Sam Houston facts for kids

Sam Houston
Sam Houston
5th Governor of Texas
	In office; December 31, 1859 – March 28, 1861
Lieutenant	Edward Clark
Preceded by	Hardin Richard Runnels
Succeeded by	Edward Clark
United States Senator; from Texas
	In office; February 26, 1846 – March 5, 1859
Preceded by	None
Succeeded by	John Hemphill
1st and 3rd President of the Republic of Texas
	In office; December 21, 1841 – December 9, 1844
Vice President	Edward Burleson
Preceded by	Mirabeau B. Lamar
Succeeded by	Anson Jones
	In office; October 22, 1836 – December 10, 1838
Vice President	Mirabeau B. Lamar
Preceded by	David G. Burnet (ad interim)
Succeeded by	Mirabeau B. Lamar
6th Governor of Tennessee
	In office; October 1, 1827 – April 16, 1829
Lieutenant	William Hall
Preceded by	William Carroll
Succeeded by	William Hall
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives; from Tennessee's 7th district
	In office; March 4, 1823 – March 4, 1827
Preceded by	None (district created)
Succeeded by	John Bell
Personal details
Born	Sam Houston ; March 2, 1793; Rockbridge County, Virginia
Died	July 26, 1863 (aged 70); Huntsville, Texas
Political party	Democratic
Signature

Samuel "Sam" Houston (March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American statesman, politician, and soldier. He is best known for his leading role in bringing Texas into the United States. Houston, Texas and Sam Houston State University was named after him.

Shortly afterwards, he relocated to Coahuila y Tejas, then a Mexican state, and became a leader of the Texas Revolution. Sam Houston supported annexation by the United States. When he assumed the governorship of Texas in 1859, Houston became the only person to have become the governor of two different U.S. states through direct, popular election, as well as the only state governor to have been a foreign head of state.

Houston was born on March 2, 1793 in Rockbridge County, Virginia. He was of an Irish-Scottish descent. Houston was married to Eliza Allen from 1829 until they divorced in 1837. Then he was married to Diana Rogers Gentry until they divorced. Then he was married to Margaret Moffette Lee from 1840 until his death in 1863. Houston had seven children. Houston died on July 26, 1863 in Huntsville, Texas from pneumonia, aged 70.

Images for kids

General Sam Houston (postcard, circa 1905)
Marker on the Harris County Annex 2 Building in Downtown Houston, indicating the site where Sam Houston lived from 1837 to 1838
Senator Sam Houston 1859
Sam Houston, photograph by Mathew Brady, c.1860–1863
Margaret Lea Houston
Sam Houston in 1861.
Sam Houston Birthplace Marker in Rockbridge County, Virginia
Bust of Houston by Elisabet Ney
Sam Houston, Commemorative Issue of 1963
Texas Centennial Issue of 1936, showing Sam Houston, The Alamo, and Stephen F. Austin
Sam Houston's grave in Huntsville.
Sam Houston, Hermann Park, Houston
The Sam Houston State Office Building houses the headquarters of the Texas Ethics Commission and the Texas State Preservation Board
The U.S. city of Houston in Southeast Texas was named in his honor.