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Governors Who Have Been and Other Public Men of Texas
By NORMAN G. KITTRELL
Gc 976.4 K64g 1997314
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02439 1648
طعيد
Jumstenston
---
Norman G. Kiltrell
Governors Who Have Been,
and Other Public Men of Texas
By NORMAN G. KITTRELL
HOUSTON, TEXAS DEALY-ADEY-ELGIN CO. PUBLISHERS 1921
Copyrighted 1921 By Norman G. Kittrell Houston, Texas
$35.00 Daniel - may 8-1978 P0 9284
1997314
Bediration
In Token of Affertion
"Which cannot be told in words, or shadowed forth in language." THIS HUMBLE VOLUME IS DEDICATED TO MY WIFE
Louisa Blackledge Kittrell
In whose veins,-and in the veins of our children,-I am proud to know there flows blood kindred to that which flowed in the veins of "Davy" Crockett, who with his heroic comrades on Sunday morning, March 6th, 1836, consecrated the Alamo to historic memories forever when they lifted the standard of human valor to a height never before or never since reached, wrote in their own blood their own passports to immortality, and by their matchless hero- ism-using the language of one who was once Governor of Texas:
"Taught mankind the lesson of earth's loftiest martyrdom."
Index to Chapters
CHAPTER I.
Early Legislators and J. Pinkney Henderson. 9
CHAPTER II.
Ashbel Smith
CHAPTER III.
George T. Wood, P. H. Bell, E. M. Pease, John W. Harris.
24
CHAPTER IV.
Sam Houston, H. R. Runnels, Edward Clark. 29
Frank R. Lubbock
CHAPTER V.
32
Oran Milo Roberts
CHAPTER VI.
37
Pendleton Murrah
CHAPTER VII.
45
CHAPTER VIII.
Andrew J. Hamilton, J. W. Throckmorton, Edmund J. Davis
CHAPTER IX.
46
State Convention of 1873. and The "Semicolon Case"
55
CHAPTER X.
Richard Coke
61
CHAPTER XI.
State Convention of 1876, and some of the nominees
68
CHAPTER XII.
Richard B. Hubbard and others.
78
CHAPTER XIII.
T. R. Bonner as Speaker of the House and D.U. Barziza.
84
CHAPTER
XIV.
John Ireland and G. W. Jones ..
89
CHAPTER XV.
L. S. Ross and D. C. Giddings .
95
CHAPTER XVI.
James S. Hogg
100
CHAPTER XVII.
Gustave Cook, Soldier-Orator-Wit-Jurist
106
CHAPTER XVIII.
112
State Convention of 1894, and John H. Reagan
CHAPTER XIX.
Chas. A. Culberson, J. W. Bailey and Joseph D. Sayers
118
CHAPTER XX.
S. W. T. Lanham
124
CHAPTER XXI.
Thomas M. Campbell, Oscar B. Colquitt, Jas. E. Ferguson
Thomas H. Ball
.
127
CHAPTER XXII.
William P. Hobby and Pat M. Neff
132
16
INDEX TO CHAPTERS-Continued.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Early Texans and Their Descendants
CHAPTER XXIV.
East Texas Men
140
The Judiciary of Texas
CHAPTER
XXV.
170
Judiciary, continued
CHAPTER XXVI.
178
Judiciary, continued
183
Judiciary, continued
CHAPTER XXVIII.
CHAPTER XXIX.
The Supreme Court on Its Own Disqualification
202
CHAPTER XXX.
The Court of Civil Appeals ..
204
CHAPTER XXXI.
The Commission of Appeals.
206
CHAPTER XXXII.
Alexander Watkins Terrell
208
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Court of Criminal Appeals
211
CHAPTER XXXIV.
The Tragedy, The Pathos, and The Humor of the Court Room
219
CHAPTER XXXV.
Memories of the Court Room
247
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Memories of the Bench on the Circuit.
.276
CHAPTER XXXVII.
The Trial Court and the Upper Court.
281
The State and the Defendant
285
CHAPTER
XXXIX.
Legal Victories
290
CHAPTER XL.
The Court. the Bar, and the People.
295
190
CHAPTER XXVII.
134
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Foreward
This modest volume is neither historical or biographical in the ordinary acceptation of those terms, but is a record of incidents and events associated with those whose characters, and whose services to Texas, render them worthy to have their memories perpetuated.
The reading of it will reveal no attempt at "fine writing" or any studied order of arrangement.
The writing was done currente calamo as incidents were re- called, or memories recurred to my mind.
It is the fruit of labor done in the early morning hours, and far in the night, and in other hours which did not belong to my employer, the State.
I thought it would be worth the time and toil to perpetuate such incidents and events in the lives of many of the men whose names are honorably associated with the history of Texas, as would inform this generation what manner of men they were.
The present is always debtor to the past, and this generation is debtor to their generation beyond its ability ever to pay.
The unofficial actions of men, and purely personal incidents in their lives, often serve to reveal more clearly their true char- acters than do their public actions; therefore, I have set down incidents, historical, tragic, pathetic and humorous, but not one that even remotely reflects unkindly upon any man.
It seemed to me, too, that brief sketches upon such cognate themes as the summary of contents reveals, might prove inter- esting, amusing, and perhaps instructive. There will not be found in the book a line or word to which any living man, or the friends of any dead man, can take exception; because it is free from anything controversial, and free of even the semblance of criticism.
My father was in public life in Texas as long as sixty-five years ago, and much that I have set down I heard from his lips.
It seemed to me most fitting that the frontispiece should be the "counterfeit presentment" of the majestic and impressive figure of him whose name and whose deeds are woven in imperishable colors in the very warp and woof of the history of Texas.
I deeni it proper to state that delay in publication for something like three months after the "copy" was ready for the printer was the result of causes which were entirely beyond the control of either the publishers or myself.
The fruit of my often-interrupted and desultory labor, pro- duced almost wholly from memory, is put forth in book form with the hope and belief that it will be accorded by every fair and generous reader that measure of charity which its many imper- fections will demand.
NORMAN G. KITTRELL.
Houston, Texas, Sept. 15, 1921.
GOVERNORS WHO HAVE BEEN, AND OTHER PUBLIC MEN
OF TEXAS.
-
CHAPTER I.
This is being written just as Texas has passed through the throes of a second primary election, and when she faces the ordeal of the final campaign preceding the determinative election of Gov- ernor, in November, and it appears to me to be an opportune time to recall the memories which cluster about the names of those who have held the office of Governor in days gone by, but whom death has removed from the stage of action.
There were some remarkable men among them, and while some of them passed away before I ever heard of them, or was old enough to remember, traditions concerning them still linger, and it has been but a few years since many men were living in Texas who knew all of the early Governors of the State.
I do not recall that I ever saw any of them. The first Governor that I ever saw, except Sam Houston, was Hardin R. Runnels, and I saw him when I was but a mere lad. The proportion of Texans to become Governor has, of course, been very small; but there were many other men of conspicuous ability, and high character, who at the bar, on the bench, and in other spheres of honorable activity, so lived and wrought as to render their names and lives worthy examples of patriotic and honorable service.
It has been said that biography is at once the most interesting and most instructive form of literature, but it is not my purpose to attempt to write a biography, or even a biographical sketch of any man. My only purpose is to set down in simple form, with- out any attempt at literary adornment, such traditions as I re- call, and such memories as occur to me, and such incidents as I have heard were connected with the names of some of those who lived nobly, served faithfully, and "passed on."
Some diversion and relief from the ceaseless labor of judicial position is necessary, and I hope to find it in writing currente calamo, in those hours which do not belong to my employer, the State.
There were instances in the lives of many public men in the early days of Texas, some of which were pathetic, some amusing, some heroic, but all of which served to reveal what manner of
10
GOVERNORS WHO HAVE BEEN
men they were, better and more clearly than did their official actions.
My father, nearly seventy years ago, was in public life in Texas, as he had been in North Carolina and Alabama at an earlier day. He served in the Legislature of Texas with many public men whose names are enduringly graven on the pages of Texas his- tory. In his day and time it was considered a greater honor to go to the Legislature than it is now considered to go to Congress, and the Legislature of that day, in point of ability, and all the essential equipments of statesmanship, stood second to none in the United States. The mileage and per diem was given no con- sideration, and if I recall correctly, there was no limit to the length of the session. Many of the members drove from their homes in carriages, and kept their carriages and body servants here in Austin during the entire session. My father always did so.
I have heard him tell over and over again of many interesting experiences while he served in the House, and heard his expression of opinion of many public men he knew. He was never defeated for a legislative position in any State, yet he never offered for the Senate, because, as he said, there were not enough members in that body.
I heard him after he had retired from public life, and at the most impressionable period of my life, talk of his experience and the acquaintances he had formed, and I have never forgotten what I heard him say, and shall set it down in simple, colloquial phrases, without attempting to follow the chronological order of events. I have no literary plan or order of procedure mapped out in my mind, nor shall I attempt to write of all those who were contemporary in one connection. As I recall incidents, or mem- ories recur, I will set them down without regard to the lapse of intervening years.
The social habits, customs, usages and standards which pre- vailed three score and one-half years ago were very different from those of the present day. Social drinking was an almost uni- versal custom, and it was often the case that men of high pro- fessional and political standing used intoxicating liquor, at times to excess. That offense against the social code was overlooked and condoned to an extent that it would not be now. The sa- loons did not close on election day then, and I recall that who- ever got the influence of the saloons had half his political battle won. My father was an exception to that rule, for he would not have gone into a saloon or taken a drink, or treated a voter to a drink of any sort, for every vote in his district; and I trust I may say, without violation of the canons of propriety, that in that regard-if in no other-I followed his example when a con- didate for office, without deviation.
Many public men played cards and made no concealment of the
11
AND OTHER PUBLIC MEN OF TEXAS
fact. Gentlemen did not, as a rule, as I have heard, often risk their luck at banking games, but many of the highest order of ability, and who were influential and useful in the councils of the State, were addicted to the great American game, and con- stantly indulged in that most fascinating diversion; but they were not subjected to criticism, nor did it weaken their hold on popular confidence.
Men can be judged justly only in the light of their environment and of the prevailing customs of their day and time. That was tolerated then which would not be tolerated now, yet the standard of service and fidelity to duty in political station is no higher today than it was then.
There has been a time when it was said that in other states poker games were used as an indirect method of bribery, but no such pernicious element entered into the game when it was played by Texas Legislators, in the days of which I write; so far as I have ever heard. No one ever sought by any such method of pro- cedure to influence legislative votes in that day and time. If the faintest breath of scandal ever attached to the name of a Texas Legislator, I never heard my father mention the fact. Many members might take drinks, many might play poker-some do both, but there was never a lobbyist brazen or bold enough to dare approach one of them with any proposition that was not con- sistent with the most rigid rectitude in legislative station. They were as unpurchasable a body of patriotic public servants as ever enacted laws for a great state; and there was not one of them who did not leave behind him an honorable record as a Legislator.
As striking evidence of the fact that a majority of the Texas Legislature three score and a half years ago had respect for re- ligion, and admiration for a man who consecrated himself to preaching the old and simple gospel, and to the service of his fellow-men, the following incident will show.
There died in Austin, while on a visit to that city, on December 10, 1856, Rev. Daniel Baker, in whose honor Daniel Baker College at Brownwood was named, and who founded Austin College, which was first located at Huntsville, where the original col- lege building now forms a part of the physical property of the Sam Houston Normal School.
The corporate institution and its physical equipment is now located at Sherman, where it is doing a great educational work.
I knew personally a number of men who rose to distinction in public life in Texas who were educated at Austin College, when it was located at Huntsville.
Dr. Baker never held any public office. He was simply an earnest, devout, consecrated preacher of the gospel-a mission more exalted than any of a political nature.
12
GOVERNORS WHO HAVE BEEN
Immediately upon the announcement of his death my father in the House mnoved that adjournment be at once taken in honor of his memory, and followed the motion with the following remarks, which I take (what I trust will be deemed) pardonable pride in reproducing here :
"It becomes my painful duty to announce to the House the sudden and unexpected intelligence of the death of one of Texas' public benefactors; the Rev. Daniel Baker is no more! This sad intelligence burst upon us so suddenly and unexpectedly, that it has been difficult to realize the truth. I could not believe it until I visited the chamber where this great and good man, this venerable father in Israel, died. I have laid my hand on that cold and marble brow, have gazed on that face which I have so often seen lit up with animation and life, but now stamped with the cold impress of death. I have pressed that hand which I have so often grasped before in the warmth of friendship and affection, but now stif- fened and cold. I know that he is dead. As a general thing, I am opposed to the obtrusion of our private griefs on this house to the interruption of business; but I consider the death of Dr. Baker a public calamity. He is justly entitled to the claim and rank of one of Texas' benefactors. His exertions and usefulness were confined to no particular localtiy, no limited sphere. Possessed of a cath- olic spirit, of universal love and benevolence towards his fellow- men, he was prompted thereby to extend his sphere of usefulness as wide as possible. There has been scarcely a State in the Union but has heard his eloquent pleadings in behalf of religion and all the great moral interests of society. Twenty years ago I knew the deceased in Alabama. He was then the same devoted, enterprising, assiduous man and minister that he has been here; and since the scene of his usefulness has been transferred to this State, we all know with what untiring efforts he has exerted himself, not only in the cause of his Heavenly Master, but especially in the cause of education. He has left proud monuments in proof of these truths, and in honor to his memory. There stands not two hundred miles from this place, on the brow of a lofty summit, a beautiful edifice, surrounded by shady groves and academic walks. In it is opened a fountain of science, at which near one hundred youths daily drink. This edifice is Austin College, reared principally by the noble exertions of the lamented deceased, whose loss we are this day called to mourn. But, while these monuments stand, and I hope they may long continue so to do in honor of Dr. Baker, he is gone! Let gentlemen vaunt their cobweb systems of infidelity. Let them hug to their bosoms their Voltaires, their Bolingbrokes, and their Humes, and pillow them under their heads, but give me that pure system of Christianity which will enable me, when my last moment comes, calmly and quietly to consign my spirit to Him who gave it, as did our friend."
The motion was adopted and the same action was taken by the Senate. The concluding words of my father were prompted by the fact that the very last words of Dr. Baker were, "Lord Jesus, into Thy hands I commend my spirit."
When my father in later years came to respond to the summons of the inevitable and resistless messenger, who sooner or later comes to every man, he "passed on," sustained by the same faith which consoled, comforted and assured his friend, Dr. Baker.
13
AND OTHER PUBLIC MEN OF TEXAS
So far as I recall, never before or since did a Texas Legislature by formal action pay honor to the memory of one, whose only claim to respect was that he was a preacher of the Gospel.
In the late primary election, there were more than 450,000 votes cast, while in the election of 1845 there were 9,538, of which General J. Pinckney Henderson received 7,853. He was the first Governor of Texas after annexation. His immediate predecessor as chief executive, was Dr. Anson Jones, the last President of the Republic of Texas; an able, unselfish and patriotic man. His grandson, the Hon. Charles Eliott Ashe, has for twenty years filled most acceptably and efficiently the position of Judge of the Eleventh Judicial District of Texas.
Governor Henderson would have risen to distinction in any State, because he was dowered by nature with the elements of leadership. The late Governor Roberts knew him personally and intimately. They lived in the same section of Texas, and practiced in the same courts, and when Governor Roberts became District Judge, General (he was so called as I understand) Henderson practiced before him. Governor Roberts was a competent judge of ability in men, and I heard him say on one occasion that J. Pinck- ney Henderson was the ablest man ever in public life in Texas.
The Mexican War came on during Governor Henderson's admin- istration and he left the Governor's office and took a command to Mexico and bore himself so gallantly on the field of battle that he won the warmest commendation from Jefferson Davis, under whom he served. "Praise from Sir Hubert is praise indeed." He be- came a general in the army of the United States while yet Gov- ernor. It was said he refused to draw a penny of salary from the State while in military service.
When the war closed, he resumed the office of Governor and served out his term, not seeking re-elction on account of impaired health. He returned to his law practice, but if I am not mistaken, was, on the death of General Rusk, chosen his successor in the United States Senate, but death ended his career a few days after he had taken his seat. During the days of the Republic, and shortly after its organization, he was sent as envoy to the Court of France. It was during the reign of the Louis, who was King of France between the death of Napoleon in 1821 and the accession of Napoleon the Third as Emperor of France in 1853. General Henderson met many skilled diplomats in that royal court, but the lawyer from the piney woods of East Texas upheld the dignity of his great station, and reflected the highest credit upon himself and upon the young republic he represented.
He served the Republic with great efficiency in other stations, and was one of the Commissioners who conducted the negotiations preliminary to annexation.
He came to Texas, as well as I remember, in 1836. He was a
14
GOVERNORS WHO HAVE BEEN
man of very wonderful oratorical ability and had the power of fascinating audiences and thrilling them with his eloquence, and in that day and time a man who possessed that power, coupled with even a moderate amount of legal ability, was destined to succeed in a new country like East Texas was at that time, and the success of General Henderson was conspicuous, because he was both eloquent and able.
Under the conditions in which he began life in East Texas, it was often the case that something more was required than elo- quence and legal ability.
A good many years ago, some gentleman whose name I do not now recall, but whose statement I accepted without question, re- lated to me the following incident in the career of General Hender- son. His home was in San Augustine, but as I recollect, he was attending court in some other county of the district. As he started one morning to the court house, located in the public square, he was stopped by a friend and told if he went to court he would do so at the peril of his life. The General was astounded and asked for an explanation. His friend told him that the only explanation was that (naming a man whose reputation as a "bad man" had been already established), had threatened to kill him and was waiting to do so. The General said, "Kill me? What for? I have never done him any harm." The friend replied, "That makes no difference. He will kill you all the same." The General then said, "I have a family to support and cannot afford to be besieged in this hotel and kept away from the court house because a man whom I have never harmed is waiting to kill me without any cause. But what shall I do?" The laconic reply of his friend was, "Kill him." The suggestion of that dire alternative to a man who had been reared under wholly different conditions was shocking; but his friend had spoken the truth, and the General acted upon the targic suggestion and "removed" the man who was preparing to assassinate him; and calmly proceeded to the court house and entered upon the trial of a case.
He was justified both by public sentiment and by the law and no reproach attached to his action. No man who could not fearlessly rise to the demand of such a situation in that day and time was fitted for active career at the bar of East Texas. The typical "bad man" was present then on the border of civilization, as he has always been, and it was the misfortune of a gentleman to be com- pelled to rid the community of one of that class, though he did thereby render a public service.
It is not meant by this statement to even intimate that there was none but a rude, uncultured class in East Texas in that day and time, for such was by no means the case. On the contrary, many men and women, of education, culture and refinement, dwelt in that part of Texas, even in that early day.
15
AND OTHER PUBLIC MEN OF TEXAS
When the Rt. Rev. Alexander Gregg, who for thirty years was Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Texas, was ordained in South Carolina in 1859, he came at once to Texas, and I have heard him say that in that day he found a number of families in the San Augustine and Nacogdoches territory that in way of refinement, good breeding and social graces, compared favorably with the splendid people among whom he had been reared in South Caro- lina, who were the very highest type of Southern people in that day and time, which is to say they were the highest types of the human race.
I do not mean to make any inviduous comparison of any one part of the State with another, but the good people of that mar- velous realm called "North Texas," often poke good natured fun at "East Texas" by calling it "The Sticks," and old East Texas is entitled to have all the facts that are in her favor stated, and to have her day in court.
Conceding for the sake of argument-but not as fact-that North Texas year in, year out, is the best farming section of Texas, never- theless it should be kept in mind that the noblest product in any land is the men it brings forth, and in that regard East Texas stands in unchallenged pre-eminence above any other section of Texas. Lest some reader of this may be disposed to treat this statement as a glittering generality not susceptible of being proved, I will set forth later a list as I recall the names from memory, of those who in the last four-score years and more, so to speak, have gone out of East Texas into more or less exalted spheres of service, and further on I shall relate such instances connected with the lives of some of these names in the list as I recall having heard. Why from a comparatively small portion of the State there should have come so many men of ability and who were leaders in every field of honorable activity in the development and progress of the State, is a question which might afford an interesting theme for the sociologist or the student of intellectual and moral develop- ment, but I content myself with the statement of the fact, for such it is.
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