True Stories of Amazing People and Places in Texas

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The use of the word lynch in a story entitled "Jack Long" which appeared in the American Whig Review for February, 1845, purporting to be a true story of frontier life in Shelby County, Texas ... According to the story a band of men calling themselves "Regulators," led by a ruffian, terrorized the county. Once they lynched, that is, lashed to a tree, whipped and beat, Jack Long, leaving him for dead. He recovered and left the county in obedience to their orders, but later came back and shot al but two of ... Read more Look inside

Sallie Reynolds Matthews wrote Interwoven so that her children and their children would know how their family and the Lambshead Ranch legacy grew on the Texas frontier. Far beyond her modest intentions, the book became a classic soon after its original publication in 1936. Found inside: "My mother and father were married in Chambers County, Alabama, January 31, 1841. Six years later, in 1847, they decided to try their fortunes in Texas. Father came out first to look at the country, settled in Shelby County, East Texas, then sent for Mother.  . . . " Read more Look inside

In the first half of the twentieth century, rural Texas was a strange, often violent, and complicated place. "Neighbor sheriffs sometimes also used each other as undercover officers in sting operations, such as the one conducted at Shelby County in 1954... The twenty-six Shelby County bootleggers who had sold whiskey to San Augustine County sheriff Nathan Tindall and Panola County sheriff Johnny Spradley discovered their mistake after Shelby county Charlie Christian launched his arrest raid ..." Read more Look inside

Resources:

Early Life in Texas County by County

Books about Texas People and Places

Amazing People from Texas County by County