Six Shooter Junction

In the latter half of the nineteenth century, a little east Texas town earned the label "Six-Shooter Junction".  Only thirty years previous, Texas had been inhabited by Indians and wildlife and it had won its independence from Mexico shortly after.

Texas began to be populated in 1821, it won its independence from Mexico 15 years later in 1836 and was admitted to the United States in 1845. Austin's Colony

These pages reflect on-going research about 19th century Waller county, Texas and its county seat, Hempstead, Texas and the multiple killings that occurred there during that period.

The small east Texas town of Hempstead was organized in 1856 in anticipation of the arrival of the Houston & Texas Central Railroad 1 2 from Houston and it almost immediately earned the dubious title of "Six-Shooter Junction".  In 1880 it had grown to 1,651 residents.

(The research here focuses on the Cloud & McDade families and secondarily, the Farr & Newnam families — though all known killings are recorded.)

The McDade and Cloud families emigrated from Mount Meigs, Alabama beginning in 1836, settling in Stephen F. Austin's Colony, where Bellville was the county seat.  The Brazos river ran down the middle of Austin's Colony, and the river often became impassable, making doing business at the county seat difficult for residents living east of the river.  In 1873, the eastern portion was separated from Austin county and became Waller county with Hempstead as its county seat.


Featured Articles:

Allchin-McDade Feud.

Marriage of Irene Farr & N.A. Cuny.

Additional Research Material:

List of Deaths & other Disturbances.

The People.

Cloud-Farr Articles.

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(received from Waller County Historical Museum & modified)

Newspapers:

Bibliography.

19th Century Hempstead Newspapers.

The Timeline.

The Environment & Places.


Folders

Other Pages:

Resources:

Additional Resources:

resource topic image transcription
Stirpes, Vol. 6, No. 3, Sept. 1966, p 104 letters from Mrs. Woodson Francis Tottenham
Stirpes, Vol. 6, No. 3, Sept. 1966, p 105 (letters cont.)
Sarah Pier's diary
Stirpes, Vol. 6, No. 3, Sept. 1966, p 106 Sarah Pier's diary
Stirpes, Vol. 6, No. 3, Sept. 1966, p 107 Sarah Pier's diary cont.
Stirpes, Vol. 6, No. 3, Sept. 1966, p 108 Sarah Pier's diary cont.
Stirpes, Vol. 6, No. 3, Sept. 1966, p 109 Mrs. Lucy Pier's diary
McDade notes from Sarah Pier's diary
Stirpes, Vol. 6, No. 3, Sept. 1966, p 110 McDade notes from Sarah Pier's diary cont.

Footnotes

  1. The New Town Of Hempstead. The Weekly Telegraph, (Houston, TX), Wednesday, February 4, 1857, p. 1, col. 4. University Of North Texas Libraries, The Portal To Texas History transcription
  2. Hempstead - For The Civilian. Civilian and Gazette. Weekly, (Galveston, TX), Tuesday, May 19, 1857, p. 1, col. 5. University Of North Texas Libraries, The Portal To Texas History transcription

Newspaper articles may be read at Timeline of News Reports.