Andrew Jackson Houston

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = Andrew Jackson Houston

|image = Andrew Jackson Houston Memorial.jpg

|jr/sr = United States Senator

|state = Texas

|term_start = April 21, 1941

|term_end = June 26, 1941

|appointed = W. Lee O'Daniel

|preceded = Morris Sheppard

|succeeded = W. Lee O'Daniel

|office2 = United States Marshal for the
Eastern District of Texas

|term_start2 = June 2, 1902

|term_end2 = May 25, 1910

|preceded2 = John Grant

|succeeded2 = Dupont B. Lyon

|birth_date = {{birth date|1854|6|21}}

|birth_place = Independence, Texas, U.S.

|death_date = {{death date and age|1941|6|26|1854|6|21}}

|death_place = Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.

|restingplace = Texas State Cemetery, Austin, Texas

|spouse = Carrie Glenn Purnell (d. 1884)
Elizabeth Hart Goode (d. 1907)

|children = 3

|profession = Lawyer
Author
Historian

|party = Democratic
Republican
Prohibition

}}

Andrew Jackson Houston (June 21, 1854{{spaced ndash}}June 26, 1941) was an American politician who served briefly as a United States senator in 1941, appointed to temporarily fill the vacancy left by the death of longtime Senator Morris Sheppard. He was a son of statesman Sam Houston and his wife Margaret Lea Houston, and was named for his father's mentor Andrew Jackson.

Early life

Andrew J. Houston was born in Independence, Texas, on June 21, 1854.Texas Heritage Foundation, Texas Heritage, Volume 1, 1959, page 100 He was educated at several military academies and colleges, including Baylor University and West Point—a member of the Class of 1875, he dropped out before graduating.West Texas Historical Association, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ed4TAQAAMAAJ&q=%22andrew+j+houston%22 West Texas Historical Association Year Book], Volumes 23–25, 1947, page 56Texas Heritage Commission, Under Texas Skies, Volume 2, 1946, page 97 He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1876.Ralph Henderson Shuffler, [https://books.google.com/books?id=NzVVAAAAMAAJ&q=%22andrew+jackson+houston%22+admitted+bar The Houstons at Independence], 1966, pages 75–76

Career

Image:Senator Andrew Jackson Houston circa 1908.jpg

Houston had a varied career, including serving as clerk of the federal court in Dallas, a colonel in the Texas National Guard and United States Marshal for the eastern district of Texas.U.S. Government Printing Office, [https://books.google.com/books?id=vC0XAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22andrew+j+houston%22+court+clerk&pg=PA439 Official Register of the United States], Volume 1, 1879, page 439United States War Department, [https://books.google.com/books?id=HKxM76bCj1YC&dq=%22a+j+houston%22+colonel&pg=PA235 Annual Report], Volume 5, 1892, page 235U.S. Government Printing Office, [https://books.google.com/books?id=iOg3AQAAIAAJ&dq=%22a+j+houston%22+marshal&pg=PA90 United States Congressional Serial Set], Issue 4773, 1905, page 90

Houston ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Texas in 1892 as a lily-white Republican candidate.New York Times, [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1892/09/07/106085611.pdf "A Hot Fight in Texas"], September 7, 1892

During the Spanish–American War Houston raised and organized a cavalry troop which was mustered into service as part of the Rough Riders. In 1910 and 1912 he was a Prohibition Party candidate for Governor.Christian Science Monitor, [https://www.proquest.com/docview/513581471 "Obituary, A. J. Houston"], June 27, 1941

A longtime resident of La Porte,{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |date=June 27, 1941 |title=Death Ends Career of Houston, Solon For Just 24 Days |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/6430867 |work=Paris News |location=Paris Texas |pages=1, 2 |url-access=subscription |ref={{sfnRef|"Death Ends Career of Houston"}}}} in 1918 he retired to study and write history. From 1924 until his Senate appointment he held a sinecure as Superintendent of the state park at the San Jacinto battleground, where his father had won the battle which led to the independence of Texas from Mexico.Ralph Henderson Shuffler, [https://books.google.com/books?id=NzVVAAAAMAAJ&q=superintendent The Houstons at Independence], 1966, page 76

United States senator

File:Coat of Arms of Sam Houston.svg

Houston's semi-retirement ended in 1941, when Morris Sheppard died while representing Texas in the United States Senate.Associated Press, Deseret News, [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=l6FTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=locDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5801,4556428&dq=morris+sheppard&hl=en Sen. Sheppard, of Prohibition Fame, is Dead], April 9, 1941

Texas Governor W. Lee O'Daniel desired to serve in the Senate, but knew it would be politically unpopular to name himself as the interim appointee pending a special election for the remainder of Sheppard's term. Certain that the 86-year-old Houston would not run in the special election, O'Daniel appointed him to temporarily fill the vacancy.Associated Press, San Antonio Express, Andrew Jackson Houston Named Texas Senator, April 22, 1941 At the time of his swearing in, 82 years after his father had served in the same seat, Houston was the oldest man to enter the Senate.{{sfn|"Death Ends Career of Houston"|pages=1, 3}} (The oldest person overall was Rebecca Latimer Felton).Associated Press, Paris (Texas) News, Death Ends Career of Houston, June 27, 1941

Houston joined the Senate as a Democrat, and filled the seat from April 21, 1941, until his death. The early June trip from Texas to Washington, D.C., to begin his duties had a negative effect on Houston's health, and he attended only one committee meeting as a senator, afterwards spending most of his time hospitalized.[http://www.cemetery.state.tx.us/pub/user_form.asp?step=1&pers_id=2239 Andrew Jackson Houston] at www.cemetery.state.tx.us

Death and burial

Houston died in a Baltimore, Maryland, hospital on June 26, 1941, five days after his 87th birthday.United Press, Madison (Wisconsin) State Journal, Houston, Aged Texas Senator, Dies, June 27, 1941 Briefly interred at Abbey Mausoleum in Arlington County, Virginia, he was later disinterred and reburied in the Texas State Cemetery.Ben R. Guttery, [https://books.google.com/books?id=-14gbMQftG0C&dq=%22andrew+jackson+houston%22+born+1854&pg=PA83 Representing Texas], 2007, page 83

Legacy

In the special election held a few days after Houston's death, O'Daniel defeated Lyndon B. Johnson and several other candidates, and won the seat.Paris (Texas) News, O'Daniel Takes Lead of 379 in Senate Contest, July 1, 1941Associated Press, Big Springs Daily Herald, O'Daniel Takes Seat in Senate, August 4, 1941

Houston is one of 4 Senators (the others being William Johnson, Edmund Pettus and Strom Thurmond) to be the oldest living U.S. senator while serving and he is the only Senator subsequent to the second U.S. Congress to become the oldest living Senator upon entering office.

Family

Houston was married twice; his first wife was Carrie Glenn Purnell of Austin, who died in 1884.{{sfn|"Death Ends Career of Houston"|pages=1, 3}} His second wife, Elizabeth Hart Goode of Dallas died in 1907.{{sfn|"Death Ends Career of Houston"|pages=1, 3}} Houston was the father of three daughters, Ariadne, Marguerite, and Josephine;{{sfn|"Death Ends Career of Houston"|pages=1, 3}}{{cite book |last=Armstrong |first=Zella |date=1922 |title=Notable Southern Families |volume=2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c1hlAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA183 |location=Chattanooga, TN |publisher=Lookout Publishing Co. |page=183}} Ariadne and Marguerite largely devoted their adult lives to caring for their father.{{sfn|"Death Ends Career of Houston"|pages=1, 3}} Both Ariadne and Marguerite traveled with him to Washington after his Senate appointment, and they were with him when he died.{{sfn|"Death Ends Career of Houston"|pages=1, 3}}

Houston family tree

References

External links

{{Handbook of Texas|id=fho69|name=Andrew Jackson Houston}}
[http://www.cemetery.state.tx.us/pub/user_form.asp?step=1&pers_id=2239 Texas State Cemetery Honored Texans Biography]
[http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-2489 Military Maps of the Texas Revolution] by Andrew Jackson Houston, hosted by the [http://texashistory.unt.edu/ Portal to Texas History]
[http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000777346 Andrew Jackson Houston, Late a Senator from Texas], 1944, U.S. Government Printing Office

{{U.S. Senator box

| state=Texas

| class=2

| before=John Morris Sheppard

| after=W. Lee O'Daniel

| years=April 21, 1941 – June 26, 1941}}

{{succession box

| title=Oldest living U.S. senator

| before=Fountain Thompson

| after=Fountain Thompson

|years=April 21, 1941 – June 26, 1941}}

Category:People from Independence, Texas