Mirabeau B. Lamar

Happy at Last

Alone in the world: Smarting under criticism, Lamar returned to his home near Richmond at the end of 1841. He busied himself with defending his reputation, managing his plantation, and collecting historical materials. In 1842, he traveled to Georgia to spend time with his daughter, now 15 years old. Rebecca had inherited the frail health of her mother, and not long after Lamar returned to Texas, he received word from his brother that she had died. Lamar was plunged into grief and depression by this latest loss.

As with earlier losses, Lamar found solace in travel. He had changed his position on annexation and spent some time lobbying for the Texas cause. He also devoted much time to his poetry.

Streets of Laredo: Texas was formally annexed by the United States on February 19, 1846. Mexico objected to the annexation, especially to the U.S. claim to the land between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande. Anticipating trouble, the United States stationed General Zachary Taylor and his troops at the mouth of the Rio Grande. In April 1846, Mexico crossed the river on a raid, killing several of Taylor's men. The Mexican War was underway.

Lamar volunteered to serve on the staff of Governor James Pinckney Henderson, who took a leave of absence as governor to personally command troops in the field. Lamar fought in the Battle of Monterrey before being assigned to secure Laredo, 150 miles to the rear of the fighting. Lamar chafed at the inglorious assignment, finding Laredo to be an impoverished backwater, but he administered the town and its small frontier garrison with as much efficiency as he could muster. In 1847, he traveled to Austin to represent Laredo in the Texas House of Representatives.

At Long Last Love: When the war ended in 1848, Lamar again took up a restless life of almost constant travel. While visiting friends in New Orleans, he met Henrietta Maffitt, a 23-year-old Galveston beauty who was the daughter of a well-known Methodist preacher. Although there was a thirty-year difference in their ages, the two of them fell in love. They were married in February 1851. They spent their early married life in Macon, Georgia, and within a year became the parents of a daughter, Loretto Evaline.

After Loretto's birth, the Lamars moved back to Texas and began to renovate the long-neglected Richmond plantation. Henrietta cultivated flowers, and Loretto grew into a healthy, playful child whom Lamar called his "pretty angel." For perhaps the first time in his life, Mirabeau Lamar was truly happy. He kept busy with his efforts to collect and preserve the papers of early Texas, engaged in a voluminous correspondence, and became involved with efforts to promote the economic development of the southern states. Perhaps his proudest achievement came in 1857 with the publication of Verse Memorials, a collection of his poetry. But Lamar's happiness came at a price. He eventually realized that he needed an income to sustain his family's genteel lifestyle.

Ambassador to Nicaragua: Working through friends, Lamar was appointed United States minister to Nicaragua and Costa Rica, a post he held for twenty months while Henrietta stayed in Texas and managed the plantation. The position was well paid but extremely challenging. In 1855, a group of American filibusters led by William Walker had invaded Nicaragua and taken over the country. They legalized slavery, made English the official language, and terrorized the Nicaraguan people. Walker was finally expelled, but the people of Central America were extremely bitter against the United States as a result of the Walker affair.

President Buchanan charged Lamar with the duty of negotiating a treaty with Nicaragua to operate a trade route across the isthmus. He quickly made friends among the ruling elite in both Nicaragua and Costa Rica but was unable to secure approval of the treaty. Eventually, France won the opportunity for the trade route. Weary and feeling himself in ill health, Lamar returned home to Texas. He brought a parrot and a monkey home with him, to the delight of seven-year-old Loretto.

Death at Richmond: Two months after returning to Richmond, on December 19, 1859, Mirabeau B.Lamar suffered a massive heart attack and died at the age of 61.

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