Reconstruction Orders from Texas

[Texas]: [Reconstruction]:

Special Orders, No. 198. I. The Terms of the Officers of the City Government of Austin, Having Expired...the Following Appointments Are Made to Fill Vacancies [caption title and beginning of text].

Austin, Tx. November 5, 1867. Broadside, 10 x 8 inches. Old folds, light creasing, two holes punched along left margin. Very good. Item #5709

A rare special order issued by the occupying Army of the United States in Texas during early Reconstruction, listing new appointments of Austin city government in early November 1867. According to the commander of the Fifth Military District of Texas, the list of new political appointees began with Mayor Leander "Catfish" Brown, a long-time resident of Austin who was active in civic affairs before the Civil War. He was also an extensive landowner in Texas. Other appointees include John Cawlfield as City Marshal, J.W. Smith as City Attorney, F.W. Suter as City Treasurer, and ten others to various positions. The document is signed in ink by the Acting Assistant Adjutant General, J.P. Richardson. A rare relic from Reconstruction Texas, reflecting the control the U.S. Army had over local affairs in the Lone Star State in the years following the end of the Civil War.

Price: $450