Barnard Elliot Bee Sr. (1787–1853) was an American attorney and politician. A native of

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, he, with his family, was an early settler of the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...

. He became a political leader there, serving in several political-appointee positions in the republic.

Early life and education

Barnard Bee was born in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

, one of several siblings, the son of

Thomas Bee Thomas Bee (1739 – February 18, 1812) was a delegate to the Second Continental Congress, Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. Educatio ...

and Susannah (Bulline) Bee, both of planter families. His father was a delegate to the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

and a US Congressman. Barnard studied law, and became an attorney.

Marriage and family

Bee married Ann Wragg Fayssoux of Charleston, from a prominent Anglo-French family. Her father's line was of

French Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

descent. They had two sons, Hamilton Prioleau Bee (b. 1822) and Barnard E. Bee Jr. (b. 1824). Hamilton Bee followed his father into politics, serving first in the Republic of Texas Senate in 1846. He was elected to the Texas Legislature in 1849 and served for more than 10 years; in 1855, he was elected as speaker of the house. Both sons served in the Confederate Army as generals during the American Civil War. Barnard Bee Jr. was one of the first Confederate general officers to be killed in the war.

Political career

Bee served on the staff of his brother-in-law,

James Hamilton Jr. James Hamilton Jr. (May 8, 1786 – November 15, 1857) was an American lawyer and politician. He represented South Carolina in the U.S. Congress (1822–1829) and served as its 53rd governor (1830–1832). Prior to that, Hamilton achieved wides ...

, governor of South Carolina from 1830 to 1832. In 1836, Bee moved his family to Texas and took part in the

Texas Revolution The Texas Revolution (October 2, 1835 – April 21, 1836) was a rebellion of colonists from the United States and Tejanos (Hispanic Texans) against the Centralist Republic of Mexico, centralist government of Mexico in the Mexican state of ...

. He settled near

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. Bee served the young republic in a number of political offices: as

secretary of the treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

in 1836,

secretary of war The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

from 1837–1838, and secretary of state from 1839-1839. In 1839, Texas sent him as an agent to negotiate permanent peace and borders with

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. His offers were rejected. He began his return by sailing to

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

, then obtained passage to

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. The Texas government appointed him as minister (ambassador) to the United States. He served in that post from April 20, 1840, to December 13, 1841. He negotiated with

Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the 14th and 19th United States Secretary of State, U.S. secretary o ...

and settled the formal treaty by which the United States recognized

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Later years

After his return to Texas, Bee generally took up a private life again. Strongly opposed to the

annexation of Texas The Republic of Texas was annexed into the United States and admitted to the Union as the 28th state on December 29, 1845. The Republic of Texas declared independence from the Republic of Mexico on March 2, 1836. It applied for annexatio ...

into the United States, afterward he returned to South Carolina. He died there in 1853, and is buried in St Paul's Churchyard in

Pendleton, South Carolina Pendleton is a town in Anderson County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 3,489 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a sister city of Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The town is located southeast of Cl ...

Legacy and honors

* Bee County and the city of

Beeville Beeville is a city in Bee County, Texas, United States. Its population of 13,543 at the 2020 census makes it the 207th-largest city in Texas. It is the county seat of Bee County and home to the main campus of Coastal Bend College. The area ar ...

in Texas are named in his honor. *His grandson

Carlos Bee Carlos Bee (July 8, 1867 – April 20, 1932) was an attorney and politician, serving as U.S. Representative from Texas. He was a son of Hamilton P. Bee and a great-grandson of Thomas Bee, a politician and judge in South Carolina in the Revolution ...

was elected and served as a US Congressman from Texas.

Early life and education

Marriage and family

Political career

Later years

Legacy and honors

References

External links