ViewsWatchersBrowse |
Albert Hamilton Latimer
b.25 May 1808 Huntingdon, Carroll, Tennessee, United States
d.27 Nov 1877 Clarksville, Red River, Texas, United States
Family tree▼ (edit)
m. 19 Jul 1803
(edit)
m. 3 Sep 1828
(edit)
m. 22 Nov 1836
(edit)
m. 21 Sep 1857
Facts and Events
He came to the Red River area in 1833 in search of "a better country," liked the area, and sent back to Tennessee for his parents and family.S2 In 1834, he moved his family to a location northeast of the site of present Clarksville, where he and others founded the town of La Grange (now Madras).S10 Although not officially elected, he was one of five delegates from the Red River region to the Convention of 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos, where he signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. From July to October 1836 he served with William Becknell's Red River militi company on the Lavaca River.S10 He represented Red River County in the lower house of the Fifth and Sixth congresses of the Republic of Texas, 1840-42, was a delegate to the Convention of 1845, and served as a member of the Senate of the Third Legislature, 1849-51.S10 30 Sep 1848:S8
Red River County, Texas, 1850 census:
8 Oct 1855:S6
Grayson County, Texas, 1860 census:
In the Secession Crisis, Latimer was prominently and consistently identified with the Unionist cause. He was one of two men that the Unionists in the state legislature nominated in their unsuccessful attempt to block ardent secessionist Louis T. Wigfall's election to the U.S. Senate. Because of his age, Latimer was able to remain in Texas during the war without jeopardizing his Unionist credentials. He was appointed state comptroller by Governor Andrew J. Hamilton in October 1865.S10 He was elected a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1866, where he was a member of the Radical Union Caucus and was its unsuccessful candidate for chairman of the convention. He served instead as chairman of the finance committee. After the convention, Latimer resigned his position as comptroller to accept a federal appointment as one of three direct-tax commissioners for the state of Texas and was given supervision of internal revenue collection in North Texas. In 1867 he was appointed supervisor of voter registration for North Texas. From April to August of that year he served as a subassistant commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau; he resigned the position to accept an appointment as associate justice of the Texas Supreme Court.S10 With the approach of the election of 1869, he was designated the candidate for lieutenant governor on the Republican ticket, headed by Andrew J. Hamilton. When Edmund J. Davis was nominated by the Radical Republicans, thus splitting the party, the Grant administration decided to support Davis and gradually began to remove officials who supported Hamilton. In late September 1869 Latimer announced his resignation from the Supreme Court, to take effect on December 30. Gen. Joseph J. Reynolds, commanding the Department of Texas, accepted the resignation but made it effective on November 30. Latimer then announced that he would retire from the court immediately, but Reynolds ordered him to stay until the end of the session on November 30. The moderate Republican ticket was defeated by the Radical Republicans in the election. Red River County, Texas, 1870 census:
References
|