Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1895-03-07
MEsGEEAAs.Nl,''EeUs. 3. 4
Sam Houston.
AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE TELLS OF
HIS UNHAPPY MARRIAGE
TO AN UNLOVING
WIFE.
Sam Houston.
A ROMANTIC STORY.

In the life of the celebrated Sam
Houston, which is as remarkable as
any in the annals of fiction, there is
no event of deeper interest than his
first marriage.
In every mans history there j.. a
time when wOman's. influence is the
determining force that makes or mars
1t. And in the life of Houston; his
meeting with Miss Allen and subse-
quent marriage to her is the influ-
ence that turned the whole course of
after events. At first, the change
brought the lawyer and statesman
to the condition of barbarian but
finally the liberty-loving barbarian
became the patriot who devoted his
best energies to securing the freedom
of Texas and the upbuilding of that
great State.
From facts in my own memory
and others obtained from contemp0-
raries now long dead, believe that
this marriage and the mysterious
separation that followed are easily
explained by simple analysis of the
physical and spiritual natures of
Houston and his bride, rather than
by the wild rumOrS and cXaggera-
tions current at the time.
Gen. Houston, as / remember him,
was a man powerfully built, wonder
ful i'm animal strength and vitality,
sensuous if not sensual, and not al.
ways exercising self-control. In adj
ditiOn to this, he was of an ardent
and romantic temperament, one that
reveled i'm the ideal. Living IN the
middle ages. he would have been a
knight errant and have maintained
the superior charms of his mistress
against all cavaliers-even to death
itself. He idealiZed his wife eXtrava-
gantly to him, she was the fairest
lady that ever vet the sun shone on.
He gave her admiration and devO-
tion and expected the like from her.
Toward her sex he always bowed
with cOurtly gallantry and to her,
his lady, he gave the allegiance and
chivalry of his ardent nature.
The account of their courtship is
like tale of old romance. There
lived in a stately house on the bluffs
Of the Cumberland river, three miles
from Gallatin, Tenn, one John AL
len, an old-fashioned country gentle
man, whose only daughter was at
once the delight and despair Of the
young cavaliers. Beautiful and
uueenly, the lily was not purer nor
marble colder than this stately lady.
She was Greek in her repose, perfect
in feature and figure, but with a
spiritual something that the Greeks
never possessed.
The wooers came from far to WOO ;
she listened to them patiently, said
"no" gently, but decidedly; and
then turned away unmoved by their
eptreaties, never even looking
around as they gall0ped off. She
was we'll educated, and her conVer-
sation, like herself, was at once SEN
sible, graceful and dignified. At
ball and routs and parties she could
have uueened it, had she chosen to
rule: for wherever she went her re-
gal bearing made lesser beauties seem
insignificant. Gallant after gallant
woOed in vain, until at last they
| called DeT ~ lne luuy "i'hou' "
heart"
In her train was one who never
spoke his love, feeling that his suit
was hopeless. And him the lady
loved, as she confessed to one OF her
bridesmaids on the eve of the we'd
ding. Who the unknown suitor was,
why he never spoke and was he true
TO her-these are only conjectures,
for his name never passed her lips.
Meanwhile Houston came to Gal.
latin-Houston, the soldier, friend
and comrade of Andrew Jackson
now Houston, the Governor, and al.
ways Houston, the Cavalier, booted
and spurred, "the glass OF fashion
and the mold of FORM"
Surely there was never ioVei
whose hon0rs clustered so thick aoou'
him: no wonder the unknown suitoi
held back when such a gallant en-
tered the lists. He wooed and w0r
and welded the beautiful Miss AL
len in January, 1929. :.
One of the bridesmaids, who dieo
only few years ago. described t'