Reconstruction Era

Reconstruction Era. The Civil War Aftermath, also, People. In the aftermath of the Civil War, plans were enacted for the Reconstruction of the Union with the creation of the Freedmen's Bureau in 1865, and the passages of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Reconstruction Act of 1867. Texas would not officially re-enter the Union until March 30, 1870, due to a refusal before then to ratify either the 13th Amendment (which abolished slavery) or 14th Amendment (which granted citizenship to African Americans)., At the 1866 Constitutional Convention, Texans imposed restrictive laws known as Black Codes upon Black Americans that limited their autonomy. The Codes prevented freedmen from having access to public facilities, imposed curfews, disallowed the possession of firearms, and disallowed the display of objectionable public behavior. , In the 1870's, Blacks were given the right to vote but in Texas, as in many other places, that right was hampered by Whites who believed that only educated landowners should be able to vote. The use of poll taxes, reading comprehension tests, and complicated ballots were also used to keep Black people from voting. , By the 1890's, Segregation, or separate but equal, had become the norm with the Plessy vs. Ferguson case of 1896 and the Supreme Court upholding a ruling that allowed for "equal but separate accommodations for white and colored races". , For Hunt County, the Reconstruction Era was a tumultuous time marked by violence. Bad blood between Union and Confederate supporters led to feuds, with the most well-known local one being the Lee-Peacock Feud. This violent, drawn-out fight was led by Unionist Lewis Peacock of nearby Grayson County and ex-Confederate Bob Lee of neighboring Hunt County. The feud took place in the corner's region of northeast Texas where Grayson, Fannin, Hunt, and Collin counties converged in an area known for its thickets. , Bob Lee fell out with the Union authorities and aroused the enmity of Lewis Peacock, one of their supporters. There are differing accounts of how the feud began. The entire truth of the event that began the Lee-Peacock feud is most likely lost to history. Both men gathered their friends and sympathizers and went to war. The feud went on from 1867-1871. Knowledge of the feud traveled as far as Washington D.C. Two companies of federal calvary were stationed in Greenville in 1868 due largely to the threat posed by this violent feud, with General J.J. Reynolds posting a $1000 reward for the capture of Bob Lee. , There would be killing on both sides; Bob Lee was waylaid and killed in Fannin County near the present-day town of Leonard in 1869. Lewis Peacock was shot dead on June 13, 1871, bringing an end to the bloody feud. Fifty men were killed during this feud and many others were injured. Friends and even members of the same family were turned against each other, often with violent and deadly outcomes. , Economics in the county shifted during this time due to the railroad. In the fall of 1880 the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Extensions Railway arrived in Greenville. More railways would arrive in the coming years. This would transform the county into a more diverse place with more connections to the rest of Texas and the country. The population of the county grew quickly, being nearly 7 times the size it was at the beginning of the Civil War. , Captions , (Photo #1) Bob Lee , (Photo #2) Lewis Peacock , Reverse Side , Hardin Hart , Hardin Hart was born in West Virginia on August 23, 1814. He served in the Texas Senate from 1849-1855. At the end of the Civil War, during reconstruction, Hardin was appointed District Judge of the Sixteenth Judicial District in Denton, TX. The Dallas Herald reported on December 29, 1867, that Judge Hart ruled that the stay of execution law was unconstitutional in all cases, civil and criminal, and that executions may issue at once in all civil cases., Hardin was also tangentially involved in the Lee-Peacock Feud. Bob Lee had run afoul of Freedmen's Bureau Agent Hardin Hart, who had learned of the family's labor practices. Hart then led a detachment of the 26th Infantry to the Lee Farm, intending to secure the release of the freedmen and to make sure they were paid what they were owed. Lee refused to cooperate and started a gun fight. Being outnumbered, Lee fled to avoid arrest. Lee's men attempted to kill Hart on November 13, 1868, as Hardin was going to Bonham from Greenville with military guards. Hart survived the attempt but had to have his arm amputated due to an injury sustained in the attack. Judge Hardin Hart died on October 5, 1883, of a prolonged illness and is buried at East Mount Cemetery., Homer Horton, Jr. , Homer Horton was born in Ft Worth, TX in 1925. He enlisted in the Navy and served as a Pharmacist's Mate, Third Class in Okinawa and Shanghai in World War II. He married Shirley Marie Pringle Dec. 23, 1946, in Benicia, CA., Horton received a degree in business administration from the University of Texas in 1949. He began his career in hospital administration in Columbus, Texas, moving to Greenville in 1960 when he was recruited to become the administrator for the newly created Greenville Hospital Authority. He took the Hospital Authority through the process of acquiring funds for the beginning of community medicine in Hunt County and the creation of the Hunt County Hospital District in 1967, a new hospital in 1971, the Hunt Memorial Hospital District in 1981, the addition of a hospital in Commerce in 1983, finishing with a 4-floor expansion of the Greenville hospital in 1987. He retired as Chief Executive Officer in 1987., Chester L. Williams, Sr. , Chester Williams was born November 24, 1916. He died on February 19, 1995. He owned the first Black construction company in Greenville. Williams built the first four floors of the Greenville, Texas Hospital that was then known as Citizens General Hospital. He also won contracts that included the Greenville Post Office on Wesley St., poured concrete for most of the Turtle Creek subdivision and in the Raytheon addition. Mr. Williams' quality of work allowed him to enter a market that was previously closed to Black people