December 31st,
1852
John Black to
Charles
Guadaloupe
Victoria
Columbia
Mr. Stillman,
My
very dear friend, there seems to be a very serious difficulty rising between us
which I would like for us to settle without delay and any further expense to
you or myself – Mr. Clark and myself were talking over this affair last week
and he told me that Mr. Stone had never informed you that he had promised Me
any thing to induce me to take up my
locations out of your way but had merely written to you that he had given me a
Short Lease and allowed me to occupy for this short time as a consideration
for__________ - how _______ I do hope that when I prove to you this was not the
case I will find you are to be the Gentleman of honor wealth’s natural
Sense that you have been represented to me to be – frequently and at different
times by Mr. Stone and other of the most respectable Citizens of this
place and that you will feel and Act toward me differently from what to
my great astonishment and great injury you have or seem to have done and
with this view of the matter I will first say that Mr. Stone came to me with
the Papers written all on principally in Spanish and declared to me that you
had a genuine old Mexican title to this land which you had purchased and paid
the original Grantee for and that you had sent him your legal agent to prevent
the Limitation Law from having effect by making arrangements in your favor that
he was instructed and would Sue every man who refused to raise his Locations
that had been made – I told him from all the information I could get I was
induced to believe all those Locations would fail – So I located nine hundred
and sixty Acres in good faith Surveyed and paid for it - but I would prefer purchasing land
to going to Law for it – but I was well pleased with my place and did
not wish to leave it he said he had no doubt but that you would sell me
enough for a good home where I was living and possibly the whole League and
that for the present he would give me A lease and told me to just name my own time
– I replied I do not wish a lease – I do not intend living on any man’s land
but came here with no other purpose but that of occupying my own premises – He
said you were in A difficulty then with Mexicans and that although you had
bought the land and paid them for it yet there was only one or two of the Heirs
that had signed the deed of transfer – consequently, it would be impossible at
that time to make the purchase until the whole matter could be better arranged
and by these persuasions I took a short Lease.
After
this a considerable time elapsed before I took my locations, but after diligent
enquiring after your character being fully persuaded by the good reports I
heard of you I felt safe in raising (?) them – After this I saw Mr. Stone at
Port Lavaca and said to him Major I have fulfilled my part of the contract – I
have raised my Locations and now I expect you to fulfill your part without any
further delay.
We
were in Ewing’s warehouse and he observed to me Mr. Black I have not the time
now to do the writing and said, “You see that Schooner hoisting her sails I
have to go home on her and She cannot wait” but I will
acknowledge in presence of these Gentlemen the fact necessary to secure
you until a more convenient time” –there were some _____ _____ _____ Men
present and he (Mr. Stone) addressing himself to them Said, “Gentlemen I
call you to witness a fact which is that Mr. Black is to hold possession
of the place he now lives on and is at liberty to go on and make just such improvements
as best suits himself and I will give him writing to this amount that if the
land is ever sold he shall have the preference – if not he shall hold exclusive
possession and improve as though it was his own as long as he pleases – and he
shall never be interrupted or moved – but at any time he chooses to leave the
place he shall be fully paid for all the improvements he leaves behind
considerable time often to write a letter which I have and you can read for
yourself in which he says “I was perfectly right in believing my Home
Improvements & Rights would be by
him accorded & Secunded to me so that he would do it – that he should
always have a pleasure not only in rendering bare justice but in bestowing any
favor in his power upon a person he esteemed so worthy, so honorable, and so
guileless as he esteemed me to be.” Much time elapsed and nothing more
was done for me but much against me, Mr. Newcomb had persuaded me to let him
locate my Certificates for me in Castro’s Colony saying I could board &
school his son and he would pay for Surveying and getting out the Patents (so I
boarded and schooled his son and paid him for the same – but I have never seen
nor heard of my certificates since and after making all necessary inquiry for
the Same I find he never Located them and they are lost) Some time after
Newcomb took my Certificates and attended court as witness for you in the case
between you & Dolen (sp?) & White At dinner table at a hotel (in
Victoria) I asked him (Mr. Newcomb) in presence of all and so All in the
house could hear me to send me back my land Certificates – saying I wished to
lay them down again where I had taken them up in order that I might not be
baffled out of My Home and that I would have an understanding with Mr. Stone
that I done (sic) this merely to secure myself from so serious a loss as I
might otherwise sustain Mr. Newcomb replied I could not have the Certificates
for they were Located, Surveyed and patented and he had paid for it all (this
as before named proved impiously false) (he had done no such thing) Soon as Court
was over Newcomb told me he was going to Matamoros to see you I requested him
to give you my respects and to say to you that I thought it little as you could
do for me now after I had done so much for you & so materially injured
myself by so doing to secure to one my home he said he would and tell
you All about it – when he returned I asked what was your reply - he said you told him to tell me to stay
here and still take care of the Timber and as soon as the War ended you
were coming out here to Merchandize and then whatever I said was Right you would do for me After this Mr. Snively came to me with your
respect and said you wished to know whether I would acknowledge myself your Tenant
I told him I had even intended to do this as soon as you had done for me What
Mr. Stone had promised and not till then That I had ever considered myself
living on my own Soil – that I was entitled to it & would have it then be
Said to me he would guarantee to me that I should have a home here And asked me
how much I wanted I told him six hundred and forty acres to be run out in such
a way as to give me a fair front he said he would write you before he could set
upon it he afterwards told me that the whole of the rest of the League was for
Sale and told me when I went to Mississippi to reserve for myself 640 acres
where I lived and sell the other part of the league for 3 dollars an acre if I
could I tried every possible inducement to men there to get them to but it but
no man there would give that price for it ______Next Mr Johnson told me you
sent me word to move out of your way – A little after Mr Clark came here one of
your Mexicans told my little boy you were going to drive me off and & you
would send Mexicans enough and they would do it – after this at different times
this same Mexican pointed out to aforesaid Boy several men amongst them that he
said were mucha diabla y algunas mata un
hombre muy pronto [very evil and eager to kill anyone at once] - & last
winter in my absence of about 2 or 3 months they killed near all of my hogs,
shoats, pigs and even after my return continued to kill my hogs Till they were
overtaken I went kindly to them telling them the consequences also requesting Mr Clark to put a stop to it
at the same time giving him friendly advice respecting the same they offered to
pay for the one they acknowledged killing but I gave them to understand I would
not receive pay for the one unless they paid for all - Sometime after this they killed my hogs
continually and with impunity and I gathered the Neighbours & went to the
Mexicans and gave them their orders respecting the same – Now _____ this
puzzles me and on this one Subject I will be silent – and Mr. Clark has the
appearance of a gentleman who has been well raised of something more than
ordinary intellect and seems to be a pattern for the world in some
respects. I have on your account treated
him more like a brother when I could have put 2 of his Mexicans in the
penitentiary for stealing my hogs I forbore lest he should lose his crop of
corn he was trying to make he proposes friendship to me & we have even met
& parted in a friendly manner yet there appears to be something wrong &
very unreasonable or at least unnecessary that I should suffer so serious a
loss & losses & injuries from the hand or operations of a friend – much
more often my being a long particularly well known & tried friend – now if
you could know the insults, loss of time, hard trials & serious losses I
have had on your account & under the peculiar circumstances from the
beginning to the present time even this very moment of my precious time in
writing I believe you would even repose confidence in me as a well tried &
well known friend & that you would be first to punish or being to justice
anyone you knew to lay violent hands on my property – Mr. Clark told me you told
him you had no doubt that I had done all I could to protect & secure your
timber yet the timber was all gone Now this is hard on me and probably
altogether on account of you not being rightly informed and more probable by
you being wrongly informed & I do wish from my heart you were here &
you yourself might see and know all the intrigues & low cunning that have
been practiced against both myself & you even by those one would think
confidence might be placed in – I would in general rather deal with a man of
good Character due sense of honor & ______ than his Agent you interest –
your Agent’s and mine – may be different and all work harmoniously together for
the good of all – yet it is not uncommon for those interests to clash in
such case the Agent is very apt to take care of himself in the first place
& in the next for the one who will do the most for him – but a hint to the
wise is sufficient – I will now tell you a little of the great deal I have done
for you as Mr Stone’s agent for you even down to the time you sent Mr. Clark
and by the request of Mr Snively, your 2nd Agent & yourself
through Mr Newcomb your Council – in the first place I will say to you that my
960 acres embraced nearly all the choice front of the League had more timber on
it & nearly all the good bottom land comparatively – the Surveyor told me I
had about 4 miles front on the river – White & Dolen’s purchase came a
little into my Survey on the upper side
the next year White Dolen Traylon (sp?) Norris purchased nearly all the
rest of the League I was from home five months & when I returned White had
cut down the timber on about 4 acres in
what was called Black’s Rincon and had also cut some rail timber nearly between
me and the river Mrs. Black had taken a witness & forbade him to cut more
in my absence He gave Mrs Black some strong hints about my safety if I said
anything about his cutting timber there on my return I gave him his orders
respecting this Timber & he being a much stronger man than I attempted to
give me the ax-whip – however, he found it to be a troublesome business &
gave it out in a few minutes – he gave up my Rincon & made no more inroads
upon me Also Mr Traylon & Mr. Norris one on my back (as it were) the other alongside made a
considerable advance on the lower side of my Survey until it was redeemed
however Traylon proved to be on Palmers’ location which is said he held then as
Palmer’s tenant I had advised Mr. Stone and Newcomb of this location and
urged the necessity of something being done in due time – it was however
entirely neglected until the limitation law would have given it to him – had
Traylon acknowledged himself his Tenant – but Mr Stone gave Traylon all the
rails houses etc that were on this improvement (which Traylon took from this
league) and something like one hundred Dollars besides – then the lower side of
the _______was nearly clear_Mr. Green (?) however claimed a portion of it and
took away a great deal of timber of that and considerable more from the lower
part of the league. Notwithstanding I was warning forbidding & reporting
him continually to your Agent – this enraged these men against me they waged war
– operating against me every way in Their power – In the beginning of this I
was informed the whole neighbourhood had agreed to unite their efforts and
break me up I saw them together soon after & they were in battle
array (as it were, against me) & showed nearly as much hostility as so many
Savages I told them that I was informed they had said here I should not
stay & that their conduct towards me proved to me that I stood alone
– but I was stronger than they ALL & that they never could
accomplish what they had undertaken – that they might injure me very much
(which they have done) but in the end they would injure themselves a
great deal more but they persisted in their venomous & unparalleled
persecutions in every way & manner they could devise – and Major Roman a
Citizen of Victoria told me that they certainly would accomplish their end – I
told him I was an innocent suffering victim of their malice & that
the Providence of God would operate in my favor – his reply to me was “don’t
you trust to Providence Mr. Black for it is impossible for you to stand They
are Too Strong for you” I observed time will show and now The Struggle with
them I hope is over they profess friendship & some of them seem to like me
better than any of their old party & I have a spotless reputation left me
which I feel I shall ever hold more sacred than every thing else that pertains
to this life yet my constitution is badly shattered I am old & have but 3
teeth in my mouth my hands are weak through much sickness & weariness in
labours & fatigues in trying to secure to myself an honorable & honest competency to
render myself & family comfortable in Old Age and greater infirmities &
here I now stand upon the same battleground with no sword in my hand but the Word
of God – and I sincerely hope it will never be wielded but by the Spirit of
Truth whilst a live a spared Monument of God’s Mercy –
Respecting the timber I have saved
comparatively ALL on my Survey & there is enough timber on it to
fence in more than the whole league of land – and if I had not been persuaded
by you through your Agents to take up my Locations I could have saved all
without the least difficulty, loss of time or property- but Mr. Dolen Traylon
have taken I believe every stick of good timber for building & fencing both
above & below but as far as I know have cut me more of the firewood than
what they burned – but the Germans through their influence were emboldened to
rush into the Timber cutting & hauling it off with great impunity - &
by Calling in the assistance of Newcomb Immeasurably Stopped them & with a
great deal of difficulty & careful management I got Harris the Dutchman off
who was left there first by White & lastly by Stone – since he left I do
not know that there has been one stick taken by the Germans for making wagogns
building firewood or any other purpose only to burn when camped at my watering
place now it is true c___________ that there is no timber on the upper or lower
part of the League when we speak of making houses, rails etc. but it is widely
different when we speak of firewood
& I fully believe after giving me as much as I ask you have enough
to keep up two Sugar to work 200 hands each to the end of time with the right
kind of management & I do assure yout hat if I had not prevented it there
would not have been one tree left, wither oak, ash, percan or any other kind
suitable for rails house building or making wagons & there would have been
thousands of dollars worth of firewood hauled off by the multitudes of
waggoners & others to Indianola & Port Lavaca & sold there & it
is a positive fact that I have saved all the timber comparatively that and
nearly all the firewood & this was under the most trying circumstances in
the first as Pioneers and Frontier Settlers in a land of Savages and howling
wilderness suffering all the privations exposed to all the dangers of extreme
distresses which are consequent to a long and tedious War – the danger & dread of our Native Arabs &
half-tamed C_________ etc. I have now told you a little of the great deal I
wish you could know relative to the Matter – and I would ask you in the name of
common Sense what Claims you
have on me – and how you could expect me to Stay here by your request through
your agents thirteen years under the most unfavorable circumstances taking care
of your timber and while being swindled & cheated out of one of the best
tracts of land in Texas which tract is my just right without some compensation
from you for the time of services rendered you and if you would give me half
this league of land you would be the gainer you would still have more than
enough Timber & choice land left with Prairie land for Stock raising – and
my half would have cost me more than the other would you Speaking of nothing
but time & money – but I do not ask this I only ask you to Settle
this Matter with me at once by giving a deed to six hundred & forty acres
where I now live with a guarantee of a mile front including all my improvements
or otherwise to give me or otherwise to give me a deed to twice the amount
front on the river running back for quantity the same width containing 1280
acres together with my Rincon which is the only nursery ground which I have for
my tropical Fruits all my improvements and sufficient building timber to make
me a few houses also that you do not allow me to be interrupted in any way in
regard to moving etc until I shall have Sufficient time to move my nursery
trees etc. with the least possible damage as it will cost me a great deal to
move them. I consider this is asking much less of you than you in reason
can expect & if you please you can add to this request as much as
honor & justice demand.
And I ask o_____ to never lose Sight of my
unparalleled Standing alone – Surrounded by your enemies – unnecessarily
protecting your rights and property with my own – in the next place you would
be generally benefitted if you could have the privilege of my fence – the whole
length of my tract which I intend closing with Bowse de arc [Bois D’Arc, or
Osage Orange] I have the materials growing in my Nursery enough to fence a long
part of it & in 3 years can have it completed ____ providential hindrance.
A gentleman in Victoria offers me one
Dollar a “rod” for as much as will make a mile of fence & I have only to
plant & trim the hedge for 3 years. He proffers to prepare the grove and
cultivate it well & I am to have the cuttings for my trouble of trimming
the hedge this length of time. But if you make this arrangement with me quickly
they will probably be worth as much as this to me & at some time a great
deal more to you as it will inclose one side of the whole as far back as my
land goes & if you wish it I will inclose the rest ______butting against my
tract for the land it contains – now this is doing more for you than for
myself.
I can get large tracts to inclose – good
Prairie land in a Square from 9 to ten (?) miles lying where it needs no
protection from cattle & some nearer Port Lavaca & have half this land
for fencing the other half (?) but I would like first to accommodate myself at
home. Mr Clark tells me a fence on the lower side would be a great advantage to
him in keeping his animals from straying off below – and he also [is] beging
[beginning] to see the necessity of having the whole league inclosed as soon as
practicable – if this arrangement can be made quickly ______ you & I in
settling the difficulty that seems to exist between us The place where I now am
would suit me best – but if my Cattle are in your way it would suit you the
best for me to take the lower or upper side & Mr. Clark & I have
concluded the difficulty would be at an end –
There would be another advantage to both
parties. We would be enabled to plant large fields of corn by joining our fence
and in this way enclose altogether the “Bowie de Arc” makes a fence of itself
which we can plant immediately on the “line” with this understanding
that I am to have the whole control in farming the Hedge & all the benefits
arising from the cuttings or seed (?) it may afford forever (you
will notice this Bowie de arc is my own property purchased & raised by
myself) & you are never to be deprived any benefit it may be to you as an
inclosure & neither party shall have the power without the mutual consent
of the other to move or interfere with the fence so as to injure it.
All these arrangements can be immediately
made with ___ much to your advantage every way – but you will first consider
upon what ground we both stand, I upon my own rightful Soil and you contending
for my premises especially as I am an orchardist & have spent much time
labor & money in preparing my ground for the reception of a
large amount of the finest & most costly fruits & shrubberies
that are grown & no one but a regular orchardist could begin to make an
estimate of the large amount of hard labor alone & apart from the high
prices I have paid & serious losses I have sustained in the exportation
of my fruits & shrubberies & to say nothing about additional
expenses in preparing a new place and the inconveniences of moving etc.
I would like for you to consider The Back
get (?) it would give me in the enjoyment of the fruits of my labor & and
the speedy Sales of a large amount of my fine fruit trees &
Shrubberies & beside this a considerable number of my trees are well
established & susceptible of bearing large crops& could I remain where
I have the right & ought to remain uninterrupted – I could no doubt
in 2 years from now begin to realize a handsome income of probably not less
than 1500 or 2000 Dollars annually, but move me under existing circumstances
and where do you place me & as to the justice of the Act you might
as well cut my throat(for my money if I am immediately & unavoidably
deprived of a large amount of my hard earned fruits for my own table and nursery – trees to
operate on (?) driven out at this late an hour from my timber &
almost every other convenience – to a place that never had nor never can
have those conveniences and has been stripped or nearly so of all that ever
made it even a tolerable place – and I really have not the available means to buy all the timber etc to defray the
expenses of moving to such a place.
Now I would not give 640 acres where I am
for one thousand on either side of the league, but as you seem determined to
move me if possible I wish not to contend – yet I must have my Rincon
& some of my hard earned timber land (or I am in this particular too
seriously impaired) and this Rincon has a little timber on it and the Surveyor
told me contained about 30 acres & is of no consequence to you as it
lies remote from the two large bodies of land, both above it & below
it (it is nearly an island) and lies just above the land Mr. Clark proposes
giving me and it is only joined to the main land by a narrow neck & I have
done a great deal of work in it – (first & last) and it is the best nursery
ground I would have, especially for my Tropical Fruits. Now __ if you
wish to settle The Thing quickly & without further delay, you can do it by
acceding to the proposals I have made & with the Rincon allow me the timber
on a narrow strip of Land of about 50 acres running (as you will see by the Map
I send you) & parallel with the river from the Rincon to the
Prairie. All this little might enable me to Struggle through the
privations and expenses of moving – Now ___ if all this Sacrifice on my part
will not Suffice please just say to me what you intend doing, but in your
deliberations upon this momentous question be careful to do by others as under
the same circumstances you would wish them to do by you, remembering that
persons who work for others have a righteous claim to a full compensation &
permit me to say that it needs no prophet to say that the withholding of it
from them is Fraud which will be visited with divine indignation &
if an earthly tribunal cannot give me justice I take an appeal to the High Court
of Heaven & call upon God to plead my righteous Cause &
again will say in conclusion that I attended Court as a witness for you about
six years ago, & part o the time & weeks at a time twice a year. I paid
my own money for boarding horse food etc, which was not less than 25 cents a
meal (other things according) in short I worked for nothing & found myself
as the Records of Victoria Court will show on at least (?) for which I have
never received one dime; no, not even thanks from you or your agents.
All this with a great deal more which can
be said upon this Subject proves to __ demonstration that I am your wonderfully
& well-tried friend, or I must say I do not know where you can expect to
find one.
Now ___ to the above stated facts,
or most of them, there are good & living witnesses & it is obvious
& plain to all who have known me here for the last nineteen years that I
have been swindled, by this too Seriously injured, even if without delay
you give me a Deed to the Land I ask. And were it necessary believe I could
obtain Certificates to this accounts from all the old citizens of high standing
who know me here, & if you say so & cannot be Satisfied without it I
will endeavor to give you all the testimony necessary to Satisfy you.
It would be better for you to come here
& settle this business with me yourself if convenient, but if you cannot
come immediately you can instruct or empower Mr. Clark to do this business
& make the legal transfer. Please
answer this immediately, directing your letter to Victoria & I still remain
your friend and well-wisher – John W. Black-
PS – I wish you also to take into
consideration the expense & trouble you gave me last year in bringing Suit
against me. In this instance I was necessarily compelled to employ 3 lawyers to
defend myself, which took from me considerable of my hard earnings, which money
I really need to make me comfortable were I not to have the additional expense
of moving it is possible from what Mr. Clark tells me that you are not apprized
(sic) as he says you had written that it was not a mistake made & you had
order the “suit taken out of court” that he gave orders to that effect
to your Council (sic) here but he told my Lawyers he had no authority to throw
it out but that it should be laid over to next court. My council objected to this measure, Stating
to the Court we are ready for “Trial” & demand it immediately. Your council
said he was not ready and therefore would submit to a “____ Suit” in this matter. There appears to be a
Contradiction in terms. My money is gone
& probably both parties materially injured. Please answer this as soon as
it comes to hand. Most ___ & truly yours, John W. Black.
December 31, 1852: John W. Black’s Petition
On the last day of 1852, a letter left Guadalupe Victoria bound for Charles Stillman. It was not a business memo. It was not an invoice. It was something closer to a reckoning.
John W. Black wrote as a man who believed himself wronged.
He begins politely — almost ceremonially — addressing Stillman as “my very dear friend,” and speaking of “a very serious difficulty rising between us”
Stillman - J.W. Black to Chas. …
. But the courtesy quickly gives way to detail. Black claims that Stillman’s agent, Mr. Stone, had persuaded him years earlier to adjust his land location in exchange for security: he would be allowed to occupy the tract he lived on, improve it, and receive preference if the land were ever sold.
Black says he trusted this promise.
According to his account, he gave up legal leverage, moved claims, and acted in good faith — believing that Stillman held a valid Mexican title and that resistance would only bring lawsuits
Stillman - J.W. Black to Chas. …
. He describes witnesses present when Stone allegedly affirmed that Black would never be disturbed and would be compensated for improvements.
But in the years that followed, Black insists, protection never materialized.
Instead, he recounts missing land certificates, hostile neighbors, timber disputes, livestock killed, lawsuits filed against him, and the slow erosion of what he believed to be his rightful home. He describes himself as a steward of Stillman’s timber — preventing speculators and settlers from stripping the league of its most valuable resources. He claims he attended court on Stillman’s behalf at his own expense. He frames thirteen years of hardship as service rendered without compensation.
By the close of the letter, the tone shifts from grievance to ultimatum.
Black asks for resolution: either a deed to 640 acres where he currently lives, with river frontage, or 1,280 acres elsewhere along the river — plus his “Rincon,” the small nursery tract where he had cultivated tropical fruits. He argues that forcing him to move would destroy years of labor and investment. He invokes both earthly justice and divine judgment. If courts fail him, he writes, he will “appeal to the High Court of Heaven.”
It is a frontier document in every sense — part legal brief, part moral appeal, part personal testimony.
Whether Stillman accepted this version of events is not known from the surviving correspondence. But Black’s letter reveals the tension beneath South Texas landholding in the 1850s: promises made through agents, titles rooted in older Mexican grants, settlers staking claims in uncertainty, timber worth as much as soil, and honor invoked where paperwork faltered.
The Rio Grande frontier was not quiet. It was negotiated — sometimes bitterly — one letter at a time.
🔎 What Became of John W. Black?
The surviving correspondence from 1853 does not clearly reveal whether Charles Stillman granted John W. Black the land he requested. No immediate resolution appears in the next sequence of letters.
That silence leaves us with questions.
Black describes himself in 1852 as physically worn, financially strained, and standing alone after years of defending timber and improvements on disputed land. He asks either for a deed to 640 acres where he resides, or 1,280 acres elsewhere along the river, along with his prized “Rincon” nursery tract. Whether that appeal moved Stillman is not yet documented in the available files.
To determine Black’s fate, several records may hold answers:
-
Victoria County deed books (1853–1865) — to see whether land was ever conveyed to him.
-
Texas General Land Office records — to determine whether he received patents or filed additional certificates.
-
District court minutes — which may reveal the outcome of the suit he references.
-
Federal census records (1860 onward) — to confirm whether he remained in Victoria County, and whether he owned land.
-
Probate records — if he died in the region, estate papers may reference the disputed property.
It is possible that Black secured a settlement and lived out his years as a modest river farmer or orchardist. It is equally possible that he lost the struggle and moved on — another early settler displaced in the complicated evolution of title and timber rights along the Texas frontier.
For now, he remains what the letter makes him: a voice from the battleground between promise and paperwork.
If further records surface, the story may yet continue.
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