Claim: In 1861, Texas, which joined the Confederate States of America, was placed under martial law a year later and Jacob Kuechler was elected as a commissioner of the Texas General Land Office in 1870.
Evidence: Texas declared its secession from the Union on February 1, 1861, and joined the Confederate States on March 2, 1861, after it had replaced its governor, Sam Houston, who had refused to take an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy. He was elected commissioner of the Texas General Land Office in 1870, holding the position for the entire four years of the administration of Governor Edmund J. Davis.