Born to Governor Sam and Margaret Lea Houston in Austin, Texas, Temple Lea Houston (1860-1905) embarked on his first cattle drive at the age of thirteen. After working as a night clerk on a riverboat, he became a page for Senator James Winwright Flanagan in the U. S. Senate. In 1877, Houston enrolled in the Agricultural and Mechanical College (later Texas A & M University), later graduating from Baylor University with a degree in law and philosophy. In 1881, Houston established a law practice in Brazoria and was appointed district attorney of the 35th judicial district a year later. Around 1883, Houston married Laura Cross, with whom he had seven children. Following his tenure as a legislator representing the 56th district from 1884 through 1887, he returned to his career as an attorney, working most notably on the Santa Fe railroad. Houston settled briefly in Canadian before moving to Woodward in the Oklahoma Territory, where he helped found the community’s first Catholic church in 1893.
Source:
Anderson, H. Allen.
Composed of a speech and two copies of a book review, the Temple Lea Houston Papers, 1880, document Houston’s interest in Texas history. Entitled “San Jacinto,” the speech discusses the battle of San Jacinto during the Texas Revolution, while a Photostat and typescript of Houston’s review concerns Homer S. Thrall’s book
This collection is open for research use.
Temple Lea Houston Papers, 1880, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.
Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s