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31-819: The Jaybird-Woodpecker War ended when the Jaybirds defeated the Black-supported Woodpeckers in a battle in Richmond, Texas, the county seat of Fort Bend County, in August 1889. With support from Texas Governor Lawrence Ross and the Houston Light Guards (the first uniformed state militia company formed after the Civil War), a complete reorganization of county government resulted in the removal or resignation of all Woodpecker officials and

62-534: A "Whites-only" ballot in preliminary party voting from 1889 until 1953. The Jaybird organization and the disfranchisement spread to other counties in the state and remained active politically until the civil rights movement . This device lasted until 1950, when Willie Melton and Arizona Fleming won a lawsuit against the practice in United States District Court , though it was overturned on appeal. In 1953, they ultimately won their suit when

93-470: A friend of Terry's being held in a neighboring town. Terry was arrested, but posted bail and moved to Galveston . On January 21, 1890, he was gunned down by Gibson's brother Volney Gibson and a group of Jaybirds, while walking up the stairs to the Galveston courtroom for the preliminary hearing in his trial for the murder of Ned Gibson. Retaliatory murders occurred on both sides. The violence culminated in

124-714: A new armory on Caroline St. The building was designed in 1925 by Alfred C. Finn , a local Houston architect. The privately owned property was denied a tax exemption causing the Houston Light Guard Association a financial burden for over the years before being transferred to the Texas National Guard in 1938, making it the first state owned armory in Texas. In 1991 the Houston Light Guards moved to Ellington Field and

155-492: A specifically disenfranchised group, or more generally, in discussion of many matters. Among others, Karl Marx discussed political emancipation in his 1844 essay " On the Jewish Question ", although often in addition to (or in contrast with) the term human emancipation . Marx's views of political emancipation in this work were summarized by one writer as entailing "equal status of individual citizens in relation to

186-772: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 , the Voting Rights Act of 1965 , and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 , which can collectively be seen as further realization of events such as the Emancipation Proclamation and the abolition of slavery a century earlier. In the current and former British West Indies islands the holiday Emancipation Day is celebrated to mark the end of the Atlantic slave trade . The term emancipation derives from

217-912: The Supreme Court of the United States declared the Jaybird primary unconstitutional in Terry v. Adams , the last of the white primary cases. The roots of the Jaybird-Woodpecker violence stretch back to the emergence of antebellum plantation society in Fort Bend County and the end of the American Civil War . The conflict over slavery impacted how the war began, played out, and influenced Fort Bend political and social life for over 100 years. Fort Bend County

248-456: The Battle of Richmond, the county seat, on August 16, 1889, when sheriff Tom Garvey (a Woodpecker) was killed. Seven people were killed in all these incidents. Following this, Governor Sul Ross declared martial law and dispatched troops from the Houston Light Guards, along with more Texas Rangers. He arrived with the state militia to negotiate a settlement. After the violence subsided, most of

279-732: The Supreme Court; the second was in Smith v. Allwright (1944). Houston Light Guard The Houston Light Guard was one of the oldest militia companies founded in Texas . Founded in 1873, it served as Company G of the 143rd Infantry Regiment during both World Wars and later as A co 2nd Battalion, 143rd Infantry after the Pentomic division system. It was a part of the National Guard's only Airborne Infantry Brigades,

310-585: The Union. Also significant was the breaking up of the old plantations into smaller land units, many of which were either purchased by new immigrant farmers from Europe or were rented by Black sharecroppers . While resisting emancipation and Black suffrage , plantation elite surprisingly cooperated with the biracial county government that emerged during Reconstruction. Between 1869 and 1889, 44 Black men held different positions in Fort Bend County that included varied roles as sheriff, county commissioner, justice of

341-855: The Whites' inability to change county politics via the ballot box. They brought together and formalized the informal vigilante groups into the Jay Bird Democratic Association in July 1888. The conflict allegedly derived its name from Bob Chapel, a local African-American man who was said to sing about jaybirds and woodpeckers . The Jaybirds were White Democrats opposed to the participation of Blacks in local politics, as an alliance of Blacks and Whites (formerly Republican) had elected county officials for 20 years since Reconstruction. The Woodpeckers were nominally Democrats, too, with representatives elected largely by Black voters. An election

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372-540: The armory became home to the nations largest repository of African-American Military History . It was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1992 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2024. Emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights , political rights or equality , often for

403-683: The city purchased the property and approved the lease; however, the Houston Hispanic Forum could not live up the city's agreement of raising $ 3 Million for renovations and the Armory continued to sit in decay. Then in 2008 the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum , founded in 2000 and originally located on 1834 Southmore Blvd, began raising funds to purchase the Caroline St. Armory, and In November 2012

434-404: The county government resigned. In finding replacements for resigned officials, the Jaybird politicians were the only ones who had sufficient wealth to post bonds for the open offices, and the Jaybirds refused to post bonds for the opposition. As a result, the county government was reorganized under the control of the Jaybird faction. This was formalized through a meeting held on October 3, 1889, and

465-419: The five White-only schools, while 1,679 Black students attended one of the 30 Black-only schools. Vigilante citizen groups were also formed to keep Blacks in the county in order, especially from preventing social interactions between Blacks and Whites. While the Jaybird-Woodpecker war was not inevitable, the emergence of younger White males wanting to renew White supremacy and the national Democratic renewal of

496-491: The former officeholders were told to leave town. Subsequently, the Jaybirds held a meeting on October 22, 1889, creating the Jaybird Democratic Organization of Fort Bend County. It dominated local politics for decades into the 1950s. The faction established a "White-only" preliminary ballot for county offices. This effectively disenfranchised African Americans because the only competitive contest

527-466: The independent Democrats for their "treasonous behavior" in supporting Blacks' right to vote and to hold public office. They also wanted to increase their political representation, especially with an increase in taxes for all Black and White property owners. Taxes were high and portions of that money went directly into the pockets of officeholders. With these sentiments percolating in the mid- to late 1880s, many young men in Fort Bend County were fed up with

558-518: The late 1880s created an emotionally charged political atmosphere in Fort Bend County. Within the White community, tensions increased between those who supported the Republican or independent county officials and a politically frustrated White community of former slaveowners . The Whites supporting the current biracial politicians wanted to preserve the status quo. The majority of Whites resented

589-644: The leaders some 30 years later in the Jaybird-Woodpecker War, except, unlike his father, he supported the Woodpeckers against the Jaybirds and their White supremacist supporters. After the conclusion of the American Civil War, the 13th Amendment was ratified, in 1864, the result being that millions of slaves were suddenly free. In Fort Bend County, this new amendment resulted in the freeing of Blacks, who accounted for over 80% of

620-570: The peace, and constable. At one point of Fort Bend Reconstruction, more than 50% of the county offices were held by Black politicians. They were actively supported by a small number of Whites who participated in county government as Republicans or as independent Democrats. This meant they did not run or support the all-White Democratic ticket during elections. Unlike other Texas counties at that time, Fort Bend Country actually enjoyed racial co-operation and peace during this post-Civil War era. Despite losing political power and some economic power with

651-468: The population at that time. With the enactment of the 15th Amendment in 1870, Black males were given the right to vote, who essentially became a powerful Republican voting block. As a result of outnumbering White males, the vote of freedmen carried most elections that occurred during Reconstruction, the period after the Civil War when Texas was under military rule while transitioning back to statehood in

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682-450: The property was purchased by Houston Community College to be repurposed as a library, but instead sat for decades in disrepair. Hopes were high when the Houston Hispanic Forum attempted to repurpose the property into a community center in early 2000. They approached the City of Houston's community development department to purchase the armory and offered to lease it from City. In late 2000

713-461: The selection of Jaybirds or persons acceptable to the Jaybirds to fill those offices. After a turbulent era of more than 20 years, the White citizenry once more controlled the government. The effects of the post-Reconstruction feud echoed in local politics for decades. The Jaybird victory basically restored White supremacy in the county. They disfranchised the Black voters in the county by using

744-463: The splintering of plantations, Fort Bend Whites maintained their hold on the county economically and socially. White land owners controlled over 80% of the land, which resulted in a high level of tenant farmers and sharecroppers as captured in the 1880 census. Local Whites also erected social boundaries to keep Whites and Blacks segregated. County schools were segregated. According to an 1882-1883 tax assessor report, 193 White children attended one of

775-461: The state, equality before the law , regardless of religion, property, or other 'private' characteristics of individual people." "Political emancipation" as a phrase is less common in modern usage, especially outside academic, foreign or activist contexts. However, similar concepts may be referred to by other terms. For instance, in the United States the Civil Rights movement culminated in

806-603: The top rung on the social ladder. They then voted to secede and join the Confederacy in February 1861. Not surprisingly, 100% of the White male voters voted in favor of secession. Over 100 men from Fort Bend County joined men from neighboring counties and enlisted in a new regiment of what was become known as Colonel Benjamin Terry's Texas Rangers. Ironically, his son, Kyle Terry who was five years old at time, emerged as one of

837-606: Was a Ranger Company, and a Long Range Surveillance Company. The Houston Light Guard moniker is an official US Army special designation . The original Houston Light Guard Armory was located on Texas St. and Fannin Ave. It designed by architect George Dickey and built in 1893 using cash prizes won by the Houston Light Guard in National drill competitions. In 1925 it was sold and the proceeds were used to build

868-571: Was colonized by families of the Old 300 , who had purchased land rights from Stephen F Austin and the Mexican government in the 1820s and the pacification of local Native American tribes. Within the decades leading up to the American Civil War, Fort Bend country grew into one of the largest and most prosperous slaveholding communities in Texas. Black slaves were either moved with the white colonists or were illegally shipped to Galveston, Texas since slavery

899-520: Was held November 6, 1888, that was supervised by Texas Rangers . All of the Woodpecker candidates were elected or re-elected (many had won election in 1884) to their slate of office. This engendered further hostilities from the Jaybirds. In the spring of 1889, Kyle Terry, then a Woodpecker official appointed as the tax assessor, murdered Ned Gibson, a leader of the Jaybirds. He had been on his way to testify in an unrelated cattle-rustling trial against

930-556: Was illegal under Mexican law until the Republic of Texas was established in 1836. Slavery was the cornerstone of these plantations that needed laborers for the cotton, sugarcane, and corn agricultural crops. As the demand for these products, especially cotton, increased, the slave labor force "expanded from 1,559 slaves in 1850 to 4,127 slaves in 1860." The slaveowners dominated the Fort Bend economy, controlled its politics, and occupied

961-566: Was that within the Democratic Party. A similar White primary measure was adopted by the state legislature in the early 20th century. The Jaybird Democrats retained control until their provision was overturned by a ruling by the United States Supreme Court in Terry v. Adams , 345 U.S. 461 (1953). By that time, two White primary processes authorized by the state government had been declared unconstitutional by

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