[Autograph Letter, Signed, Discussing Different Types of Agricultural Production in Texas]

Freestone County, Tx, 1866. Good.. [3]pp. on a folded folio sheet. Old folds, lightly tanned. Slight biopredation affecting a few letters. Letter written by a gentleman in Texas to his friend, discussing the land and farming in Freestone County and the surrounding area. Freestone County is located about sixty miles south of Dallas on the route to Houston, and was established in 1850. In the mid 1860s, the county had a population of about 7,000 residents scattered across the countryside. He writes, in part:

"Dear friend according to promise I write you a few lines relative to this and other portions of Texas that I have seen, I have visited (truncated) about 25 counties. This is a medium county mostly timbered and sandy, but from here west or north it is soiled prairie, and from here east is a timbered country. ... Texas as a general thing is level, in some places water is scarce, but this season there is an abundant supply. This and adjoining counties is mostly cotton country, but wheat, oats & C grow very well. Wheat will make from 10 to 20 bs. per acre and in some rare cases 30 bs. has been made. The up land will produce about 1200 lbs per acre, the cotton land will make one bale and upwards. Most of the land that we are cultivating is bottom, and I think that it will make one bale."

He goes on to discuss corn output, hogs, and the possibilities for cattle, as well as the disposition of several other counties for various agricultural products. An interesting look at rural eastern Texas just after the Civil War. (Inventory #: 1688)