USA > Texas > Governors who have been, and other public men of Texas > Part 3
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I, of course, know nothing of the causes which brought about his defeat for re-election, but in all likelihood it was the result of the war sentiment which was still strong. The battle of San Jacinto had been fought only about eleven years before, and his successful opponent, Peter Hansborough Bell, fought gallantly as a private in that battle, and in the War between the United States and Mexico did gallant service as a Colonel of a regiment. It has often proved to be the case in this country that a man who has done courageous service as a soldier is very hard to defeat. In the election of 1849 Colonel Bell defeated Governor Wood by about 1,550 votes, and the total increase of the votes over the number in 1847 was about 50 per cent.
After Governor Bell had finished his second term of office as Governor he served two terms as a member of Congress from Texas. Later he moved to North Carolina and I have been told, or heard somewhere, that he commanded a regiment in the Con- federate Army, but whether that is true or not, I am unable to say. He died in North Carolina, in the comparatively recent past, at quite an advanced age. I have been told that he was in straight- ened circumstances in the latter years of his life, but if I am not mistaken the Twenty-Second Legislature came to his relief by the . donation of a grant of land and a pension. He deserved all that was done for him, for he was a clean-handed, honest, public servant.
I have heard my father tell of a very amusing literary mistake he (Governor Bell) made in the opening sentence of one of his messages. I do not set down the incident to even appear to dis- parage the learning of Governor Bell. Mistakes in literary quo- tations are, by no means, infrequent. Many people believe that the adage, "God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb," is to be found in the Bible; whereas, it is from the pen of Lawrence
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Sterne, a famous English writer of, I believe, the eighteenth century.
A man once prominent in Texas politics, who belonged to a distinguished family and who won great distinction as a cavalry leader in the war between the States, was a very pronounced enemy of Sam Houston. In the course of a speech he declared he was not afraid to proclaim his views on the issues of the day or debate them with anyone on the opposing side, not even the great "Sanhedrin" himself. He used the term "Sanhedrin" in the sense of applying it to an individual, whereas, it is a matter of common knowledge that the "Sanhedrin" was a Jewish tribunal, composed of seventy-one deacons, priests and elders. The inis- take which Governor Bell made was that he got the Bible and Shakespeare mixed. In the opening sentence of one of his mes- sages he said : "I congratulate the Legislature upon the auspicious conditions under which it has assembled," and added, "in the language of Holy Writ, 'Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer,'" which quotation is not from the Bible, but is the opening lines of that great tragedy, "Richard III."
I, of course, do not know whether there were any political con- ventions held in those days or not, but I have heard there were none. Every man was free to run or not, according as he saw fit, or considered that he had, or had not, a chance for election. The election of 1853 resulted in the election of Elisha M. Pease. He was a man of Northern birth and came to Texas in 1835. He served the Republic very efficiently in several positions, and was elected to the Legislature, both the House and Senate. He sided with the Democratic Party until it espoused the policy of secession.
Unlike some other men who held the same views that he did regarding secession and the war, he did not leave Texas nor give any aid or comfort to her enemies, though he took no part in public affairs. When he was in the Legislature he drafted the admirable system of probate laws of Texas, which is a monument to his legal ability, and his thoroughness and efficiency. After the close of the war he was appointed Provisional Governor, but resigned because of some differences with the military commander of the district of which Texas was a part. He was a man of very high character and was justly respected by all who knew him. I do not recall that I ever saw him, though he died as late as 1883. He achieved a great reputation as a lawyer while at the bar. As early, perhaps, as 1838 the firm of Harris & Pease was formed in Brazoria County, where both men lived at that time, and their names appear in many volumes of the reports. Judge John W. Harris afterwards became Attorney General of the State. His name appears as the occupant of that office, in the three first volumes of Texas Reports. He was a man of ability and courage.
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At the time of his death, about twenty-five years ago, he lived in Galveston.
I have heard an incident related of his life that illustrates the kind of a man he was in his earlier years. It is said that he was once challenged for a duel in the days of the Republic, and availing himself of the privilege which the challenged party always had, he chose shotguns at ten paces. The challenging party, through his seconds. declared that such a condition meant nothing more nor less than murder, and that the Code did not authorize any such condition. Judge Harris replied, so it is said, that "the Code did not provide for near-sighted men, and he was near-sighted and could not see over ten paces." He stood by the condition he had prescribed, and the duel never came off.
Like many other lawyers in those days, he was obliged to take, in many cases, land in payment of fees, and was for many years "land poor," but as Texas increased in population and railroads were extended into new territory land rapidly increased in value, and in consequence the estate left by Judge Harris was a princely one.
He married the widow of James Wilmer Dallam, whose work, Dallam's Decisions, is to be found in most law offices. At the time of his marriage it was understood that he would adopt the only child of his wife by her first marriage, but for many years it was believed he had not done so, but long after his death it was discovered, wholly by accident, that he had kept his word, as the articles of adoption were found recorded in the archives of Matagorda (the proper) County.
The adopted child, a daughter, married many years ago Branch T. Masterson, a member of the well known Masterson family of Brazoria County, which has probably furnished more law- yers and judges than any other family in Texas. B. T. Mas- terson had few superiors in Texas as a land lawyer. He prac- ticed before me, and I held him in highest regard, both as a man and as a lawyer. He died very recently. He was named for Dr. Branch T. Archer.
As I recollect, Judge Harris died prior to the Galveston storm in 1900. His elegant home was in the far western part of the City of Galveston and was swept away by that storm, and most of the members of the family lost their lives. The home of B. T. Masterson was also destroyed and Mrs. Masterson lost her life, and as I have understood, her body was not recovered until some ten days or two weeks after the storm. The Harris family was a charming, typical Southern family, and in the Harris home was illustrated all the splendid traditions of Southern breeding, cul- ture and hospitality. It was my pleasure to have known most of the family.
The use of the name of Branch T. Archer reminds me of an
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amusing incident in which Sam Houston is said to have taken part. Dr. Archer, for whom Mr. Masterson was named, was a surgeon of great skill and a very courageous man, and it is said that he and Sam Houston became very bitterly estranged, so much so that Dr. Archer had threatened personal violence to General Houston on sight. A short time before the incident occurred General Houston had met the editor of a newspaper who had published in his editorial columns some very severe strictures on the old General. The old gentleman met him on the street one day and said: "My friends tell me, sir, that you have dared asperse my name in the columns of your miserable sheet. I have not seen it myself, for I would not defile my hands by touching it, but I tell you now, that if you use my name again, I'll cut your d -- d ears off and nail them to a post."
It is said that shortly afterwards he saw Dr. Archer coming down the street meeting him, and that as soon as he saw him he said: "Dr. Archer, I regret to be informed that you are a victim of that most distressing physical affliction called inflammatory rheumatism. During my residence among the Indians a squaw furnished me a sovereign recipe for that most painful malady, and I would be most happy to give it to you and thereby contrib- ute to your relief from suffering."
By that time they had gotten opposite each other, and Dr. Archer raised his hat and bowed and the old General, then a com- paratively young man, and President of the Republic, returned the bow with courtly grace, and both passed on. The old General had the most admirable gift of adjusting himself always to the present situation.
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CHAPTER IV.
The election of 1857 was, in some respects, the most remarkable ever held in Texas, in that it resulted in the defeat of Sam Hous- ton for the office of Governor. There was already felt the pre- monitory symptoms of the gathering political storm, which broke upon the nation a little more than three years later. Secession had become to be talked about, and the political tide in the North was setting in a direction which indicated the election of an anti- slavery candidate. The indications were that secession was, by no means, improbable, and it was known that General Houston was a devout and intense Union man and bitterly opposed to seces- sion, and there is no doubt but that that question had much to do with the result. Hardin R. Runnels was the successful candi- date. I do not recall that I ever saw him but once in my life, and that was when I was a lad, hardly old enough to remember it. As I remember him, he was a man of medium size, hair auburn if not bright red. He had been Speaker of the House and lived in Bowie County. He was a man of high character and fair ability. His running-mate was Frank R. Lubbock of Harris County, while General Houston's running-mate for Lieutenant Governor was Hon. Edward Clark of Marshall, Harrison County. Governor Run- nels received a majority of 3,924 votes. I was not old enough to remember very much about the election, but I think it likely that General Houston was still in the Senate, and I venture the opinion that he did not believe the people of Texas would defeat him for any office, but they did.
He bided his time, however, and in 1859 the two tickets were exactly the same as they had been in 1857, and though the election was held two years nearer the day of secession, and the feeling had grown much stronger in favor of that policy, the result was a distinct reversal of the former vote. General Houston was at that time sixty-six years of age, and was suffering from the wounds he had received in Indian warfare, and at the battle of San Jacinto. The campaign he made over a vast territory in buggies, carriages and stage coaches, speaking in school houses and under bush arbors, and in almost every conceivable kind of place, was a most remarkable one.
He increased his own vote over 8,000 and obtained about 5,000 greater majority over Governor Runnels than Governor Runnels had obtained over him. It was a wonderful achievement under all the circumstances, but Sam Houston was a power on the stump and was in many ways a remarkable man. I do not recall that I ever heard him make a speech, but I remember very well having seen him, and I have been in his house when I was a lad. Mrs. Houston ad my mother were educated at the same institution and married in the same county in Alabama, though Mrs. Hous-
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ton's marriage preceded that of my mother's by quite a number of years. .
When my father came to Texas he settled near where Governor Houston lived, and while they never agreed politically, their per- sonal friendship, and that of the two families, remained unbroken.
The general outline of the career of Sam Houston is a matter of common knowledge, but even up to this time there exists, in some quarters, much misapprehension as to the character of man he was, and many people are disposed to disparage his ability and achievements. Some years ago I took the time and performed the labor necessary to examine closely the story of his life, and while the statement may provoke dissent from many, I undertake to say that no man in the history of this nation, since the colonists first landed in 1620 at Jamestown, Virginia, up to this time, ever had so unique and remarkable a career as did Sam Houston.
This statement is made without reservation and no man is barred from the comparison. In 1806, a barefooted, fatherless boy, he journeyed with his widowed mother and seven brothers and sisters to the mountains of East Tennessee. At sixteen years of age he lived with the Indians and joined with them in their sports and in the chase. Within the period of twenty-one years he passed through the honorable gradations of a clerk in a country store, of a teacher of a country school, and lieutenant in the United States Army under Andrew Jackson, and was thrice wounded in one of the bloodiest Indian battles of modern times.
He was a student of law, a lawyer, prosecuting attorney, adju- tant general, twice a member of Congress from Tennessee, and Governor of that State. If his career had ended there, it would have been a remarkable one, but his later achievements were even more remarkable. He resigned from the office of Governor of Tennessee, crossed the Mississippi River, and again took up his abode with the Indians in the primeval forests of Arkansas and lived as they lived for more than three years. He put foot upon the soil of Texas for the first time on December 10, 1832, and pre- dieted then and there, that he would be the President of a Republic.
The Texas Declaration of Independence was adopted upon his motion on his 43rd birthday, and he was at once appointed Com- inander of the Armies of Texas. On the 21st day of April he led that army to victory at San Jacinto, and became first President of the young Republic, established by that battle. After a con- stitutional intermission of two years, he again became President. After his term as President had expired, he served in the Senate of the Republic of Texas, and when Texas became a State was elected to the United States Senate, and served in that august body twelve years with honor and distinction. He was elected Gov- ernor and retired from public life as the Governor of the State,
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which eventuated out of the Republic which his services were largely instrumental in establishing twenty-five years before.
If there is any such record of achievements in all the annals of American history, I have never discovered it in my reading. The military and civil career of General Houston and his varied and valuable services, present a tempting theme, but I can do no more than give this cursory sketch of as brave, as honest and as devoted and faithful a public servant as ever held official station.
When General Houston was deposed and removed from the office of Governor, Lieutenant Governor Clark succeeded him. I remember hearing a story told concerning what General, or Governor Houston said about the matter of the transfer of the office. It sounded very much as if it were true. A friend asked General Houston how the matter of his giving up possession and Governor Clark taking the executive office was carried out? He replied in the deliberate manner in which he always spoke: "I went over to the Governor's office after breakfast, expecting to proceed with the public business, but found little Eddie Clark in possession. I verily believe he camped all night at the wood pile so as to be on hand at an early hour in the morning."
The old man, of course, felt irritated, and was laboring under a sense of what he believed was injustice, and under such cir- cumstances much must be pardoned. When he was aroused his tongue was never coated with honey or oil. He really meant no unkindness, but what he said was unjust to Governor Clark. The . term "Little Eddie" was most inapt, for Governor Clark was a tall, portly, dignified gentleman who had the respect of all who knew him.
His views on the overshadowing issues of the day, and those of General Houston were different, and when the office became vacant by the deposition of the Governor, Governor Clark became his constitutional successor and felt able to take such oath as Governor Houston was unwilling to take. The latter demeaned himself with great dignity and exalted patriotism in that time of stress and turmoil and trial.
He always had the courage of his convictions and he would not have surrendered them for any office on earth. He warned the people that secession was most unwise, that success of their cause in case of war was impossible, and never ceased to plead for the Union, even when public passion was at highest tide. He had the prescience of a prophet, and the courage of a martyr.
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CHAPTER V.
The election of 1861 was remarkable in one respect, namely, that the two candidates for Governor had both been Lieutenant- Governor and both had been defeated for that office. I was not old enough to know much about poltics in 1861, but the official returns show that it was the closest election ever held in Texas before, or, so far as I know, since. Governor Lubbock was elected by only 124 votes. In that most instructive and charming book entitled, "Sixty Years in Texas," written by him, he says that when he got as far as Bastrop on his way to Austin after the election the result was still in doubt and he stopped with friends in Bastrop to await definite information as to the ultimate result, lest he might find when he reached Austin that he had been de- feated. Governor Lubbock and my father were friends and I have seen him often and knew him as well as a young man could know an old one. He was a very worthy character. He was from Harris County and had been District Clerk of that county since 1841. His case was the only one which I ever knew of a man going from the District Clerk's office to Lieutenant-Governor of the State, and from the Lieutenant-Governor's office to the Gov- ernorship. His career most forcefully illustrates that while intel- lectual ability and the graces of oratory, and the electioneering gift may be, and, of course are, most helpful aids to political success, yet no politician or candidate for office ever possessed so valuable an asset as is the reputation for incorruptible, personal integrity.
Governor Lubbock was not a big man, either physically or intellectually, but he was an absolutely honest man, and was a bright, catchy, amusing speaker on the stump, but not a reasoner or a deep man, mentally. His competitor, Governor Clark, was a much more impressive looking man, because he was tall, very dignified, and in every way a most worthy gentleman. Governor Lubbock lived to be over ninety years of age, and died respected and honored by all who knew him. When he was in political life, and for several years after, he had a habit, which was not uncommon to many men in his day and time-that of indulging in various brands and styles of profanity. He swore like a trooper, but was always clean of speech and indulged in no vulgarity. He forsook that habit a number of years before he died and joined the Presbyterian Church. Sam Jones was accustomed to say that repentance meant "turning around and going the other way." The illustration is a very good one, and it fits the case of Governor Lubbock admirably, because he turned completely around and was a most devout and exemplary Christian to the day of his death. He had undergone many hardships and dangers, and borne great responsibilities; and when the snows of more than
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four-score and ten winters had whitened his locks, he passed to his final rest consoled and comforted by that faith which has been the comfort and consolation of so many of the lowliest and loftiest of the children of men.
Governor Lubbock did not offer for re-election, but at the con- clusion of his terni of office went to Virginia and offered his services to the Confederate Government and was assigned to duty on the staff of President Davis, whose devoted friend and chain- pion he was to the last hour of his life. He carried the baby daughter of President Davis, later known as "the Daughter of the Confederacy," in his arms to visit her father when he was a prisoner in the dungeons of Fortress Monroe. When that daughter, who had grown to gracious, charming womanhood, came in 1895 to attend the Confederate Reunion in Houston, Governor Lubbock met her, and every man and woman who saw that meeting be- tween the gray-haired old man and the youthful, beautiful woman looked upon it through the mist of tears, which could not be restrained.
After the lapse of fifteen years, Governor Lubbock entered public life again. In 1878 he was nominated for State Treasurer at the same convention which nominated Honorable O. M. Roberts for Governor. He held that office for six terms, or twelve years, and discharged the duties pertaining to it as he did every other public trust, with conscientious fidelity and absolute integrity. He was absolutely, indeed, it might be said, fanatically honest. About the beginning of the war, 1861-65, a fund had been raised in and around Houston, amounting to about $1,200.00 for some patriotic purpose; perhaps for the erection of a monument of some kind. Governor Lubbock was made treasurer of the fund. After peace had been declared and the people were in a mental condition to give attention to such matters, it occurred to somebody to in- quire about that particular fund. The inquiry developed that it had been turned over to Governor Lubbock. He was called upon for it. He produced it to the last penny forthwith, and it was said that he not only produced $1,200.00, but produced the identi- cal $1,200.00 put in his hands some five or six years before.
When Governor Roberts became Governor and Governor Lub- bock Treasurer, the financial condition of the State was very bad. The Old Alcalde adopted the policy of "pay as you go," and Governor Lubbock was heartily in sympathy with that policy, but his efforts to establish it and to enforce it caused him no little trouble. In all counties of less than 10,000 population, the sheriff was also tax collector, and it became customary-there being no law to forbid it-for a tax collector to bring a lot of money to the Treasury in one pocket, get a receipt for it, and then reach into the other pocket and pull out a lot of warrants and get it back. The old Treasurer proceeded to get a register and register warrants,
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and if there was enough money on hand to pay the registered warrants and those that had not been registered he would pay both, but if, for instance, there was warrant No. 20 that was registered, he would not pay any other warrant until that one had been paid, unless he had money enough to pay both.
The first collector who paid in a lot of money but failed to get it back with the warrants he had in the other pocket raised a loud complaint, which was taken up all over the State, but Governor Lubbock adhered to the system. I always had great reverence and respect for the old man, both because of his high character and because he and my father were friends in days gone by; and so when I chanced to meet him on the street one day in Austin, I said : "Governor, this plan, or system, of registering warrants you have invented and put in force is worrying a lot of people." A gentle- man, who was in my company, said: "I do not see how you can do it, Governor. There is no law for it." It was before the old man had joined the church, and he said: "D-n it, I made a law of my own, and if you don't think it works, you come up there with a lot of warrants that ain't registered and I will be d -- d if you get your money until all earlier warrants are paid."
I met the old gentleman in the early part of 1883, while the Legislature was in session in the temporary capitol. He came into the Senate chamber on a very cold morning with an overcoat that reached nearly to the ground, and was wearing a cheviot cap that was covered with sleet, as he had just come in from the street. I bade him good morning and expressed the hope that he was well. He replied: "I feel better, I'll be damned if I don't." I asked if he had been unwell. He said: "No, but they have been counting the money in the Treasury for the last three weeks and I do not know whether it is all there or not. I believed it was. I get the best men I can get for the money they allow me, to take it in and pay it out, but I couldn't tell whether it was in fact actually there or not, but it is there to the last damned cent and $6.00 over that I have made in change, and I tell you I feel better."
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