In 1835 Sam Houston was General of the Texas forces. In 1836 he was
elected President of the Republic of Texas. His Indian wife, Tina, died,
he finally got a divorce from Eliza Allen Houston. In 1639 he went to
Alabama to buy fine blooded horses for his breeding farm at Wheelock,
Texas, and to seek money for his Texas enterprises. The quest for
capitol took him to Mobile to see William Bledsoe who invited him to his
country home where the hostesses sister, Miss Margaret Lee, was
visiting. In 1840 he married at Marion, Alabama, Miss Margaret Lee. They
came to his residence at Cedar Point, near Houston.
Following two financially disasterous years of the Presidency of Lamar,
Texans again elected Houston President of the Republic in 1841. In
cutting the pay of all employees Houston cut his own salary from $10,000
to $5,000 per year. At this time the Capitol was moved from Austin to
Houston and later to Washington on the Brazos. Mrs. Houston never liked
the home at Raven Hill and Houston built a house at Independence hoping
the altitude would be helpful to his wife's health, probably relieving
her asthma.
The stock farm Houston established was located along the ridge backbone
between the Navasota and Brazos rivers between Wheelock and Owensville.
As seen in the account books of the Cavitt Stage Coach Inn, Captain A.
Beck managed the Houston stock farm, boarded with the Cavitt Armstrong
family and had Houston's horses shod by Indian Bill at the Wheelock home
of the Cavitts.
xxx
A citizen of northern Texas enlisted in the Confederate Army, leaving
his young wife and one small child at home. After an absence of some
months he received a letter stating his wife and child were sorely in
need as their money was exhausted.
He got a furlough from the Army since(sic) and returned home, and sold
cattle he owned to provide for the needs of his family. He told two men
who lived near his home whom he regarded as reliable men what he had
done and asked them to see that his wife and child were protected and
provided for. They promised to befriend them and to see that no harm
came to them.
A short time after the soldier returned to the army two men went at
night and attempted to get into the soldier's home. They tried both
doors and the windows which fortunately were barred. After these vain
efforts they moved to the front of the house, and stood near each other
by the yard gate talking in a low voice. The soldier's wife could see
them distinctly and it was a bright moonlight night. Her house was built
of logs, the chinking and daubing was out in a spare near the door. She
got the shotgun with which she was an expert, poked the muzzle through
the crack between the logs and fired at the men who stood near each
other. As she fired she saw both men fall. She at once picked up her
child and ran to a neighbor's house.
As soon as they were able to arouse some of their neighbors they went to
her house. Both men were dead where she had shot them. They proved to be
the two neighboring men her husband had trusted to protect his family,
while he was fighting for his country.
xxx
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The most beautiful things in the world cannot be
seen or touched. It must be felt with the heart.
Helen Keller
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Wishes, Wants, and Dreams....a few poetic illusions
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...It is in silence where music lies...
Yanni
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One ought, everyday, to hear a song, read a fine poem,
and, if possible, to speak a few reasonable words.
Goethe
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