George Childress - wikipedia George Childress This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. ( April 2009 ) George C. Childress is credited as being the author of the Texas Declaration of Independence George Campbell Childress ( January 8, 1804 -- October 6, 1841 ) was a lawyer, politician, and a principal author of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Contents 1 Early life 2 Texas 3 Later life 4 Bibliography 5 See also 6 References 7 External links Early life Childress was born in Nashville, Tennessee, to John Childress and Elizabeth Robertson. In 1826 he attended and graduated from Davidson Academy. Two years later, he was admitted to the Tennessee Bar. George C. Childress studied law for two years later he became chief editor for the Nashville Banner which he remained for 10 years. On June 12, 1828, he married Margaret Vance. Seven years later, she gave birth to a son, but died from complications a few months afterward. Texas Statue of Childress at Washington - on - the - Brazos State Historical Park in the Washington - on - the - Brazos community in Washington County, Texas, United States. After spending some time raising money and volunteers in Tennessee for the Texas army, Childress left permanently for Texas. He believed Texas needed better defense. He arrived at the Red River on December 13, 1834. He reached Robertson 's Colony on January 9, 1836. The following February he and his uncle, Sterling C. Robertson, were elected to represent Milam Municipality ( formerly known as Viesca ) at the Convention of 1836. Childress called the convention to order and subsequently introduced a resolution authorizing a committee of five members to draft a Declaration of Independence. Upon adoption of the resolution, he was named chairman of the committee by Richard Ellis ( the other members of the committee were Edward Conrad, James Fannin, Bailey Hardeman, and Collin McKinney ). The committee finished the drafting in only one day, leading many to believe that Childress had gone to the convention with a draft already prepared ( as such, Childress is almost universally acknowledged as the primary author of the document ). The convention approved the document on March 2, 1836. The document is modeled closely on the United States Declaration of Independence, where most of the signatories had moved from, often illegally. Although the document is dated March 2, the actual signing took place on March 3, after errors were discovered when it was read. On March 19, 1836, Childress and Robert Hamilton were sent to the United States to gain recognition of the new Republic of Texas. They were later replaced by James Collinsworth and Peter W. Later life On December 12, 1836, Childress married Rebecca Jennings and they had two daughters. Childress attempted three times, in 1837, 1839 and 1841, to start his own law practice, but each attempt failed. In despair at his fortunes, on October 6, 1841 while living in Galveston, Childress took a Bowie knife and committed suicide by cutting open his abdomen. Bibliography James L. Haley, Passionate Nation ( Free Press, 2006 ), ISBN 0 - 684 - 86291 - 3. H.W. Brands, Lone Star Nation ( Anchor Books, 2005 ), ISBN 1 - 4000 - 3070 - 6. `` GEORGE CAMPBELL CHILDRESS ( 1804 - 1841 ). '' George Campbell Childress. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2014. See also History of Texas References Jump up ^ Steen, Ralph W. `` Provisional Government ''. Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 10 October 2011. Jump up ^ Webb, James ; Duvall, Thomas ( 1849 ). `` Sam Houston v The Administrators of the Estate of Sterling C. Robertson, Appeal from Travis County ''. Reports of Cases Argued and Decided in the Supreme Court of the State of Texas during December term 1847. Vol II. Galveston : The News Office. pp. 1 -- 36. External links George Childress at Find a Grave VIAF : 36825214 LCCN : nr97025244 IATH : w6n66c3z Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_Childress&oldid=816218068 '' Categories : 1804 births 1841 deaths Male suicides People from Sabine County, Texas People from Galveston, Texas People of the Texas Revolution Revolutionaries who committed suicide Suicides by sharp instrument in the United States Suicides in Texas Hidden categories : Articles lacking in - text citations from April 2009 All articles lacking in - text citations Find a Grave template with ID same as Wikidata Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with SNAC - ID identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Italiano Edit links This page was last edited on 20 December 2017, at 00 : 52. About Wikipedia

Question: the main author of the texas declaration of independence was
Answer: George Campbell Childress