On July 21, 1870, a group of selfstyled "Conservatives" met in Austin to discuss the political situation in the state. In almost hysterical tones they attacked the Republican administration of Governor Edmund J. Davis for assuming despotic powers. In every action of his newly installed administration they saw limitations placed on their civil rights. The men who met in Austin believed that they were in the middle of a revolution against traditional political societies and called upon all citizens to help them stop the activities of the Republicans.
Many such events characterized the...

Volume two of "The Texas Biography Series" reveals Edmund J. Davis, the heroic man who stood in strong opposition to his peers and better reflected the ideals of the nation than those of so many of his contemporaries. Carl H. Moneyhon presents a long overdue favorable account of a man who was determined to make progressive changes and stand in stark opposition to the state's political elite. What moved this man to take such a dramatic stand against his political peers? Moneyhon strives to answer this very question. Edmund J. Davis was not only a part of the political elite during the Civil...