Wilson County, Texas celebrated its sesquicentennial in 2010. The Wilson County Historical Commission and Wilson County Historical Society created events celebrating the County’s rich history. An event honoring past Wilson County Judges and Commissioners led to a call for family histories and photographs. Families came forward with a wealth of documents and photographs for each of the leaders except one: County Judge William B. Longworth. Longworth was a controversial County Judge during Reconstruction in Texas. In the folklore of Wilson County, Longworth has been considered a rascal who did no good.
The information that follows comes from an attempt to locate surviving descendants of William B. Longworth. The last known descendant of Judge Longworth, his son Bruce, died in the mid 20th century. No photographs were ever located. However, the research revealed information that creates a better understanding of William B. Longworth’s origin and life.
William B. Longworth
William B. Longworth descended from a family of wealthy and prominent men who engaged in public service. William was born in 1829 in County Westmeath, Ireland.1 His father, Captain John Longworth, born in County Westmeath on April 7, 1790, was a decorated veteran. He served at the battles of Albuhera, Bussaco, and Talavera, during the Peninsular War and at Waterloo under Wellington.2 After the war, Captain Longworth returned to Ireland to work as a civil engineer for the government. He married Elizabeth Esther Bruce, a direct descendant of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots.3 William was the youngest of six children born to John and Elizabeth in Ireland.4
In the spring of 1830, Captain John Longworth immigrated to Canada. Arriving in Quebec in May of 1830, he joined the Canada Company as a civil engineer.5 About 1832 Captain Longworth married Ellen Maxwell. With his new wife he had two daughters, Susan and Frances.6 About 1835, Elizabeth Bruce Longworth and her children, with the exception of William, immigrated to Ontario. William remained in Ireland to complete his education. When Elizabeth discovered that her husband had married another woman, she brought civil action against Captain Longworth for bigamy. In The King v. John Longworth, Captain Longworth was found guilty of bigamy.7
About 1846 William settled in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he worked as a legal clerk studying the law and as an attorney practicing law in the state courts of Louisiana. On August 9, 1849 he married Sarah Crowley before a justice of the peace in New Orleans.8 Their children Thomas, John, and Ann were born in Louisiana.9
On December 8, 1855, William Longworth opened “Our House” boarding house in San Antonio on the south side of Commerce Street next to the San Antonio Zeitung office.10 In October of 1855, William was appointed Postmaster at Rancho in Gonzales County. He held this position until November of 1857.11 Sarah and William closed their boarding house in San Antonio and moved to Rancho in the late 1850s. Their children Esther J. and George were born in Texas. By 1866, the Longworth family had moved to Karnes County, Texas, where they lived for a number of years.12
No military record that William Longworth served during the Civil War was found. As a Quaker, he would have been a pacifist and an abolitionist, like other members of his family.13 During the Civil War, William’s oldest nephew, Richard Winsor (1839-1923), of Port Austin, Huron County, Michigan, an avowed abolitionist, was active in the Underground Railroad, proudly voting for Abe Lincoln in 1860.14
In 1865, while living in Sutherland Springs in Wilson County, William was appointed County Judge for Wilson County, presiding at the November 20, 1865 meeting of the Court.15 On December 27, 1865, William was appointed Freedmen’s Bureau subassistant commissioner without pay for Guadalupe, Wilson, Karnes, and Gonzales counties of Texas. In May of 1866, he moved his office to Seguin, Texas.
In 1867, the vicious Taylor gang was a threat to military and county officials. In November 1867, they murdered Major Thompson at Fort Mason and on the evening of February 13, 1868 members of the Taylor gang descended on the residence of Sarah and William Longworth, hoping to kill the judge in his home.16 When they discovered he wasn’t at home, it was reported that they stayed for dinner. After the horrifying visit from the Taylor gang, Sarah Longworth and her daughters Ann and Esther disappeared from records. It is possible that Sarah frightened and fearing for her life and those of her children, fled the country.
In 1870, William and his youngest son, George, were living in Floresville with their housekeeper.17 William’s oldest sons Thomas and John had left home by this time, working as cowboys on ranches near San Antonio.18
In 1873, William married Sabra Ann Nerio, a young widow from the Graytown area with two small daughters.19 Karnes and Wilson County minister John F. Hines married them. Longworth’s last appearance in Wilson County records was at a Commissioner’s Court meeting on July 31, 1873, when he resigned from his positions as County Judge and Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1.20 His disappearance from the area was emphasized when on August 17, 1874, he failed to make a court appearance in Kinney County.21 William Longworth had moved on, however, the effects of the violence of Reconstruction in Wilson County would remain with Judge Longworth the remainder of his life.22
In 1876 and 1877, William served as a Commissioner for the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court, Western Division in Athens, Henderson County, Texas (Author’s Correction: Later research found this William Longworth was from North Carolina and not related to the subject of this article) .23
By 1879, William and his son George Longworth were living in Huron County, Michigan. William’s sister, Elizabeth Longworth Winsor her husband, Richard Winsor and their family lived in Huron County, Michigan. William Longworth and Richard Winsor were both serving in the capacity of notaries for Huron County.24 In 1880, William maintained a residence in London, Ontario while working as a customs agent/inspector for United States Customs.25 George remained in Port Austin in Huron County with his aunt, Elizabeth Longworth Winsor.26
On October 22, 1881 in London, Ontario, William married Elizabeth Georgina “Georgia” Weston.27 Georgia was the daughter of George and Anna Jane Adelaide Dagg Weston. According to the 1881 Canadian Census for London, Ontario, William, a widower, roomed with the Weston family prior to his marriage. The marriage record recorded William’s birthplace as Ireland, his residence as the United States (London, Ontario is about 100 miles from Detroit, MI), his occupation was barrister and solicitor. His religion was recorded as “Friends” for Society of Friends more commonly referred to as Quaker. William was fifty-three and Georgia was twenty-three years of age.
William’s brother in law, Daniel Homes Lizars, became the first County Judge of Perth County, Ontario in 1864. Before that, he had served as County Attorney. Daniel, who was from a prominent Ontarian family, was married to William’s sister, Esther Longworth. In 1880, Lizars held the offices of County Judge, as well as Master in Chancery and Deputy Registrar. In 1882, he became Judge of the High Court of Justice in Ontario.28
William’s sons moved to New Mexico. Thomas or “Pinto Tom” as he was known, was a Deputy Sheriff in Lincoln County, New Mexico during the Lincoln County War. In March of 1879, in his capacity as lawman he jailed William H. Bonney, alias Billy the Kid. In November 1880, Thomas became the constable in White Oaks in Lincoln County. His brother, John Longworth, was also in Lincoln County at this time, both men served on posses attempting to apprehend Billy the Kid.29 In 1881, a witness warrant was issued for Thomas Longworth in Lincoln County.30 According to the White Oaks Golden Era newspaper, Thomas (“Pinto Tom”) died May 26, 1884 of consumption in Lincoln, New Mexico.
The 1880 U.S. Census showed Tom’s brother, John, had returned to Frio County, Texas and worked on the Slaughter and Vickers Ranches. John moved from Texas to San Marcial, New Mexico, where in 1891 he owned a popular gambling resort.31 According to the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper, John, a resident of San Marcial, died at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Santa Fe, New Mexico on January 1, 1902. John was buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Santa Fe. William’s son George moved to New Mexico from Michigan. In 1896, he called San Marcial home,32 but by 1900, he lived in Grant County, where he worked as a teamster.33 George died on February 5, 1937 in Scottsdale, Arizona.34
On 16 January 1883, Captain John Longworth died in Port Austin, Michigan at the home of his daughter, Elizabeth Winsor. Of his three sons, only William was still living. William was continuing his work as a customs agent in London, Ontario.35
William and Georgia relocated to the Denver, Colorado area in 1884, where William worked as an accountant for a mining company.36
In 1889, John Robson, William’s brother-in-law, became the Premier of British Columbia. He served as Premier until his death in 1892.37
In the late 1880s, William and Georgia Longworth moved to Illinois. On October 1, 1890, their son Bruce Earl Longworth was born in Chicago.38 The next year William and his family were living in Detroit, Michigan, where he was working as a bookkeeper.39 They lived there for several years, before returning to Colorado.
William B. Longworth died before the 1900 census.40 Before 1917, Georgia returned with Bruce to Detroit where her sisters were living. Bruce became an electrician and according to Social Security Claims Index, died on 27 November 1959. Georgia died in the 1920s.41 There are no known living descendants of William Longworth.42
A Convenient Villain
Historians writing of William B. Longworth create a villain from cloth provided by his opponents. In their description, like a phantom, he appears in the Cibolo Valley, exacts his revenge on the planters, inflicts his incompetence on the freedmen and then disappears. Characterizations by former slave masters of Longworth’s avarice and venality associated with “low breeding” are accepted and repeated unchallenged. In scant biographical references, Longworth is described in pejorative terms as “lawyer Longworth”, a litigious scalawag, born in New York or Canada, who came to Texas with some furniture to raise hogs and sheep.
Compiling a biography of William B. Longworth over 125 years after the events that defined him, revealed a man destined to be a controversial figure in Reconstruction Texas. In the light of a broader context that includes his origin and experience, Longworth’s attitudes and actions as subassistant commissioner of the Freedmen’s Bureau and Wilson County official, become understandable, predictable and to some admirable.
As defined by his opponents, Longworth’s motives to serve, without pay, as subassistant commissioner of the Freedmen’s Bureau are questioned as suspicious and self-serving. His pleas for support to unresponsive superiors are used to indict him as a zealot. Longworth’s refusal to compromise with the defeated slave masters in their efforts to continue control of African freedmen and their children is criticized as unreasonable.43
Longworth’s dealings with the former slave master James L. Dial are used as examples of his zealotry. Dial’s arrest in April 1866 is described as Longworth’s reaction to James Dial’s letters disparaging him to the Texas governor.44 Dial’s long history of vigilante action against freedmen is largely ignored. His behavior that caused a “mob” of freedmen to descend on the community of Lavernia to move one of their own from vigilante custody to legal authorities is not mentioned.45 The accusation by former slave masters that Longworth was a “stranger” and “arbitrary, vindictive, and unjust” as well as corrupt is repeated without challenge.46
Cibolo River Valley – The Old South Legacy
In the mid 1850s, both William B. Longworth and large-scale plantation slavery were new to Bexar County, Texas. The slave masters brought their slaves to the Cibolo Valley around 1850. Their arrival was reported in the local newspapers.47 Joseph H. Polley, among the first, arrived in 1847 and settled in Guadalupe County immediately across the Cibolo from Sulphur Springs (now Sutherland Springs). Others followed, acquiring land in the Valley.48
In the Old South the cultural and governmental structure required to hold men in slavery and protect their owners from rebellion had existed for many years. In San Antonio, the county seat of Bexar County, large-scale plantation slavery was a new entity. Slavery enjoyed neither universal popularity, nor the support of local ordinances that accommodated its requirements.
The wealth of the slave masters was comprised largely of the value of their slaves. To protect their property, they demanded that government enforce laws, and create ordinances and agencies that imposed their will on the total population. The slave masters created the “Committee of Ten” a vigilante group to control order in their area.49 Bexar County Commissioners created slave patrols that captured and punished runaway slaves and arrested those that assisted or associated with them.50 The City of San Antonio passed ordinances regulating, not only the behavior of African slaves, but also the behavior of non-Africans in relation to slaves. For the sum of one dollar, the San Antonio City Marshall or assistant Marshall could be hired to inflict a beating on a slave.51
San Antonio River Valley – The Spanish Legacy
Longworth’s brief career (December 1865 to July 1866) as subassistant commissioner of the Freedmen’s Bureau is directly and inextricably connected to the Civil War, Reconstruction and the emancipation of the African slaves. His seven-year (September 1865 to 1873) tenure as a Wilson County official (Judge/Chief Justice/Justice of the Peace/County Clerk/District Clerk and County Surveyor) relates to a conflict that predates the Civil War. It is a conflict in which Longworth found an ally that shared his views and goals, descendants of Spanish and Mexican families that had lived in the San Antonio River Valley for over one hundred years.
The Wilson County Voter Registration Rolls from 1867 record 418 voters. Of those voters, 161 have Hispanic surnames and indicate long time residency in the area; of those, 87 simply list Texas as their place of birth, while 74 list Mexico as their place of birth and the Treaty annexing Texas in 1845 as their date of citizenship. Additionally, 98 former slaves were registered voters giving Longworth a solid majority on which to build support.52
William Longworth and the Spanish-speaking residents of the San Antonio River Valley came from traditions that viewed slavery as an evil. The Catholic residents of Mexico, who had become Texans when their lands were annexed, brought with them an anti-slavery tradition. William Longworth’s anti-slavery attitude came from Quaker traditions that supported abolition and assisted in the creation of the Underground Railroad that helped slaves escape to freedom. In the San Antonio River Valley, the Spanish-speaking residents and William B. Longworth shared a common goal; they sought to move power away from the ex-slave masters of the Cibolo.
The San Antonio River Valley and the Cibolo River Valley are the two major watersheds that drain Wilson County. The San Antonio River Valley drains the western portion of the county and was populated by settlers from Spain and Mexico during the 18th century. The Cibolo Valley, which drains the eastern portions of the county, was settled by slave masters in the mid-19th Century and would come to represent the far western reaches of plantation slavery in South Texas.
The 1860 federal census reflects the population differences between the San Antonio River Valley and the Cibolo River Valley. The Cibolo Valley communities of Lavernia and Sutherland Springs show a combined total of 409 individuals with Anglo surnames and 3 with Mexican surnames. The community of Lodi in the San Antonio River Valley shows 834 individuals with Mexican surnames and 29 with Anglo surnames.
In the early 1850s, when citizens living in the area that would become Wilson County circulated petitions requesting that the Texas Legislature create a new county, a division in the political landscape emerged. The recently arrived slave masters in the Cibolo Valley, enthusiastically sought separation from Bexar County and San Antonio. Their attitudes were articulated by John Sutherland, who exchanged letters to the editor of the San Antonio Ledger with opponents to the separation from Bexar County.
Spanish speaking Texans, living along the San Antonio River, were cautious of separation from Bexar County. Living in haciendas, ranches, and villages along the Spanish road to La Bahia (now Goliad), their connection to San Antonio, the seat of government for Bexar County, was established through over one hundred years of residency and documented in the Mexican and Spanish Archives of San Antonio de Bexar. Many owned residences in San Antonio. John Sutherland wrote that Bexar County was unfairly taxing the wealthy Cibolo communities to pay for administrating parts of a county five hundred miles away. He wrote, “… I have lived in this county nearly seven years and that there has never been, to my recollection, but one resident of that portion of Bexar County proposed to be embraced within the limits of the new county, in the jail at San Antonio.”53 The relationship between the slave masters and the Mexicans was strained and turned into a violent confrontation.54
The Spanish speaking families along the La Bahia Road found employment in operating ox carts to and from the port of Indianola on the Texas coast. These slow moving ox carts populated the La Bahia road carrying countless European immigrants and tons of freight inland. Suspicious that Mexican ox cart operators were assisting runaway slaves seeking freedom in Mexico, those sympathetic to the slave masters raided ox cart trains and killed drivers in what is referred to as the Ox Cart War. For this same reason, the city of Seguin in adjacent Guadalupe County banned Mexican ox cart operators and re-established the community whipping post.55
Longworth Defeats the Slave Masters
After the Civil War, as a Wilson County official, Longworth exploited this division. In 1860, the Texas Legislature created Wilson County primarily from Bexar County lands. The slave masters along the Cibolo Valley were the driving force in organizing the new County. Most of the plantations along the Cibolo Valley became a part of Wilson County and the village of Sutherland Springs became its center of activity.
The Act passed by the Texas legislature creating Wilson County is reiterated on the first page of the Wilson County Commissioners Court Minutes; the process mandated to identify and name a county seat is described in section 4.56 In that Act, no county seat was named for Wilson County. Sutherland Springs was chosen as the site where Commissioners Court would meet until a county seat was chosen. The legislature mandated that Wilson County, like other counties, locate its county seat near its geographic center.
At the time of Wilson County’s separation from Bexar County, Sutherland Springs was located immediately across the Cibolo from Guadalupe County and a substantial distance from the county’s geographic center; facts that made its location unsuitable as county seat.
John T. James, the legendary Texas land speculator who later founded Oakville in Live Oak County, anticipated the creation of Wilson County southeast of San Antonio. In 1855, a correspondent from the Galveston News, traveled from San Antonio to the newly named county seat of Helena in recently created Karnes County, southeast and adjacent to the area that would become Wilson County. On the La Bahia Road, along the San Antonio River Valley (between the ranch of Miguel Cantu at the Calaveras tributary to the San Antonio River and the ranch of Juan and Don Erasmo Seguin near present day Floresville) the correspondent came upon John T. James. James had recently moved to the area and was building an inn for travelers. He related to the newspaper correspondent that the name of the new settlement was Sebastopol, “a name, bye the bye, which our friend James has given to the place in anticipation of its one day being the county seat of a new county.”57 Sebastopol with its official post office was located near the geographic center of what would become Wilson County. Before a county seat could be chosen, the Civil War intervened.
After the Civil War, William Longworth managed to secure the county seat near the geographic center of the County in the San Antonio River Valley. By force of will, political maneuvering, and enforcing the letter of the law, Longworth shifted the seat of power away from his sworn enemies, the former slave masters on the Cibolo. Floresville, the chosen location, was donated to the county by the Flores-Barker family and supported by a constituency of the descendants of Spanish and Mexican settlers.
Despite the repeated circulation of petitions by the former slave masters, subsequent attempts to name Sutherland Springs the county seat failed. Sutherland Springs was never named county seat of Wilson County. Floresville, the county seat of Wilson County, stands as a monument to Longworth’s triumph over the demands of the former slave masters.
Reconstruction and the Freedmen’s Bureau failed to meet the goals set forth by their architects. A nation, weary of conflict, abandoned the freedmen to the mercy of the their defeated and resentful Confederate ex-owners. The era of Jim Crow blossomed along the Cibolo. Atrocities against freedmen, once documented in the records of the Freedmen’s Bureau, became local matters. They were investigated and adjudicated by the men who once owned them as slaves and now viewed them as a nuisance.
William B. Longworth departed Wilson County, leaving his legacy in the hands of his enemies, the former slave masters. They called him a stranger, although he worked as postmaster and lived in the area as long as most of them. His expressions of frustration in the form of correspondence to the ineffective Freedmen’s Bureau, political officials and military leaders were described as zealotry rather than an expression of his opposition to slavery consistent with Quaker tradition. His service as subassistant commissioner without pay was described as suspicious and self-serving rather than an act of public service consistent with his family’s tradition. The calumnious statements by former slave masters accusing him of soliciting bribes and stealing from the freedmen have been repeated but never proven.
In stark contrast to the chorus of slave masters and bureaucrats, a single voice emerges from the past. William Green a former slave once owned by John Montgomery from the Cibolo Valley near Lavernia shared his opinion of William B. Longworth with a writer from the Great Depression era WPA:
“…If it hadn’t been for ole Judge Longworth, I might have been a slave for seven years longer by way of a contract my boss wanted to draw up. Judge Longworth, he come over and dere was pretty near a fight. He was a little man but he tole de boss just where matters stand, and he explained to me dat I was free…[sic]”58
Endnotes
1. Chapman Brothers, compilers. Portrait and Biographical Album of Huron County (Chicago, Illinois: Chapman Brothers, 1884), pp. 357-360. The Longworths were prominent and wealthy families in the Westmeath area, owning large estates such as Creggan Castle and Glynwood. The main family seat was at Glynwood, Athlone, County Westmeath. The prominent Francis Longworth family of Prince Edward Island, Canada and the Nicholas Longworth family of Cincinnati, Ohio were also descendants of the Westmeath Longworths.
2. “Obituary of Capt. John Longworth,” Port Huron Daily Times: Port Huron, Michigan, January 25, 1883.
3. Chapman Brothers, p. 358.
4. Chapman Brothers, p. 358. The children were: Elizabeth 1814-1901, John born about 1816, who died before 1883, Thomas born about 1818, who died sailing to Australia, Jane 1820-1891, Esther 1822-1902, and William.
5. “Sketch of the Late John Longworth,” The Sarnia Observer: Sarnia, Ontario, Friday, February 9, 1883, p. 2. Captain Longworth settled in Goderich, Ontario, where he lived for fifty-three years; he served as the chief engineer for the Canada Company.
6. Chapman Brothers, p. 358.
7. John D. Blackwell, “Crime in the London District, 1828-1837: A Case Study of the Effect of the 1833 Reform in Upper Canadian Penal Law,” J.K. Johnson and Bruce G. Wilson, editors. Historical Essays on Upper Canada: New Perspectives (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Carleton University Press, 1989), p. 577. Elizabeth Longworth (her given name appears as Elizabeth in some records and Esther in others) was awarded thirty shillings for testifying. Soon after, however, Elizabeth died, and apparently, no further action was taken against John Longworth.
8. Marriage Records 1846-1880 by Orleans Parish Justices of the Peace: Licenses, 1st Justice 1849-1851. City Archives Collection, New Orleans Public Library: New Orleans, Louisiana.
9. Chapman Brothers, p. 358. William’s wife, Sarah Crowley was born about 1830 in Ireland.
10. “Our House”, San Antonio Ledger, San Antonio, Texas, December 8, 1855, p. 2. Ads for Our House appeared in the Ledger in 1855 and 1856.
11. Wheat, Jim, Postmasters and Post Offices of Texas, 1846-1930, http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txpost/postmasters.html (accessed November 2009). D.D. T. Leech, compiler. Post Office Directory; or Business Man’s Guide to the Post Offices in the United States (New York: J.H. Colton and Co., 1856), p. 173 (Gonzales, Texas).
12. Texas General Land Office, Texas Land Grant Records: Wilson County, Patent to William Longworth, Patent Vol. 40, #467, 19 Mar 1873, Abstract #198 for 160 acres. An affidavit for the purpose of legally establishing his homestead, declared that William had lived on the land since January 1, 1866. The acreage was on the Wilson/Karnes county line.
13. Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada Marriage Records, 1882 Book E, #007141, p. 191. Archives of Ontario Registrations of Marriage: microfilm MS932 Reel 40 and LDS microfilm film #1869759. The marriage record stated that William was a Quaker. Quakers settled in County Westmeath, Ireland in the late 17th century. Friends or Quakers were known for their pacifism.
14. Horace R. Cayton, “Embarrassing Moments,” Cayton’s Weekly: Seattle, Washington, Vol. 3, No 31, January 11, 1919, p. 2. Richard, the son of William’s oldest sister, Elizabeth, was an attorney and prosecutor. In 1862 (at age twenty-three) and in 1864, he was elected as representative from Huron County to the Michigan House of Representatives. He also served as United States Circuit Court Commissioner for the eastern District of Michigan. Richard was elected as Michigan State Senator from the 22nd District in 1868 and 1880. The town of Winsor in Huron County, Michigan is named for him. “Richard Winsor,” Cayton’s Weekly: Seattle, Washington, November 11, 1917, p. 2. “Since a lad in school Richard Winsor has always been an enthusiastic advocate for the human rights and in his former Michigan home he championed the cause of the black man of this country when it was almost worth one’s life to do so.”
15. Wilson County Commissioner Court Minutes, Book A, p. 63: Office of the County Clerk of Wilson County, Floresville, Texas.
16. “Civil Law,” San Antonio Daily Express: San Antonio, Texas, February 15, 1868.
17. 1870 U.S. Federal Census: Precinct 4, Wilson County, TX, p. 473B, line 18.
18. Cook, James H., Fifty Years on the Old Frontier (Norman and London: University of Oklahoma Press, 1957), pgs. 6-9. Hunter, J. Marvin, “Riding the Ranges in the Seventies,” Frontier Times Magazine, Vol. 1, July 1924, pgs.28-29. In the early 1870s, John Longworth worked as foreman for Ben Slaughter, the father of “Texas” John H. Slaughter. The Slaughters drove cattle to New Mexico; this could explain John’s presence in Lincoln County. In 1880, John worked on the Vickers ranch in Frio County; William J. Slaughter’s wife was a member of the Vickers family.
19. Marriage Records of Bexar County, TX: Book E, 11 May 1873 #4325, Office of the County Clerk, San Antonio, Texas. Clara Nerio (born 1866) and Maria Theresa Nerio (born 1870) were baptized at La Capilla de Santiago located in Graytown, Wilson County, TX. Clara Nerio was married December 12, 1880 at La Capilla de Santiago by the pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Floresville, TX.
20. Wilson County Commissioner’s Court Minutes, Book A, p. 214: Office of the Wilson County Clerk, Floresville, Texas.
21. Alexander M. Jackson, Cases Argued and Adjudged in the Court of Appeals of the State of Texas, Vol. 3 (St. Louis, Missouri: F.H. Thomas & Co., 1878), p. 326.
22. Chapman Brothers, p. 358.
23. H. L. Bentley & Thomas Pilgrim, Texas Legal Directory For 1876-77 (Austin, Texas: Democratic Statesman Office, 1877), p.74, http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth2413 (accessed November 19, 2010), Denton, Texas, University of North Texas Libraries: The Portal to Texas History.
24. Michigan Legislature under the direction of Edwin S. Hoskins, Secretary of Senate, The Journal of the Senate of the State of Michigan, Vol.2, (Lansing, Michigan: W.S. George & Co., 1879), p. 1326.
25. Chapman Brothers, p. 358. He worked for three years as a custom agent.
26. 1880 U.S. Federal Census: Port Austin, Huron, MI, E.D. 115, and p. 143D. In 1886, Elizabeth Longworth Winsor, her sons and their families moved from Port Austin to Seattle, Washington. Her son, Thomas Winsor, became a prominent businessman, running for mayor of Seattle in 1897. Richard continued in public service in Seattle, working in various campaigns and holding various political positions, including Judge. He became publisher of the Seattle Evening Call. In 1896, he was urged to accept the nomination for the office of associate justice of the Washington Supreme Court. He declined due to his poor health. He was a member of the committee that formed the original municipal charter of the city of Seattle. In 1897, he became a member of the board of regents of the state university in Washington. He also served on the Seattle School Board.
27. Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada Marriage Records.
28. The Canadian Biographical Dictionary and Portrait Gallery of Eminent and Self-Made Men: Ontario, Vol.1880 (Toronto, Chicago: American Biographical Pub. Co., 1880), p. 57.
29. Ibid. 129 and 135-136.
30. Register of Herman B. Weisner Papers, 1957-1992, Research Files: Box 13, t-1, Archives and Special Collections, New Mexico State University Library, Santa Fe, NM.
31. “Territorial Topics,” The Daily Optic, East Las Vegas, NM, April 4, 1891. In May of 1893, the saloon suffered $500.00 in damage to the building and $800.00 to the fixtures in a fire, which destroyed many of the businesses in San Marcial. On August 1, 1892 John Longworth was reported to owe the United States Internal Revenue Service $22.92 in overdue taxes. The taxes were paid on September 7, 1892. In the mid 1890s, John was involved in several court cases in Socorro County, New Mexico. In 1894, he was named in H. Davis, Sons & Co. vs. Longworth, John. In 1895, he was involved in another case in Socorro County: Essenger & Judell vs. Longworth, John, and in 1898 he was again in court in Socorro County in the case of Broyles, J.N. vs. Longworth, John. All of these cases were civil cases involving non-payment of goods or services. San Marcial was in Socorro County, NM. John Longworth did not appear in Socorro County in the 1900 United States Census, and he seemed to disappear from all records after 1898.
32. “Round About Town,” Santa Fe Daily New Mexican, Santa Fe, New Mexico, October 25, 1893, p. 4.
33. 1910 U.S. Census, Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona, E.D. 71, p. 4A. 1920 U.S. Census: Pirtleville, Cochise, AZ, p. 33B. 1925 Phoenix City Directory, P. 319, and 1930 U.S. Census, Scottsville, Maricopa, AZ, p. 6B.
34. Arizona Death Certificate #224, February 5, 1937, Maricopa County, Scottsdale District, AZ.
35. “Sketch of the Late John Longworth,” The Sarnia Observer.
36. Chapman Brothers, p. 358. William and Georgia did not appear in the 1885 Colorado Census records. A George Longworth of the proper age to be William’s youngest son appeared in Ouray, Colorado working as a miner. There were discrepancies in birth locations, however.
37. William Rayner, British Columbia’s Premiers in Profile: The Good, the Bad, and the Transient (Surrey, C.C. Canada: Heritage House Publishing Co., LTD., 2000), pgs. 59-66. Adam Shortt, and Sir Arthur George Doughty, Canada and Its Provinces, Vol. 22, T. & A. Constable (Toronto: Edinburgh University Press, 1914), p. 413. Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, Vol. XII 1891-1900, The University of Toronto: http://www.biographi.ca/index-e.html (accessed February 10, 2010). As a politician, a journalist, and a newspaper editor, John Robson supported non-sectarian public education, responsible government, and the Confederation of Canadian provinces. Robson Street and Robson Square in Vancouver are named for him, as is the town of Robson.
38. World War I Draft Registration Card # 217 for Bruce Earl Longworth, Ward 10, Detroit, Wayne, MI, June 5, 1917. Georgina’s aunt, Catherine Dagg Stephens, was living in Chicago in 1890 (The 1870 U.S. Census shows Georgia and her family living in Chicago; after Chicago fire, they returned to Canada).
39. Detroit, MI City Directory 1891-92, p. 715. The Longworths, resided at 206 Orchard and William was employed as a bookkeeper. Detroit, MI City Directory 1893-94, p. 770. William, Georgina, and Bruce Earl lived at 92 Abbott; William worked as a bookkeeper.
40. 1900 U.S. Census: Precinct 4, Montrose, Montrose, CO, E.D. 78, and p. 10A. William’s death probably occurred in Colorado, possibly in Montrose County. The 1900 United States Census for Montrose, Colorado lists Georgia Longworth as a widow living with widowed father J. E. Berry. Georgia probably worked as a housekeeper for the young father, providing board for herself and Bruce. At this time, Georgia’s sisters, Lulu, Addie, and Charlotte Weston were living in Denver. In 1903, J. Elmo Berry died and Georgia and Bruce moved to Denver where, according to the 1910 U.S. Census, she worked as a nurse in a private home.
41. 1930 U.S. Census: Detroit, Wayne, MI, E.D. 410, p. 14A, line 6. Polk’s City Directory, Detroit, Wayne, MI, 1928, p. 1344. In 1928, Bruce Longworth resided at 13299 Littlefield, the home of his aunt, Lulu Weston Higgins; he was employed as an electrician. In 1930, Bruce was living as a single man in the Fort Clark Hotel in Detroit.
42. Although 1920 census records indicate George was a widower, he apparently had no descendants. Bruce remained single in 1930. The fates of William’s children Tom, John, Ann, and Esther are unknown.
43. William L. Richter, Overreached on All Sides: The Freedmen’s Bureau Administrators in Texas, 1865-1868 (College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press, 1991), pgs. 116-125. Christopher B. Bean, A Stranger Amongst Strangers: An Analysis of the Freedmen’s Bureau Subassistant Commissioners in Texas, 1865-1868, Doctorial Dissertation (Denton, TX: University of North Texas, August 2008), UMI Microform 3352073 (Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest LLC, 2009).
44. Richard B. McCaslin, “William Longworth, Republican Villain,” Still The Arena of Civil War, ed. Kenneth W. Howell (Denton, Texas: University of North Texas Press, 2110), p. 137.
45. “Attack Upon A Loyal League of Freedmen on the Cibolo,” San Antonio Daily Express, October 2, 1867, p. 2, col. 1.
46. Richard B. McCaslin, “William Longworth, Republican Villain,” Still The Arena of Civil War, p. 137.
47. “Local News Briefs” The Alamo Star, December 11, 1854, San Antonio, TX, p. 2, col. 1.
48. Polley, Joseph H., “Old Timers on the Cibolo,” Lavernia Legacies, Spring 2005, Issue #3 (La Vernia, Texas by the La Vernia Historical Association), pgs. 14-21.
49. “Report’, The Alamo Star, September 16, 1854, San Antonio, Texas, p. 2.
50. Bexar County Commissioner Court Minutes, Book 1A, pgs. 327-328 “Appointment of Patrol Detachments.” “An Act: To provide for the appointment of Patrols and to prescribe their duties and powers,” Laws of Texas 1822-1897 (Austin, Texas: Gammel Book Co., 1898), Vol. II, pgs.1497-1501.
51. San Antonio City Council Ordinance, Book 1, 1850-1868, #01-106, August 25, 1860, Ordinance to regulate the conduct of slaves and free persons of color in the City of San Antonio, p. 150(viewer page 142), Section 16, Office of the San Antonio City Archivist: http://www.sanantonio.gov/clerk/ArchiveSearch. “An Ordinance, Section 16,” San Antonio Daily Ledger and Texan, August 30, 1860, San Antonio, Texas.
52. 1867-1869 Voter Registration, Vol. 30 Victoria-Zapata: Reel 12(microfilm), San Antonio Public Library, San Antonio, TX.
53. “To the Citizens of Bexar County,” San Antonio Ledger, November 24, 1855, p. 4, col. 2. John Sutherland, “Ledger Correspondence: Letter to the Editor,” San Antonio Ledger, December 1, 1855, p. 3, col. 1.
54. Roy L. Swift and Leavitt Corning, Jr., Three Roads to Chihuahua: the Great Wagon Roads That Opened the Southwest 1823-1883 (Austin, Texas: Eakin Press, 1988), pgs. 157-159.
55. “Local News Briefs,” “Public Meeting,” The Alamo Star, September 2, 1854, p. 2, col. 1.
56. Wilson County Commissioner Court Minutes, Book A, p. 1, Sec. 4.
57. “Editorial Correspondence,” The Galveston News, May 8, 1855, p. 3, col.1, Galveston, Texas.
58. William Green, “Texas Narratives, Part 2, ” Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves, Vol. XVI, p. 96 (Washington, D.C., Work Projects Administration, 1941).
