The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 94, July 1990 - April, 1991 Page: 35
692 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Sam Houston and Eliza Allen
tion and question, many of them of the most trivial character in regard
to her."77
Eliza died on March 3, 1861, at age fifty-one; the cause of death is
scribbled in cemetery records as "cansor of the stumach." The month
Eliza died, Sam Houston was deposed as governor of Texas because he
refused to pledge his allegiance to the Confederacy. He stood by An-
drew Jackson's creed-"our Union: It must be preserved"-and after-
wards retired to his home in Huntsville. An enemy wrote that "Hous-
ton has sunk out of sight, leaving not a ripple." 7"
The recorded events of Eliza's life are mostly family births, mar-
riages, and deaths. As for those things not chronicled-Eliza's regrets
and hopes-we know nothing. Only a few passages can be found to
hint at the woman she became: in his "Recollections of General Sam
Houston," A. W. Terrell says that she ". . . never mentioned Houston's
name, but, without speaking, would resent every harsh reference to
him by promptly leaving the presence of the speaker, and she is said to
have read with avidity every notice of his subsequent career." Crocket
wrote that after Eliza married Elmore Douglass "she was brought into
social life again." The doctor was "a very popular man, and loved to
entertain, and during the sessions of the circuit court and on other oc-
casions would invite the members of the bar and other distinguished
visitors to his house. His wife presided at his table with perfect dignity
and ease of manner." Crocket described Eliza's manners as "rather dig-
nified and reserved, almost haughty, but it was thought that this was in
consequence of all the troubles she had experienced. She had the en-
tire confidence of everyone who knew her." But perhaps the most en-
lightening comment was recorded by Emily Peyton, who was a young
girl in Gallatin when Eliza was rearing her children there. Emily said
Eliza had remarkable "dignity and firmness. ... It is true that Mrs.
Houston did not belong to that class of persons who wear their hearts
chives, Will Book, 1789-1904, microfilm roll 91). William H Douglass was born in 1848 and
died at age eight months (Gallatin City Cemetery tombstone).
There are other recorded events in Eh7a's life. ac ording to Crocket, Eliha's brother Joseph
was killed in the U.S.-Mexican War ("Data Dictated by Mrs. E L Crocket," Sam Hlouston ver-
tical file, I)aughters of the Republic of 'I'Texas Library, San Antonio) In 185o James S. Allen,
probably Eliza's brother James Saunders named for his grandfather "Jimmy D)ry," and de-
scribed by (:rocket as "wild and dissipated" (Ibid.) set off to seek his fortune in the Califoi nma
"digglns" (Thomas Boyers [ed.], "Old Sumne Never Tl'ires-For Califormna," Nashville Dadly
Centre State American, Apr 17, 1850) and was theicafter lost to the hilstollan's eye Two other
brothers settled into lo al life, distimguishing themselves in law and journalism. Of Eliza's four
sisters, only Martha Ann lived to maturity; she died at age twenty-three (Gallatin City Cemetery
tombstone), the year Sam and Eliza Houston were divorced.
77.James, The Raven, 38o James notes his source as the New York Herald, Dec. 2r, 1907, but I
am unable to find the article therein
78Ol()d Gallatin City Cemetery Register, Sunmei County Ari (hives, p 2o (i st quotation), Mar-
quis James, Andiew Jackon Portrait of a Pieszdent (Indianapols, Ind . Bobbs-Mei i ill Company,
1937), 235 (and quotation); Williams, Sam louston and the Wai of Independence in Texas, 359 (3rd
quotation)
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 94, July 1990 - April, 1991, periodical, 1991; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101214/m1/59/: accessed May 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.