Insurrection in Rusk

“The negroes on the plantation of Mr. Timmins, in the neighborhood, became insubordinate lately. On being brought to order they confessed that poison had been freely distributed among them, and that they were instructed to poison all the wells and springs, etc., on Sunday before the August election. They were, also, to fire the dwellings, secure the arms, and kill the white men as they returned from the election. Although it appeared that all the negroes in the county were fully aware of the plot, yet comparatively few were willing to participate in it, and many tried to dissuade others from having anything to do with it. Some of the white men implicated live in the country, others live out of the state.”¹

¹Matagorda Gazette, August 22, 1860, quoting the Rusk Enquirer, August 11, 1860.