|
|
|
|
General Sam Houston: A Texas
Hero
|
|
| |
|
Samuel Houston (March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was a 19th century American statesman, politician, and soldier. Born
on Timber Ridge, just north of Lexington in Rockbridge County, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley, Houston was
a key figure in the history of Texas, including periods as President of the Republic of Texas, Senator for Texas
after it joined the United States, and finally as governor.
General Houston led the Texas Army in the Battle of San Jacinto - the decisive victory of the Texas Revolution.
Sam Houston was born on his family's plantation near Timber Ridge Church, outside Lexington, Virginia, in Rockbridge
County, to Major Samuel Houston and Elizabeth Paxton. He was one of nine children. His father was a member of Morgan's
Rifle Brigade during the American Revolutionary War. He was of Scots-Irish descent.
Receiving only a basic education, he immigrated with his family to Maryville, Tennessee following the death of
his father in 1807. His mother then took the family to live on Baker Creek, Tennessee. He ran away from home in
1809 and resided for a time with the Cherokee tribe of Chief Oolooteka on Hiwassee Island. He was adopted into
the Cherokee Nation and given the name Colonneh or "the Raven". (Note: Where our ATV Club gets its name)
He returned to Maryville in 1812 at the age of 19 and founded a one-room schoolhouse. This was the first school
ever built in Tennessee, which had become a state in 1796. |
|
|
|
| |
In 1812 Houston came to boot camp in Knoxville, Tennessee, enlisting
into the 7th Regiment of Infantry to fight the British in the War of 1812. By December of that year, he had risen
from private to third lieutenant. At the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in March 1814 he was wounded by a Creek arrow.
His wound was bandaged, and he rejoined the fight.
When Andrew Jackson called on volunteers to dislodge a group of Red Sticks (Creek Indians) from their breastworks
(fortifications), Houston volunteered, but during the assault, he was struck by a bullet in the shoulder and arm.
He then returned to Knoxville as a disabled veteran, but later took the army's offer of free surgery and convalescenced
in a New Orleans, Louisiana, hospital. Houston became close to Jackson, even joining Jackson's Masonic lodge, Cumberland
Lodge No. 8, in 1817. Following his recovery he was assigned as an Indian agent to the Cherokees. He left the army
in March 1818.
Following six months of study at the office of Judge James Trimble he passed the Nashville bar exam, after which
he opened a legal practice in Lebanon, Tennessee. He was made attorney general of the Nashville district in late
1818 and was also given a command in the state militia. In 1822 he was elected to the House of Representatives
for Tennessee, where he was a staunch supporter of fellow Tennessean and Democrat Andrew Jackson and was widely
considered to be Jackson's political protégé though their treatment of Indians differed greatly.
He was a congressman from 1823 to 1827. In 1827 he declined to run for re-election to Congress and instead ran
for, and won, the office of governor of Tennessee, defeating the former governor, William Carroll. He planned to
stand for re-election in 1828, but resigned after marrying eighteen year old Eliza Allen. The marriage was forced
by Eliza's father, Colonel John Allen, and never blossomed into a relationship. Houston and Eliza separated shortly
after the marriage, for reasons Houston refused to discuss to the end of his life, and divorced in 1837, after
he became President of Texas.
On a trip to New York and Washington, D.C. on business, Houston became embroiled in a fight with an anti-Jacksonian
Congressman. While Houston was in Washington in April 1832, Congressman William Stanbery of Ohio made accusations
about Houston in a speech on the floor of Congress. Stanbery was attacking Jackson through Houston and accused
Houston of being in league with John Von Fossen and Congressman Robert S. Rose.
The three men bid on the supplying of rations to Indians who were being forcibly removed because of Jackson's Indian
Removal Act of 1830. Stanbery, now carrying two pistols and a dirk, refused to answer Houston's letters; infuriated,
Houston later confronted Stanbery on Pennsylvania Avenue as he left Mrs. Queen's boardinghouse and proceeded to
beat him with a hickory cane. Stanbery did manage to draw one of his pistols, place it at Houston's chest and pull
the trigger—the gun misfired.
On April 17 Congress ordered the arrest of Houston, who pleaded self-defense, and hired Francis Scott Key as his
lawyer. Houston was found guilty in the high profile trial, but thanks to high placed friends (among them James
K. Polk), he was only lightly reprimanded. Stanbery then filed charges against Houston in civil court. Judge William
Cranch found Houston liable and fined him $500, a fine he never paid before leaving the country.
Sam Houston spent time among the Cherokee and married a Cherokee widow named Tiana Rogers Gentry, and set up a
trading post (Wigwam Neosho near Fort Gibson, Cherokee Nation), apparently drinking heavily the entire time. During
this time he was interviewed by Alexis De Tocqueville. His alleged drunkenness and abandonment of his office and
wife caused a rift with his mentor Andrew Jackson, which would not be healed for several years.
The publicity surrounding the trial resurrected Houston's political reputation, and he left the Cherokee and his
wife, Diana Rodgers, also known as Tiana Rodgers, to enter Mexican Texas in December 1832. Houston had asked his
wife, Tiana, to accompany him to Texas, but she wanted to settle down and preferred to stay at the log cabin and
trading post. Tiana later remarried a man named Sam McGrady, but died of pneumonia in 1838. Houston did not remarry
until after her death. After reaching Mexican Texas he was immediately swept up in the politics of the Mexican
state. There has been speculation over the years that Houston went to Texas at the behest of President Andrew Jackson
to seek the annexation of the territory for the United States.
Houston attended the Convention of 1833 as representative for Nacogdoches and emerged as a supporter of William
Harris Wharton and his brother who supported complete independence from Mexico, the more radical stance of those
represented. He also attended the Consultation of 1835. He was made a Major General, of the Texas Army in November
1835, then Commander-in-Chief in March 1836 at the convention which met at Washington-on-the-Brazos to declare
Texan Independence. He negotiated a settlement with the Cherokee in February 1836. |
| |
|
Sam Houston has been noted for his life among the Cherokees
and - near the end of his life - for his opposition to the American Civil War, a position which was a very unpopular
in his day.
Following the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2, 1836, Houston joined his volunteer army at Gonzales,
but was soon forced to retreat in the face of the forces of Mexican General and dictator Antonio López de
Santa Anna, whose army killed all those at The Alamo Mission during the Battle of the Alamo on March 6.
At the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836, however, Houston surprised Santa Anna and the Mexican forces during
their afternoon siesta. Badly beaten, Santa Anna was forced to sign the Treaty of Velasco, granting Texas independence.
Although Houston stayed on briefly for negotiations, he returned to the United States for treatment of a wound
to his ankle.
Houston was twice elected president of the Republic of Texas, the first time on September 5, 1836. He served from
October 22, 1836, to December 10, 1838, and again from December 12, 1841 to December 9, 1844. On December 20, 1837,
Houston presided over the convention of Freemasons that formed the Grand Lodge of the Republic of Texas, now the
Grand Lodge of Texas. |
|
|
|
|
1963 stamp issued by the USPS to commemorate
Sam Houston.
|
|
|
| |
In 1854, Houston, having earlier made a profession of Christian
faith, was baptized by the Baptist minister, Rufus C. Burleson, who was later the president of Baylor University,
then Baylor College. At the time Burleson was the pastor of the Independence, Texas, Baptist Church in Washington
County, which Houston and his wife attended. Houston was also a close friend of another Baylor president and Burleson's
predecessor as pastor at the Independence church, the Reverend George Washington Baines, maternal great-grandfather
of Lyndon B. Johnson.
In 1862, Houston returned to Huntsville, Texas, and rented the Steamboat House; the hills in Huntsville reminded
him of his boyhood home near Maryville, Tennessee.
His health deteriorated quickly over the next few months as he developed a persistent cough. In mid-July, Houston
was struck with a severe chill which progressed into pneumonia. Despite the efforts of Dr. Markham and Kittrell,
on July 26, 1863, at 6:16 p.m, Houston died quietly in his Steamboat House with his wife Margaret by his side.
His last recorded words were "Texas. Texas. Margaret". The inscription on his tomb reads:
A Brave Soldier. A Fearless Statesman.
A Great Orator – A Pure Patriot.
A Faithful Friend, A Loyal Citizen.
A Devoted Husband and Father.
A Consistent Christian – An Honest Man.
While Sam Houston is buried in Huntsville, Texas, his wife Margaret Lea is buried in the City of Independence,
Texas. |
| |
|
Other Interesting Facts:
- A bronze equestrian sculpture of Houston is located in Hermann
Park in Houston, Texas (from which General Sam's Offroad Park's logo is derrived.)
- The Sam Houston Wayside near Lexington, Virginia, is a 38,000-pound piece of Texas pink granite commemorating Houston's
birthplace.
- The Sam Houston Schoolhouse in Maryville, Tennessee, is Tennessee's oldest schoolhouse. In addition
to the schoolhouse there is a museum on the grounds.
- The USS Sam Houston, an Ethan Allen class submarine, was
named after Houston.
- The Sam Houston National Forest, one of four national forests in Texas, was named after Houston.
- The Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center, located outside of Liberty, Texas has the largest known collection
of photographs and illustrations of Houston.
- Fort Sam
Houston in San Antonio, Texas, is named after
Houston.
- Many cities in the U.S. have a street, school, or park named
for Houston.
- The State of Texas has placed a statue of Sam Houston inside
Statuary Hall of the United States Capitol.
- The Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston, Texas, is named after
Houston. The Beatles performed there in 1965.
- There is a mural depicting Sam Houston on a gas tank near
State Hwy 225 in Houston.
- Sam Houston Elementary School in Lebanon, TN.
- A bust of Sam Houston is located inside the Virginia State
Capitol Building in Richmond, Virginia
- http://www.samhouston.org
- http://www.heartsmuseum.com
- Sam
Houston Memorial Museum & Park Complex
|
| |
| Special Note: Huntsville became the home of
Sam Houston, who served as President of the Republic of Texas, Governor of the State of Texas, Governor of Tennessee,
U.S. Senator, and Tennessee congressman. Located in Huntsville are two of Houston's homes, his grave, and the Sam Houston
Memorial Museum. Houston's life in Huntsville
is also commemorated by his namesake Sam Houston State University,
and also by a 67 ft. statue entitled "Tribute to Courage" by artist David Adickes which has been described as the
world's largest statue of an American hero, and is easily viewed by travelers on the Interstate 45 freeway. |
| |
|
|
