Part 5

Part 5, Note 2

Gammel, comp., The Laws of Texas 1822-1897, vol. 3, pp. 971-973; Dewees, Letters from an Early Settler of Texas, p. 312; Colorado County Commissioners Court Minutes, Book 2, pp. 64, 75, 86, 89, 97, 99, 105-106; Texas Monument, April 13, 1853, April 20, 1853, December 7, 1853; Charles William Tait to James Asbury Tait, October 16, 1853, Tait Family Papers (Ms. 32), Archives of the Nesbitt Memorial Library, Columbus, which contains the earliest known mention of Frazer's death. In 1854, the legislature effectively renewed the law which stimulated the effort to build the courthouse, over the governor's veto, agreeing to return 90% of the tax money collected in 1854 and 1855 (see Gammel, comp., The Laws of Texas 1822-1897, vol. 3, pp. 1474-1476). Here, on their final page, the writers of Letters from an Early Settler of Texas make their final mistakes. They report that the law turned over half the tax money rather than the correct amount, 90%, and they assign to the "letter" in which their incorrect statement is made the date of February 3, 1852, ten days before the law was passed.
In April 1853, the district court settled fifteen cases and levied nearly $500 in fines. Seven men were fined $10 each for various gambling offenses, and Caleb Claiborne Herbert, John Gilbert Montgomery, John H. Robson, and William W. Bonds were fined $200, $100, $50, and $50 respectively for assault and battery. John B. Botard escaped with a $10 fine for an assault he committed, but was hit with a $100 fine and one day in jail for stealing a small piece of ribbon. In contrast, a year earlier only one criminal case had been decided. In that case, Herbert was fined $2 for assault and battery. Only three criminal cases had been decided in the session before that, in October and November 1851. Two fines were handed down then, one of $50 and one of $1, each for assault and battery. For some reason, the district court did not convene in the fall of 1852 (see Colorado County District Court Records, Minute Book C, pp. 845-928).