Houston, Sam
soldier, statesman, was born March 2, 1793, in Rockbridge county, Va. His mother removed with her family to the banks of the Tennessee, at that time the limit of civilization.
He served for a time as clerk to a country trader, and taught school. In 1813 he enlisted in the army and served under General Jackson in the war with the Creek Indians; distinguished himself on several occasions, and, at the conclusion of the war, had risen to the rank of lieutenant. He commenced the study of law at Nashville; and after holding several minor offices in Tennessee, he was, in 1823, elected to congress, and continued a member of that body until 1827, when he became governor of Tennessee.
In 1829, before the expiration of his gubernatorial term, he resigned his office, and went to take up his abode among the Cherokee Indians in Arkansas. A militia was organized, and Austin, the founder of the colony, was elected commander-inchief, in which office he was shortly after succeeded by General Houston. He conducted the war with vigor, and finally brought it to a successful termination by the battle of San Jacinto, which was fought in 1836; in May, 1836, he signed a treaty acknowledging the independence of Texas, and in October of the same year was inaugurated the first president of the republic; and at the end of his term of office, as the same person could not constitutionally be elected president twice in succession, he became a member of the Texas congress. In 1841, however, he was again elevated to the presidential chair; during the whole time that he held that office it was his favorite policy to effect the annexation of Texas to the United States. In 1846 Texas became one of the states of the union, and General Houston was elected to the United States senate, of which body he remained a member until 1859.
In 1859 he was elected governor of Texas; in a letter that he addressed to the compiler of this volume he said, in his characteristic manner, that he had risen from a sergeant up to president of a republic, and down to a senator of the United States. His name was Samnot Samuel, as generally printed. He died July 25, 1863, in Huntsville, Texas.