Mason County courthouse burns

Scott Cooley
(Find-a-Grave)

(Texas Day by Day) On this day in 1877, the Mason County courthouse burned, destroying all early county records, including those pertaining to the Mason County War.
This deadly episode began as a feud over cattle rustling but grew into a conflict between the Anglo and German elements in the community.
The violence began in February 1875, when a mob took five suspected cattle thieves from jail and killed three.
Shortly thereafter, another suspected rustler was killed by twelve men with blackened faces, prompting his friend Scott Cooley, a former Texas Ranger, to seek revenge. Continued