USA > Texas > Governors who have been, and other public men of Texas > Part 2
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30
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GOVERNORS WHO HAVE BEEN
CHAPTER II.
One of the contemporaries of General Henderson in the diplo- matic service in the Republic, was a man of very high order of culture, and admirably adapted for that character of public serv- ice. He was Dr. Ashbel Smith, who died within the comparatively recent past in Harris County. While dealing with instances in the lives of these two men, it may be appropriate to indulge in some reflection of the popular idea concerning men who were con- spicuous in the early days of Texas.
It has been said, that in a great measure we are prone to magnify the achievements of men of the past. We reverse the physical law of optics, and they appear to grow greater as they recede, and they are greatly magnified by the mists of antiquity. However, to whatever extent this may be true as a general proposition, my experience has been that it does not apply to the men who re- deemed Texas from Mexican despotism and established the Re- public. They have fallen far short of receiving that measure of appreciation which is their just due. Many people who are not familiar with the early history of Texas, some of them Texans, are inclined to speak in terms of depreciation and patronage of the leaders among the pioneers of Texas.
The idea seems to prevail in many quarters that those men loomed large only because of their environment and because they were contrasted with small men. No conception could be more erroneous.
Many of the men who established the Republic of Texas, drafted its Constitution, shaped its policies and directed its destinies, would have been men of mark in any country and would have left the impress of their ability and constructive statesmanship on any era of history. It is an indisputable fact that from the seven hundred and eighty-three men who composed the Texas army at San Jacinto, more men went to the executive chair, to the halls of Legislation, to the pulpit and to the bar and bench, and to other positions of honorable service, than ever went from the same number of men in all the annals of history.
One of that army had been Governor of a sovereign State and was twice President of the Republic of Texas, twice United States Senator from Texas and Governor of Texas; another died in the position of United States Senator from Texas; another was Presi- dent of the Republic of Texas, and his nephew and great nephew died while members of the Supreme Court of the United States. Another man who fought as a private in the battle of San Jacinto was twice Governor of Texas and twice Representative in Con- gress. The son of another San Jacinto soldier was a member of the Legislature of Texas and Major General in the army of the Confederacy. Two brothers who fought in that battle, became not
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only lawyers of ability themselves, but the son of one of them, who was two years old when the battle of San Jacinto was fought, was a gallant Confederate soldier, and when on the bloody field of Shiloh the heroic soul of Albert Sidney Johnston was borne home to God on the wings of victory, the arms of that knightly son of the San Jacinto here, enfolded him, and that young Confederate Colonel, Thomas Mckinney Jack, came to be the most gracious, graceful, charming and courtly gentleman, and the most accom- plished nisi prius lawyer ever at the Bar of Texas.
Dr. Ashbel Smith, as I recollect, was not a Texas soldier. I think he came to Texas just after the Texas Revolution had suc- ceeded. He was born in Connecticut but was a Southern man to the marrow of his bones. He was appointed Ambassador to Eng- land, or as he was accustomed in his sharp staccato voice and precise manner of speech to say-"Envoy E-x-t-r-a-o-r-d-i-n-a-r-y and M-i-n-i-s-t-e-r P-l-e-n-i-p-o-t-e-n-t-i-a-r-y to the Court of Her Majesty, the Queen of England."
There are doubtless some who will smile at the suggestion of the little Republic of Texas sending an Ambassador to the government of one of the most powerful nations in the world, with the ex- pectation that he would be able to hold his own with the accom- plished men that he would meet there; but the man who enter- tains the impression that Ashbel Smith was not fitted for the high position, has a very erroneous conception of the facts.
They may think that no man that the infant Republic had within her borders would have proved equal to the occasion, since he must have come from the rude and primitive environment of a frontier country; but I undertake to say that Ashbel Smith never had his superior in scholarship and culture in all Texas in his day and time, or since. In point of profound learning, thorough scholarship and familiarity with the ancient classics and with all the realm and range of literature, and with the conventionalities and amenities of social life; and in professional skill, this nation has never had as an Ambassador to England-one who was the superior of the man sent there by the struggling young Republic of Texas. I make this statement without reservation, barring no man from the comparison.
He had "sounded all the depths and shoals" of learning, not only in the profession which he fitted himself for (but which he rarely practiced except as a matter of accommodation to his neighbors), but in the sphere of literature, science and philosophy. He could translate the oldest black letter Latin as rapidly as the average man can read a newspaper.
One of the most highly educated men in Texas, who was for many years president of a college, told me that upon one occa- sion he visited Dr. Smith at his very humble little home on the shores of San Jacinto Bay, where the famous Goose Creek oil
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field was later developed. He told the Doctor that a lady had asked him for some information about the science of anatomy as related to sculpture. Dr. Smith said at once, "Perhaps, Professor, I can enlighten you upon that point," and turning to his library, he took out an old Latin book, printed in the very oldest style of type, and gave the professor a liberal translation which furnished him all the information the lady desired.
He was very proud, and justly so, of his record as a soldier, of which I will say something later, and preferred the title of Colonel to that of "Doctor;" but the people had become so accus- tomed to giving him the title of "Doctor" that they persisted in it despite his preference for the military title.
Upon one occasion a gentleman who in his day and time stood in the front rank of physicians and surgeons in Houston, told me that a party once asked him why people called Dr. Smith, "Dr.," and asked if it was because he was really a doctor, or if he had just been dubbed with that title. The gentleman to whom the question was put, looked gravely at the party who propounded it, and speaking slowly, said, "My dear sir, Ashbel Smith has for- gotten more about medicine than all the doctors in Houston ever knew."
The Doctor-Colonel was at once such a unique and amirable character that it may prove interesting to give some idea of his appearance and manners and set forth a few incidents in which he was a participant.
He was, as I recall, a man of medium height and slender, and had the appearance of being what is sometimes called "dried up." He looked much older than he really was. I am reminded of that fact by hearing my father (who was a very youthful looking man for his age) say that he frequently said to Dr. Smith, "Smith, when I get to be as old a man as you are, I hope I will be just as active as you are." The jest of the remark lay in the fact that my father was really a year older than Dr. Smith, but looked at least twenty years younger.
Dr. Smith wore, invariably, a Prince Albert coat buttoned closely and what was called in those days a "three-story" silk hat. He had a small tuft of beard on his chin and had he been taller would have been a fair representative of "Uncle Sam" as he usually appears in current pictures. He spoke with great precision and accuracy, in faultless English, and in a sharp penetrating tone.
When the war came on in 1861, though he was then fifty-five years of age, he raised a regiment, which was known as the Second Texas Infantry, and went with it across the Mississippi and was wounded leading it in one of the desperate battles around Vicksburg.
After the war, he represented Harris County in the Legislature and served as late as, perhaps, 1882. He was an actor in a very
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amusing incident in the House shortly after the session opened which followed first after the inauguration of Governor Roberts. It will be remembered that the slogan, "Pay as you go," had its origin when the "Old Alcalde" was Governor. While the House was in session one day, a young member got hold of an imitation spider made out of some short pieces of rubber, stuck in cork. The cork was fastened to a string which was tied to a pencil and while the old Doctor sat at his desk, the young member dangled the "spider" several times before his face, and the Doctor pushed it aside. After awhile he discovered that he was being made the victim of a jest, and he sprang up with all the agility of of a boy, and his offending fellow member fled down the aisle laughing. The old Doctor followed kicking at him as he went. When called to order by the Chair, he bowed with characteristic courtesy and said, "Mr. Speaker, I pay as I go."
An even more amusing instance occurred at a later period of the session, or perhaps it may have been during the next session. There was a negro member in the House, a mulatto, who wore a flap over one eye. The Doctor was making a speech upon some important question-for he spoke on no other kind.
The negro had seen other members rise and ask another member while he was speaking if he would yield to an interruption, and imitative as his race always is, the negro said, "Will de gentleman from Harris 'low me to interup' him?" The negro was at one end of the hall and the Doctor at the other, and he did not know who had made the request. His manners were always those of the old school, stately, courteous, and courtly, and he turned, pre- pared to bow low with a graceful wave of his hand and say, "Certainly, with pleasure," but when he had fully turned, he dis- covered who had interrupted him. In a moment he was rage incarnate, and raising his keen, shrill, clear voice to the highest pitch, and pointing a long bony finger at the negro, fairly shrieked, "Sit down! Sit down! You d- yellow scoundrel!" It is hardly necessary to say that the colored member "sat down" forthwith.
The "interrupter" fared better with the old Doctor than he did a few years later when he interrupted without permission, or with- out asking it, the proceedings in the course of the trial of some women of his race in a minor court in the town in which he lived. His interruption angered one of the attorneys, and a difficulty speedily arose, and in the twinkling of an eye the career of the aforetime legislator was brought to a tragic end.
Quite a number of years ago, maybe twenty or more, a gentle- man who had been Judge of a District Court in East Texas, told me that in a case in which a negro girl was charged with poisoning her master, Dr. Smith had been summoned as an expert in chem- istry to testify as to the effect of certain kinds of poison. He had
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failed to appear at a previous term of the court and there had been a fine of $50.00 assessed against him.
When he entered the door of the rude building in which the court was being held the next term, he removed his three-story hat and bowed low to the Judge and said, "May it please your Honor, I have been advised by the service upon me of legal process, that at the last term of this honorable court, there was entered a fine of $50.00 against me for failure to appear before this honor- able tribunal upon a certain date and day fixed, and I desire to explain to the court the reason of my non-appearance. The City of Houston, near which I have the honor to reside, conceived the very commendable purpose of establishing in that city, an insti- tution of learning of the highest order, and knowing my familiarity with philosophical and chemical science, solicited me to go to the City of Philadelphia and there select and purchase the equipment for the chemical laboratory for that institution of learning. I went, and reached the City of Philadelphia, and performed the pleasing duty assigned me and started upon my return home in ample time to have reached there, and would have been here at the day appointed; but the train upon which I was traveling was, by reason of accident, hurled from the track and I was covered with the wreckage of the train, and though neither killed nor wounded, was grievously shaken up." At this point the Judge interrupted him by saying, "Doctor, you are excused. Take the stand and be sworn."
The result of the trial, or rather the reason given by the jury when the verdict was returned, was as amusing as was the Doctor's excuse for not being present at the former term.
They propounded to the Doctor a great many hypothetical ques- tions and he would reply, "Upon that hypothesis, I will testify as follows," and when the opposing counsel took him under exami- nation, he would say, "Upon the hypothesis you propound I will testify as follows," and he proceeded to testify with that clearness and ability which his scientific knowledge enabled him to easily do. He used necessarily, as did the lawyers many times, the term "hypothesis." The guilt of the young negress was very doubtful and she was acquitted, a result which gave displeasure to many friends of her alleged victim, and when the foreman of the jury was questioned as to how he could have possibly arrived at such a verdict, his explanation was, "Oh, hell, man! The man didn't die from pisen. He died from hypothesis!"
This incident may sound somewhat apocryhpal, but the same judge told me that the first case of felony he ever tried in one of the counties of his district, and if I am not mistaken it was the first case of any kind ever tried in the county, the jury retired to the sloping side of a hill and sat down on the grass under the shade of a tree, for there was no court house. The case was one
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of alleged cattle theft and the jury wrestled with the verdict for an hour or two and then marched slowly back up the hill to the shade of the tree under which court was being held and handed in to the Clerk the verdict, reading as follows: "We, the juror, clar the Defendant."
The late Alexander Watkins Terrell, a charming raconteur and delightful companion, told me a few years before his death two most interesting stories which Dr. Smith had told him. Anyone who ever saw Dr. Smith can appreciate the humor of them better than can those who never enjoyed that delightful privilege.
He pronounced Judge Terrell's name as if the last "e" was an "i," just as he invariably pronounced my father's name as if the "i" were an "e" and the "e" was an "i." He said, "Terrill, when I was Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of Her Majesty, the Queen of England, I was upon one oc- casion invited to a levee at the royal palace. An invitation from royalty being equivalent to a command, I of course went. Shortly after I had arrived the Duchess of Kent, the mother of the Queen, invited me into a very handsome conservatory filled with rare flowers, and said to me: 'Dr. Smith, some of my German rela- tives have in view the establishment of a colony in a part of your State lying, I believe, west of a place called Austin. They purpose to call the colony or the town when it is established, New Braun- fels. My relatives entertain the hope that they may possibly be able to stay the spread of slavery westward, and I would be glad to know if you are familiar with that portion of the Republic of Texas.' I at once launched forth into a most e-l-o-q-u-e-n-t and rapturous description of that portion of Texas. I pictured all its virgin beauties, its delightful flowers, fertile soil and far-spreading landscapes. I painted it in such flowing colors that the dear old lady believed her kindred were destined to dwell in a veritable paradise, and she was delighted with the interview.
"Now, Terrill, to speak truly, I had never been in that portion of Texas in my life, and considering I drew wholly upon my imagination I made quite a success of my poetic description. I could not afford to let her royal highness think I was not familiar with every part of the Republic."
Judge Terrell, when he had finished the recital, said, "You see, that old woman away back there in 1844 or 1845 was planning to interfere with the spread of slavery in this country."
The other story was related by Dr. Smith as follows: "Terrill when the position of President of the Republic of Texas was held by Sam Houston the Capitol stood, as you know, upon the very spot where this hotel in which we are sitting now stands." They were in the Capitol Hotel in Houston, which stood where the magnificent Rice Hotel now stands.
"One night the President said to me, 'Doctor, have you your pill
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bags?' I replied, 'I have.' The President said, 'Then follow me.' I did so. He turned, as I believe it is in yonder direction (pointing west), to what I think was then, as now, called Travis Street. It was very muddy, and of course there were no side- walks-but there were some logs and pieces of rough boards put down at intervals along which we had to walk as best we could. The President went before in perfect silence, and I followed." (Any man who can remember having seen both men as I can with fair distinctness, can draw in his mind a picture of the scene. The two men picking their way in the semi-darkness over muddy logs and slippery boards, the one six feet two and weighing per- haps 195 to 200 pounds, perfectly erect and walking with a digni- fied, majestic stride when conditions under foot made it possible, the other about five feet seven or eight, weighing probably 130 to 140 pounds, and walking with quick, short, somewhat mincing steps, going on a mission, the purpose of which only the leader knew.)
The Doctor continued, "When we reached the intersection of this street, which is, I believe, Texas Avenue and Travis Street, we found a kind of shack built of boards and boughs, and in the middle of it was a large pot swinging on a tripod or crane."
(The Rice Annex Drug Store now covers that ground.)
"A huge Indian stood by the pot waving over it a rod or stick, or wand, evidently practicing some kind of savage incantation. A slow mist-like rain was falling, and shelter was desirable, but as soon as the President saw that the Indian was conducting a cere- mony of some kind he stopped and uncovered and bowed his head. When the ceremony was over the President entered, I following, and the President turned to me and said, 'Doctor, there is your patient,' pointing to an Indian who was lying on a plank stretched on two blocks or chunks of wood in the corner of the rude apartment. I felt the pulse of the Indian and then said: 'Mr. President, I can detect no pulsation.' The President placed his hand over his heart and bowed and said, 'Ah, Doctor, is that so?' I then felt over the heart of the Indian and said: 'Mr. Presi- dent, I can detect no, or, but little heart action.' Again the Presi- dent placed his hand over his heart and bowed and said: 'Ah! Doctor, is it possible?' As the President was apparently much interested in the Indian, I repeated the examination and said: 'Mr. President, your friend is in articulo mortis!' Again the President bowed and said: 'Ah! Doctor!' After yet another examination I said: 'Mr. President, I regret to announce that your friend is dead.' The President bowed again and said: 'Indeed, Doctor, dead? Is John dead? Upon my soul I thought John was too d-d a rascal to die,' whereupon, still with head uncovered, he strode majestically out of the shack into the mud and darkness without another word." The incident occurred
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many years before President Houston abandoned the habit of pro- fanity, and united with the Church, in the faith of which he lived and died.
A few years before Dr. Smith died I was walking down the street near the gate of the Capitol grounds and overtook him. He mistook me for my uncle, the late Major T. J. Goree, whom I greatly resembled, and whose name lie always pronounced "Gurree." The Doctor was then one of the regents of the Uni- versity, of which institution he was the enthusiastic friend. He said: "Good morning, Gurree, I am delighted to meet you. I have just had an interview with the professor of whom I spoke to you a few days since." I said: "Doctor, you have mistaken me for my uncle." "Ah, I see, of course this is Kettrill. I have known you from your boyhood, but as I was saying, the professor de- clined to analyze some very interesting mineral specimens I brought with me unless he was compensated for his services. Between you and me, speaking after the manner of men, the pro- fessor is a d-n fool."
He was a most interesting, instructive, amusing character, a gentleman, a scientist, a scholar, a man of business, a graceful writer, deeply learned in the science of medicine, a brave soldier, and a man who trod levels so lofty that truth could not, and malice dared not, assail him. "Take him all in all, we shall not look upon his like again."
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CHAPTER III.
The successor of General Henderson in the office of Governor was the Honorable George T. Wood, of Polk County. He served as I have heard, several terms in the Congress of the Republic and was also a gallant soldier in the Mexican War. The home in which he lived was then in what is known as Polk County, but is now San Jacinto County. His home was approximately twenty- five miles east of Huntsville, and a few miles west of Ryan's Ferry, where Kickapoo (I think that is the name) Creek enters the Trinity River from the east.
The total number of votes in that election was 14,767, an increase of over 5,000 in two years. Governor Wood received something less than a majority of the entire vote. I never saw him so far as I recall, though long after his death I frequently passed by the home in which he died. I have heard my father say that the road over which he came from Alabama with his family, and with his slaves, and with the family and slaves of my maternal grand- father, and quite a number of other planters, ran in front of Gov- ernor Wood's home, which was located, as I have stated, just west of the Trinity River. He had about a year before retired from the office of Governor and was living on his plantation.
In later years I heard some of my father's slaves say, that as the caravan of wagons and teams drew near the house, Governor Wood walked out of the woods near at hand with a long Kentucky rifle on his shoulder. He had been hunting and as it was dead of winter, he was suitably dressed. The darkies heard that he had been Governor and they expected to see what they called a "big man," dressed in fine clothes. My father, their master, always wore old-fashioned cut-away coats, with front flap trousers and wore a high hat and stock and standing collar, and frequently carried a gold-headed cane, and his negroes took him as a model dresser, and the garh of Governor Wood was very surprising to them, although it was adapted to the season. I do not suppose that any of them had ever seen a Governor and they were unable to associate the plain garb, and long rifle, with one who had been the "biggest man in the State."
I saw recently in some purported historical publication, that Governor Wood died in Panola County in 1858.
My impression is that the author is mistaken. Unless I am in error, he died in 1859 in what was then Polk County, but is now San Jacinto County. As I have said before, I have often been to the place where he lived, and, I believe, died.
My father was a physician with a very large practice, and answered calls from long distances. He lived in Huntsville in 1858 and 1859, where he practiced his profession. His plantation was fourteen miles east of Huntsville and about twelve miles west
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of Governor Wood's. He was called to see Governor Wood in his last illness. He responded promptly and when he entered the room where his patient was lying, the latter, in a strong, deep voice, said: "Good morning, Doctor, I am glad to see you, or rather I should say I am glad you have come, though I cannot see you. This doctor here who has been treating me has been giving me medicine which has rendered me unable to see you. I know you have come as quickly as you could, but you have come too late to be of any service to me. My condition is such that I am beyond help at your hands, yet I am greatly obliged to you for so promptly responding to my call." The circumstances attending the last illness of the old Governor were related to me by mny father. The Governor had correctly diagnosed his own case, for he soon passed over to join the silent majority. He was a courage- ous soldier, and a rugged, sturdy patriot.
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