Sam Houston in San Augustine
San Augustine, San Augustine County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Sam Houston (March 2, 1793 - July 26, 1863) left home in 1809 and lived among the Cherokees. After two years he returned to the Anglo world; he opened a school, fought the British under Andrew Jackson, and was governor of Tennessee. After a three-week marriage, Houston left the governorship and returned to the Cherokees; three years later, he came to Texas. Upon his arrival in San Augustine, Sam Houston opened a legal practice on this site. For the next thirty years he used "The Redlands" as a place of business, residence, or refuge. Houston is said to have recuperated from the Battle of San Jacinto in the home of Colonel Phillip Sublett, issuing his report of the battle from San Augustine. Following Houston's term as President of the Republic of Texas, the people of San Augustine elected him to serve them in the Texas House of Representatives during the Fourth and Fifth Congresses. Houston's divorce from Eliza Allen took place in San Augustine in 1837. He married Margaret Lea in 1840; though her health would not permit her to live in San Augustine, she made frequent visits. The early and strong support of the people of "The Redlands" for Sam Houston and Houston's love for them is documented in the history and lore of San Augustine and its people. (1998)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Sam Houston made San Augustine his own for three decades, opening a law practice on this site and using 'The Redlands' as a base for business, residence, and refuge. He is said to have recovered here from the Battle of San Jacinto and issued his battle report from the town; after his presidency of the Republic, its voters sent him to the Texas House. His divorce, his marriage to Margaret Lea, and much of his personal drama unfolded amid a community that championed him early.
Why it matters
Houston was the towering figure of Texas independence and statehood, and San Augustine's steadfast support helped sustain the career of the Republic's first great leader.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
In the early 1830s, Texas was a province of Mexico, and its eastern edge was a borderland in every sense. San Augustine sat in the piney, red-soiled country known as the Redlands, along the old road that led from Louisiana into the interior of Texas. For many Americans heading west, this was one of the first Texas towns they reached.
The tension between Anglo-American settlers and the Mexican government was growing through these years, and it broke into open revolution in 1835 and 1836. After independence, Texas spent nearly a decade as its own republic before joining the United States in 1845.
East Texas towns like San Augustine were among the most settled and politically active parts of the young republic. They supplied soldiers, lawyers, and legislators, and they shaped the careers of the men who led Texas through its founding years.
People & events
Sam Houston's life before Texas reads almost like a novel. As a young man he left home and lived among the Cherokees, then returned to run a school, fight the British under Andrew Jackson, and rise to become governor of Tennessee. Then, after a marriage to Eliza Allen that lasted only three weeks, he walked away from the governorship and went back to live with the Cherokees. A few years later, he came to Texas.
In San Augustine he opened a law practice on this very spot, and the Redlands became a place he returned to again and again for three decades, sometimes for business, sometimes as home, and sometimes as a refuge. After the victory at San Jacinto in 1836, where Houston was wounded, tradition holds that he recovered for a time in the home of Colonel Philip Sublett and issued his report of the battle from San Augustine.
The town's loyalty to him was deep and lasting. After his first term as President of the Republic, San Augustine voters sent him to the Texas House of Representatives in the Fourth and Fifth Congresses. His personal life passed through here, too: his divorce from Eliza Allen was finalized in San Augustine in 1837, and after he married Margaret Lea in 1840, she visited often, even though her health kept her from living here.
Its place in the American story
Sam Houston is one of the few figures who shaped both Texas history and national history. He commanded the army that won Texas independence, served twice as president of the Republic, and later represented Texas in the United States Senate and served as its governor.
His career also tracks one of the great American dramas of the nineteenth century. A protégé of Andrew Jackson and a staunch Unionist, Houston opposed secession on the eve of the Civil War and was removed from the governorship when he refused to swear allegiance to the Confederacy. He died in 1863, with the country he had helped expand torn apart.
San Augustine's part in that story is a reminder that great careers are sustained by local communities. The people of the Redlands backed Houston early and stood by him, giving him a political home in the years when Texas was still finding its footing.
If you visit
San Augustine is one of the oldest towns in Texas, and it still has the feel of a quiet East Texas county seat surrounded by pine forest. Standing at this marker, you are on the ground where Houston hung out his lawyer's shingle before the revolution made him famous.
The town is worth a slow walk. Look for other historical markers around San Augustine, which together paint a picture of a community that was at the center of early Texas life, far more prominent then than its size suggests today.
For a road trip, San Augustine fits well into a loop through deep East Texas and the old routes that carried settlers from Louisiana into Texas. Pair it with other Sam Houston sites around the state to follow his remarkable life from frontier lawyer to national figure.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Sam Houston
- · Eliza Allen
- · Margaret Lea
- · Philip Sublett
- · Andrew Jackson
Related events
- · Battle of San Jacinto
Themes & tags
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