Photo courtesy Archives of the Big Bend, Bryan Wildenthal Memorial Library, Sul Ross State University, Alpine, Texas.
The three room adobe courthouse in the northwest corner of the present Jeff Davis County courthouse square.
PRESIDIO COUNTY
By Bob Miles
E
ven today you can
find old-timers in the
Fort Davis area who
are still upset by the 1885 elec-
tion which moved the county
seat of Presidio County to Mar -
fa. The path to that controver-
sial election was a winding one.
Presidio County was first
created by the Texas Legis -
lature in 1850. Due to the scar -
c ity of settlements in the area
and the presence of hostile In -
dians, the county was not or -
gan ized. A second attempt in
1858 was again unsuccessful. In
1870, a third attempt was made
and some county officials were
named with the county seat at
Fort Stockton, but things just
seemed to fizzle out.
In 1875, Presidio County
was finally successfully organ-
ized with Fort Davis as county
seat. Presidio County then con-
sisted of some 12,000 square
miles of today’s Presidio, Jeff
Davis and Brewster counties
and small portions of Culberson
and Hudspeth counties.
If there had been an elec-
tion naming Fort Davis the
county seat, the records were
lost or destroyed, which led to
Presidio County
Formed from Bexar County
Created January 3, 1850
Organized March 13, 1875
So named for the early
“fortress garrisoned by soldiers”
erected for the protection
of the Big Bend missions.
County Seat
Fort Davis, 1875
Marfa, 1885
- Texas Highway Department
1936
problems years later. Fort Davis
would have been the obvious
choice, as it was the only settle-
ments of any size in the new
county.
A three-room adobe court-
house was constructed on land
donated by Fort Davis mer-
chant Whittaker Keesy in the
northwest corner of the present
Jeff Davis County courthouse
square. Prisoners excavated an
18-by-20-by-8-foot cellar be -
neath the sheriff ’s office which
served to hold prisoners
chained to the walls. One or
more iron cells in the upstairs
room held common drunks,
female prisoners and less dan-
gerous guests.
In 1882, Chinese workers of
the Southern Pacific completed
the railroad line from El Paso to
Marfa. The railroad bypassed
Fort Davis, either because the
founding fathers there did not
want the noise or, more likely,
because of the difficulty and
expense of establishing the
route through the mountains.
As a town began to grow up
around the Marfa water stop,
John Dean, sometimes county
attorney, acquired a section of
land along the tracks. He and
some other merchants and
speculators began working to
change the county seat to
Marfa, still little more than a
water stop and shipping depot
for cattle. Dean maintained
that no election had been held
to make Fort Davis the county
seat and, as no records existed
to the contrary, an election was
necessary.
The election was held on
July 14, 1885. The form of the
ballots is the basis of most of
the old-timer’s resentment, yet
that, too, remains controversial.
According to most accounts,
County Judge J. H. Slaughter
specified the ballots would read
“For removal to the town of
Marfa” with a blank provided
for voters to check and “For
remaining at Fort Davis” was to
be written or printed on each
ticket voted. Those wishing to
keep the county seat in Fort
Davis had to write it in.
Cecilia Thompson supports
this version in her History of
Marfa and Presidio County, Texas,
whereas Lucy Miller Jacobson
and Mildred Bloys Nored in
their Jeff Davis County, Texas
book say there is no foundation
for this legend.
There was also discussion at
the time that Dean had bought
votes for the move, among other
improprieties. The vote was 391
for moving to Marfa and 302 for
remaining in Fort Davis. The
county records were soon re -
moved to Marfa, some say in the
middle of the night. Legal wran-
glings went on for a time, al -
though most were soon settled.
A new courthouse was built
in Marfa in 1885 (on some of
Dean’s land) and, although
Brewster and Jeff Davis coun-
ties formed as separate counties
in 1887, those counties were
expected to pay a share of the
courthouse. (Since it had taken
a while for the formation of the
new counties to be approved by
the legislature, and they were
part of Presidio County when
the courthouse was built,
Brewster and Jeff Davis were
ex pected to help pay for the
building). The resulting law-
suits continued in the courts for
many years, but ultimately the
two counties were required to
pay their share.
And some are still upset
about it, not altogether in jest.
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Hand-carved Doors
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See the Marathon Catholic
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Contact 432.386.4295
in Marathon
Cenizo
Fourth Quarter 2010
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