Politics and a Dead Sheriff

Politics were brutal!

This is a story with a moral too it. People are getting pretty upset when it comes to politics these days. I thought we all might learn a lesson from our past. Maybe we can steer clear of this type of behavior today.

This incident happened a long time ago. Back when men were men, and sheep were scared!

I am going to have to give you all little background information on political history. Most of you will already know this information, but if someone doesn’t, then it will blow the whole story. You history buffs probably will not need it, but I’ve got some down time and felt like writing anyway. I will write the historical background information in red so you can fly past it efficiently if you want to.

Background info:

Before the 1850’s there were two main political parties in the United States, as there are now. The Democrats who were predominantly in the southern states, and the “Whigs” who were predominantly in the northern states. Well, along came a freed slave and self taught scholar turned statesman, named Frederick Douglass. He convinced most of the politicians in the “Whigs” party to renounce slavery. In doing so, they abandoned the now defunct Whigs party, and formed a new one. They decided to call themselves the Republican Party. One of these politicians was a little known former U.S. Congressman and lawyer named Abraham Lincoln. With his self taught knowledge of the law, keen political wit, and superb public speaking ability - old honest Abe became a rising star in the Republican Party. In 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the 16th President of the United States, and was the first Republican to be elected president.

As you can imagine, tensions were rising between the Republicans in the north, and the Democrats in the south. The southern Democrats had long felt under represented and forgotten in the U.S. Federal Government. There were a whole range of issues and disputes at the time, but the abolishment of slavery was “the straw that broke the camel’s back”.

The southern states began to rebel, and they referred to themselves as the Confederacy. Confederate soldiers began taking over forts and out posts all over the south.

At 4:30 am, on April 12th, 1861, Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard opened fire on Union soldiers occupying Fort Sumter, Charleston, SC, thus beginning the U.S. Civil War.

Okay, let’s fast forward. In April of 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in Ford’s theater by John Wilkes Booth. Booth, was upset about imminent defeat of the Confederacy. Vice President Johnson became the 17th U.S. President of the United States of America, and shortly after that the Union won the war. As President his priority was rebuilding the south, and this was termed “reconstruction”. Reconstruction officially ended in the year 1877.

Now, I know that I missed many important points, but this will get you through the following story.





Politics and a Dead Sheriff

I never knew how screwed up and violent politics were in the forty some odd years after Civil War. I always thought that the violence basically ended with the Civil War, but politics were ruthless during this time. As it turns out, east Texas was no exception. It is hard to find much information about this critical time in Texas. It has been completely scrubbed from public school curriculum, even in Texas. I am not exactly sure why, but I have an idea. The liberal public education system white washed it away! Could you imagine what would happen if racial and ethnic minorities found out that it was the Democrats who fought to keep slavery alive in the United States? What if African Americans found out what a “Blue Dog Democrat” is? Our whole two party system would be in danger of collapse. So, I can only assume that the liberals all but erased it from history. I will tackle the liberal public education system in another posting. I do not want to get too far off topic here.

Anyway, the post Civil War Reconstruction era was horrifically violent in Texas. It pitted families against families, neighbor versus neighbor, and one town against the other. There were “O.K. corral” shoot outs happening all over east Texas. The conservative Democrats fought tooth and nail with the liberal Republicans (I know! Say it out loud. It sounds even stranger.) for political power in east Texas. Apparently, the Democrats called themselves “Jaybirds”, and the Republicans referred to themselves as the “Woodpeckers”! Now, I haven’t been able to find multiple sources for the information on this one particular incident. So, I will just copy and paste it from the original source that I found it on. I’ll leave the web address at the bottom of this blog. You all can look at it, and determine if you think the source is a reliable one. It seemed so to me.



Sheriff James Thomas (Tom) Garvey
Fort Bend County Sheriff's Department
Texas
End of Watch: Friday, August 16, 1889

Biographical Info
Age: 29
Tour of Duty: 2 years, 10 months
Badge Number: Not available

Incident Details
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: Friday, August 16, 1889
Weapon Used: Gun; Unknown type
Suspect Info: Shot and killed"

"Reconstruction in the South officially ended in 1877, but the Republican Party had gained a stronghold in many counties with the support of freed Black voters. A feud broke out in Fort Bend County in 1888 between wealthy, white Democratic “Jaybirds," and Republican “Woodpeckers,” who had power since Reconstruction. The feud crossed racial, social and politics lines. Assassination and violence had become commonplace. Fort Bend County Sheriff Tom Garvey was a leader of Woodpeckers, and opposed the efforts of the Jaybirds to return to power through violence. The town was an armed camp. The Governor sent Texas Rangers to maintain order.

On August 16, 1889, the Jaybirds faced Woodpeckers in front of the courthouse. Sheriff Garvey and a crowd of armed men warned the Rangers to get out of the way since this was none of their business. A Ranger sergeant and four privates on horseback tried to block the two sides. A gun battle erupted and Sheriff Tom Garvey, his uncle, former Sheriff J. W. Blakey, Jaybird leader, H. H. Frost, and a bystander were killed outright and many participants were wounded. Ranger Private Frank Schmid, Jr., was severely wounded, and died from his wounds on June 17, 1893.

Sheriff Garvey was appointed in October 1886, and was elected on November 2, 1886. He was re-elected on November 6, 1888. Ranger Sergeant Ira Aten, who was trying to maintain order that day, was appointed sheriff on August 21, 1889.”

http://www.odmp.org/officer/5317-sheriff-james-thomas-%28tom%29-garvey