Page:Life and Select Literary Remains of Sam Houston of Texas (1884).djvu/269



early domestic troubles of the hero of San Jacinto have been briefly detailed. Gen. Houston rarely, if ever, alluded to them, nor did he in anywise reflect upon the character or memory of the first Mrs. Houston.

The history of his relations to the second Mrs. Houston is alike honorable to all parties, and a noble tribute to the exalted excellence of a pure, lovely, well-developed female character.

The second Mrs. Houston, Margaret Moffette Lea, daughter of Temple and Nancy Lea, was born in Perry Co., Alabama, April 11, 1819. She received the best advantages of the schools of Alabama, and through all her life continued to improve her intellectual powers by reading and study. Associating with the most cultivated people of Alabama, possessed of winning manners and conversational powers, she attracted no little attention from men of eminence in Church and State.

She was a thorough student of the Bible, and was devotedly attached to the principles of practical Christianity. The writer first met her in Marion, Alabama, in 1839, at a time when she was regarded as the most attractive and fascinating young lady in that part of Alabama. She became a member of Siloam Baptist Church, Marion, and was baptized by Rev. Peter Crawford, then pastor of that church.

On a visit to Mobile she first met Gen. Houston. He was at that time given to occasional excesses in drinking, by which he had acquired the name among the Indians of " Big Drunk." His romantic history, his brilliant career as the savior of Texas, his commanding figure, winning manners, and vivacious conversation, won the heart of the young Alabamian.

She was asked by the writer why she ran the risk of unhappiness and misfortune by consenting to link her destinies with those of Gen. Houston, at a time when he gave way to such excesses? She replied, that "not only had he won her heart, but she had conceived the idea that she could be the means of reforming him, and she meant to devote herself to the work."