Wharton's History Of Fort Bend County

CLARENCE R. WHARTON

Publication: The Naylor Company, 1939, San Antonio

First edition. 8vo. Light blue cloth, titles in black on the front cover and spine, xi [blank], 250 pp., frontispiece, preface, illustrated mostly from photographs, portraits, map, appendix, bibliography, index. Wharton’s book is considered one of the most comprehensive early histories of Fort Bend County. It covers early settle and the arrival of Stephen F. Austin’s colonists (the "Old 33"), formation of early settlements along the Brazos River, the creation of Fort Bend as a frontier outpost, the impact of Santa Anna and Texian forces, the growth and economic development of cotton and sugar plantations and the use of enslaved labor in the county, the Civil War and Reconstruction with local planters supporting the Confederacy, the social and political upheaval after the war, the rise of tensions during Reconstruction, etc. Six Guns says "Contains an account of the Jaybird-Woodpecker feud and other lawlessness." The feud was a major political conflict unique to Fort Bend County. Fine, bright copy in the original bright dust jacket with light wear to the spine ends and corners with a small closed tear and crease to the bottom edge of the front cover, else a near fine copy. A very scarce book, especially so in the elusive dust jacket.