Mirabeau B. Lamar
Mirabeau B. Lamar | |
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United States Ambassador to Costa Rica | |
In office September 14, 1858 – May 20, 1859 | |
President | James Buchanan |
Preceded by | Solon Borland |
Succeeded by | Alexander Dimitry |
Personal details | |
Born | John Basil Lamar (cousin) | August 16, 1798
Children | Rebecca Ann Lamar (born c. 1827) Loretto Evalina Lamar |
Signature | |
Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar (August 16, 1798 – December 19, 1859) was an American attorney, politician, poet, and leading political figure during the Texas Republic era. He was elected as the second president of the Republic of Texas after Sam Houston. He was known for waging war against bands of Cherokee and Comanche peoples to push them out of Texas, and for establishing a fund to support public education.
Early life
Lamar was born in 1798 in
When Troup lost his re-election bid in 1828, Lamar moved with his family to
After traveling, Lamar began to study law. He was admitted to the bar in 1833 and ran an unsuccessful campaign for a seat in the U.S. Congress.[6]
Texas Revolution
Lamar's brother Lucius committed
After a trip back to Georgia, Lamar returned to Texas. Learning of a battle for independence, he traveled with his horse and sword to join Sam Houston's army in spring 1836, and distinguished himself with bravery at the Battle of San Jacinto.[6] On the eve of the battle, Lamar courageously rescued two surrounded Texians, an act that drew a salute from the Mexican lines. One of those rescued was Thomas Jefferson Rusk, later appointed as Texas Secretary of War.[10] Lamar was promoted that night from private to colonel and given command of the cavalry during the battle the following day.
Houston noted in his battle report: "Our cavalry, 61 in number, commanded by Mirabeau B. Lamar, (whose gallant and daring conduct on the previous day, had attracted the admiration of his comrades and called him to that station), placed on our right, completed our line."[11]
After Texas achieved independence from Mexico, Lamar was appointed as the Secretary of War in the interim Texian government. In 1836, he was elected to the position of Vice President of Texas.
President of Texas
Lamar, the unanimous choice as the nominee of the
Several weeks later, in his first formal address to the
He ordered attacks against the
Lamar appointed a commission to select a permanent site for the capital of the Republic. After two months of debate, they recommended the small town of Waterloo, along the
During his administration, Lamar sent three separate agents to Mexico to negotiate a peace settlement, all of which failed. Lamar failed to gain official recognition for Texas from
Lamar wanted the Rio Grande to be the western boundary of Texas. He wanted to send an expedition to New Mexico to conquer it, and convince the residents, still loyal to Mexico, to join the Republic. The Texas Congress refused to fund the expedition in 1839 and 1840. In June 1841, Lamar took $89,000 from the treasury and sent an expedition on his own initiative. It was questioned on constitutional grounds. Its members were arrested when they reached Santa Fe, and were told they would soon be released. Instead, under guard, they were marched to prison in Mexico City, and many died during the journey.[14]
Lamar has been called "the Father of Texas Education" because of his provisions of land to support it. During his administration, he convinced the legislature to set aside three leagues of land in each county to be devoted to school development. He also allotted 50 leagues of land for the support of two universities, later developed as
In keeping with other slave societies in the South, Texas prohibited
When Lamar left office in 1841, Texas was almost $7 million in debt compared to $1.4 million when he was inaugurated in 1838. The majority of the debt was accrued from carrying out his policies.[16][17]
Later years
Houston was elected again as president after Lamar. The latter returned to service in the army, and distinguished himself in the U.S. Army at the Battle of Monterrey during the Mexican–American War. During this time, money was tight in Texas; Lamar borrowed money from his banker cousin Gazaway Bugg Lamar. Some of the letters on this subject between the two still exist.[18] In late 1847, he was assigned as a post commander at Laredo, but disliked the job, as he wanted more action.[19]
Lamar was elected from Eagle Pass in the Texas Legislature for several years after Texas was annexed to the United States in 1845. In 1857, President James Buchanan appointed Lamar as the Minister to Nicaragua, and a few months later to Costa Rica. He served in Managua for 20 months before returning to Texas in October 1859 because of poor health. He died of a heart attack at his Richmond plantation on December 19, 1859.[19]
Lamar's volume of collected poems, Verse Memorials, was published in 1857 (New York, W.P. Fetridge & Co., 224 pages).
Legacy
- Lamar County, in northeast Texas, and Lamar, a small unincorporated community in Aransas County on the Texas Gulf Coast, are named for him. Dallas and Houston have a prominent Lamar Street in their downtown areas. Lamar Boulevard, a major thoroughfare in central Austin, also carries his name, as do other streets in many older communities across Texas.
- Mirabeau B. Lamar is the namesake of Lamar, Missouri.[20]
- Lamar University in Beaumont was named for him in 1932. It is the largest educational facility to be named for the former Texas President, and has an enrollment of over 17,000 students. The campus features a commemorative bust of Lamar.
- The defunct Lamar University System named all of its member institutions after him; these included the flagship Lamar University in Beaumont, and the member institutions Lamar State College–Port Arthur, Lamar State College–Orange (both two-year community colleges), and Lamar Institute of Technology.[21]
- High schools are named for Lamar in .
- Middle schools are named for Lamar in .
- Elementary schools are named for Lamar in San Antonio, Wichita Falls, and The Woodlands, as are numerous other K–12 schools throughout the state.
- During the Second World War, a Liberty ship was named for him SS Mirabeau B. Lamar.
- In 1959 he was inducted into the Georgia Newspaper Hall of Fame for his journalistic work.[22]
In popular culture
- Preston Jones's play The Oldest Living Graduate, part of his A Texas Trilogy, features a fictional Lamar Military Academy.
- S.C. Gwynne's history of the Comanche people, Empire of the Summer Moon, describes Lamar's directing the Comanche wars in vivid detail in chapter 6, "Blood and Smoke".
References
- ^ a b "San Jacinto Museum of History - LAMAR, MIRABEAU BUONAPARTE (1798 AUG 16 - 1859 DEC 19)". San Jacinto Museum of History. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
- JSTOR 27794561.
- ^ Thomas Robson Hay, "Gazaway Bugg Lamar, "hi banker," he told him and Business Man", The Georgia Historical Quarterly Vol. 37, No. 2 (June 1953), pp. 89–128, via JSTOR; accessed 31 January 2018
- ^ Herbert Gambrell. "Lamar, Mirabeau Buonaparte". Handbook of Texas History Online.
- ^ "John Basil Lamar Historical Marker". The Historical Marker Database. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
- ^ a b c d Hendrickson (1995), p. 35.
- ^ Herbert Gambrell. "Lamar, Mirabeau Buonaparte". Handbook of Texas History Online.
- ^ "Prospectus for the Columbus Enquirer, 1828", Texas State Library, retrieved September 2008
- ^ a b "Mirabeau B. Lamar". Giants of Texas History. Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
- ISBN 0-7388-2410-0
- ^ Crane, William Carey, Life and Select Literary Remains of Sam Houston, J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1885, p.88.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Hendrick son (1995), p. 37.
- ISBN 0-8061-3698-7
- ^ a b c Hendrickson (1995), p. 38.
- ^ W.E.B. Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America, 1860–1880, New York: Free Press, 1935/1998 edition, p.560
- ^ "Mirabeau B. Lamar". Triumph and Tragedy: Presidents of the Republic of Texas. Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
... To finance his ambitious schemes, he counted on loans from England and France that never came through. During his term of office, the Texas government collected about a million dollars in taxes and spent almost five million.
- Encyclopedia Britannica (1998). "Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar". Retrieved 9 January 2017.
Lamar's constant military campaigning against the Indians and his costly exploits into New Mexico nearly bankrupted Texas. When he left office in 1841, the republic's debt stood at more than $7,000,000.
- ^ Gulick, Charles Adams Jr, The Papers of Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, A.C. Baldwin & Sons
- ^ a b Hendrickson (1995), p. 39.
- ^ Eaton, David Wolfe (1916). How Missouri Counties, Towns and Streams Were Named. The State Historical Society of Missouri. pp. 207.
- ^ Wooster, Ralph A. (April 18, 2018) [1976]. "Lamar University". Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
- ^ Smyly, John (February 21, 1959). "Ike Scored On Secret Fund Use". Atlanta Constitution. pp. 1, 5. Retrieved July 1, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
Further reading
- Hendrickson, Kenneth E. (1995), Chief Executives of Texas: From Stephen F. Austin to John B. Connally, Jr., ISBN 978-0-890966419
- McLaughlin, Thomas Lamar (2000), Those Southern Lamar: the stories of five illustrious Lamar, ISBN 0-7388-2410-0
- Ramsay, Jack C. (1984), Thunder Beyond the Brazos: Mirabeau B. Lamar, a Biography, Eakins Press, ISBN 978-0-89015-462-5
- Sieges, Stanley (1977), The Poet President of Texas: The Life of Mirabeau B. Lamar, President of the Republic of Texas, Austin: Jenkins Pub Co, ISBN 978-0-8363-0153-3
External links
- Mirabeau B. Lamar New Georgia Encyclopedia Article
- Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar from the Handbook of Texas Online
- Sketch of Mirabeau Lamar from A pictorial history of Texas, from the earliest visits of European adventurers, to A.D. 1879, hosted by the Portal to Texas History.
- U.S. & Texas Jurisdiction Conflict, June 3, 1839, From Texas Tides
- Works by or about Mirabeau B. Lamar at Internet Archive
- Works by Mirabeau B. Lamar at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Mirabeau B. Lamar at Find a Grave
- Houston's San Jacinto Battle Report