My great-great grandfather was Henry Strickland White Sr. (born ca 1812 Al or Ga or Miss, died 1886 in Sabine County, TX, buried Gravel Hill Cemetery). The book SABINE COUNTY HISTORICAL SKETCHES AND GENEALOGICAL RECORDS by White and Toole says that "Edward White and Elizabeth Strickland White were the parents of Henry Strickland White who was JUDGE OF SABINE COUNTY from 1869-1875, serving with Solomon Arthur. (They were called Chief Magistrates until the new State Constitution went into effect at the end of their term). Henry S. White was also a member of the Littleton Fowler Masonic Lodge in Sabine County, and since the White plantation lay just west of Hemphill, he was the last of the "paderos" for the return of run-a-way slaves in the county." I have some questions that I hope someone with a better background can help me with. 1) In his book SABINE COUNTY TEXAS THE FIRST ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS (1836-1986), Robert Cecil McDaniel states that "the office (of County Judge) was abolished by the Constituion of 1869, but was reestablished by the Constituion of 1876" and he goes on to list all the county judges, and no one is listed for the period of 1869-1875. He does not mention the office of Chief Magistrate. Does anyone know anything about that office, and how I could confirm or deny that HS White served in that capacity. If he served, would this have been an office appointed by the provisional governor after the end of the Civil War? 2) I don't find any CSA service records for him, and I assume that as he was about 50 at the time of the outbreak of the war this would not be unusual, or would it? Did even older men enlist in some sort of home guard? 3) What does "paderos" mean? (I have a feeling that I am not going to like the defination, based on the context in which it was used. Thanks for any suggestion or advice. Melinda McLemore Strong P.S. I am a descendant of HS White by his third wife, Mary Etta "Polly" Vardeman.