Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-11-01
SAM HOUSTON AS A LAWYER
How He Cleared an Old Sam JaeintO
COnrade-An Incident Of Texas JUS
fice.

How He Cleared an Old Sam JaeinsO
Comrade-An Incident Of Texas JUS
tIce.
Galveston News.
Everything connected with the name and
memory of Gen. Houston is full of inter-
est. While biographies and historians have
set forth in ponderoCs volumes his life,
character and public services, it shall be my
purpose to write of him in another charac-
ter; one in which he attracted only occa-
sional notice, to wit: tina Of lawyer and
advocate. His services in the field and the
Senate so far eclipsed his performances as
| lawyer, that but little has been preserved
| of his services in the forum.
General Houston never claimed to be
much Of lawyer, in the legal acceptation
of the term. He amused the writer, long
years ago, by giving an account of the man
ner and means used TO obtain his law Ii
cense, and of his election to the Office of
District Attorney by the Legislature of
Tennessee. At some future time, if he
have leisure, the writer may give to the
country the history of these two events as
he received them from the General him.
self. wish now to perpetuate an incident
i'm his life as lawyer and advocate. He
had great regard for all his old San Jacinto
soldiers, and whenever and wherever one
of them got involved in the meShes of the
law, he was the friend indeed, and would,
at great personal Inconvenience, render
them his services gratuitously. The Gen
eral seemed to regard it as a patriotic duty
to stand by these old companions in arms,
who periled their lives with him on the
plains of historic San Jacinto-albeit, all
of them were not as honest as they might
| be.
1t happened, soon after annexation an d
while the General was a Senator from
| Tez as in the Congress of the United
States, that one his old soldiers, who re-
sided in Liberty county, and who bore the
| unpOetic name of "Kokonut, was indicted
by the grand jury of Liberty for the theft
of beef. Il was said by many of this
mans neighbors that he had no idea of the
rights of personal property; tuum was not
to be found in his vocabulary, but when
beef was the game, it was all meum with
| Kckonut. Gen. Houston, at the time the
| facts of this narrative occurred, was living al
| Huntsville. Walker county, Texas, and il
was incOnvenient for him TO attend the
Liberty court. At this time ). ID. Hay,
ESQ.,, was District Attorney. Gen. James
Davis, then in full practice, was employed
by citizens Of Liberty to assist Hay in the
prosecution of kOkonut. Gen. Davis and
Hay were the warm personal and political
\ friends of Houston, who induced his legal
/ ANTAGONISTS in the case TO consent to a
change of the venue in the KOkOnut case,
from Liberty to Walker, where Houston
resided.
Time rolled on, and in due time the
| Walker District Court assembled according
| to law, and the case of the State vs.. ''kOko-
/ nut" was called for trial. All sides were
ready for trial; Houston and his client were
| seated beside each other, inside the bar.
| The General looked the very imperSOnatiOn
| of hero and statesman. His client, with
his coarse, sandy hair, looked the very i'm
persOnatiOn of a COW thief. The cOuIt-
room was crowded; the bench, bar and
| spectators were all intensely interested in
| the trial. Houston was fortunate in hav-
! ing some of his old San Jacinto soldiers on
| the Jury. The case was opened by the
| States counsel. Two witnesses were call
| ed and sworn; fine looking, stalwart men
| they were, and had the appearance of
men of wealth and social position.
From their evidence, il appeared
| that they, in riding together
on the prairie, saw the defendant and his
companion in crime engaged in what they
| supposed skinning a beef some distance of.
| They turned their horses heads in that di-
rection, and as they drew near they saw
woman, the wife of one Of them, in re-
cumbent position, see-sawing with her
| hand and arm up and down for a few mo-
ments, and then stepped off short distance
and cast something from her in a patch Of
briars near by. When they arrived on the
spot, they found the defendant and his
companion skinning a beef. They ex-
amined the brand and knew it to be the
brand OF the person named in the indict-
ment as the owner, and that the beef was
taken without his consent. They went to
the patch of briars and found the ears and
| identified the ear-marks.
The case was made out. Houston, how
ever, did not seem to be the least discOn-
certed, and began the cross-examination Of
the States witnesses. "Whose beef was
it?" said Houston.
s'Mr. Herring's," said the witness.
@Ah, pray, sir, where does Mr.. Herring
reside?n said Houston.
"In Louisiana" said the witness.
"Ah, indeed; how long has he resided
| there?" said the General.
"Since the revolution said the witness.
Houston-"Was Herring living in Texas
about the time Of the revolution"
Witness-"Yes, sir"
Houston-"Why did he leave TeXas?"
WitneSs-"Because he wanted TO, l sup
pose"
Houston-"Where was he at the battle
| of San JancintO p
" itness-"IIe was in Liberty county,
HoustOn-"Nas he on Tory Hill during
! the battle ,"
Witness 81 think lie was"
HOustOm-"Were you on Tory Hill
| during the battle, and wee yOn in cOmpa-
ny with Herring during t e battle"
| WitneSs-'.I think l was
| Houston-"How many Others of your
sort were on TORY Hill al that time ~
Witness-'I suppose about twenty or
thirty"
Houston-'-l IS, sir; do you remember
! cheering and hallOOing hurrah for Old
Growler, when the Mexicans turned loose
their cannon upon our little band of
patriOts?"
Witness-"There might have been such
language"
| HouStOn-"When Old GROWER ceased
firing, and you heard nothing but the sharp
crack of the Texas rifles and the shouts of
victory, what became of your party on Tory
| Hip"
| Witness-"We dispersed"
Houston then called several witnesses. all
old soldiers, to prove how gallant man
his client was during the Revolution. One
of the witnesses testified that the defendant
had performed important services to the ar
my in the impressment of horses, (and soto
yoce, said he impressed one for the army
and two for himself)
Here the testimony closed, and Hays, the
District Attorney, opened the case to the
jury in fine speech.
Houston opened for the defense, and by
very artful cOntrivances, said nothing about
the testimony in the case, but took his text
on the eforty-five Tories" who stood on
"Tory Hill,n overlooking the battle of San
Jacinto, pronounced beautiful panegyriC
on Kokonut's soldierly bearing, followed
him into the thickest of the fght-here the
defendant looked as if he thought himself
much prosecuted mana hero, not COW
thief. After the discontinue of the Next
cans, Houston conducted his hero to "ToTy
| Hill" where the witnesses against him and
the owner of the stolen beef and their
sympathizers were cOngregated. They see
Kokonnt coming, evidently on the war
path. Trepidation and alarm seize them.
They rein up their steeds-they
| oil