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Texas History: Jim Well’s word was law in the valley
Twenty-eight-year-old James Babbage Wells, Jr. arrived at the southern tip of Texas on July 22, 1878 with a burning desire to make the most of a fresh start.
The son of a proud but far from prosperous hero of the Lone Star Revolution had been in Brownsville only a few days, when he was surprised by an unexpected offer of employment. Judge Stephen Powers, the man who called the shots in South Texas, needed to replace a junior partner killed in a duel and wanted to know if the newcomer would consid...