Elisha M. Pease

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Elisha Marshall Pease (January 3, 1812 – August 26, 1883) was a U.S. politician from the 1830s through the 1870s. He served two terms as Governor of Texas.

A native of Enfield, Connecticut, Pease moved to Mexican Texas in 1835. He soon became active in the Texas independence movement, and after the Texas Revolution began, Pease became the secretary of the provisional government and co-wrote the new Texas Constitution. After independence had been won, Pease was named the comptroller of public accounts in the government of the new Republic of Texas.

Following the annexation of Texas to the United States, Pease was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1845 and reelected in 1847. In 1849, He ran for the Texas Senate from District 11 (Brazoria and Galveston counties), but lost to John B. Jones, who was sworn in 5 November. Pease contested the election, was declared the winner, and was sworn in 4 days later on 9 November.

Pease first ran for governor in 1851 but withdrew from the race two weeks before the election. He was elected in each of the next two elections, 1853 and 1855 as a member of the Unionist Party (the only governor elected from a party other than the Republican or Democratic parties). As governor, he paid off the state debt and established the financial foundation that the state would later use to finance its schools and colleges.

In 1856, surveyor Jacob de Córdova of the Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad Company named a newly discovered river in West Texas the "Pease River" after the governor.^[1]

During the American Civil War, Pease sided with the Union. After the war, he became a leader in the state Republican Party, and was appointed as the civilian governor of Texas in 1867 by General Philip H. Sheridan, who was the military head of the Reconstruction government. Pease's policies as governor alienated both ex-Unionists and ex-Confederates, and he resigned in 1869.

Pease died of apoplexy in Lampasas, Texas. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Austin, Texas.

[edit] Notes

^ Handbook of Texas Online - Pease River. Retrieved 30 October 2006.

[edit] References

Elisha Marshall Pease from the Handbook of Texas Online
Griffin, Roger, "Connecticut Yankee in Texas: A Biography of Elisha Marshall Pease." (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Texas at Austin, 1973).

[edit] External links

Entry for Elisha M. Peasefrom the Biographical Encyclopedia of Texas published 1880, hosted by the Portal to Texas History.
Elisha M. Pease Memorial at Find A Grave

Preceded by John B. Jones	Texas State Senator from District 11 (Brazoria) 1849–1851	Succeeded by Adolphus Sterne
Preceded by James W. Henderson	Governor of Texas 1853–1857	Succeeded by Hardin R. Runnels
Preceded by James W. Throckmorton	Governor of Texas 1867–1869	Succeeded by Edmund J. Davis