Out of Texas

Description

In 1859. the lashing of young Buford Hobbs on the streets of Gonzales, Texas, led to the murder of Doctor John Brantley, and this ignited the historic Brantley-Baltzell feud. The nation's newspapers widely reported the resulting carnage that came out of Texas and led all the way back to Mississippi. The feud seemed to have run its course by the end of the Civil War. Or had it? In 1870, the mayor of Winona, Mississippi, Arnold Brantley, was assassinated and Governor Alcorn dispatched two officers of his mysterious Mississippi Secret Police Bureau to solve the crime. One was a white officer, Neil McCoy, a former gunslinger. The other was a black officer named Buford Hobbs. As the drama around Winona unfolded, the deceased mayor's brother, a decorated Confederate general was also murdered. It would be left to Buford to see that justice was served, even as he struggled with his feelings towards Rebecca, the widow of the feud's first victim. Rebecca's story during those turbulent years would be one of coming to grips with the economic survival of her family as well as her own feelings toward Buford. She would ultimately have to make difficult choices with devastating consequences.

Joesph is a CPA living in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.Anne Hart Is the author of Stories from the Hart, published in 2011 by AuthorHouse. She is a retired teacher and lives in Starkville, Mississippi.