A Link to the Past—Historian Harbert Davenport
Norman Rozeff
June 2009
He was born at the right time and in the right state, and was therefore perfectly situated to record the history of Texas pioneers and much more. Of course, there was one other element necessary. Was he interested and capable of doing so? He was and, if you excuse the pun, the rest is history.
Harbert Davenport was born in Eastland, Texas on October 19, 1882. Olney, Texas in 1904 saw his marriage to Elizabeth Pettit, a Missouri native. They were to have two sons, Harbert Jr. and Wortham. They moved several times before, in 1908, Harbert received his LL.B from the University of Texas. After practicing in Anahuac, the family took up permanent residency in Brownsville in the year 1912. Here Harbert became a law associate of Judge James B. Wells, Jr. Wells, of course, was the county's most famous and accomplished attorney and the longtime " political boss" of Cameron County too.
Davenport was an early Woodrow Wilson supporter and knew something of Valley politics because he had written "a detailed account of the Independent party's resort to election fraud in the 1912 Brownsville election, their misuse of the city police force and their effort to gerrymander the election precincts of Cameron County."
In 1915 the infamous Plan of San Diego had become common knowledge in the Valley. While viewing a dance Pablo Falcon, a deputy constable working for the Brownsville government, was shot and killed. Davenport later characterized it as "the raiders' first victim." Harbert prided himself on his close connections with the Tejanos in Brownsville and rural Cameron County. He later wrote to his sometime law partner, J.T. Canales, that had Falcon not been murdered he "would have undoubtedly warned me of the trouble brought about by the Plan of San Diego." When the Pizana Ranch attack by authorities took place in August 1915 they, in a justification effort, tried to portray it as a major skirmish however a critical Davenport claimed the incident didn't even deserve the term "fight'. Davenport was more grounded in the realities of the situation. He would later record: "During these troubles, one good citizen—a lawyer who held high places in the judiciary of Texas—suggested to me that we ought to compel all Mexicans resident on the Border to go across the river until the troubles were over, and then go out and shoot all that were left. The mere fact that a larger proportion of those he proposed to exile were born here and were the children of parents who were born here, and that they would be no safer on the Mexican side of the river than he or any member of his family, simply did not register."
In World War I he had served as a second lieutenant in the army air corps. Upon his return he set up his own law practice. A thorough researcher and investigator he became "recognized as an authority on southwestern land and water law and on Spanish and Mexican law as applied to Texas." He had already commenced documenting history with his "History of the Supreme Court of Texas" in 1917. Unlike his former associate Wells, Harbert was not one to become engaged in seeking political power.
In 1918 he authored (with Jim Wells) the first of numerous articles he would submit to the Southwestern Historical Quarterly. It was titled The First Europeans in Texas 1528-1536. During 1923 he went on to edit the SWJ article on the expedition of Panfilo de Narvaez.
This journal is published by the Texas State Historical Association. Davenport was to become a fellow of the association in 1929 and serve as its president 1939-42. With his scholarly background he was a natural to serve as a Brownsville School Board member 1924-32.
In the 1920s Davenport operated a satellite office in Harlingen together with J.T. Canales. It was on the second floor of the Water District office, Jackson at Commerce. In the decade to follow he used his legal skills to represent the Good Government League of Hidalgo County in an effort to break the boss rule in that county. Who better then to write about a political power, this time in Cameron County? Davenport did so in 1933 with his "The Life of James B. Wells." In 1950 he would add to the subject with an oral history interview.
When in 1949 he composed "Notes on Early Steamboating on the Rio Grande" for the SWQ he was the first to detail this neglected subject.
This same decade saw him conduct in-depth research on Fannin's command and the men of Goliad, the 1836 campaign there, and the massacre. He was later honored by being asked to present the address at the dedication of the Texas War of Independence monument at La Bahia, Goliad.
After the age of 60 Davenport seems to have found the time and energy to increase his history work. Together with his associate J.T. Canales, Davenport, concerned about retaining the important water rights of the Valley, generated in 1949 "The Texas Law of Flowing Water with Special Reference to Irrigation from the Lower Rio Grande." He followed this up in 1953 with "Development of the Texas Laws of Water."
Other contributions made by Davenport include these articles: Angel of Goliad (Panchita Alavez); Santa Anna; Prisoner of Mata—The Ladies Lojero; Conference on the Revolution of Mexico 1810-1943; and Analysis of Porciones 80 and 81. In researching his classic book The King Ranch, Tom Lea used Davenport as a confirmation and clarification source.
For many years Harbert contributed to civic organizations of the area and as a veteran was active in the American Legion. After a long and productive life Harbert Davenport died at age 74 on February 23, 1957. He is buried in the Buena Vista Cemetery, Brownsville. His wife Elizabeth also had taken up history causes and made contributions to the Brownsville community. She was to die in 1965 at age 82 and be buried alongside her husband.
The Valley was fortunate to have both contribute much to preserving and explaining our heritage.