Sam Houston Jr. (May 25, 1843–1894) was the oldest of eight children born to

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played an important role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two i ...

and

Margaret Lea Houston Margaret Lea Houston (April 11, 1819 – December 3, 1867) was First Lady of the Republic of Texas during her husband Sam Houston's second term as President of the Republic of Texas. They met following the first of his two non-consecutive terms ...

, and was the only Houston child born in the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from M ...

, before its December 29, 1845 annexation to the United States. He was home-schooled by his mother, and later attended both Bastrop Military Institute and Baylor University. After Texas seceded from the Union in 1861, he enlisted in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

2nd Texas Infantry Regiment The 2nd Regiment, Texas Infantry was an infantry regiment from Texas that served with Confederate States Army in the American Civil War. The regiment was organized by the then Captain John Creed Moore who would become the regiment's 1st Colon ...

, Company C Bayland Guards. Wounded at the April 1862 Battle of Shiloh, he served time as a prisoner of war at Camp Douglas in Illinois. Following his release, he received a medical discharge from the Confederate States Army. He attended the Philadelphia University of Medicine and Surgery. Upon graduation, he returned to a private life, and it is unknown if he ever practiced medicine. At some point, he became a writer. Houston married Lucy Anderson in 1875. Their daughter

Margaret Bell Houston Margaret Bell Houston (also Margaret Bell Houston Kauffman, 1877 – June 22, 1966) was an American writer and suffragist who lived in Texas and New York. Houston published over 20 novels, most of them set in Texas. Her work was also published in ...

(1877–1966) was also a writer, as well as a suffragist who became the first president of the

Dallas Equal Suffrage Association The Dallas Equal Suffrage Association (DESA) was an organization formed in Dallas, Texas in 1913 to support the cause of women's suffrage in Texas. DESA was different from many other suffrage organizations in the United States in that it adopted ...

. Upon his death, Sam Jr. was buried on private property near his mother.

Family and historical background

Sam Houston, Jr. was born at home on May 25, 1843, at

Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas Washington-on-the-Brazos is an unincorporated community along the Brazos River in Washington County, Texas, United States. The town is best known for being the site of the Convention of 1836 and the signing of the Texas Declaration of Independen ...

. He was the oldest child of

and his third wife

. The elder Houston had no children with his two previous wives. At the time of his son's birth, Sam Sr. was serving as 3rd

President of the Republic of Texas The president of the Republic of Texas ( es, Presidente de la República de Tejas) was the head of state and head of government while Texas was an independent republic between 1836 and 1845. History and duties The Republic of Texas was formed ...

. The Republic was annexed to the United States as the 28th state on December 29, 1845, and the seven other Houston children were born in the US state of Texas: Nancy "Nannie" Elizabeth (1846) was born at their Raven Hill plantation home. Five of the children were born at the family's Woodland home: Margaret "Maggie" Lea (1848); Mary William "Mary Willie" (1850); Antoinette "Nettie" Power (1852);

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame a ...

(1854); and William "Willie" Rogers Houston (1858). Temple Lea (1860), was the only Houston child born in the

Texas Governor's Mansion The Texas Governor's Mansion is a historic home for the governor of Texas in Downtown Austin, downtown Austin, Texas. Designed by prominent architect Abner Cook, it was built in 1854 and has been the home of every governor since 1856. Governor G ...

. He received his basic education through home schooling from his mother. While Sam Jr. was enrolled at

Bastrop Military Institute Bastrop Academy, later renamed Bastrop Military Institute, was located in Bastrop, Texas. In 1851, the citizens of Bastrop, in the form of the Bastrop Educational Society, founded the Bastrop Academy, and the school received its charter on Januar ...

, the Texas Secession Convention passed the Texas Ordinance of Secession on February 1, 1861, effectively becoming part of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confede ...

on March 1. His father was Governor of Texas at the time, and was removed from office for refusing to take an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy. The elder Houston did not believe it was in the best interests of Texas to break away from the union.

Civil War

Sometime during August 1861, Sam Houston, Jr., enlisted in the

, Company C Bayland Guards, sending his mother Margaret into

melancholia Melancholia or melancholy (from el, µέλαινα χολή ',Burton, Bk. I, p. 147 meaning black bile) is a concept found throughout ancient, medieval and premodern medicine in Europe that describes a condition characterized by markedly d ...

. She dreaded that her first-born child would never be home again. "My heart seems almost broken ... what shall I do? How shall I bear it? When I first heard the news, I thought I would lie down and die", she wrote to her mother

Nancy Moffette Lea Nancy Moffette Lea (1780–1864) was the mother of Margaret Lea Houston and mother-in-law of Sam Houston. She was an integral member of the Houston family, running the household when Margaret was ill or pregnant. She is believed to have helped her ...

. Houston Sr. tried to help out by assuming care of their other children in between his extended visits to Galveston. Her fears seemed well-founded when her son was critically wounded and left for dead at the April 1862 Battle of Shiloh. A second bullet was stopped by his Bible, bearing an inside inscription from Margaret. He was found languishing in a field by a

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

clergyman who picked up the Bible and also found a letter from Margaret in his pocket. Taken prisoner and sent to Camp Douglas in Illinois, he was later released in a prisoner exchange and received a medical discharge in October.

Medical school

Sam Jr. received his basic education at

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the ...

and

Bastrop Academy Bastrop Academy, later renamed Bastrop Military Institute, was located in Bastrop, Texas. In 1851, the citizens of Bastrop, in the form of the Bastrop Educational Society, founded the Bastrop Academy, and the school received its charter on January ...

. His father Sam Sr. had died in 1863, two years before the April 9, 1865

Battle of Appomattox Court House The Battle of Appomattox Court House, fought in Appomattox County, Virginia, on the morning of April 9, 1865, was one of the last battles of the American Civil War (1861–1865). It was the final engagement of Confederate General in Chief, Robe ...

that ended the war. Following the end of the war, Houston enrolled at the Philadelphia University of Medicine and Surgery (most likely

Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania The Perelman School of Medicine, commonly known as Penn Med, is the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1765, the Perelman School of Medicine is the oldest me ...

), graduating in 1869. Margaret Lea Houston pooled her real estate resources through rentals or taking out mortgages, to help finance Sam Jr.'s medical education. Little is known about him after his graduation from medical school. Some sources say he briefly practiced medicine, while other sources say he never practiced medicine.

Personal life

Houston published a collection of articles and short stories, entitled ''Sam Houston’s Rambling Rustlings''. In 1875, he married Lucy Anderson. Upon his wife's death in 1886, Houston moved in with his sister Margaret Lea Houston Williams at Independence, Texas, where he died in 1894. He was buried on private property near his mother there. Lucy's and Sam Jr.'s daughter

(1877–1966) was a writer and suffragist who became the first president of the

. A second daughter Nellie (1879–1882) did not live long. Sam Jr.'s son Harry Howard Houston (1880–1935) worked in the medical field in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the List of cities in Texas by population, fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population, 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, T ...

Footnotes

References