An application to the Whig administration in for a position as Galveston customs collector also failed. His only other public office was largely symbolic, a reward for an elder statesman.
In the Texas legislature named Burnet and Oran M. Roberts United States senators, but upon arrival in Washington they were not seated because Texas had failed to meet Republican political demands.
Although intellectually opposed to secession , Burnet had embraced the Southern cause when his only son, William, resigned his commission in the United States Army and volunteered for Confederate service. The son was killed in a battle at Spanish Fort, Alabama, in , a crushing blow to Burnet, who had lost his wife in She bore four children, but only William survived, and the doting parents sacrificed for his education.
After Hannah's death Burnet had to hire out his slaves and rent his farm in order to have income to pay his room and board in Galveston.
He and Lamar intended to publish a history of the republic to expose Sam Houston, and though Burnet furnished Lamar with many articles, Lamar was unable to find a publisher. Burnet burned his manuscript shortly before his death.
He was a Mason and a Presbyterian. He outlived all of his immediate family, died without money in Galveston on December 5, , and was buried by friends. His remains were moved from the Episcopal Cemetery to the new Magnolia Cemetery and finally to Lakeview Cemetery in Galveston, where the Daughters of the Republic of Texas erected a monument to him and his friend Sidney Sherman in Burnet County was named for him in , and in the state erected a statue of him on the grounds of the high school in Clarksville.
Diary of Col. Telegraph and Texas Register , July 1, The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style , 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry. It comes alike from the few feeble voices that long ago, in the day of youth and strength, elevated you to the supreme authority in the Republic of Texas; the heroic few that won her independence and accepted her destiny as their own; from the lispings of childhood, who have learned from parental lips the value of your services, and beauty of your character; and from strangers, too, who have learned to love in you all that is pure, unselfish, and noble in man.
And that God, in his goodness, may bless and preserve you, is the earnest and universal prayer of Texas and her people. This letter to President Burnet, in its entirety, with the names attached, is a proud monument to his memory. He went to his native place, but did not long remain. The changes there had removed the scenes of childhood and he moved among strangers. The love of Texasthe product of fifty years' association in manhood and its trials--came upon him, by contrast, with resistless force.
He came back to die in the land of his love, and then to sleep beside his wife and children. Peacefully, on the 5th day of December , he departed from life, aged eighty-two years and eight months, in the home of Mrs.
Preston Perry of Galveston, who was to him all that a daughter could be. Burnet was the youngest of 8 children of William and Gertrude Gouveneur Burnet and reared by an older brother. At age 17 he worked for the accounting firm of Robinson and Hartshorne in New York.
After a failed venture in Louisiana in his first move west and tuberculosis, he rode off west into the wilderness and was rescued by Comanches who nursed him back to health. He returned to Cincinatti, OH and studied law.
In he returned to Texas and obtained an empresario contract, but sold his contract to the New York land company and returned to New York where he married in He and his wife purchased machinery for a sawmill and sailed for Texas on the schooner "Call" which went aground at Bolivar Point. They waded ashore and most of their possessions were lost, except the sawmill boiler which floated and was recovered in Galveston Bay.
Burnet was involved for a short time with land ventures in Texas as an empresario with Zavala and Vehlein which became part of the Galveston Bay and Texas Land Company. The venture was criticized as early as by Col. Juan Almonte in his Statistical Observations on Texas and later Burnet was severely criticized for his participation by President Houston in as a land speculator with "a company who have swindled by the millions. Burnet was author of the Memorial from the Texas Consultation of arguing the reasons for Texas becoming an independent state in the Republic of Mexico and authored resolutions denouncing the African slave trade in Texas.
The latter met violent opposition led by Monroe Edwards and others already involved in the trade, but passed. Like many Texians, Burnet evolved from opposition to declaring independence of Texas from Mexico to an avid supporter of the revolution as Santa Anna consolidated dictatorial power.
First President of the Republic Burnet faced horrific challenges and duties as the Independence Convention at Washington-on-the-Brazos adjourned, the Alamo and Goliad garrisons fell and Houston began assembly and retreat of the Texian forces to San Jacinto.
He frantically rallied Texians and appealed for aid to the United States while aiding refugees and moving the government to Harrisburg. He adamantly criticized Houston as he retreated toward San Jacinto for not engaging the enemy at points along the Colorado and Brazos Rivers. He and his family barely escaped forces under Gen. Almonte as they fled across the bay to Galveston where he supervised preparation of defense of the island as well as provisions of support for Houston's army at Buffalo Bayou.
The problems of setting up a civilian authority and government after the military action subsided continued and were equally intense, especially since the new Republican government had no treasury.
At the same time that the fighting subsided, the victorious military spirit ran high and volunteers were continuing to flow into Texas to join even though they, at least temporarily, were no longer needed. In addition, the new government had a large number of Mexican prisoners on its hands including the President of Mexico that must be accommodated.
Like all post-war governments, differences of opinion ran rampant both in the civilian and military elements. President Burnet, as well as Houston and even Stephen F. Austin were accused of wrongdoing and even taking and dispensing bribes. Militarism and subversion of civilian authority was a real danger. Rumors abounded that President Burnet would be assassinated and the story goes that on one particular night when an attack was suspected, Mrs. Burnet kept a light burning all night and sat at an open window all night with a loaded pistol.
Because of his resistance to militants who at times threatened and even attempted to arrest him and his cabinet, Burnet is credited by some with preventing the rise of militarism and military rule in the new Republic, although it is believed a majority of Texas leaders and the public also opposed such moves.
Turner's role in the affair Col. Turner became a DeWitt Colony area resident after the war]:. On May 4th, following San Jacinto, Turner photo at left with his command was ordered to board the Yellowstone , a boat on Buffalo Bayou, one mile above Lynchburg, proceed to Galveston with the prisoners taken in the battle [of San Jacinto], and report for duty to Colonel James Morgan, then in command.
They arrived about midnight on the 5th, disembarked, bedded down in the sand, and slept until morning. After guard mount, Turner reported for duty and surrendered the prisoners. Turner remained at Galveston for several months, and his tour of duty was devoted principally to securing clothing, food and accommodations for his command and the prisoners, and in shoring the harbor defenses about the island.
In attending to these details, he often left the Island and so it was early in August that Turner arrived at Velasco, the temporary seat of the government, and called on President Burnet to discuss matters connected with the post.
This completed, he informed Burnet of the rumors in the regiment that Burnet's government was to be displaced with his arrest by the army. The army, dissatisfied and disgruntled with the way matters had been handled by the government and inspired by the designs of some of its leaders, held a mass meeting which decided to over throw the existing civil government and take control.
Charges were preferred against Burnet, and Colonel Henry Millard, the commanding officer of Turner's regiment, was directed to proceed to Velasco to arrest Burnet and bring him before the army for trial. Millard accepted the assignment and took with him Lieutenant Tracy and a civilian named Wheelock, the latter quite adept in writing military orders. Burnet From Academic Kids. Toolbox Special pages. This page has been accessed times. About Academic Kids Disclaimers.
President of the Republic of Texas ad interim Jacob and Isaac soon moved from the east to Cincinnati, a growing settlement on the Ohio River. David was about seven or eight years old when he became a resident of what was then America's far western frontier. Isaac and Jacob Burnet became leading citizens of the territory.
Jacob was a close friend of one of the most important frontier leaders, William Henry Harrison, and served as a legislator, judge, and U. Isaac would become mayor of Cincinnati. The Burnets saw to it that David received the best education available, which in those days meant instruction in subjects such as Greek, Latin, philosophy, history, and literature.
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