Hamilton, Andrew Jackson, 1815-1875

Andrew Jackson Hamilton (1815-1875), governor of Texas, was born in Huntsville, Alabama, on January 28, 1815. He moved to Texas in 1846 and practiced law in La Grange before moving to and settling in Austin. He married Mary Bowen, also of Alabama. Governor Peter H. Bell of Texas appointed Hamilton acting attorney general in 1849. From 1851 to 1853, Hamilton represented Travis County in the state House of Representatives. In 1859, Hamilton was voted into the United States House of Representatives. After returning to Texas in 1861, he won a special election to the state Senate.

Hamilton was appointed military governor of Texas by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862 and provisional governor by Andrew Johnson in 1865, a position he held for one year. He was a proponent of black suffrage and assisted in the organization of the Southern Loyalists' Convention in Philadelphia in 1866. For a short while, Hamilton moved to New Orleans and worked as a bankruptcy judge, but in 1867 he returned to Texas as an associate justice on the state Supreme Court. After proving to be a prominent figure in the Texas Constitutional Convention of 1868–1869, as well as serving on the Republican National Executive Committee, Hamilton changed his views and began to oppose the plan to turn West Texas into a separate, Unionist state and withdrew his support for black suffrage. Because of this viewpoint change, Hamilton became one of the state's leading moderate Republicans and ran (though unsuccessfully) against radical Edmund J. Davis in the 1869 governor's race. Hamilton never sought public office again after losing this election. He died of tuberculosis on April 11, 1875, and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Austin.

Source: Hamilton, Andrew Jackson. Handbook of Texas Online . Accessed May 19, 2010. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/HH/fha33.html.

Andrew Jackson Hamilton (1815-1875), governor of Texas, was born in Huntsville, Alabama, on January 28, 1815.

He moved to Texas in 1846 and practiced law in La Grange before moving to and settling in Austin. He married Mary Bowen, also of Alabama. Governor Peter H. Bell of Texas appointed Hamilton acting attorney general in 1849. From 1851 to 1853 Hamilton represented Travis County in the state House of Representatives. In 1859 Hamilton was voted into the United States Congress. After returning to Texas in 1861 he won a special election to the state Senate.

Hamilton was appointed military governor of Texas by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862 and provisional governor by Andrew Johnson in 1865, a position he held for one year.

He was a proponent of black suffrage and assisted in the organization of the Southern Loyalists' Convention in Philadelphia in 1866. For a short while, Hamilton moved to New Orleans and worked as a bankruptcy judge, but in 1867 he returned to Texas as an associate justice on the state Supreme Court.

After proving to be a prominent figure in the Texas Constitutional Convention of 1868-1869, as well as serving on the Republican National Executive Committee, Hamilton changed his views and began to oppose the plan to turn West Texas into a separate, Unionist state and withdrew his support for black suffrage.

Because of this viewpoint change, Hamilton became one of the state's leading moderate Republicans and ran (though unsuccessfully) against radical Edmund J. Davis in the 1869 governor's race. Hamilton never sought public office again after losing this election. He died of tuberculosis on April 11, 1875, and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Austin.