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Texas | Columns | "Wandering"

Sam’s Kids -
the Houston Eight

by Wanda Orton
Wanda Orton

A tourist at the Alamo chided the lady for touching a table on display. “Don’t lean on that. It’s a souvenir of Gen. Sam Houston!”

“So am I,” retorted Nettie Houston Bringhurst.

Sam and wife Margaret parented eight such “souvenirs,” all of them talented, highly intelligent and quick with a quip. You’d think they would have been overshadowed by the larger-than-life master of the house, but the feisty four daughters and four sons each had a distinct and strong-willed personality.

So, whatever became of Sam Jr., Maggie, Nannie, Nettie, Mary, Andy, Willie and Temple?

Let’s start with the youngest, Temple Lea Houston, whose colorful life inspired the character of Yancey Cravat in Edna Ferber’s novel, “Cimarron.” Two movie versions of “Cimarron” have been made in addition to a TV western series, “Temple Houston.”

The first child born in the governor’s mansion, Temple was a babe in arms when Sam left office and moved his family to Cedar Point in west Chambers County near present-day Baytown. Temple was only three when his father died. After Margaret died, the five younger siblings moved in with their older sister, Nannie Morrow, at Georgetown. Temple didn’t tarry long, however. At 13 the restless adventurer joined a cattle drive to Kansas, then worked on a Mississippi riverboat and later as a page in the U.S. Senate. Returning to Texas, he became the youngest practicing attorney in the southwest.

Tall, dark and handsome, with his hair shoulder-length, Temple had a flair for theatrics in the courtroom and once fired his pistol in the middle of a trial. (“May I have everyone’s attention, please? Thank you.”) He was a speaker at the dedication of the Texas state capitol in 1888 but his most famous speech was his defense of prostitute, Minnie Stacey, in Woodward, Okla. So dramatic was his rhetoric that he had nearly everyone in the courtroom in tears, feeling sorry for Minnie.

Next to the youngest in the Houston Eight was William, a.k.a. Willie. Well respected as a special officer in the Indian service of the U.S. Department of the Interior, he suffered a fatal heart attack when riding out of Hugo, Okla., on a mission to a reservation. Friends compared his dedication to the Native Americans to that of his father, an honorary Cherokee.

La Porte resident Andrew Jackson Houston – a.k.a. Andy – was the son with the closest ties to the bay area, having served on the faculty at St. Mary’s Seminary in La Porte. During World War I he was in charge of military training at the seminary. Although he had to leave West Point because of ill health, he kept ties with the military and helped Teddy Roosevelt recruit Rough Riders for the Spanish-American War. He wrote a book about the battle of San Jacinto and penned numerous articles for newspapers.

The Houstons’ firstborn, Sam Jr., joined Ashbel Smith’s Bayland Guards during the Civil War when the family was living at Cedar Point. The military unit drilled on Evergreen Road near Smith’s home in present-day Baytown. After the war, Sam Jr. became a medical doctor and author. He also was an accomplished artist.

The first daughter and the second oldest child of Sam and Margaret Houston, Nannie (real name Nancy) was a Bible scholar and talented pianist. Besides caring for the five youngest Houston children after both parents were deceased, Nannie and her husband, Joseph Stiles Morrow, had six children of their own. Her sister, Mary, also married a Morrow – John Simeon, a first cousin of Nannie’s husband. They lived in Abilene where John established a law practice. After his death, Mary became the postmistress in Abilene.

The second oldest daughter and a gifted writer, Maggie (real name Margaret) married Weston L. Williams. After her husband died, she moved to San Antonio. Maggie enjoyed the company of intellectuals, and one of her best friends was the famous sculptor Elisabet Ney.

Another daughter, Antoinette (nicknamed Nettie) had numerous poems published in newspapers, including “The Flag of a Single Star,” that was set to music and sung by school children throughout the state. Nettie married Dr. William L. Bringhurst, a Texas A&M professor. A prominent leader in the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, serving as state historian, Nettie died in a car wreck in 1932. Her funeral was held at the Alamo.

Let us count the ways in which the children of Sam and Margaret Houston inherited talents, traits and lifelong interests. Ranging from history, music, art and the military to the law and literature, those eight apples never fell far from the tree.


© Wanda Orton Baytown Sun Columnist
"Wandering" January 5, 2014 column


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