Editing Sam Houston (section)

==Early life==
[[File:Houstonbirthplacemarker.jpg|thumbnail|left|Sam Houston Birthplace Marker in Rockbridge County, Virginia]]

Samuel Houston was born in [[Rockbridge County, Virginia]] on March 2, 1793, to Samuel Houston and Elizabeth Paxton. Both of Houston's parents were descended from Scottish and Irish immigrants who had settled in [[Colonial history of the United States|Colonial America]] in the 1730s,{{sfn|Williams|1994|pp=13–18}} including his great-grandfather [[John Houston (immigrant)|John Houston]].{{sfn|Haley|2002|p=5}} Houston's father was descended from [[Ulster Scots people]] and the [[Houston baronets]], the founders of [[Clan Houston]] in [[Scotland]].{{sfn|Haley|2002|pp=4–5}}{{efn|Houston descended from Sir John Houston; who, in the late 1600s, rebuilt the Houston baronial estate, [[Houston House, Renfrewshire]], near [[Johnstone]] and [[Bridge of Weir]], [[Scotland]]. From him came John Houston and Margaret Mary (née Cunningham) Houston, who lived for some time in Ireland; in 1735, they emigrated to America, ending up on the Timber Ridge plantation.{{sfn|Haley|2002|pp=4–5}}}}{{efn|Houston's uncle, the Presbyterian Rev. Samuel Houston, was an elected member of the "lost" [[State of Franklin]] then in the western frontier of [[North Carolina]], who advocated for the passage of his proposed "A Declaration of Rights or Form of Government on the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Frankland" at the convention that was assembled in Greeneville, Tennessee on November 14, 1785. Rev. Houston returned to Rockbridge County, Virginia after the assembled State of Franklin convention rejected his constitutional proposal.<ref>''Dr. J. G. M. Ramsey Autobiography and Letters'', p. 317. Edited by William B. Hesseltine. The University of Tennessee Press.</ref>}} Samuel inherited the Timber Ridge plantation and mansion in Rockbridge County, Virginia, which was worked by [[Slavery in the United States|enslaved]] African Americans. During the [[American Revolutionary War]], Captain Houston served in [[Morgan's Riflemen|Morgan's Rifle Brigade]] as a paymaster.{{sfn|Haley|2002|pp=4–5}} He served in the Virginian militia, which required him to pay his own expenses and to be away from his family for long periods of time. Thus, the plantation and his family's finances suffered.{{sfn|Haley|2002|p=5}}

He had five brothers and three sisters:{{sfn|Williams|1994|pp=13–18}} Paxton, Robert, James (married Patience Bills), John, William (married Mary Ball), Isabella, Mary (married Matthew Wallace), and Eliza (who married Samuel Moore).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Houston |first=Sam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qhGFvVAG7e8C&pg=PA372 |title=The Personal Correspondence of Sam Houston: 1839-1845 |date=1996 |publisher=University of North Texas Press |isbn=978-1-57441-000-6 |page=372}}</ref>

His father, Samuel Sr., planned to sell Timber Ridge{{efn|After the Houstons migrated west to Tennessee, Timber Ridge was razed and [[Church Hill (Lexington, Virginia)|Church Hill]] was built on the site.{{sfn|Haley|2002|p=7}}}} and move west to Tennessee, where land was less expensive, but he died in 1806. Elizabeth, his mother, followed through on those plans, settling the family near [[Maryville, Tennessee]], the seat of [[Blount County, Tennessee|Blount County]]. At that time, Tennessee was on the [[American frontier]], and even larger towns like Nashville were vigilant against Native American raids.{{sfn|Williams|1994|pp=21–24}}<ref name=hbot /> He had dozens of cousins who lived in the surrounding area{{sfn|Williams|1994|pp=13–18}} of east-central Tennessee.{{sfn|Haley|2002|p=6}} When they arrived, Elizabeth cleared the land, built a house, and planted crops. Her oldest children, Paxton, Isabella, and Robert died within a few years after they arrived in Tennessee. Elizabeth relied on James and John to run the store in Maryville, to operate the farm, and to watch over the younger children.{{sfn|Haley|2002|p=7}}

Houston had a carefree disposition, however, and liked to escape to explore the frontier. He was at odds with the concepts of hell and damnation preached by his mother's religion, [[Presbyterianism]], and he was not interested in schooling. However, he did take an interest in his father's library, reading works by [[Classical antiquity|classical]] authors like [[Virgil]], as well as more contemporary works by authors such as [[Jedidiah Morse]].{{sfn|Haley|2002|pp=7–11}}

After his father's passing in 1807 <ref>{{Cite web |last=The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica |date=April 16, 2025 |title=Sam Houston |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sam-Houston |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sam-Houston |access-date=May 3, 2025 |website=Britannica.com}}</ref> and his lack of interest in farming and working in the family store, at the age of 16, he ran away from his family and his home to live with a [[Cherokee]] tribe, led by Chief [[John Jolly]] ([[Cherokee language|Cherokee name]]: ''Ahuludegi'', also spelled ''Oolooteka'')<ref name=hbot>{{Handbook of Texas|id=fho73|name=Samuel Houston}}</ref>{{sfn|Williams|1994|pp=21–24}} on [[Hiwassee Island]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Hiwassee Island |url=https://www.mtsuhistpres.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Hiwassee-River-Heritage-Center-Phase-II-Exhibit-Final-Panels-merged-compressed.pdf |website=The Center for Historic Preservation, Middle Tennessee State University |access-date=January 8, 2022 |archive-date=November 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108035059/https://www.mtsuhistpres.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Hiwassee-River-Heritage-Center-Phase-II-Exhibit-Final-Panels-merged-compressed.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Houston formed a close relationship with Jolly and learned the Cherokee language, becoming known as 'Raven.'{{sfn|Williams|1994|pp=25–26}} According to James L. Haley, he appreciated the "free and unsophisticated spiritual expression of the Native Americans."{{sfn|Haley|2002|p=8}} He left the tribe to return to Maryville in 1812, and he was hired at age 19 for a term as the schoolmaster of a one-room schoolhouse.{{sfn|Haley|2002|p=10}} He attended Porter Academy, where he was taught by Rev. [[Isaac L. Anderson]], founder of [[Maryville College]].{{sfn|Haley|2002|pp=7–8}}

According to biographer John Hoyt Williams, Houston was not close with his siblings or his parents, and he rarely spoke of them in his later life.{{sfn|Williams|1994|pp=13–18}} Haley states that he was interested in his younger brother's and his sisters' welfare when he lived on Hiwassee Island. He felt used by the rest of the family.{{sfn|Haley|2002|p=8}}

{{Further|Sam Houston's life with the Cherokees}}