Mirabeau B. Lamar facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mirabeau Lamar
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| 2nd President of the Republic of Texas | |
| In office December 10, 1838 – December 13, 1841 |
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| Vice President | David G. Burnet |
| Preceded by | Sam Houston |
| Succeeded by | Sam Houston |
| 1st Vice President of the Republic of Texas | |
| In office October 22, 1836 – December 10, 1838 |
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| President | Sam Houston |
| Preceded by | Lorenzo de Zavala (interim) |
| Succeeded by | David G. Burnet |
| 4th United States Ambassador to Nicaragua | |
| In office February 8, 1858 – May 20, 1859 |
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| President | James Buchanan |
| Preceded by | John H. Wheeler |
| Succeeded by | Alexander Dimitry |
| 3rd United States Ambassador to Costa Rica | |
| In office September 14, 1858 – May 20, 1859 |
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| President | James Buchanan |
| Preceded by | Solon Borland |
| Succeeded by | Alexander Dimitry |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 16, 1798 near Louisville, Georgia |
| Died | December 19, 1859 (aged 61) near Richmond, Texas |
| Resting place | Morton Cemetery, Richmond, Texas 29°35′09″N 95°45′48″W / 29.5858°N 95.7633°W |
| Nationality | American, Texian |
| Political party | Democratic-Republican Party Democratic Party |
| Spouses | Tabitha Jordan Lamar (died 1830) Henrietta Maffitt (m.1851) |
| Relations | Lucius Q. C. Lamar (brother) Lucius Q. C. Lamar II (nephew) |
| Children | Rebecca Ann Lamar (born c. 1827) Loretto Evalina Lamar |
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Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar (born August 16, 1798 – died December 19, 1859) was an attorney from Georgia. He later became an important politician, poet, diplomat, and soldier in Texas. He was a key leader during the time of the Republic of Texas. Lamar was elected as the second President of the Republic of Texas, following Sam Houston. He is remembered for his actions against Cherokee and Comanche peoples to move them out of Texas. He also started a special fund to support public education.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Mirabeau Lamar was born in 1798 near Louisville, Georgia. He grew up on his father's cotton farm, called Fairfield, near Milledgeville. His family came from French people called French Huguenots, who settled in Maryland in 1660. His parents, John and Rebecca Lamar, let his mother's brother name their sons. He named them after his favorite historical heroes. Mirabeau was named after French heroes Napoleon Bonaparte and Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau.
As a child, Lamar loved to read and taught himself a lot from books. He was accepted to Princeton University, but he decided not to go. He tried working as a merchant and running a newspaper, but these businesses did not succeed.
In 1823, Lamar's family helped him get a job as the private secretary to Georgia's new governor, George M. Troup. In this role, Lamar wrote news releases and traveled around the state, giving speeches for the governor. During one of his trips, he met Tabitha Burwell Jordan. They married in 1826 and had a daughter together.
When Governor Troup lost his re-election in 1828, Lamar moved his family to Columbus, Georgia. There, he started a newspaper called the Columbus Enquirer. This newspaper was much more successful than his earlier businesses. In 1830, his wife Tabitha died from tuberculosis. Lamar was very sad and took time to recover. He decided not to run for re-election to the Georgia Senate, where he had served one term.
After traveling for a while, Lamar began to study law. He became a lawyer in 1833. He then ran for a seat in the U.S. Congress, but he did not win.
Joining the Texas Revolution
Lamar's brother Lucius died in 1834. Lamar was very sad and started traveling again to help with his grief. In the summer of 1835, he arrived in Texas, which was then part of Mexico. He decided to stay there, visiting his friend James Fannin. Fannin had recently moved to Texas.
After a trip back to Georgia, Lamar returned to Texas. He learned about the fight for independence from Mexico. In the spring of 1836, he joined Sam Houston's army with his horse and sword. He showed great courage at the Battle of San Jacinto. The night before the battle, Lamar bravely saved two Texans who were surrounded. This act even earned a salute from the Mexican soldiers. One of the people he saved was Thomas Jefferson Rusk, who later became Texas's Secretary of War. Because of his bravery, Lamar was promoted from a private soldier to a colonel that night. He was given command of the cavalry (soldiers on horseback) for the battle the next day.
Sam Houston wrote in his report about the battle: "Our cavalry, 61 in number, commanded by Mirabeau B. Lamar, (whose gallant and daring conduct on the previous day, had attracted the admiration of his comrades and called him to that station), placed on our right, completed our line."
After Texas won its independence from Mexico, Lamar was made the Secretary of War in the temporary government of the Republic of Texas. In 1836, he was also elected as the Vice President of Texas.
Mirabeau Lamar as President of Texas
Lamar was chosen by the Democratic Party to be the next president after Sam Houston. He was elected without anyone running against him. He became president on December 1, 1838. Sam Houston gave a very long farewell speech, which made Lamar so nervous that he could not read his own speech. His helper, Algernon P. Thompson, read it for him. Lamar's vice president was David G. Burnet.
A few weeks later, in his first official speech to the Texas Congress, Lamar said that the Cherokee and Comanche tribes should be moved from their lands in Texas. He even suggested that the tribes might need to be removed completely. He also wanted to create a national bank and get a loan from the United States or countries in Europe. Finally, he said he did not want Texas to join the United States. He wanted European nations to officially recognize the Republic of Texas as an independent country.
Lamar ordered attacks against the Native American tribes. In 1839, Texan soldiers forced the Cherokee groups out of the state. Houston's friend, Chief Bowles, was killed in battle. This made Sam Houston very angry with Lamar. The government also fought against the Comanche. Even though many lives were lost, the Comanche resisted leaving the area. Lamar believed that removing the Native American tribes was needed to make the lands available for white settlers. He forced the tribes out at the Battle of the Neches. In this battle, 500 Texans attacked 800 Native Americans from different tribes. Many of these 800 were women, children, and elders. The Texans and Rangers had many weapons, while the Native Americans had only about 16–24 rifles and pistols. Before the attack, chiefs like Duwali and Gatunwali asked for time to gather their crops and then leave peacefully. But Lamar would not wait. Lamar ordered his Secretary of War, Albert Sidney Johnston, and General Thomas J. Rusk to make them leave Texas.
Lamar also created a group to choose a permanent place for the capital city of the Republic. After two months of discussion, they suggested a small town called Waterloo. It was located along the Colorado River in the center of the state. The town was renamed Austin after the pioneer Stephen F. Austin. By October 1839, all government records and workers were moved there from Houston. In the same year, Lamar also started the Texas State Library.
During his time as president, Lamar sent three different people to Mexico to try and make a peace agreement. All of these attempts failed. Lamar also tried to get official recognition for Texas from Great Britain, France, and Belgium. This recognition never happened for the new nation. He did succeed in getting these three countries to send people to observe and look into the issue. However, he did not get any loans approved from them. To get money for the government, he allowed a lot of Republic of Texas paper money to be printed. This money was called Redbacks. This paper money quickly became almost worthless. Government spending doubled during Lamar's term. This, combined with the worthless money, caused big financial problems for the government.
Lamar wanted the Rio Grande River to be the western border of Texas. He wanted to send an expedition to New Mexico to conquer it. He hoped to convince the people there, who were still loyal to Mexico, to join the Republic of Texas. The Texas Congress refused to pay for this expedition in 1839 and 1840. In June 1841, Lamar used $89,000 from the government treasury and sent an expedition on his own. This was questioned because it might not have been allowed by the constitution. When the members of the expedition reached Santa Fe, they were arrested. They were told they would be released soon. Instead, they were marched to prison in Mexico City, and many of them died during the long journey.
Lamar is often called "the Father of Texas Education." This is because he set aside land to help support schools. During his time as president, he convinced the lawmakers to set aside land in each county for school development. He also set aside land to support two universities. These later became Texas A&M University (started in 1876) and The University of Texas (started in 1883). Even though no school buildings were built during his time, he created the foundation for a statewide public school system. The government gave 18,000 acres of public land for public schools. He wanted education to be very important so that citizens would be knowledgeable.
When Lamar left office in 1841, Texas owed almost $7 million. This was a big increase from the $1.4 million debt when he became president in 1838. Most of this debt came from carrying out his policies.
Later Years and Legacy
After Lamar, Sam Houston was elected president again. Lamar returned to serving in the army. He showed great bravery in the U.S. Army at the Battle of Monterrey during the Mexican–American War. During this time, money was hard to come by in Texas. Lamar borrowed money from his banker cousin, Gazaway Bugg Lamar. Some of the letters they wrote to each other about this still exist. In late 1847, he was made a commander at Laredo. However, he did not like this job because he wanted more action.
Lamar was elected to the Texas Legislature from Eagle Pass for several years after Texas joined the United States in 1845. In 1857, President James Buchanan appointed Lamar as the Minister (like an ambassador) to Nicaragua. A few months later, he was also made Minister to Costa Rica. He worked in Managua for 20 months. He then returned to Texas in October 1859 because he was not well. He died from a heart attack at his farm near Richmond on December 19, 1859.
Lamar's book of poems, Verse Memorials, was published in 1857.
Many places in Texas are named after Mirabeau Lamar:
- Lamar County, in northeast Texas, and Lamar, a small community on the Texas Gulf Coast, are named for him.
- Dallas and Houston both have a main street called Lamar Street in their downtown areas.
- Lamar Boulevard, a major road in central Austin, also carries his name. Many other streets in older Texas towns are named after him.
- Mirabeau B. Lamar is also the namesake of Lamar, Missouri.
- Lamar University in Beaumont was named for him in 1932. It is the largest school named after the former Texas President, with over 17,000 students. The campus has a statue of Lamar.
- Several high schools are named for Lamar, including in Houston, Arlington, and Rosenberg.
- Middle schools named for Lamar can be found in Temple, Austin, Dallas, Irving, Laredo, and Flower Mound.
- Elementary schools named for Lamar are in Amarillo, Corpus Christi, El Paso, San Antonio, Wichita Falls, and The Woodlands. Many other K–12 schools across the state also bear his name.
- During World War II, a Liberty ship (a type of cargo ship) was named for him, the SS Mirabeau B. Lamar.
- In 1959, he was added to the Georgia Newspaper Hall of Fame for his work in journalism.
See also
In Spanish: Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar para niños
