Palacios Point once hosted town of Portsmouth

PORTSMOUTHBy Mary L. Griffin  About 1902 Burton D. Hurd laid out another town on the Palacios Point site.    He named this town Portsmouth, and the area is still called by that name.

Williams among Bay Prairie men who died at Goliad

   Napoleon Bonaparte Williams, soldier in the Texas Revolution, was born in 1809 to George F. and Lavinia (Hobbs) Williams.   The family moved to Texas from Connecticut.   George Williams, as a member of the Old Three Hundred, received a grant of a sitio of land on Tres Palacios Creek.

Matagorda’s count, countess; A tragic tale

   Picking up from last week’s history page story on the Countess and Count of Matagorda...est daughter of the Genitises.

Henry Thorp became prominent Matagorda legislator and attorney

   Henry Thorp, lawyer and state representative, was born in Greensville County, Virginia, in 1830.   Thorp came to Texas with his older brothers about 1848 and settled in Matagorda County.   Here, he studied law and went into practice with an older brother.

Robert Williams interests went from politics to farming

    Robert Harris Williams, alcalde of the District of Mina and one of Stephen F. Austin’s Old Three Hundred colonists, son of Marmaduke “Duke” and Ede (Harris) Williams, was born in Caswell County, North Carolina, on October 10, 1796.   His siblings included Charles F. Augustus and John Williams.

Ira Lewis active in raising funds for revolution

   Ira Randolph Lewis, government official, was born in Virginia on September 25, 1800, to Dr. Jacob and Deborah (FitzRandolph) Lewis.  He was educated in Cincinnati, Ohio, and lived for several years in Mississippi and Louisiana before moving to Texas in 1831.

Wadsworth sought to have county seat moved there in 1914

A County Divided  In 1914, the leaders of the young town of Wadsworth ambitiously decided that they would propose the division of Matagorda county into two and establish their town as the county seat of the eastern portion.

Japanese farmers in Matagorda County

Continued from last  week’s edition of the Bay City Sentinel    It was during the early development of the rice industry that Japanese farmers began rice farming in Matagorda County.

Japanese farmers in Matagorda County

 continued from last  week’s edition of the Bay City Sentinel  Markham Community  For many years this bank was a part of the community until it closed in 1923.   Lawlessness occurred and the citizens depended on the Bay City sheriff since there was no law enforcement within Markham.

Marker dedicated to recognize Japanese Farmers contributions

   Matagorda County Historical Commission dedicated a Texas Historical Commission historical marker recognizing the “Japanese Farmers in Matagorda County” at the Markham Community Center Saturday, Oct. 11.