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Sam Houston
*** Shopping-Tip: Sam Houston
{{dablink|This article is about the Texan Sam Houston. For information on the Mainer Sam Houston, see
Sam Houston (Maine).}}
Image:samuel houston.jpg thumb|Sam Houston
'''Samuel Houston''' (
March 2,
1793 –
July 26,
1863) 19th century statesman, politician and soldier. Houston was a key figure in the history of
Texas, including President of the
Republic of Texas. As of
2005, Houston was the only person in
U.S. history to have been the
governor of two different
U.S. state states —
Tennessee and
Texas.
Early life
Houston was born in
Rockbridge County, Virginia 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 in
1807, following the death of his father. His mother then took the family to live on Baker Creek, Tenn. He ran away from home in
1809 and resided for a time with the
Cherokee tribe of Chief Oolooteka on Hiwasee 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, Tenn. In March
1813 he joined the
U.S. Army 7th Regiment of Infantry to fight the
United Kingdom British in the
War of 1812. By December of that year he had risen from
Private (rank) 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. Following his recovery he was assigned as an Indian agent to the Cherokees. He left the army in March
1818.
Image:Battle of Horseshoe Bend.jpg thumb|right|Houston was struck by a [[Creek (people)|Creek arrow at the
Battle of Horseshoe Bend.]]
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
United States House of Representatives House of Representatives for Tennessee, where he was a staunch supporter of fellow Tennesseean and
Democratic Party (United States) Democrat Andrew Jackson and was widely considered to be Jackson's political protegé though their treatment of Indians differed greatly.
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 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, Oklahoma 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
Image:Sam Houston at San Jacinto.jpg thumb|left|250px|Houston at the Battle of San Jacinto.
On a trip to
New York City 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
Image:Wiki_samhouston.JPG thumb|1936 stamp issued by the [[United States Postal Service|USPS to commemorate Sam Houston.]]
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
Mexico Mexican state. He attended the Convention of
1833 as representative for
Nacogdoches, Texas Nacogdoches and emerged as a
radicalism radical, supporting William Harris Wharton and his brother. 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 and was soon forced on the retreat in the face of the forces of
Antonio López de Santa Anna. But at the
Battle of San Jacinto on
April 21,
1836 the Mexicans were taken by surprise and badly beaten. Santa Anna was captured the following day. Houston briefly remained for negotiations before retiring to the United States for treatment of an ankle wound.
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.
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, Texas Houston was founded in August 1836 by J.K. and A.C. Allen and named in Houston's honor and served as capital.
Gail Border 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, Texas 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 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
Image:Sam Houston Painting.jpg thumb|left|Sam Houston as a U.S. Senator.
After the
Texas Annexation 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
American Southwest 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
Abolitionism abolitionists, or from the coalition of
Nullification Crisis 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
Image:Sam Houston Grave.jpg thumb|right|Sam Houston's grave in Huntsville, Texas.
He 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 abolitionism, he opposed the
secession of Texas from the Union.
"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
Confederate States of America 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.
"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 Huntsville, 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".'' She would die of
yellow fever on December 3, 1867.
Monuments and museums
Image:Sam_Houston_Huntsville_Statue.jpg thumb|right|66 Foot Tall Statue of Sam Houston in [[Huntsville, Texas.]]
*
Huntsville, Texas is the home of two of Houston's homes, 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) is the title and subject of a
country music song by
Merle Haggard.
*A bronze equestrian sculpture of Houston is located in Houston,Texas.
* The ''Sam Houston Wayside'' near Lexington,Virginia is a 38,000 pound. piece of Texas pink granite commemorating Houston's birthplace.
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
See also
*
Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center
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.
* {{handbookoftexas|id=HH/fho73|name=Samuel Houston}}
-
Sam Houston Memorial Museum
-
Sam Houston's Obituary - The Tri Weekly Telegraph, Houston, Texas July 29, 1863 - TexasBob.com
{{start box}}
{{succession box | title=
List of Governors of Tennessee Governor of Tennessee | before=
William Carroll .html">William Hall Governor of Tennessee
William Hall | years=1827–1829}}
{{succession box | title=
List of Presidents of the Republic of Texas President of the Republic of Texas | before=
David G. Burnet (''ad interim'') | after=
Mirabeau B. Lamar | years=1836–1838}}
{{succession box | title=
List of Presidents of the Republic of Texas President of the Republic of Texas | before=
Mirabeau B. Lamar | after=
Anson Jones | years=1841–1844}}
{{succession box |title=
List of United States Senators from Texas U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Texas | before= none | after=
John Hemphill (politician) John Hemphill | years=1846–1859}}
{{succession box | title=
List of Governors of Texas Governor of Texas | before=
Hardin R. Runnels .html">Edward Clark (governor)
Edward Clark | years=1859–1861}}
{{end box}}
{{TXGovernors}}
{{TNGovernors}}
Category:1793 births Houston, Sam
Category:1863 deaths Houston, Sam
Category:Governors of Tennessee Houston, Sam
Category:Governors of Texas Houston, Sam
Category:Presidents of the Republic of Texas Houston, Sam
Category:People from Texas Houston, Sam
Category:Scottish-Americans Houston, Sam
Category:American lawyers Houston, Sam
Category:United States Senators from Texas Houston, Sam
Category:Freemasons Houston
de:Sam Houston
eo:Sam HOUSTON
ja:サミュエル・ヒューストン
pl:Sam Houston
zh:山姆·休斯顿
*** Shopping-Tip: Sam Houston
