The University of North Texas Library has a fascinating project
underway that will benefit historians as well as genealogists. The university’s
Web servers now contain "The Laws of Texas 1822-97" by H.P.N. Gammel.
This resource is now available to researchers throughout the world at no charge.
Quoting from the Web site:
H.P.N. Gammel's The Laws of Texas, 1822-1897 has long been one
of the most important primary resources for the study of Texas' complex history
during the Nineteenth Century. His monumental compilation charts Texas from
the time of colonization through to statehood and reveals Texas' legal history
during crucial times in its development. The Laws consist of documents not
only covering each congressional and legislative session but [also] comprise
other documents of significance, including the constitutions, select journals
from the constitutional conventions, and early colonization laws. Texas state
librarian, C.W. Raines, introduced the 1898 set as "the essential connecting
links of our legal and political history . . . Not a heterogeneous mass, but
a related whole, this compilation is the ethical expression of the period
covered, or more plainly speaking, the prevailing idea of right and wrong
as applied to social compact."
Although Gammel's editions of The Laws of Texas were published
over one hundred years ago, they are still one of the main sources for researchers
of early Texas law. Renowned Texas bibliographer John H. Jenkins calls the
set "the most valuable compilation of early laws of Texas, and still
the most useful" (Basic Texas Books 69). Despite The Laws' continued
use, they have never been reprinted. Thus, although several libraries in
Texas do own a copy of the set, the set in its entirety has become quite
rare and is virtually impossible to obtain, even in the rare book market.
Furthermore, the existing sets are now often found in poor condition. They
were printed on unstable paper, which is now brittle. When the original
bindings are still found on the volumes, they often have boards separating,
leather rotting, and pages loose and torn. And, because of the brittle paper,
the volumes cannot be easily rebound. Due to these factors, access to the
physical volumes is sometimes difficult; therefore, historians, legal professionals,
students, and other researchers in the state and elsewhere will benefit
from the electronic access offered in the proposed project.
You won’t find much information about individuals in this online
database, but you will learn a lot about the conditions under which your Texas
ancestors lived. Gammel's "The Laws of Texas 1822-1897" is available
online at: texinfo.library.unt.edu/lawsoftexas/.
My thanks to Trey Holt for letting me know about this resource.
Dick Eastman Online
