Incendiary Plan

“It is evident that a concerted incendiary plan was attempted to be carried out on the same day, over a wide section of our State, and in most instances it succeeded, running scores of industrious citizens and leaving many families homeless and houseless. We have already stated our belief, from facts gathered from our interior exchanges, that abolition emissaries are scattered through the counties just below the frontier; they have been detected at several points intriguing with the negroes, and in several instances, with murderous effect; and from the fact that several of those who have suffered by these fires, were directly concerned in the expulsion last year of the abolition preachers from the frontier, and were threatened with a dire revenge, we do not apprehend any doubt can be entertained as the origin of these disastrous conflagrations.

And yet, in the face of this several of these detected abolition emissaries have been punished by the by the people by being simply ordered to leave the State!”¹

Lamar County
Abolitionist Plot

“Their emissaries (abolition) are at this very hour in our midst, actually scattering “fire-brands, arrows and death.” Hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of property is now ascertained, beyond any reasonable doubt, has been destroyed at their investigation, in one single day, within the past three weeks. We have reasons to believe that they are at this very moment instigating the negroes of Northern Texas to exterminate all slaveholders, and all other persons who are opposed to their immediate emancipation.

The house of Dr. W. Stell was set on fire by one of his negro women (who has acknowledged the deed,) on Monday night last, about ten o’clock, and consumed with all its contents, furniture, books, etc. except two trunks. The loss, we are told, is not less than $4,000. What next?”²