Texas history from the Texas State Historical Association
9/3/1895: Last surviving signer of Texas Declaration of Independence dies
On this day in 1895, William Carrol Crawford, the last surviving signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, died while visiting his son in Erath County. Crawford, a native of North Carolina, moved to Texas in 1835 and settled near Shelbyville. He and Sydney O. Penington represented Shelby County at the Convention of 1836, which wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the Republic of Texas and established the ad interim government. Crawford, who later lived in Camp, Hill, and Johnson counties, died ten days before his ninety-first birthday.
9/4/1839: Former floating Texas capitol sold
On this day in 1839, the Cayuga, the former floating capitol of the Republic of Texas, was sold and disappeared from the historical records. The Cayuga was built in Pennsylvania in 1832 and arrived in Texas in August 1834 under the command of John E. Ross. The small river steamer was the first commercially successful steamboat in Texas, and played an important role during the Texas Revolution. She carried supplies for the revolutionary army, transported government officials and refugees, and was the temporary capitol of Texas in April 1836. On April 15 of that year Capt. William P. Harris, in command of the steamer, evacuated Harrisburg just ahead of Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna and his troops. The refugees included President Burnet, his cabinet, and all the inhabitants of the town. After stopping at Lynch’s Ferry and New Washington the Cayuga preceded to Anahuac and Galveston, where the passengers disembarked. The cabinet members remained aboard and on April 19 were rejoined by Burnet, who had left the steamer at Lynch’s Ferry to get his family and had narrowly escaped being captured by the Mexicans at New Washington. The business of the republic was conducted on the Cayuga through April 26.
9/5/1836: Sam Houston elected first president of the Republic of Texas
On this day in 1836, Sam Houston, the victor of San Jacinto, was elected president of the newly founded Republic of Texas. Candidates for the office had included Henry Smith, governor of the provisional government, and Stephen F. Austin. Houston became an active candidate just eleven days before the election. He received 5,119 votes, Smith 743, and Austin 587. Mirabeau B. Lamar, the “keenest blade” at San Jacinto, was elected vice president. Houston received strong support from the army and from those who believed that his election would ensure internal stability, hasten recognition by world powers, and bring about early annexation to the United States. He served two terms as president of the republic and was subsequently a United States senator and governor of the state of Texas.
9/6/1875: Constitutional convention meets in Austin
On this day in 1875, the Constitutional Convention of 1875 met in Austin. The convention grew out of the determination of Texas Democrats to eliminate the radical Constitution of 1869. Edward B. Pickett presided over the convention, which adjourned in late November after adopting the new Constitution of 1876 by a vote of fifty-three to eleven. Dissatisfaction with the Constitution of 1869–which forbade slavery, strengthened the office of the governor, and centralized law enforcement–and with the administration of Governor Edmund J. Davis prompted provisions to decentralize the state government. The new constitution placed restrictions on salaries, expenditures, taxes, and the state debt. It also abolished state banks, limited some activities of corporations and railroads, and placed term limits on many public offices. The Constitution of 1876 was approved by the state’s voters in February 1876 and remains the basic organic law of Texas.
9/8/1900: Hurricane devastates Galveston
On this day in 1900, a catastrophic hurricane struck the city of Galveston on the Texas coast. A third of the city was destroyed, and 6,000 to 8,000 people died. Galveston Island was completely inundated. Property loss was estimated at $30 million. The storm is considered the worst recorded natural disaster ever to strike the North American continent.
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