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Preceded by Interim President David G. Burnet 2nd President Mirabeau B. Lamar Preceded by 5th Governor William Carroll Preceded by 6th Governor Hardin Richard Runnels Office Established at Statehood December 29, 1845 |
Sam Houston 1st President of the Republic of Texas 1836 3rd President 1841—1844 6th Governor of Tennessee 1827—1829 7th Governor of Texas 1859—1861 US Senator (Class 2) from Texas Vacant December 29, 1845 – February 21, 1846 as the Texas legislature did not elect its Senators until two months after statehood.1846—1859 |
Succeeded by 2nd President Mirabeau B. Lamar 4th President Anson Jones Succeeded by 7th Governor William Hall Succeeded by 8th Governor Edward Clark Succeeded by John Hemphill |
Contents |
General Sam Houston was the first President of Texas, and an important part of much of early Texas' history.[1][2]
Samuel Houston was born to Major Samuel Houston and Elizabeth Paxton, on Timber Ridge in Rockbridge County, Virginia on 2 March 1793.[3][1]
After the death of his father, Sam's mother moved the family to Baker Creek, Tennessee.[3][1] Despite his deep love and respect for his mother, Sam ran away at the age of 15 and was soon in the company of the Cherokee Tribe of Chief Oolooteka.[3][4][5] The tribe adopted young Sam and bestowed upon him the name "Colonneh", which means "the raven."[3][4] Many of his most admired traits were honed during his time with the tribe.[4][6]
When Sam was 19 years old, he returned to Maryville, Tennessee, where he built the first school structure in that state after its inception into the Union.[3][7][2] Later, Sam became an attorney and set up a practice in Lebanon, Tennessee.[3][7][1] In 1818, he became Attorney General for the Nashville District.[7][1]
In 1822, Sam was elected to the House of Representatives for the State of Tennessee and held that seat until 1827.[3][7][1] He later served as Governor of Tennessee, but resigned following his first wife Eliza's leaving him, and headed first to his adopted family in the Cherokee Nation where he was made a citizen, then on to Texas.[3][7][4][5][1]
Santa Anna surrenders to Houston |
Sam served as a General in Texas' battle for independence from Mexico, eventually leading them to victory.[3] He was at the Convention which met at Washington on the Brazos in 1836 to declare independence from Mexico and he was a signatory of the Texas Declaration of Independence.[1] It was there that Houston was elected commander-in-chief of the armies of Texas.[3][1][6]
Sam is most famous as a key historical figure in the history of Texas. He was elected the first president of the Republic of Texas in 1836, and served two terms.[3][1] He was a U.S. Senator for Texas after it joined the United States, and later the governor.[1] He fought to keep Texas in the Union leading up to the U.S. Civil War, but lost, and lost his job as Governor as well.[3][1] After the Confederacy removed him as Governor, he retired from public life.[3][1]
On January 22, 1829, Sam married 19-year-old Eliza Allen, the daughter of Colonel John Allen of Gallatin, Tennessee.[8][9][5] Eliza left Sam after only a few months of marriage.[9][5] Under civil law, he was still legally married to her until he was able to officially divorce her in 1837.[2]
Sam next married, supposedly in a Cherokee ceremony, Tiana (some say "Diana" or "Tialina") Rogers Gentry, daughter of Chief John Headman Hellfire Rogers and Jennie Due, a sister of Chief John Jolly (Houston's adopted Cherokee father),[4][2] and widow of David Gentry.[9][5] She had two children from her previous marriage to David Gentry Jr: Gabriel, born 1819, and Joanna, born 1822. In 1832, Samuel left the life with the Cherokees and the marriage to Tiana to go to Texas;[6] Tiana chose not to accompany him to Texas.[2][10][11] Tiana later married John McGrady.[9][5][2]
On May 9, 1840, Houston married again, to 21-year-old Margaret Moffett Lea of Marion, Alabama, despite her family's and his associates' objections.[12] This marriage stuck, and they had eight children together.[9][5][2] Margaret served as a tempering influence on her much older husband and eventually even convinced him to stop drinking, and convert from the Catholicism he'd taken up in order to procure land in Mexico, to her Baptist beliefs.[2]
Sam's health deteriorated in 1863 due to a persistent cough which developed into pneumonia and led to his death.[9][2] Samuel Houston died at home on July 26, 1863 at Steamboat House, with Margaret by his side.[3][9][5][1] He was buried in Huntsville, Texas, where he had lived in retirement.[3][1]
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.
A gun once owned or used by Sam Houston is in the Schwend Gun Collection.[13]
There are numerous monuments and places named for Sam Houston. One of the most prominent is the city of Houston, Texas. Minnesota, Tennessee, and of course Texas all have named counties in Sam Houston's honor. There are several other towns and buildings, as well as a battle ship all named for his memory.[2]
In Huntsville, Texas a 67 foot statue memorializes him. He is buried in Oakwood Cemetery at Huntsville. [14]
Please see Slaves of Sam Houston for further information.
See Also:
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Sam is 24 degrees from Herbert Adair, 22 degrees from Richard Adams, 16 degrees from Mel Blanc, 25 degrees from Dick Bruna, 19 degrees from Bunny DeBarge, 32 degrees from Peter Dinklage, 17 degrees from Sam Edwards, 15 degrees from Ginnifer Goodwin, 17 degrees from Marty Krofft, 15 degrees from Junius Matthews, 14 degrees from Rachel Mellon and 18 degrees from Harold Warstler on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
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Edit: found sufficient if not yet original sources to support the marriage.
edited by Jillaine Smith
""Tiana was his wife," James wrote, "her barbaric beauty a part of the solace he had found, as he said, amid 'the lights and shadows of forest life.'" After three and one-half years with the Cherokees he left for Texas in late 1832."
Does anyone have Marquis James' biography of Houston? It's called "The Raven : a biography of Sam Houston"
Edit: found it: Marquis James, The Raven, A Biography of Sam Houston, Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company (1929), p 140...And especially starting on page 150. Link
edited by Jillaine Smith
-- Jillaine, co-leader, WikiTree's Native Americans Project
Sam Houston was great friends with my 3rd great-grandfather, Samuel MAYES whom was adopted into the Cherokee and moved before the Trail of Tears with one/his first wife Nancy Adair (he also had a wife Ahniwake "Annie" SPIRIT Mayes Snell) after moving to Oklahoma (she came by way of the Trail during the forced removal with her family). Sam Houston would often visit the home of Samuel MAYES on his travels to Texas according to a few records I have. Samuel Mayes, named one of his sons, Samuel Houston Mayes after his friend, Sam Houston. Samuel Houston Mayes became of two of his sons that served as Chiefs of the Cherokee Nation.
This information was awesome! Thank you Texas Project.
"I would give no thought of what the world might say of me, if I could only transmit to posterity the reputation of an honest man." -- Sam Houston