
Sam  Houston:
A Great Man and Mason
by Bob Ellenwood, MPS

Sam Houston was born in Timber
Ridge Church, Rockbridge County,
Virginia on March 3, 1793. His family
moved to Tennessee in the Spring of
1807. His father had suffered some fi-
nancial hardship and had sold their
farm in Virginia. He passed away
before the family moved to Tennessee.
The family lived on a farm that Sam's
father had acquired before he died.

Sam had trouble getting along with his
older bothers so he "ran away" from
home and lived on an island in the
middle of the Tennessee river with some
Cherokee indians. One of the tribal
chiefs there "adopted" Sam as his son.
This chief's name was Oo-loo-te-ka
John Jolly]. He gave Sam the Indian
name of Co-lon-neh (the Raven). Sam
lived with these Cherokee Indians until
he was eighteen years old.

In 1813, Sam enlisted in the U.S.
Army. Shortly there after he was pro-
moted to Sergeant, then a few months
later he was made an Ensign and trans-
ferred to the 39th Infantry. There he
served as a Lt. in the Militia under
General Andrew Jackson against the
Creek Indian "Red Sticks. " He was
severely wounded in an attack upon the
Indians. Having been shot first in the
thigh with an arrow and having had it
removed, Sam charged to try and in-
spire his men to attack. During this
charge Sam was shot in the right
shoulder and right arm having a ball
lodged in each of them. He was left to
die since the doctors didn't think his
wounds could be healed. Quoting from
Sam Houston's writings:

"One ball was extracted, but no at-
tempt was made to extract the other, for
the surgeon said it was unnecessary to
torture me, since I could not survive till
the next morning. I spent the night as
soldiers do, who war in the wilderness,
and carry provisions in their knapsacks
for a week's march. Comforts were out
of the question for any; but I received
less attention than the others, for every-
body looked on me as a dying man, and
what could be done for any, they felt
should be done for those who were
likely to live. It was the darkest night of
my life.

"On the following day, I was started
on a litter, with the other wounded, for
Fort Williams, some sixty or seventy
miles distant. Here I remained, sus-
pended between life and death, for a
long time, neglected and exposed. I was
finally brought back, through the
Cherokee Nation, to my mother's home
in Maryville, where I arrived in the lat-
ter part of May, nearly two months after
the battle of the HorseShoe."

"This long journey was made in a lit-
ter, borne by horses, while I was not
only helpless but suffering the extremist
agony. My diet was of the coarsest de-
scription, and most of the time I was
not only deprived of medical aid, but
even of those simple remedies which
would, at least, have alleviated my
sufferings. Our toilsome way was
through the forests where we were obli-
gated to encamp out and often without
shelter. No one around me expected me
to recover. When I reached the house of
my mother, I was so worn to a skeleton
that she declared she never would have
known me except for my eyes, which
still retained something of their wonted
expression. "

He lay all this time before they de-
cided that he would not die and tried to
do something with his wounds. He car-
ried bad scars of this battle for the rest
of his life. He served in the 39th In-
fantry from July, 1813, until May 1818,
when he resigned. This is when and
where he and General Andrew Jackson
met and became close friends.

Sam Houston had very little formal
education, however, when he decided
he wanted to become a Lawyer and was
told that it would take him approxi-
mately eighteen months study and work
to pass the bar examination, Houston
didn't believe this and studied law at
Nashville, passed the Bar and became a
Lawyer in six months (approximately
one-third the time).

Sam Houston joined Cumberland
Masonic Lodge, No. 8, he was Initiated
on April 19, Passed to the degree of Fel-
low Craft on June 20, and Raised to the
Sublime Degree of Master Mason on
July 22, 1817.

Sam demitted from Cumberland
Lodge on November 20, 1817, and re-
affiliated on June 21, 1821. During this
period he supposedly was a charter
member of Nashville Lodge, No. 37.
He served Cumberland Lodge as
Junior Warden and, in 1824, attended
Grand Lodge as a Past Master. He was
recorded in one place as having
demitted from Cumberland Lodge on
January 20, 1831; however, he is listed
in the proceedings of 1828 as having
been suspended for un-masonic con-
duct.

Some time in 1820, Sam ran for the
office of District Attorney and was
elected District Attorney of Davidson
District in Tennessee. He served twelve
months very successfully and then re-
signed to return to the regular practice
of law.

In September, 1821, the former en-
listed man aspired to a high office--that
of Major General in the Tennessee Mili-
tia--and was elected. He certainly had
made good his boast that those who
taunted him about joining the army in
the ranks would hear from him.

Then Brother Sam was elected, in
1823 and 1825, and served two terms as
a congressman in the House of Repre-
sentatives from Tennessee and was a
Major General. On October 1 of 1827,
he was elected Governor of Tennessee.

Quoting Judge Jo C. Guild, who knew
Sam Houston well: "Houston stood six
feet six inches in his socks, was of fine
contour, a remarkably well propor-
tioned man, and of commanding and
gallant bearing, had a large, long head
and face and his fine features were lit up
by large eagle-looking eyes; possessed
of a wonderful recollection of persons
and names, a fine address and courtly
manners and a magnetism approaching
that of General Andrew Jackson. He
enjoyed unbounded popularity among
men and was a great favorite with the
ladies. "

Then on January 22, 1829, at the age
of 37, he married an 18-year Lady,
named Eliza Allen, but for some reason
(speculation was, on the part of those
against Houston, that she left him) was
very unhappy with her so he resigned as
Governor, left his wife and moved to the
Indian Territory where he lived again
with his adopted father and remarried
an Indian woman by the name of
Talahina (Tiana), and worked closely
with and for the Cherokee Indian Na-
tion in what was to become Indian
Territory, setting relations with the
other Indian nations back in the early
1800's.

Quoting from A History of Oklahoma
by Grant Foreman, page 9, "Another
element of that period that was to color
the history of Oklahoma was the arrival
in June, 1829, of Sam Houston. From
pique and disappointment he had aban-
doned his high office of governor of
Tennessee to live among the Cherokee
Indians in the future Oklahoma. He
came up the Arkansas River and landed
near the mouth of the Illinois to join his
old Cherokee Friend, Chief John Jolly,
who lived a mile or two up that stream
on the east bank. After remaining here
a while he continued to Fort Gibson and
three miles northwest of the fort on the
road to the Creek agency established
himself in what he called Wigwam Neo-
sho, where he set up a little store. Here
he took deep interest in the welfare of
the Indians, whose difficulties and
suffering enlisted his warm sympathy.
He wrote many letters to the depart-
ment at Washington in which he en-
deavored to secure redress for them and
discipline officials whom he blamed for
many of their wrongs. At the same
time, however, he was scheming with
the influence he had with President
Jackson to secure lucrative contracts to
ration the Indians it was hoped would
be emigrated from the East, if Jackson's
plans for removal should materialize.
Houston returned to Fort Gibson from
Washington after his plan failed, and in
1832, departed for Texas, where he
helped make history for that future
state. "

Actually, Talahina's name was Diana
or Dianna Rogers. She was a member
of a very famous Cherokee family and
the wife of Cherokee leader, David
Gentry. She was a tall and beautiful
woman, the daughter of Captain John
"Hell Fire Jack" Rogers, one of the
most prominent white men in the
Cherokee Nation. Her brothers were:
Captain John Rogers, Jr., William Ro-
gers and Charles Rogers, all famous
Cherokee Indians. She was also some
kin to Sequoyah. One of her uncles was
John Jolly. She appeared to be more a
"white woman" because she was less
than a quarter Cherokee Indian, prob-
ably closer to "one-sixteenth Cherokee
and fifteen-sixteenths Scotch and Eng-
lish. "

Quoting: "The popular tale is that
Houston lay in the gutter of life suffer-
ing from the wounds of his marriage
failure and drank himself through a pe-
riod of three years." Nothing could be
farther from the truth, for this was one
of the most productive periods in Hous-
ton's life. If Houston were "The Big
Drunk" this is a perfect application of
Lincoln's purported request to know the
brand name of the whiskey which
General Grant drank so that he could
issue it to his other generals.

" Sam Houston accomplished more
during these three years than many
men do in a lifetime. During his years
with the Cherokees, Houston made two
trips to Washington to assist in negotia-
tion with Jackson and the War Depart-
ment, and his negotiation to end the
warfare between the Osages and the
Creeks and the Cherokees was the most
successful in thirty years of attempted
settlements. A long-range reform pro-
gram in the Indian Agency system as
well as removal of agents of question-
able ability and honesty resulted from
his intervention; through his political
column in the Arkansas Gazette and the
pamphlets of Tah-lohn-tus-ky and
Standing Bear, Houston spearheaded
the Indian Bureau reform programs. "

Then on October 21, 1829, Sam
Houston was made a citizen of the
Cherokee Nation (Tribe) by tribal ac-
tion. He then journeyed to Washington
D.C. vested with "all the rights, privi-
leges and immunities" of a tribal mem-
ber. There he was officially received as
the Ambassador of the Cherokee Na-
tion by the then President of the United
States, Andrew Jackson.

In late November of 1832, he went to
Texas, made application to live in
Stephen F. Austin Colony. In 1832,
when Sam Houston moved to Texas, he
affiliated with Holland Lodge No. 36 of
LA. It later became Holland Lodge No.
1 of Texas. On December 20, 1837, he
presided over the meeting which estab-
lished the Grand Lodge of Texas. Then
he demitted from Holland Lodge on
July 14, 1842, and was next reported as
a member of Forest Lodge No. 19, in
Huntsville, TX, in 1851. Then, as a
member of the first convention, April 1,
1833, he chaired a committee to write a
constitution for the republic of Texas.
Actually he wrote most of it himself,
and then he was elected general of the
militia. On November 3, 1835, Texas
declared independence and Houston
was elected as Major General to com-
mand the Army. On March 2, 1836, he
was a member of the convention that
declared absolute independence and
they named him Commander-in-Chief
of the armed forces. This was his 43rd
birthday. It was during this time that
Houston served as Commander-in-
Chief during the Texas war for inde-
pendence from Mexico and won a deci-
sive victory over General Santa Anna
(another Mason) at the battle of San
Jacinto where Texas lost five men and
Mexico over 1000. Following the
slaughters at the Alamo and Goliad,
Commander-in-Chief Sam Houston
and his army defeated the Mexicans at
San Jacinto and took Santa Anna a pris-
oner. This was on April 2, 1836, and
during this engagement General Sam
Houston was again wounded. His right
leg was terribly hurt. Then on May 5,
1836, Houston turned the command of
his armies over to Major General
Thomas J . Rusk because of his wound.

Then, on May 22, 1836, Sam Hous-
ton then went to New Orleans where he
was treated by the same doctor who had
treated him nearly thirty years earlier.
This doctor said had Houston not been
treated when he was he would have died
as mortification had already begun to
set in, in his leg. This wound was to
bother him a great deal for the rest of
his life.

On September 5, 1836, Sam Houston
was elected President of the Newly
formed Texas Republic he took the oath
of office on October 22, 1836. And even
though his candidacy was announced
only twelve days previous to the elec-
tion, he received 4,374 of the total of
5,104 votes. His term expired on
December 12, 1838.

Sam Houston meet and fell head over
heals in love with Margaret Lea some-
time in the summer of 1839. They were
married on May 9, 1840, now Sam was
47 years, two months and seven days
old at the time. He served two years in
the House of Representatives of the
Texas Republic while Mirabeau Lamar
was President. Lamar was a disaster as
President, spending the nation into in-
solvency and at the end of Lamar's
term Houston was elected for the sec-
ond time and served again as president
from December 13, 1841, until Decem-
ber 9, 1844. Sam served as President
through some very trying times. On
November 20, 1836, Sam Houston
wrote President Andrew Jackson to in-
form him Santa Anna was on his way to
Washington D. C. Also, letting Jackson
know that he, Houston, hoped Texas
could become a state of the United
States. He was President of the Texas
Republic when it voted to become a
state on February 16, 1846.

After having served as first and third
Presidents of the Texas Republic; he
then labored hard for the admission of
Texas to the United States and this wish,
of his came to fruition on December 29,
1845. After the United States House of
Representatives voted to annex Texas in
January of 1845 and the U.S. Senate in
February and President Tyler signed the
bill on March 1, 1845 it was up to
Texas. The people of Texas voted to
ratify this action on October 13, 1845
Then on February 16, 1846, the Lone
Star Flag of the Republic of Texas was
lowered and the Stars and Stripes were
raised over Texas.

At this stage of his life Oliver Dye
wrote of Houston: "He was fifty-five
years old, a magnificent barbarian
somewhat tempered by civilization. He
was of large frame, of stately carriage
and dignified demeanor and had a lion
like countenance capable of expressing
fiercest passions. His dress was
peculiar, but it was becoming to his
style. The conspicuous features of it
were a military cap, and a short military
cloak of fine blue broadcloth, with
blood-red lining. Afterward, I occasio-
ally met him when he wore a vast an
picturesque sombrero and a Mexican
blanket. "

Then he was elected and inaugurated
as Governor of Texas on December 2
1859, and served from then until 1861
Thus he served as Govemor of Texas
tried very hard to keep the U. S. to-
gether and tried to prevent the Civil
War, even to the extent of being the
people's candidate for President against
Steven A. Douglas and Abraham Li-
coln, withdrawing from the race during
the campaign in an attempt to keep the
Republican candidate, Abraham Lin-
coln, from being elected because Hous-
ton was not convinced that Lincoln
would try and hold the U.S. together.
Sam Houston was dedicated to the U.S.
first and Texas second. Both were very
important to him. When Texas
succeded from the Union, Governor
Houston refused to accept it. When the
roll was called and Houston's name was
called he was no where to be found so
the Lt. Governor was inaugurated as
Governor.

Later, on his way home, he stopped in
Brenham, where Houston was asked to
make a speech he refused. His old
solider comrades and other friends at
Brenham insisted that he speak. He
firmly refused until the excitement be-
came intense; excited groups of seces-
sionists gathered upon the street
corners, and declared that it would be
treason against the Confederate
Government to permit Governor Hous-
ton to speak against the secession. The
court house was densely packed, and as
Governor Houston arose to speak, cries
were heard:"Put him out; don't let him
speak; kill him. " At this moment Mr.
Hugh McIntyre, a wealthy planter of
the community, and a leading secession-
ist, sprang up on the table and drew a
large Colt revolver saying, "I and 100
other friends of Governor Houston have invited
him to address us, and we will kill the first
man who insults, or who may, in any way
attempt to injure him. I, myself think that
Governor Houston ought to have accepted the
situation, and ought to have taken the oath of
allegiance to our Confederate Government, but
he thought otherwise He is honest and sincere,
and he shed his blood for Texas independence.
There is no other right to be heard by the
people of Texas. Now, fellow-citizens, give
him your close attention; and you ruffians,
keep quite, or I will kill you. "

The Civil War turned out just as Sam
had predicted. He had said all along
that the south didn't have a chance of
winning. Sam Houston died at the end
of the Civil War on July 16, 1863, at the
age of 70 years, four months and thir-
teen days.

One of Houston's writings was: "The
great misfortune is that a notion obtains
with those in power that the world, or
the people, require more governing
than is necessary. To govern well is a
great science, but no country is ever im-
proved by too much governing. Govern
wisely and as little as possible! Most
men think when they are elevated to
position that it requires an effort to dis-
charge their duties and they leave com-
mon sense out of the question. "

Sam Houston left his wife and eight
children, when he died.

In summary: Houston was elected to
congress in 1823 and 1825. He was
elected Governor of Tennessee in 1827.
Then served as Commander-in-Chief of
the Texas Military, was elected and
served as President of the Texas Repub-
lic twice and a member of the house of
representatives once, served as Senator
from the State of Texas and served two
terms as Governor of Texas. Quite a
career, even for a great Mason.

NOTES
I . J.C. Guild, Old Times in Tennessee, page 262.

2. Famous Cherokee Indian who invented the
Cherokee Alphabet. It was so simple they could
master it in a few days and soon a large part of
the tribe employed the new alphabet in uses
never known to them before.

3 . Sam Houston with The Cherokees, 1829-1833 byJack
Gregory and Rennard Strickland. University of
Okdahoma Press.

4 By Oliver Dyer, of the shorthand staff of the
Senate in his Great Senators of the United States .

5. From TheAutobwgtaphy of Sam Hous~on by Day &
Ullom, page 254.


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