Texas terror the slave insurrection panic of 1860 and the secession of the lower South - Reynolds, Donald E. (Louisiana State University Press, 2007)
Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002
Includes bibliographical references (pages 215-230) and index
What is in the wind? -- Red torch over our land -- Better to hang ninety-nine innocent men -- Savage deeds of blood and carnage -- Great news from Texas -- A thousand rumors -- Who is William H. Bailey? -- The mortal enemy of the south -- Conclusions of a mad people
On July 8, 1860, fire destroyed the entire business section of Dallas, Texas. At about the same time, two other fires damaged towns near Dallas. Early reports indicated that spontaneous combustion was the cause of the blazes, but four days later, Charles Pryor, editor of the Dallas Herald, wrote letters to editors of pro-Democratic newspapers, alleging that the fires were the result of a vast abolitionist conspiracy, the purpose of which was to devastate northern Texas and free the region's slaves