Gunfighter / Lawman: Christopher Columbus Rogers, simply called Chris, was born in the newly formed county of Anderson, west of Palestine and near present day Tennessee Colony. Chris grew up, as did most frontier settlers, a survivor. In 1826 empresario David Burnet received a grant from the Mexican government for colonization for this area. In 1833 settlers moved into the area and settled at the site of Fort Parker in Limestone County, while others settled near the site of present Elkhart, while others settled and erected Fort Sam Houston. It was in this area William Rogers chose to settle and raise a family. Chris was born in 1846, the year that Anderson County was carved out of Houston County. Land near Fort Sam Houston was chosen for the county seat and the town of Palestine was platted.
When Chris was fifteen when the War between the States began and he served as a guard at Camp Ford, the Confederate's Union POW camp in Tyler. After the war times were hard in the south, men lost their property and suffered the consequent poverty of unemployment. Chris found work as a printer for the Palestine newspaper, the Trinity Advocate. Rogers became a violent opponent of Reconstruction. Resenting martial law and carpetbagger rule, his first encounter was with an agent of the Freemen's Bureau, John H. Morrison, who he beat up in a quarrel. Soon thereafter he had a run-in with Palestine Marshal Dan Cary and in a gunfight killed the marshal. To escape martial law execution he fled to Tyler where he would operate a saloon. Rogers would stay in Tyler until he gunned down a business rival, Mose Remington. He was acquitted on the grounds of self-defense.
In 1873 Chris returned to his hometown Palestine which had become an unruly railway town. The following year Palestine was without a marshal. Town councils looked for men who possessed certain qualities to be their lawmen. They could not be intimidated by wild lawless men, know how to fight, and be skilled with a gun. Christopher Columbus Rogers fit this description and he was elected city marshal in 1874. As the marshal of Palestine he would bring justice and order to the area. The swiftness of his draw and the surety of his aim gain him the reputation of killing an additional nine men.
In 1888 Rogers was attempting to arrest a friend, Tom O'Donnell, on a misdemeanor charge. O'Donnell resisted and a gunfight ensued, O'Donnell was shot dead. Rogers suffered a broken arm in the exchange. Witnesses claimed O'Donnell was unarmed and Rogers was placed on suspension while the incident was investigated. While sitting unarmed in a saloon Rogers was stabbed to death by Bill Young as a result of an argument over the O'Donnell incident.
Rogers was buried in the East Hill Cemetery. The grave went unmarked until a historical marker was placed to mark the grave. After years of wear the marker was broken and the text portion removed. All that is left to mark the spot of one of the most flamboyant, yet unrecognized lawmen is a twisted and rusted piece of iron.
Addendum: The Historical Marker has now been returned to the grave.
~
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS ROGERS
One of Palestine's early peace officers who played avery dramatic part in days following the Civil War was Christopher Columbus Rogers, better known as "Chris"Rogers.
Chris Rogers was born two miles south of Tennessee Colony in 1846, and was the son of William Rogers, an ex-sheriff of Anderson County. Rogers spent practically his entire life in Palestine; he was educated in thePalestine schools.
Although but fifteen years of age when war was declared between the states. Chris Rogers volunteered for service and was accepted, but was not allowed to go to the battle front. He was kept on guard duty at a Confederate prison. Upon termination of hostilities he returned to Palestine and went to work as a printer in the office of the "Trinity Advocate,'' Anderson County's first newspaper. Col. James W. Ewing, editor, was his brother-in-law.
With the death of Abraham Lincoln the South lost its best friend. A period ensued in the South which tried men's souls. The bitterness engendered by the loss of their property, with the consequent poverty of their condition, the ravages of war which had devastated the South, all tended to render her citizens contemptuous of the martial law the government placed over the South. On the other hand, the radicals in Congress saw in the situation a "hot bed of rebels," who were willfully defying the law. Naturally, despotic laws were passed - and as a foregone conclusion, they were defied. In the calmer light of 1936 the unbiased observer must admit that both sides had arguments for and against their conduct.
However the thinker may decide the question, the fact remains that martial law was declared in Palestine and good and true citizens chafed at many indignities suffered. A bureau of protection for the negroes was one measure to provoke the general dissatisfaction and when one objectionable "radical," John R. Morrison, was made agent for the bureau, people, generally, objected.Morrison made himself an autocrat. It was inevitable that he and Chris Rogers should clash. In the ensuing quarrel between the two, Morrison threatened Rogers. Rogers proceeded to jump on Morrison and administer a severe beating, which was Chris Rogers' first recorded fight.
About this time, Dan Cary, a "carpet-bagger," from New York came to Palestine and the radicals elected him City Marshall. Cary was a bully, and he and Rogers had some trouble. What it was no one knows at this late day, nor is there any court record of the altercation, although a few nights afterwards, Rogers killed Cary. The grand jury brought no charge against him.
To follow Chris Rogers' career step by step is not the design of the writer. There was too much blood shedding, for one reason. A brief residence in Tyler after the Cary killing resulted in Rogers' return to Palestine in 1873, with the added record of another man killed inTyler - one Mose Remington, a saloon keeper, with whom he had a difficulty. He was tried for this in the Tyler courts and acquitted. In 1874, Chris Rogers was elected City Marshall of Palestine to hold this office until his death in 1888.
At this time, Palestine was said to be one of the"toughest" towns in the state. To keep order had been unheard of until Rogers was elected Marshall. He quickly made his presence felt. It was the day before telephones or automobiles. His calls came by the slow means of the transportation facilities of the day. He answered them by flinging himself on a fine swift saddle horse always kept ready, and dashing to the scene of the disturbance with unbelievable speed. With aim that was certain and the speed of lightning, he "got his man" several times when his victim was either firing at him, or drawing his gun. During his fourteen years as City Marshall of Palestine he killed nine men. As a general thing, these killings were considered necessary, as an act of self-defense and in the line of official duty.
In 1878, a murder was committed in the old Ioni Indian settlement about fifteen miles south-east of Palestine. Dr. Grayson, a physician and gin owner, was killed. Whether the bitterness of the reconstruction period was at the bottom of the deed or not is not clear, but one report is that Dr. Grayson had shielded a negro the group wanted to lynch. In the affair Mrs. Grayson was also killed. Chris Rogers was instrumental in arresting seven men, the ring leaders in the killing. As a tragic result of his activities in the Grayson affair, Rogers killed Jim Quisenberry, a brother of one of the men he had arrested. He had been told that Quisenberry, after making threats, was seen skulking about his place at night. He was tried for this and acquitted.
In 1886, a railroad strike stirred the country. Practically everybody in Palestine worked for the railroad in some capacity, and all were concerned in the strike. The railroad replaced strikers with other men, which caused excitement. Plans were made to stop trains in Palestine, but Rogers was on the spot. Jumping on a train he turned to the angry crowd with the calm assertion: "I intend to run this train, and the first man who tries to interfere is going to get shot." He next deputized several citizens and the train moved out unmolested. The strikers shortly after this returned to their work.
In 1887, Rogers killed his last man, Tom O'Donnell, who was resisting arrest. Rogers was under indictment for this when he met his own tragic fate in 1888. He was having a friendly glass of beer with Billie Young when he called a friend of Young a liar. A quarrel ensued and Young took out a knife and cut Rogers fatally. As he was under indictment for murder. Rogers had no gun on his person. He was buried in East Hill Cemetery in Palestine, June 27, 1888. He was 42 years of age.
At this day it is hard to judge the character of a manlike Chris Rogers; men who knew him intimately differed widely on the subject. Some proclaim him the greatest peace officer Palestine ever had: others equally emphatic denounce him as a cold blooded murderer with absolutely no regard for human life. One fact remains, however, he preserved law and order at a time when chaos would have prevailed. It was the day of the open saloon, and the railroad had come in a brief two years earlier, bringing a horde of adventurers in its wake. Without Chris Rogers' drastic rule, who can say what Palestine's fate had been? [A Centennial History of Anderson County, Texas" SanAntonio, Tex.: Naylor Co., 1936]
When Chris was fifteen when the War between the States began and he served as a guard at Camp Ford, the Confederate's Union POW camp in Tyler. After the war times were hard in the south, men lost their property and suffered the consequent poverty of unemployment. Chris found work as a printer for the Palestine newspaper, the Trinity Advocate. Rogers became a violent opponent of Reconstruction. Resenting martial law and carpetbagger rule, his first encounter was with an agent of the Freemen's Bureau, John H. Morrison, who he beat up in a quarrel. Soon thereafter he had a run-in with Palestine Marshal Dan Cary and in a gunfight killed the marshal. To escape martial law execution he fled to Tyler where he would operate a saloon. Rogers would stay in Tyler until he gunned down a business rival, Mose Remington. He was acquitted on the grounds of self-defense.
In 1873 Chris returned to his hometown Palestine which had become an unruly railway town. The following year Palestine was without a marshal. Town councils looked for men who possessed certain qualities to be their lawmen. They could not be intimidated by wild lawless men, know how to fight, and be skilled with a gun. Christopher Columbus Rogers fit this description and he was elected city marshal in 1874. As the marshal of Palestine he would bring justice and order to the area. The swiftness of his draw and the surety of his aim gain him the reputation of killing an additional nine men.
In 1888 Rogers was attempting to arrest a friend, Tom O'Donnell, on a misdemeanor charge. O'Donnell resisted and a gunfight ensued, O'Donnell was shot dead. Rogers suffered a broken arm in the exchange. Witnesses claimed O'Donnell was unarmed and Rogers was placed on suspension while the incident was investigated. While sitting unarmed in a saloon Rogers was stabbed to death by Bill Young as a result of an argument over the O'Donnell incident.
Rogers was buried in the East Hill Cemetery. The grave went unmarked until a historical marker was placed to mark the grave. After years of wear the marker was broken and the text portion removed. All that is left to mark the spot of one of the most flamboyant, yet unrecognized lawmen is a twisted and rusted piece of iron.
Addendum: The Historical Marker has now been returned to the grave.
~
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS ROGERS
One of Palestine's early peace officers who played avery dramatic part in days following the Civil War was Christopher Columbus Rogers, better known as "Chris"Rogers.
Chris Rogers was born two miles south of Tennessee Colony in 1846, and was the son of William Rogers, an ex-sheriff of Anderson County. Rogers spent practically his entire life in Palestine; he was educated in thePalestine schools.
Although but fifteen years of age when war was declared between the states. Chris Rogers volunteered for service and was accepted, but was not allowed to go to the battle front. He was kept on guard duty at a Confederate prison. Upon termination of hostilities he returned to Palestine and went to work as a printer in the office of the "Trinity Advocate,'' Anderson County's first newspaper. Col. James W. Ewing, editor, was his brother-in-law.
With the death of Abraham Lincoln the South lost its best friend. A period ensued in the South which tried men's souls. The bitterness engendered by the loss of their property, with the consequent poverty of their condition, the ravages of war which had devastated the South, all tended to render her citizens contemptuous of the martial law the government placed over the South. On the other hand, the radicals in Congress saw in the situation a "hot bed of rebels," who were willfully defying the law. Naturally, despotic laws were passed - and as a foregone conclusion, they were defied. In the calmer light of 1936 the unbiased observer must admit that both sides had arguments for and against their conduct.
However the thinker may decide the question, the fact remains that martial law was declared in Palestine and good and true citizens chafed at many indignities suffered. A bureau of protection for the negroes was one measure to provoke the general dissatisfaction and when one objectionable "radical," John R. Morrison, was made agent for the bureau, people, generally, objected.Morrison made himself an autocrat. It was inevitable that he and Chris Rogers should clash. In the ensuing quarrel between the two, Morrison threatened Rogers. Rogers proceeded to jump on Morrison and administer a severe beating, which was Chris Rogers' first recorded fight.
About this time, Dan Cary, a "carpet-bagger," from New York came to Palestine and the radicals elected him City Marshall. Cary was a bully, and he and Rogers had some trouble. What it was no one knows at this late day, nor is there any court record of the altercation, although a few nights afterwards, Rogers killed Cary. The grand jury brought no charge against him.
To follow Chris Rogers' career step by step is not the design of the writer. There was too much blood shedding, for one reason. A brief residence in Tyler after the Cary killing resulted in Rogers' return to Palestine in 1873, with the added record of another man killed inTyler - one Mose Remington, a saloon keeper, with whom he had a difficulty. He was tried for this in the Tyler courts and acquitted. In 1874, Chris Rogers was elected City Marshall of Palestine to hold this office until his death in 1888.
At this time, Palestine was said to be one of the"toughest" towns in the state. To keep order had been unheard of until Rogers was elected Marshall. He quickly made his presence felt. It was the day before telephones or automobiles. His calls came by the slow means of the transportation facilities of the day. He answered them by flinging himself on a fine swift saddle horse always kept ready, and dashing to the scene of the disturbance with unbelievable speed. With aim that was certain and the speed of lightning, he "got his man" several times when his victim was either firing at him, or drawing his gun. During his fourteen years as City Marshall of Palestine he killed nine men. As a general thing, these killings were considered necessary, as an act of self-defense and in the line of official duty.
In 1878, a murder was committed in the old Ioni Indian settlement about fifteen miles south-east of Palestine. Dr. Grayson, a physician and gin owner, was killed. Whether the bitterness of the reconstruction period was at the bottom of the deed or not is not clear, but one report is that Dr. Grayson had shielded a negro the group wanted to lynch. In the affair Mrs. Grayson was also killed. Chris Rogers was instrumental in arresting seven men, the ring leaders in the killing. As a tragic result of his activities in the Grayson affair, Rogers killed Jim Quisenberry, a brother of one of the men he had arrested. He had been told that Quisenberry, after making threats, was seen skulking about his place at night. He was tried for this and acquitted.
In 1886, a railroad strike stirred the country. Practically everybody in Palestine worked for the railroad in some capacity, and all were concerned in the strike. The railroad replaced strikers with other men, which caused excitement. Plans were made to stop trains in Palestine, but Rogers was on the spot. Jumping on a train he turned to the angry crowd with the calm assertion: "I intend to run this train, and the first man who tries to interfere is going to get shot." He next deputized several citizens and the train moved out unmolested. The strikers shortly after this returned to their work.
In 1887, Rogers killed his last man, Tom O'Donnell, who was resisting arrest. Rogers was under indictment for this when he met his own tragic fate in 1888. He was having a friendly glass of beer with Billie Young when he called a friend of Young a liar. A quarrel ensued and Young took out a knife and cut Rogers fatally. As he was under indictment for murder. Rogers had no gun on his person. He was buried in East Hill Cemetery in Palestine, June 27, 1888. He was 42 years of age.
At this day it is hard to judge the character of a manlike Chris Rogers; men who knew him intimately differed widely on the subject. Some proclaim him the greatest peace officer Palestine ever had: others equally emphatic denounce him as a cold blooded murderer with absolutely no regard for human life. One fact remains, however, he preserved law and order at a time when chaos would have prevailed. It was the day of the open saloon, and the railroad had come in a brief two years earlier, bringing a horde of adventurers in its wake. Without Chris Rogers' drastic rule, who can say what Palestine's fate had been? [A Centennial History of Anderson County, Texas" SanAntonio, Tex.: Naylor Co., 1936]
Gunfighter / Lawman: Christopher Columbus Rogers, simply called Chris, was born in the newly formed county of Anderson, west of Palestine and near present day Tennessee Colony. Chris grew up, as did most frontier settlers, a survivor. In 1826 empresario David Burnet received a grant from the Mexican government for colonization for this area. In 1833 settlers moved into the area and settled at the site of Fort Parker in Limestone County, while others settled near the site of present Elkhart, while others settled and erected Fort Sam Houston. It was in this area William Rogers chose to settle and raise a family. Chris was born in 1846, the year that Anderson County was carved out of Houston County. Land near Fort Sam Houston was chosen for the county seat and the town of Palestine was platted.
When Chris was fifteen when the War between the States began and he served as a guard at Camp Ford, the Confederate's Union POW camp in Tyler. After the war times were hard in the south, men lost their property and suffered the consequent poverty of unemployment. Chris found work as a printer for the Palestine newspaper, the Trinity Advocate. Rogers became a violent opponent of Reconstruction. Resenting martial law and carpetbagger rule, his first encounter was with an agent of the Freemen's Bureau, John H. Morrison, who he beat up in a quarrel. Soon thereafter he had a run-in with Palestine Marshal Dan Cary and in a gunfight killed the marshal. To escape martial law execution he fled to Tyler where he would operate a saloon. Rogers would stay in Tyler until he gunned down a business rival, Mose Remington. He was acquitted on the grounds of self-defense.
In 1873 Chris returned to his hometown Palestine which had become an unruly railway town. The following year Palestine was without a marshal. Town councils looked for men who possessed certain qualities to be their lawmen. They could not be intimidated by wild lawless men, know how to fight, and be skilled with a gun. Christopher Columbus Rogers fit this description and he was elected city marshal in 1874. As the marshal of Palestine he would bring justice and order to the area. The swiftness of his draw and the surety of his aim gain him the reputation of killing an additional nine men.
In 1888 Rogers was attempting to arrest a friend, Tom O'Donnell, on a misdemeanor charge. O'Donnell resisted and a gunfight ensued, O'Donnell was shot dead. Rogers suffered a broken arm in the exchange. Witnesses claimed O'Donnell was unarmed and Rogers was placed on suspension while the incident was investigated. While sitting unarmed in a saloon Rogers was stabbed to death by Bill Young as a result of an argument over the O'Donnell incident.
Rogers was buried in the East Hill Cemetery. The grave went unmarked until a historical marker was placed to mark the grave. After years of wear the marker was broken and the text portion removed. All that is left to mark the spot of one of the most flamboyant, yet unrecognized lawmen is a twisted and rusted piece of iron.
Addendum: The Historical Marker has now been returned to the grave.
~
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS ROGERS
One of Palestine's early peace officers who played avery dramatic part in days following the Civil War was Christopher Columbus Rogers, better known as "Chris"Rogers.
Chris Rogers was born two miles south of Tennessee Colony in 1846, and was the son of William Rogers, an ex-sheriff of Anderson County. Rogers spent practically his entire life in Palestine; he was educated in thePalestine schools.
Although but fifteen years of age when war was declared between the states. Chris Rogers volunteered for service and was accepted, but was not allowed to go to the battle front. He was kept on guard duty at a Confederate prison. Upon termination of hostilities he returned to Palestine and went to work as a printer in the office of the "Trinity Advocate,'' Anderson County's first newspaper. Col. James W. Ewing, editor, was his brother-in-law.
With the death of Abraham Lincoln the South lost its best friend. A period ensued in the South which tried men's souls. The bitterness engendered by the loss of their property, with the consequent poverty of their condition, the ravages of war which had devastated the South, all tended to render her citizens contemptuous of the martial law the government placed over the South. On the other hand, the radicals in Congress saw in the situation a "hot bed of rebels," who were willfully defying the law. Naturally, despotic laws were passed - and as a foregone conclusion, they were defied. In the calmer light of 1936 the unbiased observer must admit that both sides had arguments for and against their conduct.
However the thinker may decide the question, the fact remains that martial law was declared in Palestine and good and true citizens chafed at many indignities suffered. A bureau of protection for the negroes was one measure to provoke the general dissatisfaction and when one objectionable "radical," John R. Morrison, was made agent for the bureau, people, generally, objected.Morrison made himself an autocrat. It was inevitable that he and Chris Rogers should clash. In the ensuing quarrel between the two, Morrison threatened Rogers. Rogers proceeded to jump on Morrison and administer a severe beating, which was Chris Rogers' first recorded fight.
About this time, Dan Cary, a "carpet-bagger," from New York came to Palestine and the radicals elected him City Marshall. Cary was a bully, and he and Rogers had some trouble. What it was no one knows at this late day, nor is there any court record of the altercation, although a few nights afterwards, Rogers killed Cary. The grand jury brought no charge against him.
To follow Chris Rogers' career step by step is not the design of the writer. There was too much blood shedding, for one reason. A brief residence in Tyler after the Cary killing resulted in Rogers' return to Palestine in 1873, with the added record of another man killed inTyler - one Mose Remington, a saloon keeper, with whom he had a difficulty. He was tried for this in the Tyler courts and acquitted. In 1874, Chris Rogers was elected City Marshall of Palestine to hold this office until his death in 1888.
At this time, Palestine was said to be one of the"toughest" towns in the state. To keep order had been unheard of until Rogers was elected Marshall. He quickly made his presence felt. It was the day before telephones or automobiles. His calls came by the slow means of the transportation facilities of the day. He answered them by flinging himself on a fine swift saddle horse always kept ready, and dashing to the scene of the disturbance with unbelievable speed. With aim that was certain and the speed of lightning, he "got his man" several times when his victim was either firing at him, or drawing his gun. During his fourteen years as City Marshall of Palestine he killed nine men. As a general thing, these killings were considered necessary, as an act of self-defense and in the line of official duty.
In 1878, a murder was committed in the old Ioni Indian settlement about fifteen miles south-east of Palestine. Dr. Grayson, a physician and gin owner, was killed. Whether the bitterness of the reconstruction period was at the bottom of the deed or not is not clear, but one report is that Dr. Grayson had shielded a negro the group wanted to lynch. In the affair Mrs. Grayson was also killed. Chris Rogers was instrumental in arresting seven men, the ring leaders in the killing. As a tragic result of his activities in the Grayson affair, Rogers killed Jim Quisenberry, a brother of one of the men he had arrested. He had been told that Quisenberry, after making threats, was seen skulking about his place at night. He was tried for this and acquitted.
In 1886, a railroad strike stirred the country. Practically everybody in Palestine worked for the railroad in some capacity, and all were concerned in the strike. The railroad replaced strikers with other men, which caused excitement. Plans were made to stop trains in Palestine, but Rogers was on the spot. Jumping on a train he turned to the angry crowd with the calm assertion: "I intend to run this train, and the first man who tries to interfere is going to get shot." He next deputized several citizens and the train moved out unmolested. The strikers shortly after this returned to their work.
In 1887, Rogers killed his last man, Tom O'Donnell, who was resisting arrest. Rogers was under indictment for this when he met his own tragic fate in 1888. He was having a friendly glass of beer with Billie Young when he called a friend of Young a liar. A quarrel ensued and Young took out a knife and cut Rogers fatally. As he was under indictment for murder. Rogers had no gun on his person. He was buried in East Hill Cemetery in Palestine, June 27, 1888. He was 42 years of age.
At this day it is hard to judge the character of a manlike Chris Rogers; men who knew him intimately differed widely on the subject. Some proclaim him the greatest peace officer Palestine ever had: others equally emphatic denounce him as a cold blooded murderer with absolutely no regard for human life. One fact remains, however, he preserved law and order at a time when chaos would have prevailed. It was the day of the open saloon, and the railroad had come in a brief two years earlier, bringing a horde of adventurers in its wake. Without Chris Rogers' drastic rule, who can say what Palestine's fate had been? [A Centennial History of Anderson County, Texas" SanAntonio, Tex.: Naylor Co., 1936]
When Chris was fifteen when the War between the States began and he served as a guard at Camp Ford, the Confederate's Union POW camp in Tyler. After the war times were hard in the south, men lost their property and suffered the consequent poverty of unemployment. Chris found work as a printer for the Palestine newspaper, the Trinity Advocate. Rogers became a violent opponent of Reconstruction. Resenting martial law and carpetbagger rule, his first encounter was with an agent of the Freemen's Bureau, John H. Morrison, who he beat up in a quarrel. Soon thereafter he had a run-in with Palestine Marshal Dan Cary and in a gunfight killed the marshal. To escape martial law execution he fled to Tyler where he would operate a saloon. Rogers would stay in Tyler until he gunned down a business rival, Mose Remington. He was acquitted on the grounds of self-defense.
In 1873 Chris returned to his hometown Palestine which had become an unruly railway town. The following year Palestine was without a marshal. Town councils looked for men who possessed certain qualities to be their lawmen. They could not be intimidated by wild lawless men, know how to fight, and be skilled with a gun. Christopher Columbus Rogers fit this description and he was elected city marshal in 1874. As the marshal of Palestine he would bring justice and order to the area. The swiftness of his draw and the surety of his aim gain him the reputation of killing an additional nine men.
In 1888 Rogers was attempting to arrest a friend, Tom O'Donnell, on a misdemeanor charge. O'Donnell resisted and a gunfight ensued, O'Donnell was shot dead. Rogers suffered a broken arm in the exchange. Witnesses claimed O'Donnell was unarmed and Rogers was placed on suspension while the incident was investigated. While sitting unarmed in a saloon Rogers was stabbed to death by Bill Young as a result of an argument over the O'Donnell incident.
Rogers was buried in the East Hill Cemetery. The grave went unmarked until a historical marker was placed to mark the grave. After years of wear the marker was broken and the text portion removed. All that is left to mark the spot of one of the most flamboyant, yet unrecognized lawmen is a twisted and rusted piece of iron.
Addendum: The Historical Marker has now been returned to the grave.
~
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS ROGERS
One of Palestine's early peace officers who played avery dramatic part in days following the Civil War was Christopher Columbus Rogers, better known as "Chris"Rogers.
Chris Rogers was born two miles south of Tennessee Colony in 1846, and was the son of William Rogers, an ex-sheriff of Anderson County. Rogers spent practically his entire life in Palestine; he was educated in thePalestine schools.
Although but fifteen years of age when war was declared between the states. Chris Rogers volunteered for service and was accepted, but was not allowed to go to the battle front. He was kept on guard duty at a Confederate prison. Upon termination of hostilities he returned to Palestine and went to work as a printer in the office of the "Trinity Advocate,'' Anderson County's first newspaper. Col. James W. Ewing, editor, was his brother-in-law.
With the death of Abraham Lincoln the South lost its best friend. A period ensued in the South which tried men's souls. The bitterness engendered by the loss of their property, with the consequent poverty of their condition, the ravages of war which had devastated the South, all tended to render her citizens contemptuous of the martial law the government placed over the South. On the other hand, the radicals in Congress saw in the situation a "hot bed of rebels," who were willfully defying the law. Naturally, despotic laws were passed - and as a foregone conclusion, they were defied. In the calmer light of 1936 the unbiased observer must admit that both sides had arguments for and against their conduct.
However the thinker may decide the question, the fact remains that martial law was declared in Palestine and good and true citizens chafed at many indignities suffered. A bureau of protection for the negroes was one measure to provoke the general dissatisfaction and when one objectionable "radical," John R. Morrison, was made agent for the bureau, people, generally, objected.Morrison made himself an autocrat. It was inevitable that he and Chris Rogers should clash. In the ensuing quarrel between the two, Morrison threatened Rogers. Rogers proceeded to jump on Morrison and administer a severe beating, which was Chris Rogers' first recorded fight.
About this time, Dan Cary, a "carpet-bagger," from New York came to Palestine and the radicals elected him City Marshall. Cary was a bully, and he and Rogers had some trouble. What it was no one knows at this late day, nor is there any court record of the altercation, although a few nights afterwards, Rogers killed Cary. The grand jury brought no charge against him.
To follow Chris Rogers' career step by step is not the design of the writer. There was too much blood shedding, for one reason. A brief residence in Tyler after the Cary killing resulted in Rogers' return to Palestine in 1873, with the added record of another man killed inTyler - one Mose Remington, a saloon keeper, with whom he had a difficulty. He was tried for this in the Tyler courts and acquitted. In 1874, Chris Rogers was elected City Marshall of Palestine to hold this office until his death in 1888.
At this time, Palestine was said to be one of the"toughest" towns in the state. To keep order had been unheard of until Rogers was elected Marshall. He quickly made his presence felt. It was the day before telephones or automobiles. His calls came by the slow means of the transportation facilities of the day. He answered them by flinging himself on a fine swift saddle horse always kept ready, and dashing to the scene of the disturbance with unbelievable speed. With aim that was certain and the speed of lightning, he "got his man" several times when his victim was either firing at him, or drawing his gun. During his fourteen years as City Marshall of Palestine he killed nine men. As a general thing, these killings were considered necessary, as an act of self-defense and in the line of official duty.
In 1878, a murder was committed in the old Ioni Indian settlement about fifteen miles south-east of Palestine. Dr. Grayson, a physician and gin owner, was killed. Whether the bitterness of the reconstruction period was at the bottom of the deed or not is not clear, but one report is that Dr. Grayson had shielded a negro the group wanted to lynch. In the affair Mrs. Grayson was also killed. Chris Rogers was instrumental in arresting seven men, the ring leaders in the killing. As a tragic result of his activities in the Grayson affair, Rogers killed Jim Quisenberry, a brother of one of the men he had arrested. He had been told that Quisenberry, after making threats, was seen skulking about his place at night. He was tried for this and acquitted.
In 1886, a railroad strike stirred the country. Practically everybody in Palestine worked for the railroad in some capacity, and all were concerned in the strike. The railroad replaced strikers with other men, which caused excitement. Plans were made to stop trains in Palestine, but Rogers was on the spot. Jumping on a train he turned to the angry crowd with the calm assertion: "I intend to run this train, and the first man who tries to interfere is going to get shot." He next deputized several citizens and the train moved out unmolested. The strikers shortly after this returned to their work.
In 1887, Rogers killed his last man, Tom O'Donnell, who was resisting arrest. Rogers was under indictment for this when he met his own tragic fate in 1888. He was having a friendly glass of beer with Billie Young when he called a friend of Young a liar. A quarrel ensued and Young took out a knife and cut Rogers fatally. As he was under indictment for murder. Rogers had no gun on his person. He was buried in East Hill Cemetery in Palestine, June 27, 1888. He was 42 years of age.
At this day it is hard to judge the character of a manlike Chris Rogers; men who knew him intimately differed widely on the subject. Some proclaim him the greatest peace officer Palestine ever had: others equally emphatic denounce him as a cold blooded murderer with absolutely no regard for human life. One fact remains, however, he preserved law and order at a time when chaos would have prevailed. It was the day of the open saloon, and the railroad had come in a brief two years earlier, bringing a horde of adventurers in its wake. Without Chris Rogers' drastic rule, who can say what Palestine's fate had been? [A Centennial History of Anderson County, Texas" SanAntonio, Tex.: Naylor Co., 1936]
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