Warring Factions Gave City Politics Rough Start

(Denison Herald, July 4, 1976)

Denison politics of recent years would be hard put to come even close to the city's first year, when two factions battled for control, with two city councils in office at one time, each with its own staff of marshals and policemen.

And just to feed the fires, each side was backed by a newspaper of the day, with B. C. Murray's Denison Daily News hitting hard at the “Rawhides,” while George A. Cutler's Denison Journal sided with the new council members trying to break the hold of the original politicos on city affairs.

And just to assure that the two printers fighting for the title of official paper and the city's business were really involved, Murray was on the original council, and Cutler was elected to the new council.

Sometime after the city was founded, with the sale of the first lots on September 23, 1872, the citizens named a temporary “Board of Councilmen” which was submitted to the Texas Legislature for chartering of Denison.

Governor Owings

L. S. Owings, a former territorial governor in Arizona, was named mayor, with W. H. Day, F. P. Baker, J. M. Stratton, and B. C. Murray named councilmen. C. E. Maurice was recorder (city judge, etc.).

Action on the Denison charter was traced in the Daily News through both houses of the Legislature and the governor's signature, with the final telegram arriving February 8, 1873, from W. H. Day, who was in Austin and stated he was starting for Denison with a certified copy of the charter. Mention was made of “a few trifling amendments” to the charter.

March 13, 1873, the first official council meeting was held at high noon and saw “Esquire William Shackleford” swear in the council members, with the exception of F. P. Baker, who could not qualify. N. C. Taylor was elected to fill the vacancy. Baker, incidentally, was a partner with Cutler in the Journal ownership at the time.

Also named at the first meeting were Dr. Julian C. Feild, city physician; J. G. McElvaney, city attorney; J. C. McDowell, marshal and chief of police;
T. M. Wright, assistant marshal; and Barney Daniels, Richard Corbans, Henry Clarey, G. W. Little, Mat Chilton, and James Ellis, policemen.

Earlier, at a February 27 [1873] meeting, the council had named a force of temporary policemen [and] talked about construction of a “calaboose” to house prisoners. Construction was to come later after sealed bids were taken for three days, ending March 20 at 7 p.m. The contract went to “Leggett and Baker.”

First Laws

And, in true governmental style, the new official council went into a flurry of lawmaking, setting up ordinances making just about everything sinful a violation of the law—after publication in Murray's official paper, of course.

Prohibited at the first meeting after the charter issues—and it's hard to believe—was speeding! Yes, one of the first three Denison ordinances declared: “That any person who shall ride or drive a horse, mule, or other animal on the streets, roads, or alleys within this city, in an unnecessarily rapid manner or gait, shall be fine on conviction, not less than five nor more than twenty-five dollars.”

Another ordinance voted at a March 15, 1873, meeting and published three days later, required that circuses or shows coming to town secure a license costing $5 to $50 with the mayor to set the tab, according to each show's size.

The third ordinance got into the matter of sin in a big way. Prohibited were: discharging of firearms, gambling, rowdy assemblies, disturbing the peace, fighting, disturbing a worship service or other lawful assembly, being drunk, nudity and indecent exposure, selling alcoholic beverages to drunks, saloon keepers permitting disturbances, and playing ball on streets or alleys.

And in keeping with the time, the ordinance prohibited swimming or bathing nude in public water spots from “one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset.”

It was also made against the law to post notices on a person's property without his consent.

And vagrants were given a special section, as this term included such characters as prostitutes, pimps, and persons carrying burglary tools (such as a lock pick).

Pigeon Droppers

Specifically mentioned was “pigeon dropping,” a con game in which one of the players controls the outcome and cheats someone else drawn into a game of “chance.”

March 18 [1873] the council elected E. Perry as treasurer, but some difficulty arose, and March 25, he was replaced by J. E. Streeper, with it being stated that Perry could not secure bond. However, Editor Murray protested this in the Daily News, declaring that the bond had been posted.

At that same meeting, William Munson was designated civil surveyor.

An ordinance protecting Forest Park from encroachment by campers, tree cutting, and other abuses was approved, and March 27, 1873, the council voted to add $15,000 in city bonds to $1,000 donated by the Denison Town Company for construction of a graded school. During the same discussion, $5,000 was set up for a two-story brick market house which would house the city offices and council meetings when complete.

March 27, an occupation tax was voted. Just about every occupation was named, and it was amended later to add more. This was figured to be one of the big money sources for the city, and by June 24, it had raised $1,430, according to an official financial statement.

No Pistol Carrying

Carrying of deadly weapons was prohibited in a March 29 ordinance.

The official council was also interested in the health of the new city's citizens and authorized a city hospital on Skiddy Street. An April 1 report revealed that the building was enclosed, and by April 9, patients were being treated there. The city stayed in the hospital business, off and on, until Madonna Hospital was taken over by the Sisters of Divine Providence more than twenty years ago. However, Memorial Hospital now operates as a branch of the city, with the council appointing directors of the Denison Hospital Authority.

Later that year [1873], after some of the political problems were ironed out, the council appointed a Dr. Berry, Dr. H. Mosley, and Dr. Alex Acheson [as official medical staff?].

First Birth

Indicative of the youthful city is a May 10, 1873, published report of the birth of the first child here, Texana Denison McElvaney.

But the city government was still busy trying to bring order out of chaos. Establishment of four wards was accomplished on May 10, described thusly: First, east of Rusk and north of Main; second, west of Rusk and north of Main; third, all west of Rusk and south of Main; and fourth, east of Rusk and south of Main.

Salaries of $1 per meeting for aldermen and $1,800 per year for the recorder; $1,500 and fees for the city marshal; $1,500 and fees for the city clerk; and $900 a year for policemen were set.

Aldermen were figuring on $500 a month in fines for city coffers from the recorder's court, and an assessed valuation of $600,000 had been set on local property.

At its May 14 meeting, the council declared that the first official city election would be held June 9, and named a Board of Registrars—W. D. Kirk,
J. M. Cooke, and J. Nations—to qualify voters.

However, county officials took a dim view of this and immediately reminded [the council] that a residency of six months in the county and a year in the state would be required to vote in any election. Besides, a deputy clerk was assigned to register Denison voters and prepare a poll list.

Only 250 Voters

Needless to say, a lot of the people who had just arrived couldn't meet the residency requirements. A May 20 head count made by the city marshal tallied 3,917 souls in Denison already, with only 627 of them under [the age of] 18. However, when the county's registrar finished his one day of signing up voters, he had a total roll of 250.

The May 17 Daily News recorded the ordinance calling for election of two aldermen from each ward, four for two-year terms and four for one-year terms. This was to be decided by drawings after the election. Polls were to open at 8 a.m. and close at 5 p.m. Election judges and polling places were: First Ward, J. Nevins, at G. C. Falconer's on Woodard Street; Second Ward, T. J. Pollard, at T. J. Pollard's Store; Third Ward, Dr. H. Mozley, at Dr. Mozley's Drug Store on Main Street; and Fourth Ward, John H. Guy, at Stone and Guy's Store on Crawford Street.

Marshal McDowell announced the first collection of city property taxes for May 26, and that was the day that Denison lost its first mayor.

L. S. Owings submitted his resignation to the council for reasons of health, and it was accepted. J. M. Stratton was named pro tem mayor.

A spirited political campaign ensued as the faction squared off, held public meetings, and nominated candidates, some of which demurred in published advertisement.

Meantime, Miss Lizzie Lusk, the school assistant, had been teaching private classes, and doing well socially also. She was married to Col. T. H. Warren on June 1.

But back to the election that led to so much confusion.

Elected Mayor

Frank Schrader was elected mayor with 106 votes over S. A. Cook, who received 88. That meant 194 total ballots were cast. C. E. Maurice won re-election as recorder handily with 111 votes.

The June 9 election in the wards found W. H. Day and George A. Cutler elected from the First Ward in a close race; Miller and Montgomery became Second Ward aldermen; Dr. Mozley and Dinsmore won in the Third Ward; and Fourth Ward winners were J. M. Stratton and John H. Guy.

The new council met June 11 with some members missing, and named a city marshal and police force.

June 12, Judge Binkley granted an injunction from his district court in Sherman, restraining those elected from acting in any official capacity. The action was filed by the disgruntled opposition, which pointed out that, among other things, two of the candidates elected had also served as ward election judges! Having only one judge instead of two at the boxes, and failure to number the ballots were also cited.

A hearing was set a couple of weeks away on the injunction, and the judge dismissed the injunction.

Meantime, the new council didn't let it bother [it] much anyway. However, the old council refused to give up such little things as the city records. Repeated efforts were made to secure the previous records.

And it turned out that Alderman Montgomery couldn't qualify for the office because he had not been a resident long enough. So he was not seated. But there was no haste about calling an election to replace him. The election was held August 7 for another Second Ward alderman.

Joseph Meadors and Alexander Anderson were appointed judges for an election at the James L. Barnes residence. Candidates were John G. McElvaney and Dr. S. L. Gilliland. An obviously biased Daily News report of the election stated that 31 votes were cast, 16 for McElvaney and 15 for Dr. Gilliland, but that the judges threw out three of McElvaney's ballots. Also, the judges were accused of not permitting a dozen McElvaney supporters who were duly registered from voting.

It seems the judges required registration prior to the June 9 city election and would not allow those registering to vote since to cast ballots. A threat of district court action was voiced, but apparently the election stood.