Asa Brigham

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Asa Brigham (born August 31, 1788 in Marlborough , Massachusetts , † July 3, 1844 in Washington , Republic of Texas ) was an American settler, businessman and politician .

Career

Asa Brigham, son of Mary Rice and Lewis Brigham, was born in Middlesex County in 1788 . Nothing is known about his youth. On December 9, 1810, he and Elizabeth Swift Babcock announced in Watertown, Middlesex County, their posse for their impending marriage. From 1810 and 1816 he lived in Lunenburg ( Worcester County ) and worked as a tailor. The British-American War overshadowed these years. He escaped death in a fire in 1816 but lost his business. He then moved to Louisiana and settled in Alexandria ( Rapides Parish ). By the time he arrived in Texas from Louisiana in April 1830, he was married with two sons, Samuel and Benjamin, and a married daughter named Adeliza Lewis Brigham. In December 1830 he was elected síndico procurador in the municipality of Victoria and a year later he was elected comisario in the same municipality. He was also appointed to the Brazoria District Board of Health in 1831.

At that time, there was growing discontent in Texas with the policies of the Mexican government, particularly the prohibition of slavery and the disarmament / deportation of American immigrants. On June 20, 1832, Brigham and a group of Texas politicians signed an agreement expressing their willingness to take military action to gain independence from Texas. On October 6, 1832, he was elected Treasurer of Brazoria District.

After 1832 he ran a ferry company in Brazoria and ran a trading business in partnership with his son-in-law. Brigham became a stockholder in the San Saba Colonization Company and a consignee of goods for the Brazos and Galveston Railroad . He bought land in Hall's Bayou , Brazoria Counties, and Galveston Counties and Bastrop Counties , where he grew sugar cane , cotton, and corn in addition to ranching . At the time, Brigham owned a few slaves. However, in later life he signed numerous petitions against slavery.

In 1833 his wife, son-in-law, and daughters were dead. Brigham was elected Alkalde of Brazoria in 1835 and was one of four members of Brazoria to the Washington Convention of 1836 , where he co-signed the Declaration of Independence from Texas .

Since Brigham was instrumental in founding the Masonic Lodge in Brazoria, he acted on December 20, 1837 as a founding member of the Grand Lodge of Texas in Houston . David G. Burnet named him Auditor of the Republic of Texas and President Sam Houston named him first Treasurer of the Republic of Texas in December 1836. In January 1839 he was reappointed Treasurer of the Republic of Texas by Mirabeau B. Lamar , but resigned from his post in April 1840. He was charged with embezzling state funds for private purposes while serving as treasurer, but was acquitted. In December 1841 he was reappointed Treasurer of the Republic of Texas and in 1842 the fourth Mayor of Austin .

He married his second wife, Ann Johnson Mather, on July 8, 1839. He died in Washington in 1844 and was buried there. The state of Texas erected a memorial there in 1936. His remains were later reburied at Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historical Park .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hudson, Charles: History of the town of Marlborough, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Boston, MA: TR Marvin & Son, 1862, p. 342
  2. ^ Temple, Josiah H .: A Genealogical Register of Framingham Families including All Who Took Up Residence in Town Before AD 1860, Framingham, MA: The Town of Framingham, 1887, p. 484
personal data
SURNAME Brigham, Asa
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American settler, businessman, and politician
DATE OF BIRTH August 31, 1788
PLACE OF BIRTH Marlborough , Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH July 3, 1844
Place of death Washington , Republic of Texas