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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

Biography

Sam Houston is Notable.

General Sam Houston was the first President of Texas, and an important part of much of early Texas' history.^[1][2]

Early Years

Samuel Houston was born toMajor Samuel Houston andElizabeth 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 theCherokee 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]

Politician and Patriot

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 theConvention 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]

Family

On January 22, 1829, Sam married 19-year-oldEliza 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 ofChief John Headman Hellfire Rogers andJennie Due, a sister of ChiefJohn 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-oldMargaret 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]

Death and Legacy

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 atSteamboat 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]

Slaves

Please seeSlaves of Sam Houston for further information.

Friends & Associates

On FindAGrave, there is a note onIsaac Anderson White's biography that Isaac's family lived next door to young Sam Houston after Sam's mother moved the family to Tennessee, "During Sam's teenage years he left his family and went to live with the Cherokee. Eventually they learned that Sam had crossed the Tennessee River and was living with the Indians. Elizabeth Houston sent her older boys to bring him back. Isaac was one of the three who accompanied two of Sam Houston's brothers into the Cherokee Nation to search for the young Sam, who had run away and joined the Indians. It is certain that Isaac White knew the young Sam Houston personally."

Sources

1. ↑^{1.001.011.021.031.041.051.061.071.081.091.101.111.121.131.14}Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
2. ↑^{2.02.12.22.32.42.52.62.72.82.9} Wikipedia Contributors,"Samuel Houston", Wikipedia.com, accessed 30 Aug 2017.
3. ↑^{3.003.013.023.033.043.053.063.073.083.093.103.113.123.133.14}FindaGrave Memorial #510, Samuel Houston
4. ↑^{4.04.14.24.34.4} Krystyniak, Frank,"Houston and Native Americans", SHSU.edu, accessed 30 Aug 2017.
5. ↑^{5.05.15.25.35.45.55.65.7} Krystyniak, Frank,"The Women in Houston's Life", SHSU.edu, accessed 30 Aug 2017.
6. ↑^6.06.16.2https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/houston-sam
7. ↑^{7.07.17.27.37.4} Krystyniak,Frank,"Sam Houston-Schoolmaster", SHSU.edu, accessed 30 Aug 2017
8. ↑ "New Jersey Marriages, 1678-1985", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZJP-QTY : 20 January 2020), Samuel Houston, 1829.
9. ↑^{9.09.19.29.39.49.59.6} Causey, Donna, "Gen. Sam Houston Married in Alabama", Alabama Pioneers Web Site
10. ↑ Marquis James,The Raven, A Biography of Sam Houston, Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company (1929), p. 140...And especially starting on page 150.Link
11. ↑https://www.shsu.edu/today@sam/samhouston/WoHou.html
12. ↑ "Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2DQ-PWP9 : 28 November 2018), Samuel Houston and Margaret M Lea, 09 May 1840; citing Perry, Alabama, United States, County Probate Courts, Alabama; FHL microfilm 1,290,271.
13. ↑https://www.schwendguns.us /
14. ↑http://www.americaslibrary.gov/es/tx/es_tx_houston_1.html

• 1898-1914 Census: "Oklahoma and Indian Territory, U.S., Dawes Census Cards for Five Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914"
  The National Archives at Fort Worth; Fort Worth, Texas; Enrollment Cards, 1898-1914; NAI Number: 251747; Record Group Title: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs; Record Group Number: 75
  Ancestry Sharing Link -Ancestry Record 60543 #1172811 (accessed 21 August 2022)
  Saml Houston.
• 1820 Census: "1820 United States Federal Census"
  Fourth Census of the United States, 1820; Census Place: Lexington, Rockbridge, Virginia; Page: 286; NARA Roll: M33_130; Image: 521
  Ancestry Sharing Link -Ancestry Record 7734 #10846 (accessed 24 January 2024)
  Saml Houston in Lexington, Rockbridge, Virginia, USA. 10 slaves
• 1830 Census: "1830 United States Federal Census"
  Year: 1830; Census Place: Rockbridge, Virginia; Series: M19; Roll: 199; Page: 308; Family History Library Film: 0029678
  Ancestry Sharing Link -Ancestry Record 8058 #928489 (accessed 24 January 2024)
  Saml Houston in Rockbridge, Virginia. 13 slaves
• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXLP-2ZH : 4 April 2020), Sam Houston, Walker county, Walker, Texas, United States; citing family 463, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
• 1850 Census: "1850 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules"
  The National Archive in Washington DC; Washington, DC; NARA Microform Publication: M432; Title: Seventh Census Of The United States, 1850; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29
  Ancestry Sharing Link -Ancestry Record 8055 #92496040 (accessed 21 August 2022)
  Sam Houston in Walker, Texas, USA. (12 enslaved)
• "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXFK-19W : 18 March 2020), Sam Houston, 1860.
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/510/sam-houston: accessed 21 August 2022), memorial page for Sam Houston (2 Mar 1793–26 Jul 1863), Find a Grave Memorial ID 510, citing Oakwood Cemetery, Huntsville, Walker County, Texas, USA; Maintained by Find a Grave.
• "HOUSTON, SAMUEL." The Handbook of Texas Online.http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/HH/fho73.html [Accessed 9/1/120 2:47 P.M. ]. Copyright ©, The Texas State Historical Association, 1997-2002
• https://www.history.com/topics/mexico/sam-houston
• Houston's children
• History of Sam Houston

See Also:

• Joshua (Unknown) Houston (abt.1822-1902) andFrom Slave to Statesman: The Legacy of Joshua Houston, Servant to Sam Houston by Patricia Smith Prather and Jane Clements Monday, University of North Texas Press, 1995
• Williams, John H. (1994), Sam Houston: Life and Times of Liberator of Texas an Authentic American Hero, New York, NY: Touchstone, p. 316, ISBN 0-671-88071-3
• Landregan, Steve. "Catholics Played Roles in Texas History." The Texas Catholic [Dallas, Texas] 18 Dec. 2015, Vol. 65, No. 9 ed.: 6. Print.
• "United States Registers of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJD5-JRGS : 24 May 2014), Samuel Huston Or Houston, 24 Mar 1813; citing p. 226, volume 011, , , , United States, NARA microfilm publication M233 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 6; FHL microfilm 350,312.

• Sandy Lewis Noe