The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1878-05-03
HOUSTON, THE HERO.
HOUSTON, THE HERO.
conqueror Of Santa Anna and Founder Of
a Republican Account Of the Skel-
eton in his Household-His Wife
False to her Vows and True
to her First Love.
Cor. of the GIobe-DemOcrat.

to her First Love.
Cor. of the Globe-Democrat.
HOUsTON, TEXAS, March 3O.-Asa
Jarman, aged seventy-four, a Texas
! veteran who participated in the bat
! tie of NacOgdOches, August 3, 1882,
and residing in Houston, has just
| completed Ms. memoir of the life of
} General Sara Houston, the Texas pa
triot and General. Mr. Jarman kind
iy invited a correspondent of the
Globe e-DeRlOcrdt TO peruSe it and make
such notes as suited him.
GENERAL SAM HOUSTON.
One of the remarkable men of mod
ern times, the founder of Republic
whose domain equaled, if it
did not exceed, the realm
of france, was born in Roekbridge
County in 1885,, and died in Texas in
1868. At thirteen, his father dying
he aud his widowed mother removed
to Tennessee, then inhabited by In
dians, near which, and in daily con-
verse with whom, lived mOtherand son.
The latter got acquainted and soon
became a great favOrite with the Cher
OkCeS, with whom be spent most of
his time hunting and fishing. I1e be-
came very proficient with the bow
and GrrOw, and the first time Jarman
saw the future General and leader of
armies was at Nashville, whittier ne
came with his friends, the Indians, to
sell skins, furs and meats. Some OF
the citizens, on the occasion referred
to, put up a siXDence OH pole or
stick, and amused themselves by hav-
ing the boy shoot it off with his ar
row.
THE WAR AGAINST THE CREEKS.
The boy lived with the Indians UNI
til the breaking out of the famous war
against the Greeks, i'll Georgia, when
he Joined a volunteer company, rose
10 the rank OF Lieutenant under Gen.
Jackson, and was the second to scale
the encmy's works at the battle of
Horseshoe Bend, on the Tallapoosa
River, where the Creeks were nearly
eXterninated. In the battle young
Sam was wounded by an arrow in the
thigh, which, with his own hand, he
deliberately pulled out. The savage
message brought piece of flesh along
with it, and though General Jackson
ordered him to the rear, the young
Lieutenant rushed with mis- men /"
storm the enemy in another ~ -itior
where he received two ~'',ots i'm tbc
shoulder. BeinD sent to the hospital,
nI,3 lti3 lHo'' II, on horseback, and on an
~ sidC-Saddlc, rode POO miles from
Tennessee to see and attend her SOIL
He was subsequently, appointed Agent
Of the Cherokees at Washington.
AN HISTORICAL QUESTION SOLVED.
The friends of General Houston in
Texas and elsewhere have over MAIN
tanned a profound silCncCOn tine causes
that led To the separation of Houston
and his first wife. JaTman's story
about the matter is rs follows: After
Houston rose to be Governor of Ten
nessee, he was induced to marry Miss
Lucy DickcrsOn, a great beauty, and
ut that time the belle of Nashville
Miss DickersOn had, however, previ-
ousiy been engaged to a handsome
young man, Mr.. Robert Nickerson,
during whose absence in Virginia her
father and mother prevailed on her to
marry Governor Houston. Miss Dick
ersOn'S father was one of the wealth.
lest men Of Tennessee, and all things
went well until the return Of Mrs.
HOustOn's former lover, when she cv-
identity became unhappy. She man
aged that frequent interviews with
the young man should occur. Finally
HouSton's bOdy-scrVant, faithful to
his master, informed the Governor
that something wrong was going on
between his wife and Mr.. NickersOn.
The husband, fearing to act without
the fact,
PRETENDED by GOING
To Maury county, to he absent some
time, and informed Mrs. Houston that
he would be absent several days. The
Governor made a detective out of his
servant-boy, who watched Mrs. Hous-
ton and her paramOur, and informed
his master at the exact moment when
he might, by ocular demonstration,
assure himself of his wife's guilt. The
Governor boarded the stage for CO.
lumbia, but soon got out and returned
to his home. Stepping softly in, the
Governor passed to Il bedroom, and
there beheld Mrs. Houston in the
arms of her former sweetheart, and
on the same couch. The Governor,
with that greatness of soul that sub
sequently. distinguished linn when
sparing the life of Santa Anna, the
Mexican tyrant, at the battle of San
JacintO, turned away without saying
a word, feeling that the lovely and in
cOmparably beautiful woman he had
him forever. 1t was a terrible mo-
ment! Hell and despair seemed to
clash together. Houston went out in
silence and
sENT FOR HIS FRIEND,
Governor Carroll, to whom he related
what had happened. Carroll said:-I
You must take your own course III
this affair" Governor Houston then
sent for his wife, and said; "What do
you mean by acting m this way?o-
Without tho Ieast embarrassment she
replied: "GOVernOr Houston, / now
tell you in plain words that / like Mr.,
NickerSOn's little finger better than
your whole body" "Weil, then" said
the Governor, t.yuu can take the little
finger, body and all, as / am now
done with you, Lucy, forever" After
this terrible experience, the demon Of
unrest seemed to enter Houston, who
went back to his old friends, the Cher
Ollees, and thcace ne found his way to
Texas, dressed, when Jarman first saw
him at NacOgdOches, like an Indian,
out and out.
The distinguished part played by
him in the Texan war ofindcpendenCe
agailst Mexico, in 1886. is n cOnspicu-
Gus matter of history, His election
by little evolutionary iunta TO the
post of COMMUNICATIVE III the
face of the invading Mexican army
under Santa Anna, seemed to turn
the scale of success i'm favor Of the
hard-pressed Texans. On the plains
of San JacintO, April q, 1886, General
Houston won the independence of
Texas and cast Off the Mexican yoke.
1t was tho grand event of his adven-
turous life. He lived to see the young
empire he loved so well wage war
with the Federal Union of States.-
But Inc fled with the people of Texas
to AVOID the step and not raise their
hands against a Government under
which he had 50 longlived and fought.
The General fOretOld the result II the
South made war against the Federal
Power, but his voice was unheedcd,
until two years after his remains We're
placed miGer Texas sod, his words
came tTUe-tOo, terribly true, when
the Canfederacy fell with crash, car
rying with it billions Of property aud
a million Of lives. Had the Texans
and the people Of the South taken
General HoustOn's advice, what use
less expenditure ~ blood ana treasure