11 Facts About Joshua Houston

When Margaret married Sam Houston, Joshua moved to Texas with the newlyweds.

Joshua traveled with Sam Houston and worked on the construction of Raven Hill in Huntsville, Texas.

Joshua Houston became educated and was elected to local public offices.

Joshua Houston had three wives and was the father of eight children, including Samuel Walker Houston.

Joshua Houston was a Texas delegate at the 1884 Republican National Convention.

Joshua Houston helped establish the Bishop Ward Normal and Collegiate Institute.

The story of Sam Houston freeing his slaves before his 1863 death, in particular Joshua, has been passed down through history, and is recounted in various books.

In From Slave To Statesman, author Patricia Smith Prather depicts Joshua Houston reading a newspaper story to his slaves in the fall of 1862, about Abraham Lincoln's September 1862 Emancipation Proclamation, telling them they would all be free as of January 1,1863.

When Joshua Houston died in 1863, his slaves were part of the inventory of his estate and valued at $10,530.

Joshua's son Samuel Walker Houston was born in February 1864, seven months after Sam Houston's death, and is always referred to as having been born into slavery.

Joshua Houston died in 1902 and was buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Huntsville, the same cemetery where Sam Houston is buried.