"For approximately two years The Western Chronicle was published in Sutherland Springs. Texas.  The editor, E. R. Tarver, was a legendary Texan who practiced law in Wilson County. He was a captain and aide-de-camp to General Hamilton Bee during the Civil War. His paper chronicled life in Wilson County during 1877 and 1878. His writing was informative, humorous, colorful and filled with community references. Here are some entries that may have caught the interest of the citizens of La Vernia."

"The Freedmen of Wilson County – Their Condition, Habits, Peculiarities, etc.…About ten years ago, Dr. Jones Houston, then of this county, sold to a large number of his slaves, a fine tract of land fronting on the Cibolo, but with no improvements whatever, upon it. Today those freedmen have …."

March 9, 1877

"We regret having to chronicle for the first time since our paper commenced, a serious difficulty, which took place at Lavernia on last Friday, in which a worthy German citizen was dangerously cut with a knife. It appears . . ."

"Mr. Walter Polley succeeded this week in sending a Winchester bullet through the armor of an alligator six and one-half feet long. . ."

"A deputy sheriff from Guadalupe county, arrested on last Tuesday at the campmeeting grounds, a Mr. Davis, who lives on Elm creek in Guadalupe county, on a charge of being the murderer of a . . ."

"At the hour for evening service on last Sunday at the campmeeting, the ceremony of organizing the Methodist church at Lavernia was conducted by the Rev. Mr. Vernor, when about twenty members of that church enrolled themselves. . ."

"We took occasion this week to visit the fine vineyard on the farm of Mr. R. C. Houston, situated on the Cibolo about. . ."

"Late in the evening they committed other depredations and were followed by seven men of Capt. Hagan’s company . . . five hundred men after them."

"Mr. Charles McAllister, an old resident of the Cibolo valley, has sold his farm near Lavernia, and established a sheep rancho on the Marcellina . . ."

" One of the finest displays we saw at the fair was that made by the Suttles Bro’s of the pottery ware manufactured by them near La Vernia in Wilson County. It is no exaggeration to say that the style and finish of their articles, from a ten gallon jar down to the most tasteful and ornamental flower vase, cannot be surpassed by any pottery in the United States."

"A herd of 900 cattle passed through this place on Monday morning, en route for Fort Worth. They were purchased from Ben. . .and looked as if they would be the better for a few weeks’ good grazing."

May 10, 1878

"A kind of clover of a very hardy nature is now growing . . .seed were dropped by some persons supposed to be from Mexico, about the year 1860 or’61 . . ."

Read the complete, fascinating article in Lavernia Legacies.  Order here. Thanks for your support!