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WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1860
449
. ~John S. Besser (August 13, 1802) was born of German-English parentage m Northumberland County, Philadelphia. While the boy was still an infant his parents moved to Philadelphia where he was reared and educated. In 1818 he decided to see the world, so ran away and went to St. Charles Missouri, where he stayed for three years. There he ]earned the tailor'~ trade. In the latter part of 1822, he went with a company of traders William H. Ashley being the leader of the company, on a trading trip t~ the Rocky Mountains. While on this trip he learned much concerning the Indian character and customs. Returning to St. Charles he remained a resident of Missouri until 1840, and during those sixteen years, he acquired through actual service, all the military titles from captain to general. In 1834, he was elected a member of the Missouri Legislature from Lincoln County, and prior to that, he had served as justice of the county court for Lincoln County, for four years. On February 12, 1841, he unloaded his household goods at a point five miles from Huntsville, Texas. Eight years later he moved to Huntsville, where he continued to live until his death. There he became a member of the commissioners' court for Walker County, and was the influence that built _the county jail. He was then appointed financial agent for the purchase of the machinery and factory equipment for the state penitentiary at Huntsville. Subsequently he drafted the rules for the regulation of the penitentiary, and Governor Lubbock ap- pointed him financial agent for that institution, a position he had formerly held under Bell, Pease, and Runnels. In fact, from 1850 to 1863, he was out of this office for only twenty months. Houston removed him from this position, because he had been against Houston in his campaign for the governor's office. At a later time, however, Houston himself is said to have admitted that the only mistake of any consequence that he made as Gov- ernor of Texas was his dismissal of Besser as financial agent of the state penitentiary. Indeed, Besser's reputation for efficiency in this office was very high; he was reputed to have been the only financial agent of the penitentiary up to that time who had made full and complete settlements. In 1878, Besser was elected judge of Walker County. He was married ' four times, but had children by only the first marriage. By this first marriage he had nine children, several of whom lived to become useful citizens of the state. Besser was a Royal Arch Mason, an elder in the Presbyterian church, and a life-long Democrat. He believed in the right of secession, but thought that the South was unwise to secede, therefore voted against the measure. The man was six feet tall, weighed 155 pounds, had blue eyes, gray hair and beard, and an open genial countenance. He was reputed an honest man, and a patriotic citizen; his talents were fair; his decisions on the bench were usually satisfactory, although he was not a trained lawyer; his administration of county affairs and of public money was adjudged excellent. See William S. Speer, and John H. Brown (eds.), Encyclopedia, of the New West, (1881), pp. 175-176.
To THE TEXAS LEGISLATURE-A VETO MESSAGE 1
Executive Department, January 26th, 1860.
Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives: I have the honor to return to the Senate in which it originated the bill entitled an act to amend the eleventh section of the act of
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