AS TIME GOES BY
Wood County History
By LOU MALLORY —
Chairperson, Wood County Historical Commission
C.W. Raines —
Historian and State Librarian 12-24-05
Cadwell Walton
Raines (1839-1906) was the son of Thomas A. and
Aletha McClendon Raines. He was born on
September 18th in
Upson County, Georgia. In 1858, after completing
his junior year at Princeton, he moved to Texas
and settled at Paris.
He was admitted on
trial by the East Texas Conference of the
Methodist Church in 1860.
Though opposed to
secession, he enlisted in 1861 under Richard M.
Gano and served as a private throughout the
Civil War. He was twice captured and escaped. He
was also twice wounded and reported dead. When
offered a commission, Walton refused because he
did not want the responsibility of leading men
into battle.
After the war, he
taught school at New Braunfels, practiced law in
partnership with J.J. Hill at Canton, was county
judge of Van Zandt County, and published
newspapers at Wills Point, Mineola and, finally,
at Quitman.
During his
residence in Quitman, he was elected county
judge of Wood County. The friendship of Raines
and James Stephen Hogg, who also served as a
Wood County official, was a lasting influence in
their lives.
When Hogg became
governor in 1891, Raines was appointed librarian
of the Texas State Library. He served in this
post from May 5th,
1891 to January of 1895, and again from July 7th,
1899 until his death.
When he assumed
office, the state library was practically
nonexistent, since little had been done for its
rehabilitation after the old Capitol burned in
1881. Hogg took a particular interest in the
library and supported an annual appropriation of
$500 to enable the state librarian to collect
Texas historical data. Under Raines, the present
invaluable collection of Texana was begun.
After being ousted
from the position of state librarian by a new
state administration, Raines devoted his time to
scholarly work. In 1896 he published a
Bibliography of Texas. His “Life of Antonio
Lopez de Santa Anna” appeared in the Texas
Magazine from May 1896 to April 1898. He also
contributed a number of articles to the
Quarterly of the Texas State Historical
Association.
He wrote the
introduction to The Laws of Texas in ten volumes
published by Karl H.P.N. Gammel in 1898. Raines
also edited Six Decades in Texas or Memoirs of
Francis Richard Lubbock, published in Austin in
1900.
Raines also wrote
and edited Speeches and State Papers of James
Stephen Hogg, with a Sketch of His Life which
was published in 1905. He compiled Year Book for
Texas. These two volumes were published in
Austin in 1902 and 1903 respectively.
Additionally, Raines compiled Analytical Index
to the Laws of Texas, 1823-1905, which was
published in 1906.
Raines was one of
the founders of the Texas State Historical
Association and a member of the Texas Academy of
Science.
He was also a
member of the John B. Hood Camp of Confederate
Veterans and Austin Lodge No. 12, A, F and A.M.
Raines was married
twice: first to Mary Bowden of Nashville,
Tennessee, on May 17th,
1861. After her death, he married Mrs. Isabella
M. Mason of Amarillo, on December 25th,
1901. He had four children.
C.W. Raines died on
August 2nd,
1906 and was buried at Round Rock.