DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just the one passin' it along. Now, Vermont is a long way from Texas. A long way in miles, a long way in climate, and in 1824, a long way in imagination.
But a man named Ira Ingram made that journey — came to Texas that year — and what he did next put his name at the very top of a list that's been growin' ever since. Ingram worked to establish the Republic. That's how the marker puts it, plain and steady, and there's something in that plainness worth sitting with.
Establishing a republic is not a small errand. And when the First Congress of the Republic convened, Matagorda sent Ira Ingram to represent them. From October 1836 to April 1837, he served as Speaker — the first man ever to hold that chair in Texas.
He didn't hold it long in terms of years on this earth. In September of 1837 — just months after his term as Speaker closed — Ingram died. But here's the thing that'll stop you mid-thought: he left seventy thousand dollars to the schools of Matagorda.
Seventy thousand dollars. A man who came from Vermont, helped build a republic, led its first legislature, and on his way out the door, gave a small fortune to the children of the county he'd represented. That's not a footnote.
That's a character. Now, since Ingram's term, sixty-two men have served Texas as Speaker of the House. Five of those went on to become governor.
One — one — became something else entirely. A man named Sam Rayburn took that same speaker's gavel and carried it all the way to Washington, where he served twenty-one years as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Twenty-one years.
In that office. The same office Ira Ingram first held for Texas, back when the Republic was barely breathing. And what is that office, exactly?
Well, the Speaker is elected from the hundred and fifty members of the Texas House, and the marker does not mince words about what that means. Third in line of succession to the governorship. Chairman of the Legislative Audit Committee.
Vice-chairman of the Legislative Budget Board. Vice-chairman of the Texas Legislative Council. He appoints forty-one standing committees.
He signs all legislative acts and resolutions. He appoints conference committees, interim committees, and carries out administrative duties spanning his two-year term. The marker calls him one of the most powerful men in state government — and after reading all that, it's hard to argue the point.
All of that power, all of that reach — and at the root of it, the first man to sit in that chair was a fellow from Vermont who believed in Texas schools enough to say so with seventy thousand dollars. Ira Ingram. First Speaker of the Texas House.
He set a precedent, and sixty-two men — and one Sam Rayburn — have been livin' inside it ever since.
What the marker says
Born in Vermont. Came to Texas in 1824. Worked to establish the Republic. Represented Matagorda in the First Congress of the Republic where he served as speaker, Oct. 1836 to April 1837. At his death in Sept. 1837 left $70,000 to schools in Matagorda. Since Ingram's term, 62 men have served Texas as speaker. Five have gone on to become governor. One, Sam Rayburn, became Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and served 21 years in that office. The speaker, elected from the 150 members of the house, is one of the most powerful men in state government -- being third in line of succession to the governorship. Through his power of appointment of the 41 standing committees, and a presiding officer, he directs the course of legislation. He is chairman of the Legislative Audit Committee; vice-chairman of the Legislative Budget Board; and vice-chairman of the Texas Legislative Council. He signs all legislative acts and resolutions, appoints conference and interim committees, and performs many administrative duties spanning his two year term. (1965)