Interesting bit og history there. I would rather live in Texas any day rather then up north. We tried it for about a year and quickly moved back. I do have another question.... how tall where your plants when you drop them in the ground. And did you use any special mixture?
Mine were 4-5". Not so much a special mix, but lots of details. In Dallas I would say if you're not in the ground soon/now, the cool/cold is going to disappoint you. Look up your first and last frost dates, I'm already planing to be in the ground for mid March next year, you'll probably be a few weeks after that. Figure out why and what you want to grow, for me it was for cigarettes so I'm heavy into Virginia's. Tobacco is a well studied plant, read, read and read some more. Plan for water, too little/normal/too much/way too much, run off from some higher ground has almost done me in this year. With the wind in Dallas, you might want to consider stakes. And stay away from Urea fertilizers, at least for seedlings.
I've never really grown anything before this and came real close to success. Every gardener I've ever met has been real anal, I can see why. Good luck and welcome to the wilder bunch of tobacco growers, they're a great bunch of guys. If you can't get all the help you need here, I don't know where to point you.