Episode 8: More Bodies

Thousands of people died under the convict lease system in Texas, and its effects can still be seen and felt today. Their descendants hope the truth leads to healing and understanding.

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Eph Harper's court records from Fayette and Gonzales Counties related to his 1884 and 1898 arrests for cattle theft

Source: Fayette and Gonzales County District Clerk's Offices
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Imperial Sugar Company co-founder William T. Eldridge shot and killed two men in separate incidents in the early 1900s

Source: Newspapers.com
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Caswell G. and William O. Ellis took over operation of their father's sugar plantation as he got older, but by 1906, they had both been shot and killed there

Source: Newspapers.com
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Collection of articles about the triumphs and decline of E.H. Cunningham's sugar empire in Sugar Land

Source: Newspapers.com, Abilene Library Consortium
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Articles pertaining to the sale of the Ellis plantation to the State of Texas. It became the Imperial State Farm

Source: Newspapers.com
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Contract executing the sale of the Ellis plantation to the State of Texas

Source: Legislative Reference Library of Texas
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Testimony given by former Sgt. R. J. Ritchie to the Texas Legislature in Nov. 1909, includes description of the Bullhead Camp Cemetery

Source: Legislative Reference Library of Texas
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Testimony given to the Penitentiary Investigating Committee in 1909 regarding the Cunningham and Imperial Farm camps

Source: Legislative Reference Library of Texas
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Articles showing that the Imperial Sugar Company leased convicts through 1912

Source: The Austin Statesman
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Walker County court transcript from October 1912, Texas Prison Commission vs. The Imperial Sugar Company

Source: Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library
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1950 Houston Chronicle article highlighting Sugar Land's history. Headlined, "Old Plantation Now is Site of Only Sugar Refinery in Texas"

Source: Sugar Land and Fort Bend Historical Papers of Jane McMeans Collection; Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University
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Searchable database that shows how much each government entity spent on prison-made goods and services from 2017-2022

Source: Sugar Land Podcast
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Open letter to the Texas Historical Commission addressing the cemetery name and possible location of the real Bullhead Camp Cemetery

Source: Sugar Land Podcast
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