Andrew Jackson Hamilton

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Andrew Jackson Hamilton. Born January 28, 1815, in Alabama.

Died April 11, 1875, in Texas. And in between those two dates, he packed in enough legal wrangling, political climbing, wartime exile, and courtroom work to fill several lifetimes. Now settle in, because this one moves.

Hamilton brought his family to Texas in the 1840s, and Texas, being Texas, put him straight to work. He served as state attorney general. He served in the state legislature.

And then, in 1859, the people of Texas sent him to the United States Congress. That right there is a career most men would call complete. But Hamilton was just getting started, and the country was about to make things considerably more complicated for everyone.

He was an opponent of secession. That was not a popular position in Texas as the Civil War rolled in, and Hamilton left Texas during the war rather than bend on that point. Some men trim their sails.

Hamilton apparently did not. Then came 1865, and President Andrew Johnson appointed him provisional governor of Texas. The man who had walked away came back, this time with the weight of Reconstruction on his shoulders.

From 1867 to 1869 he served as an associate justice on the Texas Supreme Court, which is no small thing. He also ran for governor, in 1866 and again in 1869, and lost both times. Two swings, two misses.

Politics has a way of humbling even the most capable men. After all of it, the governorship, the court, the campaigns, Hamilton did what lawyers do. He went back to practicing law.

Right there in Austin, steady and deliberate, until his death in 1875. A native of Alabama who made Texas his home, his stage, and ultimately his resting place. That's Andrew Jackson Hamilton, and the marker on the ground says every word of it is true.

What the marker says

(January 28, 1815 - April 11, 1875) A native of Alabama, Andrew Jackson Hamilton moved his family to Texas in the 1840s. He served as state attorney general and as a member of the state legislature before being elected to the U. S. Congress in 1859. An opponent of secession, he left Texas during the Civil War but in 1865 was appointed provisional governor by President Andrew Johnson. He was an associate justice on the Texas Supreme Court from 1867 to 1869, and was an unsuccessful candidate for governor in 1866 and 1869. He continued to practice law in Austin until his death in 1875. (1994)