Samuel Carson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Secretary of State of Texas | |
Acting | |
| In office March 18, 1836 – April 29, 1836 | |
| President | David G. Burnet |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Samuel Collinsworth |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNorth Carolina's12th district | |
| In office March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1833 | |
| Preceded by | Robert B. Vance |
| Succeeded by | James Graham |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Samuel Price Carson (1798-01-22)January 22, 1798 |
| Died | November 2, 1838(1838-11-02) (aged 40) Hot Springs, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Political party | National Republican |
Samuel Price Carson (January 22, 1798 – November 2, 1838) was an American political leader and farmer in bothNorth Carolina andTexas. He served asU.S. congressional representative from North Carolina.
He was born atCarson House,Pleasant Gardens, in what is nowMcDowell County, North Carolina, and studied under private tutors in Pleasant Gardens. His family held as many as 60 people in slavery, an unusually high number for the small estates of the area.[1]
He engaged in agricultural pursuits and was a member of theNorth Carolina Senate from 1822 to 1824. Carson was elected as a Jacksonian to the Nineteenth and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1833), but lost re-election in 1833. He was then again elected to the state senate in 1834 and served as a delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1835.
Robert Brank Vance was mortally wounded by Samuel Price Carson, who challenged him to a duel, fought atSaluda Gap, North Carolina, because of a derogatory remark made during the1827 campaign.[2]
Carson married Catherine Wilson on May 10, 1831, and they had a daughter together. They also adopted his illegitimate daughter by way of their neighbor Emma Trout.[3]
By 1836, he had moved to Texas, and was elected by his neighbors to theConvention of 1836, where he signed both theTexas Declaration of Independence and theConstitution of the Republic of Texas. The convention also established an interim or acting government for the republic, which was still at war in rebellion against Mexico. They considered him for president, but electedDavid G. Burnet, instead, by six votes more than Carson received.[4][page needed] In a later vote they elected Carson the Secretary of State. President Burnet sent him toWashington, DC, to lead a team to negotiate for recognition of and aid for Texas, then later namedJames Collinsworth to replace him as secretary of state. When Carson learned of this from a newspaper, he simply went home.[5]
Later, when borders were formalized, Carson's home was identified as part ofMiller County, Arkansas. He died inHot Springs, Arkansas, and is buried in the Government Cemetery there.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNorth Carolina's 12th congressional district 1825–1833 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| New office | Secretary of State of Texas Acting 1836 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
