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Alexander
Hamilton Washington, a cousin of George Washington, cut a wide swath
through Polk and San
Jacinto counties before and after the Civil War, but finding any
physical reminder of his 28 years in East
Texas is almost impossible.
Born in 1805 on a farm near Berryville in Virginia, Washington moved
to Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1838 to practice law while living with
his sister, Mary Herbert Beazley and her family, A.G.A.
When the Beazleys gave Washington money and land to invest in the
Republic of Texas,
he exchanged the property for the William Logan League, now in San
Jacinto County, and took the title in his own name with the intention
of giving the property to his sister. A will in 1860 established his
intent.
Settling at Drew’s Landing on the Trinity River in the 1840s, Washington
developed one of the area’s largest plantations in a great horseshoe
bend of the river. As he was building his home on the river, Washington
also supervised the construction of a road from Drew’s Landing to
Lynchburg,
a shipping point on Galveston Bay, with the recognition that the export
of cotton would stimulate East
Texas’ economy.
Washington’s home was similar to the plantation homes of the Old South.
Enhancing the home’s beauty was a formal flower garden, a favorite
hobby of Washington. As a lawyer, Washington had a large library filled
with law books and two indoor bathrooms with hot water furnished by
a boiler, a rarity on the Texas frontier. The home also contained
a room for his Coushatta Indian friends--who lived in a village on
Washington’s plantation--with pictures of paintings of Indians and
horses. The Coushattas’ customary dress of long deerskin shirts prompted
riverboat travelers to call the place “Shirt Tail Bend.”
Known for his eccentricity, Washington had a personal worth of almost
$75,000 in real and personal property before the Civil War, but he
was always behind in paying his taxes.
There were rumors at Drew’s Landing that Washington, a bachelor, buried
a large cache of gold on his plantation. Another story is that he
lost his fortune in a New Orleans bank failure.
When
the Civil War erupted, Washington volunteered for service in 1862,
and was commissioned an aide under Major General John B. McGruder,
commander of the military district of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico.
Washington was assigned to supervise government works in a wide area
of East Texas, to defend
the lower valley of the Trinity River, and to enlist his Indian friends
in the South’s war efforts.
At the end of the war, Washington was nearly bankrupt and in declining
health. Though he held 51 slaves in 1864, he had to take large loans
after the war to keep his plantation in operation.
Washington sold his plantation to William B. Denson, who moved into
the house with Washington. In 1868 Washington wrote a will giving
all of his assets to Denson in return for settlement of his debts.
He died on June 30, 1868, and was buried in his flower garden. Denson
disputed Washington’s first will to his sister, but in 1873 she established
that the will was valid.
As the year’s passed, Washington’s grave was lost, but his descendants
placed a tombstone in the Davidson Cemetery, near Drew’s Landing,
defining his Confederate service.
The passage of decades has left the cemetery unmarked, entangled in
forest growth, and--like Washington’s final resting place--difficult
to find. |
All
Things Historical
April 30, 2007 Column.
Published with permission
A weekly column syndicated in 70 East Texas newspapers |
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