and “saw fighting” in
Mississippi but his kidney problems resulted in his discharge Sept. 12, 1863. He then
served in the Confederate Texas State Senate in 1864. In December 1864 he was
commissioned a brigadier-general for Texas’ First Frontier District. In 1865 he was
appointed by Confederate Gen. E. Kirby Smith as a commissioner to Native Americans
to negotiate treaties who nicknamed him “Old Leathercoat.”16

PRESIDENTIAL RECONSTRUCTION

14
Winkler, Ernest William, “Platforms of Political Parties in Texas,” The Bulletin of the University of Texas,
September 20, 1916, No. 53. Ernest William Winkler was the Reference Librarian and Curator of Texas Books, Univ.
of Texas Library. For the 1856 Austin convention, pages 64-68, for the 1857 Waco convention see pages 71-74;
1858 State convention in Austin, pages 75-77.
15
Minor, David, “Throckmorton, James, Webb (1825-1894), Texas State Historical Association, (TSHA), online
handbook, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fth36, printed out 1/9/2018.
16
Minor, David, “Throckmorton, James, Webb (1825-1894), Texas State Historical Association, (TSHA), online
handbook, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fth36, printed out 1/9/2018.
 Page 8 of 18

David Minor’s TSHA account of Throckmorton’s is as informative of the failings of the

TSHA handbook as it is somewhat obscuring of Throckmorton’s white supremacist
agenda. I am going to critically review the entry since it will not only inform us some
about Throckmorton, but activists working across Texas will be alerted to read the
TSHA handbook warily. It might be thought it might shame the TSHA to do better, but
that fails to understand that local and state associations of historians are largely
composed or lead by those who are shameless about their racial attitudes.

The racialized landscape is not significantly sustained, if at all, by self-admitted white

supremacists but by rather it is sustained other institutions which are seem as
legitimate: historical societies, preservation societies, local museums. The effort to
deracialize the landscape will be difficult and against adverse circumstances until these
institutions’ agendas, whether intentional or incompetent, and good arguments can be
made for either cause, is publically recognized and denounced.

The TSHA handbook needs to be understood as an instrument that, whether intentional

or not, sustains the racialized landscape in Texas. So this paper on Throckmorton will
serve to make this clear.

The TSHA entry really fails to make it clear that Throckmorton was a leader of the
political white supremacist movement in Texas and a person of rabid racist and
xenophobic sentiment. He wasn’t just a collection retrograde views stumbling through
history.

The TSHA entry states that Throckmorton was elected to the Texas Constitutional
Convention of 1866 which was “divided into three factions, secessionists, conservative
union men, and radical unionists.”

Radical unionists were labeled “radical” by later historians because they supported
racial equality which to these later historians was “radical” and was another way of
communicating that these people were crazies. Conservative union men were white
supremacists and white supremacy was what they trying to “conserve,” that is the old
racial order in Texas. Secessionists were white supremacist also. The TSHA entry states,
“Throckmorton, receiving the support of the first two groups, defeated the radical A.H.
Latimer and became the chairman of the convention.” That is Throckmorton was the
leader of the white supremacists and “presided” over their writing a white supremacist
constitution.

The entry continues, “He presided over the writing of a new state constitution civil
rights to African Americans (they still could not vote) and refused to take action on the
Thirteenth Amendment, arguing that the abolition of slavery was already law.” 17

17
Minor, David, “Throckmorton, James, Webb (1825-1894), Texas State Historical Association, (TSHA), online
handbook, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fth36, printed out 1/9/2018.
 Page 9 of 18

What is omitted here are the infamous Black Codes which attempted to keep legal
discrimination against African Americans in Texas in 1866.18 However, the TSHA online
hand book does point out that Eleventh Legislature met on August 6, 1866 and that
Throckmorton took office “six days latter” and that they passed the Black Codes, which
to go into effect I presume that governor Throckmorton had to sign and didn’t veto.19
What Throckmorton’s relation to them remains as a task of further inquiry.

In the later 20th century and in the 21st century civil rights are thought of as voting
rights, housing rights, employment rights and public accommodation rights. However,
we can sometimes forget that the right to a trial, the right to own property, enter a
contract, be a juror, testify in a trial or to be protected by the law are civil rights also
even though we might regard them as a given. The civil rights for African Americans
were not even these in this constitution, since they were prohibited to be jurors or testify
in trials against a white person.

White supremacist President Andrew Johnson accepted the Texas constitution of 1866.
As the entry states, “… state wide elections were held in June 1866. Politically ambitious
and promised the support of both secessionists and conservative union men,
Throckmorton entered the governor’s race. He easily defeated the radical candidate,
E.M. Pease, by a margin of 49,277 to 12,168.” Decoded, Throckmorton ran as the
candidate of white supremacy and won.

David Minor points out that Throckmorton had publically repudiated the 14th
Amendment. 20

African Americans during Presidential Reconstruction were subject to murderous

violence across the state. This online source, “The Freedman’s Bureau Online,” have
available online extensive records of the violence and murder perpetrated against
African Americans, white Unionists and Freedmen’s Bureau agents in Texas during this
period. [http://www.freedmensbureau.com/texas/index.htm].

Governor Throckmorton, being a white supremacist, was ineffective in curbing the

violence.

18
“Black Codes,” Moneyhon, Carl H., “Texas State Historical Association Handbook,” online,
https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/mzr01, printed out 4/2/2018.
19
“Black Codes,” Moneyhon, Carl H., “Texas State Historical Association Handbook,” online,
https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/jsb01, printed out 4/2/2018 seems to be a good source on the
Black Codes. These Black Codes so alienated people in the states without slavery that Congressional
Reconstruction was passed and President Andrew Johnson was discredited. Reviewing the bibliographic sources
for this article suggests that it was written a long, long time ago. The TSHA seems to be full of historiographical
fossils.
20
Minor, David, “Throckmorton, James, Webb (1825-1894), Texas State Historical Association, (TSHA), online
handbook, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fth36, printed out 1/9/2018.
 Page 10 of 18

The historical reality was that Throckmorton was a venomous racist and xenophobe
determined to defeat any attempt for racial equality and worked hard to subjugate
African Americans. He was a central figure in the defeat of Reconstruction and the re-
establishment of a white supremacist regime.

Kenneth Wayne Howell’s Dissertation, “James Webb Throckmorton: The Life and
Career of a Southern Frontier Politician, 1825-1894,” May 2005 submitted in partial
fulfillment for a Doctor of Philosophy, at Texas A&M University reveals the bitter racism
of Throckmorton. You can download it at
http://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/bitstream/handle/1969.1/2350/etd-tamu-2005A-
HIST-Howell.pdf?sequence=1.

It also has been published as a book, “Texas Confederate, Reconstruction Governor:

James Webb Throckmorton,” Kenneth Wayne Howell, Texas A&M Press, College
Station, 2008.

Another book which details Throckmorton’s xenophobic and racist attitudes is “The
Shattering of Texas Unionism,” by Dale Baum, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge,
1998.

Some extracts from the book.

The following is from page 149 in Baum’s book about why German Texans didn’t vote
for Throckmorton.

Although most German Texans were in the ranks of the Union Republicans or
radical Unionist party, their refusal to vote in the 1866 gubernatorial race for
Throckmorton, a former Know-Nothing who genuinely disliked foreigners,
further explains their virtual absence from his column. Throckmorton’s
opposition at the end of the war to schemes to promote immigration from the
North and Europe had prompted him to privately to accuse “sour krauts” and
“swindling Yankees” of being potential “d—m—d negro worshiping skunks” who
would mongrelize Texas society at the expense of “the genteel and ennobling
qualities of kindness” which he believed were embodied only in “southern
blood.”21 [NOTE: Throckmorton was not “a former Know-Nothing.”]22

The following is from pages 158-160 of Baum’s book about how Throckmorton enabled
murder and mayhem against African Americans and his racist attitudes.

21
Baum’s quotes come from a letter of James W. Throckmorton to Benjamin H. Epperson, Jan. 21, 1866, in
Throckmorton Papers and Letter Book, which is at the Univ. of Texas Library in Austin.
22
Dale Baum has informed me by email that the statement of Throckmorton was a Know-Northing was an error
picked up from an earlier source and does not appear to be true from the historical record.
 Page 11 of 18

Radical fears were confirmed when Hamilton’s elected successor, Throckmorton,

downplayed stories of violence against loyalists and blacks, calling the reports
exaggerations, possibly even outright falsehoods. The new governor demanded
the dismantlement of the Freedmen’s Bureau, the agency which documented in
the immediate postwar years hundreds of killings of blacks by whites ranging
from disputing labor-contract settlements to not laboring in the manner desired
by their employers. Judging blacks to be the “most inferior of God’s creatures
that wear the forms of men,” Throckmorton believed that unless coerced, the
“nigs” would not work productively or take care of themselves in their new
freedom. … He blamed all of the state’s difficulties on the Republicans or, once
when to complaining to local military authorities, entirely on “the presence of
Colored troops.”23

The Baum’s book dedication is, “For the small group of Texas unionists who, after the
Civil War, linked their political fortunes with the hopes of freedom’s first generation of
African Americans and tried to build an interracial democracy on the ashes of slavery.”
With over 150 years passed since the Civil War we are still trying.

A revealing historical record of Throckmorton’s white supremacy is again in Winkler’s

“Platforms of Political Parties in Texas.”

The Conservative Union Caucus of 1866 in Austin appealed to Throckmorton to run for
office to “checkmate the action of the Radical caucus.”

To HON. J. W. THROCKMOBTON AND HON. GEO. W. JONES,

GENTLEMEN: The undersigned representing, as they believe, the views of the

people in various portions of the State, without distinction as to past party
affiliations, desire permission to use your names for the positions of Governor
and Lieutenant-Governor of the State of Texas at the next election.

Knowing you to be opposed to the radicalism of the day, which is persistently

sought to be imposed upon the people of Texas, and being fully satisfied of
your opposition to negro suffrage, and the hasty and inconsiderate
elevation of the negro to political equality; knowing also that you indorse
the good faith of the people of Texas, in their professions of loyalty to the general
government, and appreciating their earnest desire for our State to be restored to
her former Federal relations at the earliest practicable period;

23
Baum’s quotes come from a letters of James W. Throckmorton from the Throckmorton Papers and Letter Book,
which is at the Univ. of Texas Library in Austin. The “inferior” quote is from a letter of James W. Throckmorton to
Benjamin H. Epperson, Jan. 21, 1866. The “nigs” quotation is from Throckmorton to Louis T. Wigfall, Dec. 30, 1867.
The complaint about African American troops is from Throckmorton to Samuel P. Heintzelman, Sept. 25, 1866.
 Page 12 of 18

And believing, as we do, that the great mass of the people of Texas indorse
President Johnson in his policy of restoration, which is based on the
Constitution, we desire that you, whom we know to entertain the same views of
his policy, should become the standard bearers of the Conservative Union men of
the State in the coming election.

Though you have persistently refused to allow your names to be used in this
connection, the events of the last few days, we believe, render it necessary that
you should yield to our wishes on this subject. These events speak trumpet-
tongued to every patriot in the land. The radical branch of the Republican party
of the North, who closed the doors of Congress against Southern representatives,
who have declared their intention to reduce us to a condition of territorial
vassalage, and to place us below the level of those who were once our
slaves, have their adherents in our very midst. They have had their
caucuses, adopted their platforms, nominated their candidates for the principal
offices in the State, and are determined to aid and abet Stevens, Sumner, and
Phillips, in their opposition to the policy of the President, in their raids against
constitutional liberty, and in the establishment of a consolidated despotic
government. ,

We assure you that this call is not confined to a few persons, nor to any particular
locality, but comes from every portion of the State; from men who are
determined, if possible, to preserve the country and its institutions from the
machinations of those, who in the last hours of the Convention defeated the
resolution indorsing the policy of the President, and are determined to bind us,
hand and foot, and surrender us to the Radical Republicans, or prolong
indefinitely Provisional and Military Rule.24

Boldface is added above to refer to some specific items. The U.S. elected officials
Stevens, Sumner, and Phillips were known for their opposition to slavery and support
for civil rights for African Americans.

Throckmorton replied that he thought it was his obligation to accept since he felt that
“their interests were endangered and fully concurring in the views and sentiments you
have expressed.” In short he agrees fully with the Conservative Caucus’ panic alarm over
the possibility of African Americans having political rights.

CONGRESSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION

24
Winkler, Ernest William, “Platforms of Political Parties in Texas,” The Bulletin of the University of Texas,
September 20, 1916, No. 53. Ernest William Winkler was the Reference Librarian and Curator of Texas Books, Univ.
of Texas Library. Pages 98-99.
 Page 13 of 18

With the murder and mayhem against Unionists and African Americans, the Black
Codes being passed to restore a subordinated African American labor force akin to
slavery, and electing to federal office secessionists, the U.S. Congress got serious and
started to pass stronger legislation over the vetoes of Pres. Andrew Johnson, starting
with the Military Reconstruction Act of 1867. The TSHA entry for Throckmorton notes
that U.S. Gen. Charles Griffin of the Texas sub-district demanded that Throckmorton
provide more protection for Texas African Americans and Throckmorton gave excuses
and U.S. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan had Throckmorton removed from office July 30, 1867
with the tremendous understatement that he was “an impediment to Reconstruction.”

From the TSHA entry, we learn that in the summer of 1870 Throckmorton along with
two other governors signed a public document circulated across Texas denouncing the
policies of the “Radical Republicans as dangerous to the civil liberties of Texans.” 25

However, with the period of violence and attacks on African Americans the white
supremacists were able to position themselves to defeat Congressional Reconstruction.

Throckmorton is a member of the Texas Democratic State Committee at the

Conservative State Convention in 1868, in Houston. They adopted resolutions also
which make fairly clear their white supremacist viewpoints.

Resolved, 1. That the question of African supremacy arises far above all
questions of party, and is vital to the future interests of this State; as subordinate
to that, we cheerfully concur with all parties who are opposed to the
Africanization of the State.

2. That believing it to be the determination of the Radical party to create a

convention, and yet desiring to express our opposition to the Africanization of
Texas, we recommend the people of the State entitled to register, to do so and to
vote against a convention, and, to guard against the contingency of its being
successfully carried, to vote at the same time for the election of delegates to the
convention on the basis of creating a constitution without negro suffrage, and
asking Congress to accept the same, believing that we should only be recognized
as in the Union on a footing of equality with the other States, and that the
Northern people will demand no more.

3. That the resolutions of the mass meeting of loyal Union citizens, assembled in
this city on the 20th inst, submitted to us for consideration, meet the approval of
this convention in their general spirit and desire to defeat the Africanization of
this State, and to secure its restoration to civil government in the Union.

25
Minor, David, “Throckmorton, James, Webb (1825-1894), Texas State Historical Association, (TSHA), online
handbook, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fth36, printed out 1/9/2018.
 Page 14 of 18

4. That representing as we believe, and know we do, the true feelings and
sentiments of the masses of this State, especially the soldiers of the late
Confederate army, that in their name and on their behalf, we return our profound
acknowledgments to the large majorities of the conservative people of the
Northern States, for the late manifestations of their devotion to constitutional
liberty, their sympathy for our threatened political misfortunes, their assurances
of our ultimate relief and our restoration to equal political rights with themselves;
and in the name and on behalf of all Texas, we do hereby extend to all white
emigrants from those States, desiring homes in the Southwest, the assurance of a
cordial welcome, and that full freedom of speech and sentiment, and protection
of person and property, are and will be as securely guaranteed to all such, of
whatever opinion, as we claim and desire for ourselves. And we further
acknowledge to our
Northern conservative friends, that as a people we have manfully accepted all the
results of the war, with the exception of African domination; and from that
dire National calamity, we appeal to the men of our race and kindred in the
North in whose hands rests this issue, to save us and themselves and our
common posterity.

5. That while we are unalterably opposed to negro supremacy we are in

favor of securing to them the full protection of all their rights of person and of
property, under just laws bearing equally upon all.26

Boldface added to identify key items.

Throckmorton is the President of the Democratic State Convention in 1868 in Byran,

Texas and also a member of the Democratic State Executive Committee. There is a
platform adopted and they complain of being oppressed though they are actually the
oppressors. In reading these complaints by white supremacists you will see that many
arguments against civil rights during the mid-20th century and unto this day have
ancient antecedents.

1. That the conservative people of the State believe that the principles of the
National Democratic party contain those guarantees of constitutional liberty and
regulated government essential to the maintenance of the Union under the
Constitution, and that the success of these principles gives the only assurance of
averting Radical rule, anarchy, and despotism; and we declare the Democracy of
the State an integral part of the Democracy of the Union; and that we will rally
under its time-honored banner with all the energy and enthusiasm of a people
who hope, through its triumphs, once more to enjoy the blessings of civil

26
Winkler, Ernest William, “Platforms of Political Parties in Texas,” The Bulletin of the University of Texas,
September 20, 1916, No. 53. Ernest William Winkler was the Reference Librarian and Curator of Texas Books, Univ.
of Texas Library. Pages 102-104.
 Page 15 of 18

government and equality in the Union, and to escape the disfranchisement,

negro supremacy, degradation and ruin now threatened by the Radical party.

2. That we acquiesce in good faith in the abolishment of negro slavery, the

repudiation of the war debt of the State, and its abandonment of the doctrine of
secession as a peaceable remedy for State grievances, as results of the war finally
settled, and do not propose to disturb or change the result.

3. That it is our purpose to adhere in good faith to our renewed allegiance to the
Constitution and government of the United States, and to cultivate fraternal good
will with the people of all parts of the country; and we repel with indignation the
charges of disloyalty falsely made against us by the Radical party for the purpose
of perpetuating military despotism over us, and as a pretext for the dis-
franchisement of those who do not agree with their political opinions, and to
maintain themselves in political power in disregard of right and of the popular
will.

4. That we earnestly desire the restoration of the Constitution of the United

States to its original supremacy and vigor, and the faithful enforcement of the
Federal Laws within their sphere in all the States of the Union; that we earnestly
seek to be restored to all the rights of local self-government; that we earnestly
desire the reestablishment of the civil law administration by constitutional
courts, and to see its supremacy established over the military; that we are
unalterably opposed to the consolidation of the powers of the Federal
government in the legislative department, or to the encroachment of the
legislative upon the executive and judicial departments; that we deplore the
unlimited and irresponsible military despotisms which now exist in the States of
the American Union, and we earnestly appeal to the people of the States now
represented in Congress to remove the odious and oppressive tyranny from over
us; that we declare the practical operation and usual effect of the Freedmen's
Bureau established amongst us is to cultivate and stimulate discontent, with
both the white and black races, and calculated to promote differences of
opinion and contests between the races which may prove disastrous to both and
highly injurious to the whole country. That we declare it to be our deliberate
conviction that there exists no necessity for continuing the disfranchisement of
any portion of the white people of the Southern States, and that the continued
disfranchisement of the large number of intelligent classes now
deprived of political rights, while the rights of suffrage and the
holding of office are conferred upon all the negroes, must, in the
nature of things, endanger the stability of government, the peace and
security of society, and prove destructive to good order and happiness
amongst us. That we entertain no feelings of ill will or hostility to the negro race
amongst us, and that we desire to see them protected by the laws of the State in
all their rights of person and of property, and will do whatever we can to promote
 Page 16 of 18

their improvement in knowledge and virtue, this being alike necessary for the
general welfare and for the happiness of both races.

5. That we adhere to the constitutional doctrine that the power to regulate the
question of suffrage in the States rests exclusively with the States themselves,
and we therefore deny that Congress has any constitutional power whatever to
enact laws on that subject.

6. That we need more population, labor, and capital, as well as peace and civil
government, for the development of the resources of our great State, and that our
true policy is to invite immigration and capital from the Northern States and
Europe, and to assure them of a friendly welcome, and we declare that statements
that immigrants from the Northern States are not received with friendship and
cannot expect security for life and property amongst us are made by the Radical
party for political effect and are willful perversions of the truth.27

There is a Taxpayers’ Convention of 1871 in Austin. Throckmorton is part of the

Committee of Twenty-One which writes a report assessing the state of Texas. At this
time the Reconstruction government is struggling and failing to preserve the rights of
African Americans and protect them from violence and intimidation.

By 1871 the white supremacists have realized that racist rantings about African
Americans tends to justify Reconstruction which they want to defeat. So it is a
“Taxpayers convention.” There are lengthy resolutions complaining about illegality,
despotism, unconstitutional measures, excessive offices etc. In particular the Militia
Law, the Police Bill, the Enabling Act, Registration Act and the Election Law are singled
out. The laws that might defend the rights of African Americans. There is a Committee
of Seven to memorialize the Legislature presumably on the views of this convention as
adopted and Throckmorton is one of the seven.28

At the Democratic State Convention of 1873 in Austin Throckmorton is a member of the

Committee of Platform and Resolutions. The platform congratulates the 13th legislature
for the repeal of many Reconstruction measures. Reconstruction is essentially over in
Texas and African Americans are almost entirely if not entirely at the mercy of the white
supremacists.29

27
Winkler, Ernest William, “Platforms of Political Parties in Texas,” The Bulletin of the University of Texas,
September 20, 1916, No. 53. Ernest William Winkler was the Reference Librarian and Curator of Texas Books, Univ.
of Texas Library. Pages 108-112.
28
Winkler, Ernest William, “Platforms of Political Parties in Texas,” The Bulletin of the University of Texas,
September 20, 1916, No. 53. Ernest William Winkler was the Reference Librarian and Curator of Texas Books, Univ.
of Texas Library. Pages 128-140.
29
Winkler, Ernest William, “Platforms of Political Parties in Texas,” The Bulletin of the University of Texas,
September 20, 1916, No. 53. Ernest William Winkler was the Reference Librarian and Curator of Texas Books, Univ.
of Texas Library. Pages 157-163.
 Page 17 of 18

POST-RECONSTRUCTION

Throckmorton continues to be active in Texas Democratic politics but this paper will
only concern itself with white supremacy.

At the Democratic State Convention of 1892 in Lampasas, Throckmorton is the

permanent Chairman and also is a Presidential Elector. At this time there was a
proposal to have and pass federal legislation to enforce the voting rights of African
Americans and protect them from violence in the exercise of those rights. Racists called
it the Force Bill. The Platform of this convention condemns this legislation on the basis
of states’ rights, the same states’ rights extolled in speeches as being wrought by
Confederate soldiers and leaders at the dedication speeches for the Confederate War
Memorial now in Dallas’s Pioneer Park.

[1] We, the Democracy of Texas, in convention assembled, do hereby declare our
devotion and pledge anew our fidelity to the great principles of the party founded
by Thomas Jefferson, which so long as they prevailed in the government of the
United States maintained the purity of the administration of public affairs,
commanded the respect of foreign nations, respected the rights of the States, and
secured peace and prosperity to the people of all the States of the Union.

[2] We declare our continued adherence to the doctrine of the autonomy of the
States and their unsurrendered sovereignty, and to the fundamental principle
that every power not specially delegated to the Federal government is reserved to
the States, and that every encroachment upon either the legislative, executive, or
judicial powers of the State, either by the extension of the powers and jurisdiction
of the Federal courts or by National legislation looking to interference with the
exercise of the elective franchise, is unwarranted by the Constitution and
subversive of the principles on which this government is founded; that to the
States should be left the regulation of the exercise of the privilege of suffrage and
that to the citizens of the several States should be entrusted the enactment of all
legislation relating thereto, except such as may be justly and constitutionally
enacted by the National Congress; that we denounce what is commonly known as
the Force Bill as a measure most iniquitous, unnecessary, unjust, and
oppressive to the people of the several States and especially to those of the
South, and a measure of rank partisanship inspired by a reckless disregard of
the peace and prosperity of the Southern States, and by an unholy purpose to
perpetuate by unjust legislation the power of the Republican party and its control
of the government.
 Page 18 of 18

For the Republican Party to want to allow their African American supporters to vote for
them is “unholy.”

In 1894 Throckmorton dies and his life fighting for white supremacy comes to an end.

CONCLUSION

James Webb Throckmorton was a white supremacist hero to Texas white supremacist
for his leading role in the defeat of the attempted multi-racial democracy of
Reconstruction and his opposition against civil rights of African American and his
campaign to subjugate them. He spent his life working and fighting for the subjugation
of African Americans, in slavery before and during the Civil War and establishing a
white supremacist Texas afterwards.

There should not be any street or city or county or place named after him.

The knowing retention of Throckmorton place names reveals the values of our
governmental institutions, indeed our society. Changing the names is to make a
statement that these values no longer are current and that our society has rejected them.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BOOKS ABOUT RECONSTRUCTION IN TEXAS

1. “Murder and Mayhem: The War of Reconstruction in Texas,” by James M.

Smallwood, Barry A. Crouch, and Larry Peacock, Texas A&M University Press &
the Texas Book Consortium, 2003. For background information go to URL
http://www.tamupress.com/product/Murder-and-Mayhem,59.aspx.

2. “Grass-Roots Reconstruction in Texas, 1865-1880,” by Randolph B. Campbell,

Louisiana State Univ. Press, 1998. Has a chapter on Dallas County.

3. “The Shattering of Texas Unionism,” Dale Baum, Louisiana State Univ., 1998.

SOUTH AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE ON PLACE NAME CHANGES

Resources can be found at http://templeofdemocracy.com/street-name-changes-in-

south-africa.html

African nations in general are changing place names as part of de-colonization and
South Africa further is changing place names as part of rejecting apartheid which is
written on the landscape. I think that studying these changes in Africa can instruct us
about changing names in Dallas and in the United States as a whole. At the webpage is a
paper titled, “Lessons from South Africa.”