The record-union., 1897-07-28
SAM HOUSTON'S CAREER.
1T CAPTIVATED THE HERO
PUBLIC IN HIS DAY.
He Created a Great Sensation in
Washington-Roma of His
Marriage-His Firm Stand in
Favor of the Union of States
and It's Result.

When Sam Houston began his life in
Washington in 1876 as Senator from
Texas, there was hardly a citizen of
the United States who had lived a more
exciting and romantic life or who filled
a larger place in the popular magma
| ton He had been reared by the In
dians, had fought desperately under
General Jackson winning the heart of
| that doughty old warrior by his dare
devil bravery; had studied law, and
had filled all the political positions Ten
nessee could give him, representing her
four years in Congress. Married to a
woman whom he ardently loved, he had
left her three months after the mar
riage for some reason which he never
| revealed, had fed his State, because of
this sad break in his hopes, and re-
turned again to life with the Indians.
He had fought duels, and had thrashed
a member of Congress for accusing him
of fraud. He had been commander-in-
chief of the army of the new republic
of Texas, and had won the battle of
San Jacinto. He had been President
and Dictator of his country, and finally
had succeeded in having it annexed to
the United States. Then he came to
| Washington as one of it's first two SEN
ators
Such a career was in itself enough to
captivate a hero-loving public, and it
seemed probable that they would give
him the place in their affection and suf-
frage which General Jackson had held.
| Houston's appearance when he went to
I Washington was just what the imag-
ination would have advised for his ca
reer. He was of great hight-siX feet
four inches-and muscular as an ath-
lete. An open-air life with the Indians
and in the army had kept him erect
| and bold, and he carried his big frame
as a monarch-or Indian chief-might
have done. His smooth face was ruddy,
and his eyes soft and bright, for Hous-
tons health was good in spite of the
fact that he had an open wound in his
right shoulder from rifle ball received
at To-ho-pe-ka thirty years before-a
wound which sometimes caused him
great pain, and which never healed.
There was just enough savagery in
his dress when he entered the Senate to
suggest a wild origin and career. In
his earlier years he had affected much
more startling eccentricities of garb
than in 1876 He even came to Wash
ington once in full Indian dress and
when he was President of Texas he
habitually wore fancy velvet vests
broad gold lace on his trousers and in
stead of a great coat, a gay Mexican
blanket. When he became a Senator
this theatrical taste showed itself in
vest of leopard's skin, broad sombrero,
and q Mexican blanket
Houstons habits in Washington were
such a contrast to his romantic story
and his eccentric appearance that pub
lie curiosity was doubly excited. To
begin with, he was temperate, thus con-
tradicting all the traditions of Indian
fighters and filibusters, as we'll as all
the popular legends about himself. This
sobriety was not, however of long
standing. Three months after his mar
riage Houston had left his first wife be-
cause, it is supposed she told him she
did not love him, and had fled to the
Indians and the bottle for forgetfulness.
So common was it for him to be dead
with liquor that the red men called him
Big Drunk" Long after he became
the greatest man in Texas, he kept up
these debauches. In 1910 he had married
again. The young woman, an Alabama
girl of y, had been captured, Desde-
monia-like, by the romantic life and
deeds of this reckless, carousing Othello,
and had married him to "save him. as
she afterward confessed. Her expert
ment was successful, for Houston never
was drunk after his marriage.
More conspicuous than his temper
ance We're his religious habits His wife
was an earnest Christian, and she La
bored zealously to bring about her hus-
bands conversion. The idea of convert
ing Sam Houston was preposterous to
most of their friends, but Houston took
his wife's desire seriously, and in his
conduct complied with many of her
wishes. He read the Bible, said grace,
went to church. When he went to
Washington in 1916 he did not take his
family, but lived alone at Wizards
Hotel. He perhaps had promised his
wife to go to church, for at once he ap-
peared at Baptist church in E street,
near the City Hall, and from that time
until he closed his term in the Senate,
twelve years afterward, he never
missed a Sunday morning service when
he was in the city. He became one
of the Sunday sights" of Washington,
and the church was known as ''Hous-
toms Church, as the place where the
Prisdent goes is called the President s
Church"
Houston always wore his Mexican
blanket to church, if it was cold, and
frequently he whitfield from the begin
ming to the end of the service. Whit
tling, indeed, seemed to be his way
Of MING hnTac MI lxQarincr his
nerves steady. He always carried
pocket full of Texas cedar and a sharp
knife and thus equipped defied dullness
and care. He was really an adept at
whiting, cutting out all sorts of little
objects, which he gave away right and
left to children His masterpiece was
a cross Whenever he met a lady
whom he particularly admired he made
a cross as another man might have
made poem, and with a gallant bow
and speech, begged her to accept it.
Many OF these crosses he cut while in
his pew in the Washington Baptist
Church.
Houstons interest in religious mat
ters increased yearly after he went to
Washington. He took to reading re-
ligious books, his favorite being Mel
son on Infidelity." So convinced was
he of the value Of this work that he
kept a stock of copies on hand to give
to doubling friends. Finally he be-
came persuaded that he should make
a public profession of religion and join
the church. In 1854 he was immersed
at Independence. Tex, and on his re-
turn to Congress he united with the
Washington church he had so long at