The story of Kerrville’s very first city council meetings

Minutes of the very first meeting of the 
Kerrville City Council -- Halloween, 1889.
Click on any image to enlarge.

I was recently at city hall in downtown Kerrville, and the kind folks there let me look at the minutes of the very first meeting of the Kerrville city council, which was held on Halloween, 1889. I’ve been interested in city council meetings recently, for some reason, and the old documents showed how council meetings got their start here.

Joseph A. Tivy

“Kerrville, Oct 31st 1889. Mayor Tivy called a meeting of the City Council – present Mayor Tivy, Presiding Alderman Smallwood, Burnett, Herzog, and Schreiner. Aderman Richards absent. Upon motion of Alderman Burnett, Ed Smallwood was elected President pro tem; upon motion of Alderman Herzog, A. C. Schreiner was elected Secy and Treas of the City of Kerrville.”

Next they appointed John Grider as city assessor and collector.

After electing their officers, they set up the meeting calendar: “Resolution making the first and third Tuesday in each month at 10 o’clock a.m. as regular meeting of the council.”

And finally, they appointed a committee, made up of Burnett and Smallwood to “draft suitable ordinances…and to report said ordinances for adoption or rejection at the next regular meeting of November 19th, 1889.”

Not a bad start for the council. They organized themselves, appointed a person to be responsible for the revenues to the city, told the community when they’d meet, and appointed two members to come up with ordinances.

Page One

The minutes were signed, not by Tivy, but by Ed Smallwood, the presiding officer, and attested by A. C. Schreiner.  On the following pages of the minute book Tivy’s signature can be found – he signed ordinances.

How did city government get here?

135 years ago – this very week – on August 23, 1889, a group of Kerrville citizens met in the law office of Robert H. Burney and "definitely started the plans for incorporation." A petition was soon presented to the county judge, W. G. Garrett, signed by fifty "resident citizens and qualified voters of Kerrville, Texas" stating the "desire to incorporate said town of Kerrville for municipal purposes, in accordance to the laws of the State of Texas."

Since the court was not in session, Judge Garrett granted the request 'in vacation' -- and an election "to determine whether or not said town of Kerrville shall be incorporated" was scheduled for September 7th, 1889. 

Pages 2 and 3

Consider that for a moment: from the first meeting in the lawyer's office until the election was held, only about two weeks passed. There were no lengthy studies, public hearings, prolonged debate. I wonder if the full 1889 commissioners court would have approved the election.

There was not a lot of voter turnout, either. The petition stated Kerrville was a "town of more than one thousand inhabitants," yet only 98 votes were cast in the election. The results: 95 for incorporation and 3 against. (Descendants of the three who voted against are probably still here. Just a hunch.)

The election for the new city's first mayor and aldermen was set for September 26th, where Joseph A. Tivy (yes, the same Tivy for which the high school is named) was elected mayor; A. C. Schreiner, W. W. Burnett, Ed Smallwood, B. C. Richards and Nathan Herzog were chosen as aldermen. Mr. Herzog was an employee of Mr. Schreiner. Ed Smallwood was the editor of the local newspaper.

At their second meeting, Richards was appointed to "devise ways and means for operating the city government;" Richards and Schreiner were named as the finance committee.

Taxes followed. Property taxes were 1/4 cent per $100 valuation; a dollar poll tax for all men aged 21 to 60; various occupation taxes were also levied. A dog tax was proposed, but failed to receive the necessary 2/3 vote to make it into law until it was proposed again the following year, putting a $1.50 tax on all dogs aged three months and older.

Some of the taxes and regulations of the new government seem rather quaint now. There were ordinances covering "fights between men and bulls, between dogs and bears, between dogs and other animals, and menageries or wax works exhibitions and concerts where a fee was demanded or received." Fights between dogs and bears was specifically mentioned; I'm thinking the spectacle must have occurred here at least once.

There were ordinances against "immoderately riding or driving on the streets," leaving your steed or wagon unhitched on city streets, vulgar language was illegal, and the "raising, hatching, or breeding of pigeons" within the city limits was also outlawed.

All able-bodied men "between the ages of eighteen and forty-five were required to give five days' work on streets during the year, and city officials were empowered to summon them as needed."

Times have certainly changed, but I do not doubt that 135 years from today some of the decisions made by the present city council will also seem quaint.

With all of the new taxes and regulations, discontent blossomed in the hearts of many Kerrville citizens and a new election was called in 1890 to dissolve the new city, though the question failed, and the young city government survived.

Happily, such an election has not been suggested today. I think the city government would prevail, but it would certainly be an interesting campaign.

Until next week, all the best.

Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who is currently involved in city government. This column originally appeared in the Kerr County Lead August 22, 2024

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