Whig and tribune. [volume] (Jackson, Tenn.) 1870-1877, 1874-09-12
SAM HOUSTON

- AANAE Haa1 ~ al falkfaaA A4LA lEA kAAGa-
SAM HOUSTON.
How EEe Resigned the GSvernorsni
OFTennessee. F'OrsoOk His Reautsfu
wife and Joined the Cherokee In
diRns.
The true story of sam Houston
resignation Of the governorship Q
Tennessee, and his joining the Chero
kee Indians in Arkansas, has neve
vet been published, and when I hear
II a few days since from the lips Of
grayshaired resident of Nashville VIII
had been the warm personal friend o
the hero of San Jacinto, l made
mental note Of it for the benefit o
the Times readers.
"You see, said the old gentleman
referred to, Houston and I were EN-
ployed IN a store together at Kings
ton, East Tennessee, when we wer
boys. That was about 1912. TIT
next year he enlisted as q private il
the army and marched of to the Creel
war. He was soon made an ensign
and was the first to scale the work
at the battle Of the Horseshoe, whel
he was shot twice in the right arm.
''He came home and finally got well
and was appointed sub-agent to thu
Cherokee Indians, but he soon got in
to a quarrel with Calhoun, then secre
tary of war, and was removed. TheI
he came to Nashville IN 1918. H,
began to study law with Judge Trim
bic, and in six months was admitted
to the bar. At the first session of thu
legislature after he was elected attor
ney general of the state, over Francis
B. Fogg, who was one of the mos
prominent and scholarly lawyers IL
the State.
"He was then sent to congress
where he was a warm Jackson man
and while there he had q difficulty
with John Il. Irwin, and when they
both came back to Nashville irwin
challenged him, sending his challenge
by = noted desperate of st. Louis
who had killed several men. He wa,
not considered a gentleman, anC
Houston wouldn't take a challenge
through him. Gen. White heard this
and made some remarks about Hous
ton, which led to duel between Hous
ton and White, in which White wa.
seriously wounded.
''This added to the popularity oi
Houston, and he was elected govern
or of the state in 1927. He had sue,
ceded Governor Carol, who was 9
very popular man, and who was spok.
en- of prominently as a candidate fol
reelection. Houston was afraid oi
him, and in order to secure his OWL
reelection to congress in case Carroll
beat him for governor, began to
himself politically, and in
order to carry out this scheme mar
ried, in January, 1929, lady belong
ing to 4 very influential family at
Gallatin, thirty miles north of Nash
vile. She was a very handsome,
brilliant young lady, and attracted
great attention wherever she went,
which exasperated Houston, who was
of a morose, jealous disposition. /
used to see him frequently and knew
that he had married purely through
political reasons, and soon saw that
his domestic life was an unhappy
one.
lone Saturday in April 1 met him
at a big barbecue just west of the
city, where he and Carol both made
speeches. I saw that the feeling of
that crowd was all in his favor, and
told him so, which caused him to be
in the very best OF spirits, and while
in that mood we separated. Monday
1 called at the Nashville inn,
where he and his wife had been board
ing since their marriage, but | was
refused Gdmittance to his room. I
persisted, however, and was finally
admitted by Shelby. 1 found Hous-
ton lying on the bed with his face
covered up, and, in answer to my as
touished inquiries, DR.. Shelby told
me that Mrs. HOustOn's father had
come down from Gallatin for her the
day before, and that she had left her
husband and returned to the home of
her childhood.
said I, General what's this
hear?"
"Said he, I'm n ruined man; I'm a
ruined manI'
friends to give some explanation for
his conduct, and asked him why he
and his wife separated, to which he
replied that he hadn't a word to say
against his wite-that she was a high
minded, virtuous lady.
Gle then said that he alone was to
blame; that he had decided to exile
himself among the Cherokee Indians,
and that he wanted me to carry his
resignation as governor TO the secre-
tary of state. This emphatically re-
fused to do, at first, but at his earnest
solicitation aud that of DR.. Shelby, I
finally consented.
THE next morning, Houston, Sh el,
bv and I went aboard a steamboat,
Houston being disguised SO that no
one recognized him. We bade him
and he went down the
Cumberland. He told me afterward
that he got as far as Napoleon. Ark,
without being recognized, and IN that
case, he begged the man to say moth
ing about meeting him. He went on
to Fort Smith, where he joined a Che
rokee by the name Of July, whom he
had been familiar with while he was
agent for the tribe. He assumed the
Indian dress, painted his face, and
could not be distinguished from
them.
"a few years afterward he passed
through Nashville, with a delegation
Of Indians, on his way to Washington.
I recognized him, but wouldn't speak
TO him. The fact l., his friends here
considered he had disgraced them,
and were disgusted with him. while
in Nashville he went with his delega-
ton and called on Gen. Jackson At
the hermitage. "
And how did Jackson treat him?'
1 asked.
L don't know, but 1 suppose he
treated him all right, as they had
been great friends. After reaching
Washington, I know he whipped q
member of congress bv the name OF
StauberTy for saying something dis
respectful OF Jackson.
AFTER this, we heard nothing more
OF Houston until Just before the Mex
lean war, when We heard that he had
gone to San Augustine to practice law.
You know his connection with the
Mexican war, probably, as well as /
do"
He married again, believe:"
yes His wife got divorce, and
he married q Mobile lady, and she
made a man Of him. They visited
Nashville together, and I went with
them to see Jackson at the Hermitage
twelve miles from the city. His frs
wife married again, and Is now livin!
near Nashville, unless she has die,
recently. .'-NGShUjLie Cor. Chicdg