Early Statehood - Part 2, 1853-1861

Born: 1812 in Connecticut

Early Career: Pease clerked in a general store and then in a post office. In 1835 he immigrated to Texas, settling at Mina (Bastrop), where he read law under D.C. Barrett. As secretary of Mina's Committee of Public Safety (the first in Texas), Pease was a member of the peace faction until hostilities loomed; he fought in the first battle of the revolution, at Gonzales. His offices under the Republic included secretary of the General Council, clerk of the committee writing the Constitution of 1836, chief clerk of the navy and treasury departments, acting secretary of the treasury, clerk of the judicial committee of the House of Representatives, and comptroller of public accounts in 1837. After annexation, Pease was district attorney and state representative from Brazoria County; as chairman of the Judicial Committee he wrote the probate code of 1848. He also served in the state senate from 1849-1850.

Accomplishments: Pease was elected to the first two of his three terms as governor in 1853 and 1855. As governor, he supported Texas' first state school fund with $2 million in U.S. bonds from the Compromise of 1850; appropriations were also made for a state university. Pease encouraged railroad construction through state loans prorated per mile of new track laid. A new capitol was built, and Pease was the first governor to inhabit the present governor's mansion. Asylums for the deaf and dumb and the insane were also established. In 1854 Pease sent rangers to deal with the violent attacks on Mexican freight carriers in South Texas, known as the Cart War. The next year, a border war with Mexico was narrowly averted after mounted volunteers pursued a band of raiding Lipan Apaches across the Rio Grande, an incident which Pease handled diplomatically. He defeated a Know-Nothing candidate in 1855.

Later Years: As a Unionist, Pease spent the years from 1858 to 1866 in semi-retirement from public life. He became provisional governor of Texas again in 1867, August 8, 1867 - September 30, 1869.

Handbook of Texas article about Governor Elisha M. Pease

Pease's message to the Texas Legislature on the "Cart War"

Born: August 30, 1820 in Mississippi

Early career: Runnels settled with his mother and two brothers on a plantation in Bowie County in 1842. From 1847 to 1852, Runnels represented Bowie and various surrounding counties in the 2nd through 5th Legislatures; he was chosen speaker of the house in his last term. Runnels was elected lieutenant governor under Elisha M. Pease, and was the only person to defeat Sam Houston in a political campaign, becoming governor in 1857 on a states-rights ticket.

Accomplishments: Indian trouble, the border raids of Juan Cortina, and sectional factionalism were probable factors which helped Houston defeat Runnels in 1859.

Later years: Runnels was a delegate to the Secession Convention of 1861 and the Constitutional Convention of 1866. He died in 1873.

Handbook of Texas article about Governor Hardin R. Runnels

View Portrait of Governor Hardin R. Runnels

Letter from Juan N. Seguin on an extradition treaty between Texas and Mexico

Born: 1793 in Virginia

Early career: Houston moved to Tennessee in his early teens, and lived most of three years with the Cherokee Indians in his late teens. He was wounded in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend (1814), gaining the admiration of Andrew Jackson.

His legal and political career began in 1818: he was elected district attorney of Nashville, adjutant general, congressman, and finally governor of Tennessee. In 1829 marital difficulties probably moved Houston to resign the governorship and leave the state. He spent the next six years in diplomatic and business ventures in the Indian country.

Although he represented Nacogdoches in the Convention of 1833, he was not a permanent resident of Texas until 1835. Houston was a delegate to the Consultation in 1835, and was elected major general of the Texas army by the General Council. As delegate from Refugio, he was a leading figure at the Convention of 1836, which then named him commander-in-chief of the Texas Army. After leading the victory at San Jacinto, he was elected second president of the Republic of Texas. He was representative from San Augustine County in the 4th and 5th Congresses before being elected president once again in 1841. After annexation, he served in the U.S. Senate (1846-1859), during which tenure he was defeated by Hardin Runnels in the gubernatorial election of 1857.

Accomplishments: Houston was elected governor of Texas in 1859. His term was dominated mainly by his anti-secessionist activities, in which he warned of the dangers of civil war and worked for a compromise. When he refused to take the oath of allegiance to the Confederate States of America in March of 1861 (arguing that now Texas was again an independent republic), Houston was replaced by his lieutenant governor, Edward Clark.

Later years: Houston died at his farm near Huntsville on July 26, 1863.

Handbook of Texas article about Governor Sam Houston

View Photographs of Governor Sam Houston
 

Message to Houston from the Secession Convention, March 12, 1861 (just four days later Houston was forced from office)