Brazos County Confederate Commissioners Court

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to honor every word. Back during the Civil War, Brazos County had a Confederate Commissioners Court, and friend, these men were not sitting on their hands. They furnished horses, equipment, and clothing for the county men heading off to fight.

That right there was no small thing, outfitting soldiers from a county's own pocket. But they didn't stop there. They levied war taxes on property, though they had the conscience to exempt the lands and estates of Confederate soldiers themselves.

The men who were already sacrificing wouldn't come home to find their land taxed out from under them. Then the court went out and actually surveyed the county, taking stock of what the families of Brazos soldiers needed while their men were away. And based on what they found, they appropriated funds to care for those families directly.

If citizens had already stepped up and made contributions to soldiers' dependents on their own, the court gave them credit for it. Now here's where things get genuinely interesting. When money got tight and scarce, this court issued county warrants.

Twenty-five cents, fifty cents, one dollar, two dollars, three dollars, and five dollars, all passing as legal tender right there in Brazos County. Homegrown currency, keeping commerce moving when the regular kind was hard to come by. And if that wasn't enough, the court went out and obtained, for resale back to the citizens, the things that had become almost impossible to find.

Powder, lead, gun caps, medicines, shoes, cotton cards, cloth, shoemakers' tools. The court became a supplier, a banker, a welfare agency, and a quartermaster all at once. Whatever you think of the cause, that Brazos County Confederate Commissioners Court was determined that no soldier's family would be left to fend for itself, and no citizen would go without if there was any way to help it.

What the marker says

Furnished horses, equipment and clothing for county men in the Civil War. Levied war taxes on property, exempting lands or estates of Confederate soldiers. After surveying to determine needs of the families of Brazos soldiers, appropriated funds to care for them. Gave credits for contributions made by citizens to soldiers' dependents. Issued county warrants for 25 (cents), 50 (cents), $1, $2, $3 and $5 that passed as legal tender. Obtained for resale to the citizens scarce powder, lead, gun caps, medicines, shoes, cotton cards cloth, shoe makers' tools.