Sam Houston
- For the professional wrestler see Michael Smith.
Samuel Houston (March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was a 19th century American statesman, politician and soldier. The Virginia-born 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 Union, and finally as governor. Although a slave owner and opponent of abolitionism, his unionist convictions meant he refused to swear loyalty to the Confederacy when Texas seceded from the Union, bringing his governorship to an end. To avoid bloodshed, he refused an offer of an army to put down the rebellion, and instead retired to Huntsville, Texas, where he died before the end of the war.
His earlier life included emigration to Tennessee, time spent with the Cherokee Nation (into which he was adopted and later married into), military service in the War of 1812, and subsequent successful involvement in Tennessee politics. Indeed, as of 2006, Houston has been the only person in U.S. history to have been the governor of two different states, Tennessee and Texas. A fight with a Congressman, followed by a high profile trial, led to his emigration to Mexican Texas, where he soon became a leader of the Texas Revolution. He supported annexation by the United States rather than seeking long term independence and expansion for Texas. The city of Houston was named after him during this period. Houston's reputation survived his death: posthumous commemoration has included a memorial museum, a U.S. Army base, an historical park, a university, and the largest statue of an American hero.
Early life
Houston was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, to Major Samuel Houston and Elizabeth Paxton and was one of nine children. His father was a member of Morgan's Rifle Brigade during the American Revolutionary War.
Receiving only a basic education, he emigrated 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 Colleneh or "the Raven".
In 1812 Houston became a school teacher for six months in Maryville, Tennessee. In March 1813 he joined the U.S. Army 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 from their breastworks, Houston volunteered, but during the assault was struck by a bullet in the shoulder and arm. Houston became very 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 he opened a legal practice in Lebanon, Tennessee. He was made attorney general of the Nashville district in late 1818 and 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 Tennesseean 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. He was re-elected in 1824. 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, Willie Blount. He planned to stand for re-election in 1828, but resigned after marrying eighteen year old Eliza Allen. The marriage was forced by Allen's father, Colonel John Allen, and never blossomed into a relationship. Houston and Allen separated shortly after the marriage, when Houston accused his wife of infidelity, and divorced in 1837, after he became President of Texas.
He spent time among the Cherokee, 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. 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.
Politics
On a trip to New York and Washington, DC 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 Rose.
The three men bid on the supplying of rations to immigrating Indians due to 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 pull one of his pistols, place it at Houston's chest and pulled the trigger - the gun misfired.
On 17 April Congress ordered the arrest of Houston, who pleaded self-defense, and hired Francis Scott Key as his lawyer; however, Houston was found guilty in the high profile trial, but thanks to high placed friends, James K. Polk among them, was only lightly reprimanded. Stanbery then filed charges against Houston in civil court which Judge William Cranch found him liable and fined him $500. Houston never paid the fine and left the country.
Life in Texas
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. He was immediately swept up in the politics of the Mexican state. He 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. He negotiated a settlement with the Cherokee in February 1836.
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, the Mexicans were taken by surprise and badly beaten by Houston and his forces; Santa Anna was captured the following day. Houston stayed on briefly for negotiations, before returning to the United States for treatment of a wound to his ankle.
Using his popularity, Houston was twice elected president of the Republic of Texas on September 5, 1836 and served from October 22, 1836 to December 10, 1838, and from December 12, 1841 to December 9, 1844. On 20 December 1837, Houston presided over the convention of Freemasons that formed the Grand Lodge of the Republic of Texas, now the Grand Lodge of Texas.
He put down the Cordova Rebellion of 1838 and while initially seeking annexation by the U.S. he dropped that hope during his first term. In his second term, he strove for financial prudence and worked to make peace with the Indians and avoid war with Mexico, following the two invasions of 1842. He had to act over the Regulator-Moderator War of 1844 and sent in the militia. The settlement of Houston was founded in August 1836 by brothers J.K. Allen and A.C. Allen and named in Houston's honor and served as capital. Gail Borden helped lay out Houston's streets.
The city of Houston served as the capital until President Mirabeau Lamar signed a measure moving the capital to Austin on 14 January 1839. Between his presidential terms (the constitution did not allow a president to serve consecutive terms), he was a representative in the Texas House of Representatives for San Augustine. He was a major critic of President Mirabeau Lamar, who advocated continuing independence of Texas and its extension to the Pacific Ocean.
On 9 May 1840, in Marion, Alabama, Houston married Margaret Moffette Lea with whom he had eight children. He was 47 and she was 21. Margaret acted as a tempering influence on Houston.
U.S. Senator
After the annexation of Texas by the United States in 1845, he was elected to the U.S. Senate along with Thomas Jefferson Rusk. Houston served there from February 21, 1846 until March 4, 1859. He was a Senator during the Mexican-American War, when the U.S. acquired from Mexico vast new territory in the Southwest.
Throughout his term in the Senate, Houston spoke out against the growing sectionalism of the country, and blamed the extremists of both the North and South, saying: "Whatever is calculated to weaken or impair the strength of [the] Union, — whether originating at the North or the South, — whether arising from the incendiary violence of abolitionists, or from the coalition of nullifiers, will never meet with my unqualified approval."
Houston supported the Oregon Bill in 1848, which was opposed by many Southerners. In his passionate speech in support of the Compromise of 1850, Houston said "A nation divided against itself cannot stand". Eight years later, Abraham Lincoln would express a similar sentiment.
Houston opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, and correctly predicted that it would cause a sectional rift in the country that would eventually lead to war: "…what fields of blood, what scenes of horror, what mighty cities in smoke and ruins — it is brother murdering brother… I see my beloved South go down in the unequal contest, in a sea of blood and smoking ruin." He was considered a potential candidate for president. But, despite the fact that he was a slave-owner, his strong Unionism and opposition to the extension of slavery alienated the Texas legislature and other southern States. He was a lame duck senator from 1857.
Houston in the 1850s-1860s
He twice ran for governor of Texas, unsuccessfully in 1857 and successfully against Hardin R. Runnels in 1859 as a Unionist, making him the only person in U.S. history to be the governor of two different states. Despite Houston being a slave owner and against abolition, he opposed the secession of Texas from the Union. In 1860, he offered the following prediction: "Let me tell you what is coming. After the sacrifice of countless millions of treasure and hundreds of thousands of lives you may win Southern independence, but I doubt it. The North is determined to preserve this Union." Notwithstanding Houston's wishes, Texas seceded from the United States on February 1, 1861, and joined the Confederate States of America March 2, 1861. The political forces that brought about Texas's secession also were powerful enough to replace her Unionist governor. Houston chose not to resist, stating that, "I love Texas too well to bring civil strife and bloodshed upon her. To avert this calamity, I shall make no endeavor to maintain my authority as Chief Executive of this State, except by the peaceful exercise of my functions...." He was evicted from his office on March 16, 1861 for refusing to take an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy, writing
"Fellow-Citizens, in the name of your rights and liberties, which I believe have been trampled upon, I refuse to take this oath. In the name of the nationality of Texas, which has been betrayed by the Convention, I refuse to take this oath. In the name of the Constitution of Texas, I refuse to take this oath. In the name of my own conscience and manhood, which this Convention would degrade by dragging me before it, to pander to the malice of my enemies....I refuse to take this oath."
He was replaced by Lieutenant Governor Edward Clark. To avoid more bloodshed in Texas, Houston turned down US Colonel Frederick W. Lander's offer from President Lincoln of 50,000 troops to prevent Texas's secession, stating in his response, "Allow me to most respectfully decline any such assistance of the United States Government."
Final years
In 1862 Houston retired to his farm in Huntsville, Texas, because the hills there 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 Drs. 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.
Monuments and museums
- Huntsville, Texas is the home of the Sam Houston Memorial Museum, a 66 ft statue, Sam Houston State University, and Houston's gravesite. The statue (which is the world's largest statue of an American hero, easily visible by motorists traveling on Interstate 45) is the title and subject of a country music song by Merle Haggard.
- A bronze equestrian sculpture of Houston is located in Hermann Park in Houston, Texas.
- 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.
- USS Sam Houston (SSBN-609), a Ethan Allen class submarine, was named after Houston.
- The Sam Houston National Forest, one of four national forests in Texas, was named after Houston. [1]
- 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 is named after Houston.
- Many cities in the U.S. have a street, school, or park named for Houston.
Children
- Sam Houston, Jr., 1843-1894
- Nancy Elizabeth, 1846-1920
- Margaret Lea, 1848-1906
- Mary William, 1850-1931
- Antionette Power, 1852-1932
- Andrew Jackson Houston, 1854-1941
- William Rogers Houston, 1858-1880s?
- Temple Lea Houston, 1860-1905
References
- Sam Houston, Haley, James L., University of Oklahoma Press: ISBN 0-806-13644-8
- Sword of San Jacinto, Marshall De Bruhl, Random House: ISBN 0-394-57623-3
- The Texas Revolution; Brinkley, William, Texas A&M Press: ISBN 0-876-11041-3
- The Eagle and the Raven; Michener, James A., State House Press: ISBN 0-938-34957-0
- The Raven: A Biography of Sam Houston; James, Marquis; University of Texas Press: ISBN 0-292-77040-5
- Andrew Jackson-His Life and Times; Brands, H.W.; Doubleday; ISBN 0-385-50738-0
External links
- Roosevelt and Sam Houston - story about President Roosevelt's experience with Sam Houston
- Congressional biography
- Life of General Houston, 1793-1863 published 1891, hosted by the Portal to Texas History.
- Sam Houston ; David Crockett. published 1901, hosted by the Portal to Texas History.
- Samuel Houston from the Handbook of Texas Online
- Sam Houston Memorial Museum
- Sam Houston's Obituary - The Tri Weekly Telegraph, Houston, Texas July 29, 1863 - TexasBob.com
- Sam Houston Historic Schoolhouse in Maryville, TN USA
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