DUANE
Duane's take
The marker tells it plain, but I'll give it to you the way it deserves to be heard. This is Duane, and this is the story the Texas Historical Commission put down in stone. Now, if you were walking around Travis County in the years after the Civil War and somebody pointed out a tall man with a voice that could rattle the windows of the Capitol, chances are you were looking at Andrew Jackson Hamilton.
They called him Colossal Jack — and that nickname didn't come cheap. It was earned by his imposing stature and his oratorical skill, both of which, apparently, were considerable. Hamilton was born in Alabama on January 28, 1815, and he made his way to Texas around 1846 — a lawyer looking for room to stretch out, and Texas has always had plenty of that.
By 1850 he was serving as acting Attorney General of Texas. A year later, he was representing Travis County in the 4th Texas Legislature, serving from 1851 to 1853, and his residence stood about one mile east of where that marker sits today. While he was at it, he donated land for establishing the State Cemetery.
Not a bad run of years for a man still finding his footing. In 1859 he was elected to the United States Congress, and that's where things start to get complicated in the way that only the years before the Civil War could manage. When the secession crisis came roaring down the road, Hamilton planted his feet.
He took a Unionist stand — alongside his friend Sam Houston and others — and in Texas, in 1861, that was not a popular position to hold. By 1862, during the Civil War, his convictions had cost him enough that he was forced to flee Texas entirely. Forced to flee.
Let that sit for a moment. President Abraham Lincoln was paying attention. On November 14, 1862, Lincoln commissioned Hamilton a brigadier general and Military Governor of Texas.
It was a title with real weight behind it — but not much actual power. Not yet. That would have to wait until January of 1865, when federal troops occupied Brownsville and Hamilton finally returned to Texas soil.
From June 17, 1865 to August 9, 1866, he served as Provisional Governor, navigating the turmoil of Reconstruction — and turmoil is not too strong a word for what that era handed everybody involved. He was a leader at the Constitutional Convention of 1868 and 1869, and he served as an associate justice of the State Supreme Court from 1868 to 1870. The man kept showing up.
But here's the turn the story takes. Running as a Conservative Republican, Hamilton went after the Governorship in 1869 — and lost it to E.J. Davis.
The first Republican Governor of Texas, a man who had been commissioned by Lincoln himself, who had been chased out of his own state for his beliefs and had come back to help rebuild it — he lost the election. He'd married Mary Jane Bowen, born in 1826, and together they had six children. Andrew Jackson Hamilton died on April 11, 1875.
Colossal Jack. The name fits. Not just the stature.
Not just the voice. But the whole arc of a life lived at full scale, in the middle of the biggest arguments his era had to offer — and still standing when most men would've found somewhere quieter to be.
What the marker says
(January 28, 1815 - April 11, 1875) The First Republican Governor of Texas Nicknamed "Colossal Jack" because of his imposing stature and his oratorical skill, A.J. Hamilton was born in Alabama. He migrated to Texas about 1846. A lawyer, he served as acting Attorney General of Texas in 1850. His residence once stood one mile east of here while representing Travis County in the 4th Texas Legislature, 1851-1853. He donated land for establishing the State Cemetery. Elected to the U.S. Congress in 1859, Hamilton took a Unionist stand during the secession crisis along with his friend Sam Houston and others. Because of his convictions, he was forced to flee Texas in 1862, during the Civil War (1861-1865). U.S. President Abraham Lincoln commissioned him a brigadier general and Military Governor of Texas on Nov. 14, 1862. He had little power until he returned to Texas in Jan. 1865, when federal troops occupied Brownsville. He served as Provisional Governor, June 17, 1865 - Aug. 9, 1866, during the turmoil of Reconstruction. He was a leader at the Constitutional Convention of 1868-69, and an associate justice of the State Supreme Court, 1868-70. Running as a Conservative Republican, he lost the Governorship in 1869 to E.J. Davis. He married Mary Jane (Bowen) (1826-1915) and had 6 children. (1978)