Fourth Kendall County Sheriff- July 1866 - May 1869
Andrew H. Barter was born in Hallowell, Kennebec County, Maine in 1826 where he pursued the life of a sailor. Shortly, before the Civil War A. H. and his family moved to Texas and by the early 1860s, he is living in Kendall County. A. H. was a deputy sheriff with Sheriff C. F. Schuchardt and became Sheriff in 1866. An interesting document recorded in the Kendall County Deeds Records dated 1866 gives A. H. Barter power of attorney for Enoch Train of Boston, Massachusetts. Before the war, Enoch Train, a large shipbuilder in Boston, purchased land in the Boerne area. When war broke out, the Confederate government confiscated all land "owned by an alien enemy." A. H. was to "claim, recover and obtain for me from any and all persons...all sheep and personal property...belonging to me which has at any time been taken, seized, or removed by the authority or officers...of the so-called Confederate States." During Sheriff Barter's term of office, the reconstruction government was in constant turmoil. When Joseph J. Reynolds was in command, he issued orders, "to remove more than 400 county officials in fifty-seven counties across the state." These officials were forced to leave by the end of April 1869. In May 1869, A. H. was disqualified from serving as Sheriff. There is no record of why he was disqualified, but the orders from Joseph J. Reynolds may have played a part in him leaving the office. The only evidence that he served in the Confederate Army was his response recorded in the 1867 Voter Register where he stated, "was forced in Reb Army, good Union man." Several years after his wife died, he moved to Bandera County to live with his oldest daughter and her family. While living there, he served as Commissioner of Precinct #3 and later Commissioner of Precinct #2. He was commissioner of Precinct #2 when the Bandera County Court House was completed in 1891.
Source: Tomlinson, Richard, Carla Chagaris, Kathryn Adam Hurst. "Andrew H. "A.H." Barter"
Keys to the Past. Vol. XXXVIII No. 1, Spring/Summer 2019.
