Tales from The Brazos

Lawyer’s assault lands him 6 feet under
The manner and reason given for David Smith Terry’s leaving California a few months after his duel with David C. Broderick varies greatly, depending on the viewpoint of writers with very differing opinions.
May 12, 2008

California politics change after deadly duel
When David Smith Terry, who had grown up along the Brazos River in Brazoria and Fort Bend counties, met U.S. Sen. David C. Broderick to settle their differences on the “field of honor,” Broderick’s seconds won the choice of position.
May 05, 2008

Lawyers face off in a duel
The day after the election in September 1859, David Smith Terry, formerly of Fort Bend and Brazoria counties, resigned his seat as chief justice of the California Supreme Court.
April 28, 2008

Temper lands early Texas lawyer in hot water
In the years just prior to the War Between the States, disagreements about slavery were apt to trigger violent quarrels, even between friends.
April 21, 2008

Frontier lawyer rises to power
Of the three sons of Sarah D. Smith and Joseph R. Terry only the youngest, David Smith Terry, managed to survive his service to the Confederacy.
April 14, 2008

Readers recall events of 1972 plane hijacking
One of the neatest things about writing this column is the feedback I get from people who either remember the actual event or want to tell the story as they heard it from a relative or friend.
April 07, 2008

Sheriff recounts hijackers’ demands
Several hours after a hijacked 747 airliner made an emergency landing at the small Dow airport in July 1972, the hijackers aboard continued to negotiate for an escape.
March 31, 2008

Tempers flared with media in hijacking
When Houston television crews arrived on the scene of a hijacked airliner, tension rose to a point even higher than the spiraling temperature that Sheriff Robert Gladney was confident would force the hijackers to surrender.
March 24, 2008

Sheriff kept reins on 1972 hijacking
Brazoria County Sheriff Robert Gladney had just left the strike scene after checking traffic there and was driving toward the courthouse in Angleton when a dispatcher radioed him.
March 17, 2008

Youth aids injured man
In the early morning of July 13, 1972, 18-year-old Henry Marcus was hurrying to drive his 10-year-old brother, Charles, to a swimming lesson at the Lake Jackson Recreation Center.
March 10, 2008

Hijackers steer 727 to county airport
On July 12, 1972, more than 20 years before fears of terrorism began gripping American travelers, two air pirates hijacked a plane carrying more than 100 passengers and seven crew members.
March 03, 2008

Death threats in community taken seriously
Because they took place in Brazoria, the threats made against Federal Customs Inspector Amos T. Bissell were much more significant than they would be in another part of Texas.
February 25, 2008

Customs inspector takes threats head on
In 1880, Amos T. Bissell, the “mounted Customs Inspector” who worked along the Brazoria County coast, filed a sworn statement in federal court concerning threats made against him by Dr. J.C. Ashcom.
February 18, 2008

Customs inspector forced out of county
In the late 1870s and early 1880s, Brazoria County earned a reputation in the North as a place that was dangerous to outsiders who tried to change the status quo through their enforcement of the Reconstruction Act.
February 11, 2008

1870s clerk refused to resign post
The years between 1865 and 1885 encompassed what probably was the bloodiest era in Brazoria County’s history.
February 04, 2008