Jaybird-Woodpecker War

The Jaybird-Woodpecker War (1888-90) was a feud between two factions fighting for political control of Fort Bend County, Texas just west of Houston during the US post-Reconstruction era.

The conflict allegedly got its name from Bob Chapel, a local "half-crazy" African-American man who was said to incoherently sing about jaybirds and woodpeckers. One faction — white Democrats opposed to the Reconstruction-imposed government — identified themselves with the Jaybirds. The other faction was known as the Woodpeckers. This group, too, was composed of Democrats, but they represented the Republican Reconstruction government and were elected largely by black voters.

The dispute resulted in a number of deaths and the violence culminated in the "Battle of Richmond" in Richmond, Texas, the county seat, on August 16, 1889. Following this, martial law was declared and the next day Governor Lawrence Sullivan Ross arrived to negotiate a settlement, resulting in a reorganization of county government under control of the Jaybird faction.

Subsequently, the Jaybirds formally organized as the "Jaybird Democratic Organization of Fort Bend County", which dominated local politics for many decades thereafter.

External links

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* http://www.texfiles.com/texashistory/woodpecker.htm Article scanned from Enchanted Rock Magazine.