Sam Houston - Timeline

1793
Sam Houston is born on March 2, 1793 at the Timber Ridge Plantation in Rockbridge County, Virginia. He is the fifth of nine children born to Major Samuel and Elizabeth (Paxton) Houston.

1809
Houston leaves home and joins the Cherokees.

1814
Houston fights at the battle of Horseshoe Bend.

1819
Houston wins the office of Attorney General of the District of Nashville.

1827
Houston is elected Governor of Tennessee.

1833
Houston goes to Texas, leaving his life with the Indians. He becomes involved in Texas politics and in the rebellion against Mexico, and sets up a law practice in Nacogdoches, Texas.

1837
Divorce from Eliza Allen is granted.

1845
Texas gains statehood.

1861
When Texas votes to separate from the Union, Houston, a strong Unionist, refuses to swear allegiance to the Confederacy. Consequently, Houston leaves the Governor's office.

1806
Houston's father, Major Samuel Houston, dies.

1812
Houston returns to Maryville, Tennessee and opens a school.

1817
Houston is appointed Indian Subagent in Tennessee.

1821
Houston returns to private law practice.

Houston is elected Major General of the Tennessee State Militia by his fellow officers.

1829
Houston marries Eliza Allen.

Houston announces his bid for re-election as Governor of Tennessee.

Houston and Eliza Allen separate.

Houston resigns as Governor of Tennessee and leaves Nashville.

1835
Houston is named Major General in the Texas Army.

1840
Houston marries Margaret Lea of Marion, Alabama, a strict Baptist who curbs his drinking and bears his eight children.

1846
Houston is elected to the U.S. Senate. He serves as Senator from 1846-1859.

1863
On July 26, 1863, Sam Houston dies of pneumonia in his home in Huntsville, Texas. He is seventy years of age.

1807
Houston's mother moves the family to eastern Tennessee. They settle near Maryville in Blount County on undeveloped land that borders Cherokee Indian territory.

1813
Houston joins the U.S. Army.

1818
Houston resigns from the U.S. Army and becomes a lawyer.

Houston is appointed Adjutant General of Tennessee.

1823
Houston is elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

1829-1832
Houston resides with the Cherokees and is given a new name - Big Drunk.

1836
Houston's army wins the decisive battle of San Jacinto. Houston shouts the famous words, "Remember the Alamo," as he leads his troops to victory over Mexican General Santa Anna's army, gaining Texas its independence.

Houston is elected the first President of the Republic of Texas.

The town of Houston is founded.

1841
Houston serves a second term as President of Texas.

1859
Houston is elected Governor of Texas.

The Sam Houston Memorial Museum, accessed June, 2003. ...The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, accessed June, 2003...The Handbook of Texas Online, accessed June, 2003...PBS: The West, accessed June, 2003.