Andrew Jackson Houston (June 21, 1854 – June 26, 1941) was an American politician. He was a son of the famous Texas hero and statesman Sam Houston and his wife Margaret Lea Houston, and was named for his father's mentor Andrew Jackson. He served briefly as a United States senator in 1941, appointed to temporarily fill the vacancy left by the death of longtime Senator Morris Sheppard.
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.[9]
A longtime resident of La Porte,[10] 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.[11]
United States senatoredit
Houston's semi-retirement ended in 1941, when Morris Sheppard died while representing Texas in the United States Senate.[12]
Texas GovernorW. 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.[13] 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.[14] (The oldest person overall was Rebecca Latimer Felton).[15]
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.[16]
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.
Familyedit
Houston was married twice; his first wife was Carrie Glenn Purnell of Austin, who died in 1884.[14] His second wife, Elizabeth Hart Goode of Dallas died in 1907.[14] Houston was the father of three daughters, Ariadne, Marguerite, and Josephine;[14][21] Ariadne and Marguerite largely devoted their adult lives to caring for their father.[14] Both Ariadne and Marguerite traveled with him to Washington after his Senate appointment, and they were with him when he died.[14]
Houston family treeedit
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Houston family tree
John Houston m. Margaret McClung (c.1650–1735) Ireland
John Houston (1690–1755) m. Margaret Mary Cunningham (1694–1754), both born in Ireland and died in Virginia
James Houston, died in Ireland
Robert H. Houston (1720–1760), born in Ireland, died in Virginia m.Margaret Dunlap Davidson (b. 1720)
John Houston m. Anna Logan
Samuel Davidson Houston (1745–1807) m. Elizabeth Blair Paxton (1757–1831)
^ abcdefghijRoberts, Madge Thornall (1993). Star of Destiny: The Private Life of Sam and Margaret Houston. University of North Texas Press. Appendix B - Descendants of Sam And Margaret Houston (pp. 373–379) and Appendix C - Genealogy of The Lea And Houston Families (pp. 380–382).
^SR staff (November 26, 2013), "Samuel Houston Family Tree", Star of the Republic Museum, Blinn College, retrieved April 21, 2015 Second Generation
^TWU staff (February 26, 2017). "Jean Houston Baldwin Daniel - TWU Texas First Ladies Gown Collection". Texas Woman's University. Archived from the original on February 26, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
^Daniel, Murph (July 5, 2017) [1995], "Marion Price Daniel, Jr.", Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association, retrieved March 11, 2016
Bibliography
Ellis, Franklin; Evans, Samuel (1883). History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania: With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men. Everts & Peck. pp. 591–592.