Marshall, Texas

Marshall is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located near the Louisiana and Arkansas borders in the Ark-La-Tex region. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, Marshall had a total population of 23,935. It is the county seat of Harrison County{{GR|6}}.

History

Main article: History of Marshall, Texas

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19th Century

The Republic of Texas and the Civil War

The city was founded in 1841 as the seat of Harrison County, after repeated failed attempts to establish a county seat on the Sabine River since the county was established in 1839. The Republic of Texas decided to choose the site of land granted by Peter Whetstone and Isaac Van Zandt after Whetstone had proven that the hilly location had a good water source. The city quickly became a major city in the state because of its position as a gateway to Texas on several major stage coach lines. The city's growing importance was confirmed when Marshall was linked by a telegraph line to New Orleans, becoming the first city in Texas to have a telegraph service.

Related Topics:
1841 - Sabine River - 1839 - Republic of Texas - Peter Whetstone - Isaac Van Zandt - Stage coach - Telegraph - New Orleans

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By 1860 the city was the fourth largest city in Texas and the seat of the richest county. The county had more slaves than any other in the state, making it a hotbed of anti-Union sentiment. When Gov. Sam Houston refused to take an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy, Marshall's Edward Clark was sworn in as governor. Marshall would also produce Texas' third Confederate governor, Pendleton Murrah. Marshall became a major Confederate city, becoming the capital of Missouri's Confederate government-in-exile, producing gunpowder and other supplies for the Confederate Army, and hosting three conferences of Trans-Mississippi and Indian Territory leaders.

Related Topics:
1860 - Texas - Slave - Union - Sam Houston - Edward Clark - Confederate - Pendleton Murrah - Missouri - Gunpowder - Confederate Army - Trans-Mississippi - Indian Territory

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Marshall became the seat of civil authority and headquarters of the Trans-Mississippi Postal Department after the fall of Vicksburg. The city may have been the intended target of a failed Union advance that was rebuffed at Mansfield, Louisiana. Towards the end of the Civil War Richmond had $9 million in Treasury notes and $3 million in postage stamps shipped to Marshall, possibly meaning that Marshall was the intended destination of a government preparing to flee from advancing armies.

Related Topics:
Vicksburg - Mansfield, Louisiana - Richmond - Postage stamp

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Reconstruction and the Railroad Era

Marshall was occupied by Union forces on June 17, 1865. During Reconstruction the city was home to an office of the Freedmen's Bureau and was the base for Union troops. In 1873 The Methodist Episcopal Church founded Wiley College to educate free men. African-Americans came to the city seeking opportunities and protection until 1878, when the Citizens Party, led by former Confederate General Walter P. Lane and his brother George, took control of the city and county governments and ran Unionists, Republicans and many African-Americans out of town. The Lanes ultimately declared Marshall and Harrison County "redeemed" from Union and African-American control. Despite this the African-American community would continue to progress with the establishment of Bishop College in 1881 and the certification of Wiley by the Freedman's Aid Society in 1882.

Related Topics:
June 17 - 1865 - Freedmen's Bureau - 1873 - Methodist Episcopal Church - Wiley College - 1878 - Walter P. Lane - Republicans - African-American - 1881 - Freedman's Aid Society - 1882

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Marshall's "Railroad Era" began in the early 1870s. Harrison County citizens voted to offer $300,000 bond subsidy, and the City of Marshall offered to donate land north of the downtown to the Texas and Pacific Railway if the company would move to Marshall. T&P President Jay Gould accepted and located the T&P's workshops and general offices for Texas in Marshall. The city benefited immediately from a population explosion. By 1880 the city was one of the South's largest cotton markets. The city's new prosperity became apparent when the first department store in Texas, J. Weisman and Co., opened in 1878. Prosperity brought out elements which led to some nationally known crimes being tried in the city including the trials fo the murder of Diamond Bessie and attempted murder of Maurice Barrymore. During this period of wealth many of the city's now historic homes were constructed. The city's most prominent industry, pottery manufacturing, began with the establishment of Marshall Pottery in 1895.

Related Topics:
Railroad - 1870s - Texas and Pacific Railway - Jay Gould - Texas - 1880 - South - Cotton - Department store - 1878 - Diamond Bessie - Maurice Barrymore - Marshall Pottery - 1895

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Despite the prosperity of the railroad era, poverty continued to be a problem in the city among all races, but tensions between whites and African-Americans continued to worsen as segregation crystallized in the city. The rural areas of Harrison County saw greater interaction between white people and African-Americans. There, whites and blacks being neighbors was commonplace. Even though the areas surrounding Marshall were somewhat integrated, racism certainly was still apparent in everyday life. The fact that several plantation owners divided up sizable tracts of land and gave them to their former slaves may also have contributed to these tensions.

Related Topics:
Whites - Harrison County - African-Americans - Racism - Plantation

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20th Century

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries children of both races were raised to accept the status quo of racial segregation. African-American Marshall resident George Dawson later wrote about his childhood experiences with segregation in his book Life Is So Good. He described how, despite African-American children's acceptance of segregation, in some instances its demands were too outrageous to follow. For example, Dawson described how he had refused the demand of one employer who expected him to eat with her dogs.

Related Topics:
Status quo - Racial segregation - George Dawson

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In 1949, Marshall banned the movie Pinky from the city because it portrayed an interracial couple, a violation of the city's censorship code. The city was sued and the case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which overturned the city's censorship law.

Related Topics:
1949 - Pinky - Interracial couple - U.S. Supreme Court

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Three graduates of Wiley College, inspired by the teachings of Wiley professor Melvin B. Tolson, helped to dismantle Jim Crow at the county, state, and national levels. Fred Lewis, as the secretary of the Harrison County NAACP, challenged the oldest White Citizens Party in the Texas and the Jim Crow laws it enforced, ultimately abolishing Jim Crow in the county with the Perry v. Cyphers verdict. Heman Sweatt tried to enroll in the University of Texas Law school, but was denied entry because of the color of his skin; he sued and the Texas Supreme Court ordered the desegregation of postgraduate studies in Texas in the Sweatt v. Painter decision. James L. Farmer, Jr. became an organizer of the Freedom Rides and a founder of the Congress of Racial Equality.

Related Topics:
Wiley College - Melvin B. Tolson - Jim Crow - Harrison County - NAACP - White Citizens Party - Perry v. Cyphers - Heman Sweatt - University of Texas - Law school - Texas Supreme Court - Sweatt v. Painter - James L. Farmer, Jr. - Freedom Rides - Congress of Racial Equality

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The progression of civil rights would continue into the 1960s, 70s and 80s. In the 1960s, students organized the first sit-ins in Texas in the rotunda of the county courthouse on Whetstone Square in a move to end segregation of public schools; in 1970, all Marshall public schools were integrated. Also in that year, Carolyn Abney became the first woman to be elected to the city commission. In April 1975 local businessman Sam Birmingham became the first African-American to be elected to the city commission and, in the 80s, Marshall's first African-American mayor. Birmingham retired in 1989 for health concerns, and was succeeded by his wife, Jean Birmingham, who became the first African-American woman to serve on the commission.

Related Topics:
Civil rights - 1960s - 70s - 80s - Sit-in - Rotunda - 1970 - Public school - April - 1975 - 1989

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During the first half of the 20th century, the Texas and Pacific Railway experienced its height under the leadership of John L. Lancaster. Marshall's industry picked up with the discovery of what was then the largest oil field in the world at nearby Kilgore in 1930. Marshall's railroad industry subsequently declined with the dieselization of most trains, the proliferation of air travel, and the construction of the Interstate highway system after World War II. The T&P Shops closed in the 1960s and T&P passenger service ceased in 1970. The Texas oil bust of the 1980s devastated the local economy and the city's population declined by about a thousand between 1980 and 1990.

Related Topics:
John L. Lancaster - Kilgore - 1930 - Interstate highway - World War II - 1990

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