Affidavit Concerning the Case of Texas v James Cotton, 1852
A Hatchet Assault in Texas [Manuscript]. [Texas]. [Cotton, James, Defendant]. [Affidavit Concerning the Case of Texas v. James Cotton]. Harris County, TX, February 19, 1852. 1 pp. 12" x 7-1/2" (30.5 x 19 cm) sheet, text to recto. Moderate toning, light soiling, rubbing with a few small chips and clean tears to edges. $450. * This legal manuscript details a violent encounter in early mid-century Houston, entirely written in the hand of William Ferguson (1805-1886), a prominent Harris County Justice of the Peace. The affidavit states that a warrant was issued for James Cotton, who stood accused of assaulting local merchant Isaac Thayer with a hatchet. Following the firsthand testimony of Thayer and witnesses G.W. Stuart, William B. Reeves, and George Gnebb, Ferguson officially bound the case over to the District Court of Harris County, outlining the explicit terms and monetary amount of Cotton's bond. A later notation on the document, also penned by Ferguson, notes that the official case transcript was forwarded to the district on May 13, 1852. The defendant is almost certainly James E. Cotton (1822-1867), a colorful and tragic figure of early Texas history. A veteran of the Mexican-American War, Cotton served with the First Texas Foot Riflemen. A decade after this hatchet assault, he was swept into the Civil War as a conscript for the Confederate Army. Mirroring the violence of this 1852 affidavit, Cotton's life came to a bloody end when he was murdered during a knife or gunfight with his own brother, Thomas, in Grimes County, Texas. An evocative piece of Texas frontier justice documenting a weapon-wielding assault in antebellum Houston.
Price: $450.00
Book number 71719