 |
|
|
|
Advertise Select a City, Town, Village or Township in Texas: Copyright © 2008 - 2013 by Andrew J. Morris A generation which ignores history has no past -- and no future. Robert Heinlein |
History of TexasSelect a County: Our on-site database does not include an historic photo for Texas, do you have one you would like to contribute? Contact Us! 15% - 35% off all Products ยป The Ready Store Biographies:A Short Biography of Edward Degener Edward Degener, representative, was born in Brunswick, Germany, Oct. 20, 1809. He was twice a member of a legislative body in Amhalt-Dessau, and was a member of the first German parliament in Frankfort. He removed to the United States in 1850 and became a farmer in Sisterdale, Texas. He afterward engaged in business in San Antonio, TexaS. He was a member of the state constitutional convention of 1866-68; a Republican representative from Texas in the 41st congress, 1870-71; and a member of the Texas legislature several terms. He died in San Antonio, Texas, Sept. 11, 1890. Biographical Sketch of James Pinckney Henderson James Pinckney Henderson, governor of Texas, was born in Lincoln county, N.C., March 31, 1808. He was educated in Lincolnton, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1828, before he had reached his majority. In 1835 he removed to Mississippi and recruited a company for service in behalf of the republic of Texas. He preceded his company to Texas in the spring of 1836 and reached Austin after the battle of San Jacinto. President Burnet commissioned him brigadier-general and he returned to the United States to recruit volunteers. He raised a company at his own expense in his native state, with which he reached Galveston in November, 1836, just after Gen. Sam Houston had been inaugurated president of the republic. Houston made him attorney-general and soon after secretary of state. Early in 1838 he was made envoy to England and France to secure recognition from those nations of the independence of Texas, and to effect treaties of amity and commerce. Lewis Cass was U.S. minister to France and greatly aided Envoy Henderson in his difficult mission. While in Paris in 1839 he was married to Frances E. Cox, of Philadelphia, Pa. He returned to Texas in February, 1840, where he was accorded an ovation for his diplomatic service. He was appointed in 1844 Texan minister-extraordinary to the United States to join Resident Minister Van Zandt in negotiating a treaty of annexation. The treaty as prepared was rejected by the U.S. senate, but annexation was secured, March 1, 1845, by joint resolutions of the U.S. congress. He was a delegate to the convention which framed the state constitution in 1845 and in November of that year was elected the first governor of Texas. He was inaugurated Feb. 19, 1846, and by May of that year he had four regiments in the field to take part in the war with Mexico. He was authorized by the legislature to lead the troops and was commissioned major-general in the U.S. army. He achieved distinction at the battle of Monterey, Sept. 21-25, 1846, and was voted a sword and thanks of congress. He was, with Jefferson Davis and others, a commissioner to negotiate terms of capitulation with Ampudia, the commander of the Mexican forces at Monterey. After six months' service he resumed his office as governor of Texas and completed his term of office, refusing re-election, his health being much broken. In December, 1857, the legislature of Texas elected him U.S. senator as successor to his law partner, Thomas J. Rusk, deceased. He went to Cuba for his health, then proceeded to Washington, where he took his seat in March, 1858, during the first session of the 35th congress. He served but a few days, and then went to Philadelphia for medical treatment. He died in Washington, D.C., June 4, 1858. Biography of Anson Jones Anson Jones, president of Texas, was born in Great Barrington, Mass., Jan. 20, 1789. He studied medicine in Litchfield, Conn., and practised in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1826. He resided successively in New Orleans, La., and South America and settled in Brazoria county, Texas, in 1833. He was chairman of a mass meeting held in December, 1885, and drew up resolutions in favor of a Declaration of Independence of Texas. During the struggle for independence he entered the army as a private and engaged in the battle of San Jacinto. He was judge-advocate general, and held several other military commissions, 1836-37. He was a representative in the 2d congress of Texas in 1837; minister from Texas to the United States, 1837-39; senator from Brazoria county; president of the senate and vice-president of the republic, ex officio, 1840; secretary of state in Houston's second administration, 1841-44, and president of Texas from 1844 till after the annexation to the United States, ratified in 1846, when he surrendered the executive office to James P. Henderson, who had been elected first governor of the state. By his opposition to annexation, Mr. Jones greatly lessened, his popularity and destroyed his political influence. The county of Jones, Texas, and its court house at Anson, bear his names. He died in Houston, Texas, by his own hand, Jan. 8, 1858. Francis Richard Lubbock Biographical Sketch Francis Richard Lubbock, governor of Texas, was born in Beaufort, S.C., Oct. 16, 1815; son of Dr. Henry Thomas Willis and Susan (Saltus) Lubbock and grandson of Captain Richard and Diana Sophie (Sandwich) Lubbock and of Captain Francis Saltus of Port Royal, S.C. Both grandfathers were English. He was employed as a clerk at Charleston, 1829-32, and at Hamburg, S.C., 1832-84; and engaged in the drug business in New Orleans, La., in 1834. He was married Feb. 5, 1835, to Adele Baron, a French Creole. In January, 1837, he settled in Houston, Texas, and was one of the first to build a home there. He was clerk of the congress of the Republic of Texas, 1837-38; comptroller, 1838; and adjutant in the Texan army in the protection of the frontier, 1889. He removed to Austin, the new seat of government, where he was comptroller in 1841, and district clerk of Harris county, 1841-56. He was secretary of the first Democratic state convention, 1845, and a Democratic presidential elector in 1856. He was lieutenant-governor of Texas, 1857-59; was a delegate to the Charleston and Baltimore Democratic national conventions in 1860 and governor of Texas, 1861-63. During his term he aided the Confederate States in its struggle for independence. He refused re-nomination in 1863, and entered the Confederate army as lieutenant-colonel and assistant adjutant-general in the Trans-Mississippi department, commanded by Gen. E. Kirby Smith. He served with Gen. John A. Wharton, commanding the entire cavalry in the Red river campaign until its close, when He was appointed to the staff of President Davis with the rank of colonel of cavalry in July, 1864. He went to Richmond, Va., with President Davis, and was captured with his chief and imprisoned in Fort Monroe, and was removed to Fort Delaware, where he remained in solitary confinement nearly eight months. He returned to Houston, Texas, in December, 1865, engaged in business in 1867 at Galveston, and established a beef-packing house at Anahuac. He was tax-collector at Galveston, 1873-76; president of the New York and Texas Beef Preserving company, 1874-75; was treasurer of Texas, 1878-90, and during his office improved the financial standing of the state. He was a member of the board of pardon advisers and of the Confederate home. His first wife died in 1882 and in 1883 he was married to Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth (Black) Porter, daughter of the Hon. James Augustus and Elizabeth Sarah (Logan) Black, and widow of the Rev. Dr. A. A. Porter, a Presbyterian clergyman. See Six Decades in Texas, or Memoirs of Francis Richard Lubbock (1990). ADDITIONAL BIOGRAPHIES AVAILABLE: Local History and Genealogy Links:
|
Texas Facts: 
|