Jaybird-Woodpecker War
| Date | 1888–89 |
|---|---|
| Location | Fort Bend County, Texas, United States |
| Outcome | Jaybird victory |
| Deaths | 7 |
The Jaybird–Woodpecker War (1888–89) was a feud between two United States Democratic Party factions fighting for political control of Fort Bend County, Texas, in the southeast part of the state. The Woodpeckers (many of whom had been Republican during Reconstruction) included a number of whites and virtually the entire African-American population of the county. The Woodpeckers had controlled the county government by winning elections since the Reconstruction Era. The Jaybird faction, which included a majority of the white population in the county, wanted to oust blacks and their white allies from the county administration. Murders were committed against persons in each faction in 1888 and 1889.
On August 16, 1889, a gunfight broke out at the county courthouse, in which four persons were killed, including the sheriff. The Jaybirds won the fight and seized control of the county government soon afterward, with the collaboration of Governor Lawrence Sullivan Ross, who established martial law in the county. The effects of the Post-Reconstruction feud echoed in local politics for decades. The Jaybirds effectively disfranchised the African Americans in the county by using a "whites-only" ballot in preliminary party voting from 1889 until 1953, when the United States Supreme Court ruled that this was unconstitutional.
The conflict allegedly derived its name from Bob Chapel, a local African-American man who was said to sing about jaybirds and woodpeckers. The Jaybirds were white Democrats opposed to the participation of blacks in local politics, as an alliance of blacks and whites (formerly Republican) had elected county officials for 20 years since Reconstruction. The Woodpeckers were nominally Democrats, too, with representatives elected largely by black voters. An election was held November 6, 1888, that was supervised by Texas Rangers. All of the Woodpecker candidates were elected or reelected (many had won election in 1884) to their slate of office.
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