Henry Smith

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Henry Smith — born 1788, died 1851 — now there's a man who couldn't seem to stay out of Texas politics even if he'd wanted to, which he most certainly did not. He arrived in Texas in 1827, and he barely had time to unpack before he was knee-deep in public affairs.

Started out as a local political leader in what is now Brazoria County. Modest enough beginnings. But the world, as it tends to do, had bigger plans for Henry Smith.

In 1835, he was appointed as a delegate to the San Felipe Consultation — a gathering called to decide where Texas stood in relation to the Mexican dictatorship that Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna had established. Now, Henry Smith walked into that Consultation with one thing on his mind: independence. Full stop.

No halfway measures, no hedging. Independence. The Consultation, however, had other ideas.

They voted to support the 1824 Mexican federal constitution instead — and if you think that sat well with Henry Smith, you have not been paying attention. What the Consultation did do was establish a provisional government to operate until the conflict with Santa Anna got sorted out one way or another. And here's where Henry Smith stops being a man in the room and becomes a man shaping the room.

He was the chief author of the plan for civil government — a plan that was adopted as organic law on November 11, 1835. One day later, November 12, Henry Smith was elected Provisional Governor. He served in that office until March 1, 1836, and let me tell you, those months were plagued with problems.

The marker doesn't flinch from saying so. But Smith didn't quit. On March 4, he submitted his progress report to the Convention at Washington-on-the-Brazos — and it was right there, at that Convention, that his crusade for independence was finally won.

What he'd walked into the San Felipe Consultation demanding, what they'd told him no on, Texas ultimately said yes to. After the war against Mexico, Smith served as Secretary of the Treasury under President Sam Houston, then put in one term in the Republic's House of Representatives. A full life by any measure.

But Henry Smith wasn't finished moving. Gold Fever caught him — the way it caught so many men in that era — and it pulled him all the way to California. And that's where his story ends.

He died in 1851 and was buried in an unmarked grave. The man who authored the very framework of Texas civil government, who served as its first Provisional Governor, who fought for independence before independence was popular — buried with no stone to mark the spot. Texas remembered him, even if California didn't.

What the marker says

Henry Smith (1788-1851) immersed himself in public affairs soon after arriving in Texas in 1827. Initially a local political leader in what is now Brazoria County, he was appointed in 1835 as a delegate to the San Felipe Consultation, which met to determine Texas' position toward the Mexican dictatorship established by Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Contrary to Smith's desire for independence, the Consultation voted to support the 1824 Mexican federal constitution, but established a provisional government to operate until the conflict with Santa Anna was resolved. Henry Smith was the chief author of the plan for civil government, which was adopted as organic law on Nov. 11, 1835. He then was elected Provisional Governor and served from Nov. 12, 1835, until Mar. 1, 1836. Smith's term was plagued with problems, but he submitted his progress report on Mar. 4 to the Convention at Washington-on-the-Brazos. There Smith's crusade for independence was finally won. Following the war against Mexico, Henry Smith served as Texas' Secretary of the Treasury under President Sam Houston and one term in the Republic's House of Representatives. "Gold Fever" led Smith to California where he died and was buried in an unmarked grave in 1851. (1983)