Petition of Charles H. Bell Regarding Yellow Fever in Alleyton, January 21, 1870, Memorials and Petitions, Archives and Records Division, Texas State Library, Austin; Report of Dr. S. W. Welsh in Greensville Dowell, ed., Yellow Fever and Malarial Diseases Embracing a History of the Epidemics of Yellow Fever in Texas (Philadelphia, 1876), p. 67; Galveston Daily News, September 20, 1867; Howard Association of Galveston, Records of the Secretary, 14-0030, Rosenberg Library, Galveston, August 23, 1867 entry. Dr. Skinner was apparently K. W. Skinner, whose name appears in the Galveston City Directory of 1868-1869.
    Though it has often been stated that Alleyton was a larger town than Columbus during the Civil War, the evidence, including that provided by the reports on the yellow fever epidemic, is all to the contrary. Dr. John F. Hicks, who is quoted by Welsh in his report on the epidemic, refers to Columbus as "a considerable town," and to Alleyton as "a village." Secondly, he states that "nearly every inhabitant" of Alleyton became ill, and that there were only about 90 cases. If these statements are even close to being true, then clearly Alleyton was a very small town in late 1867. More evidence of the relative size of Colorado County's towns at the close of the war is given by the activities of the police court in licensing saloons. In 1866, eleven retail liquor dealers were licensed in Columbus, and two in each of Alleyton, Eagle Lake, and Frelsburg. Unless it is to be believed that the people of Columbus were unusually heavy imbibers of alcoholic drink, or that those of Alleyton, Eagle Lake, or Frelsburg were unusually abstemious, it seems clear that Columbus was substantially larger than any other county town (see Colorado County Police [Commissioners] Court Minutes, Book 1862-1876, pp. 44-46, 51, 53, 55, 56, 64, 65, 66).