Margaret Moffett Lea Houston and Sam Houston were married on May 9, 1840. The couple had nine children: Sam Jr., Nancy Elizabeth, Margaret Lea, Mary William, Antoinette Power, Andrew Jackson, Louis, William Rogers and Temple Lea. Andrew Jackson Houston was born at Independence, Texas on June 21, 1854. He was named for Sam Houston’s friend and United States President Andrew Jackson whom he had known since the early 1800s. It was a way to honor his old friend who had died some nine years earlier in June of 1845.
Mention is made of the family environment of the Houston children. Before their parents’ deaths (Sam in 1863 and Margaret in 1867), they had what would be described as normal childhoods. Despite Sam being known as a hero of the Texas Revolution, his statewide popularity had waned for some due to his anti-sucessionist beliefs, his conciliatory attitude toward native tribes, and other views. Andrew Jackson Houston was remembered for his and his siblings’ childhood pranks, with particular attention to those played on Margaret’s widowed mother, Mrs. Lea. Whether true or false, the story is told that their grandmother was ready for the world beyond and was known to sleep in a coffin and not her bed. After she had retired for the evening, the children would sometimes burst into her room with whoops and hollers. Once, Andrew Jackson had to free her from the device after the lid became stuck.
Andrew Jackson Houston attended Baylor University while it was located in Washington County, Bastrop Military Academy, Texas Military Institute, Salado College and later also West Point. A military education was a fairly common path for young men his age. He would have been part of West Point’s class of 1875 but was honorably discharged and withdrew because of an unnamed physical disability. He was said to be too young to serve in the Civil War and too old to actively serve in the Spanish American War. However, he became acquainted with future president Theodore Roosevelt and organized a volunteer cavalry troop for the Spanish American conflict.
One of his early civilian jobs was to serve as clerk for the Texas State School Department in Austin. While he was living there, he organized a military style drill company known as the Travis Rifles. Then he went to work as a clerk for the General Land Office in Washington, D. C. Houston later studied for the bar and passed the bar exam leading to his admission to the bar on April 21, 1876.
Houston’s first marriage was to Carrie Glenn Purnell in 1870s. The couple had three daughters. There was at least one comment that their marriage may have ended in divorce but this seems doubtful. Their third daughter was born in 1883 and Carrie Glenn died the next year in 1884. In 1885, Houston married Elizabeth Hart Good of Dallas. She was the daughter of Susan Anna Floyd Good and John Jay Good, a local magistrate. Judge and Mrs. Good were Dallas County and Texas pioneers. Hart is also an early Dallas County name, but these two pioneer families are not closely related. Elizabeth and Andrew had one daughter.
Houston had begun a law practice in Tyler before moving to Dallas to serve as a clerk in the United States District Court in Dallas. He was at this position when the 1880 federal census was recorded. Near the end of the decade, he resumed a private law practice and remained in Dallas until around 1901. He always exhibited an interest in military affairs and while he lived in Dallas he commanded a unit of the Texas Volunteer Guard. Houston then moved south and opened up a law practice in Beaumont. Subsequently, he was appointed United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Texas by then acting United States President Theodore Roosevelt in 1902. At the time, Roosevelt was serving the unexpired term of the late William McKinley. Houston remained at that post for around eight years. It was during period his second wife Elizabeth died.
Historically Houston was usually known to be a registered Democrat. With Roosevelt being a Republican, their friendship was likely been detrimental to Houston’s state political career. However, this could be viewed at least two ways with one being his possible political naivety and another being that perhaps he was not all that interested in holding certain popular views for the sake of political advancement. He was persuaded to run in the Republican primary against James S. “Jim” Hogg in 1892 but drew only a few scattered votes. Houston was also said to have become involved in Republican state conventions. He made two unsuccessful runs for governor of Texas as a Republican in 1910 and 1912 on a prohibitionist ticket, though he was known not to be a nondrinker. Houston was also an advocate of women being allowed to vote (women’s suffrage).
Another aspect of his life was of his involvement with St. Mary’s University in La Porte. St. Mary’s was a Catholic school. He served as commandant of the cadet corps and taught military science. He retired from teaching in 1918 but afterward he continued to live near the campus. After the end of the First World War, Houston became involved in the Texas National Guard and held the rank of colonel. Governor James V. Allred awarded Houston the honorary rank of brigadier in 1938.
His life as a retiree was said to be quiet. He enjoyed his personal library. He became a Catholic in his later years and spent much time studying the history of the church. He loved his surroundings. Though he was not a fisherman, he enjoyed the many area birds, particularly Texas mockingbirds. From 1924 to 1941 he held the position of superintendent of the state park at the San Jacinto battlefield and was said to be instrumental in the creation of the monument.
His peaceful retirement ended in 1941 when he was invited to serve out the remaining term of United States Senator Morris Sheppard who had passed away. Governor W. Lee O’Daniel selected Houston to serve on an interim basis until a special election could be held to replace Sheppard. By then, Houston was 86 and no threat to want to participate in the special election. However, Houston’s health took a turn for the worse and he was hospitalized some of the time.
After Houston had served only two months as United States senator, he died on June 26, 1941. He was first interred in Virginia at the Abbey Mausoleum. It was still fairly new, having been built as a private venture in 1924, adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery. In photos it appeared to be an attractive and stately looking granite structure. When World War II began to loom, Marine Corps barracks were constructed that obstructed its view and access leading to its decline. Within about fifteen years of Houston’s death, the facility had fallen into disrepair and the trust fund set up for perpetual care had been depleted. Houston’s heirs received title to his crypt. This allowed the family to remove his remains to Texas. In 1958 he was reinterred at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.
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