George Washington Hockley (1802 – June 6, 1854) was a

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 ...

ary who served as secretary of war for 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 ...

. Hockley was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. His parents were Thomas Hockley (1764-1805), a Philadelphia merchant, and his wife Mary Wescott (1764-1848). In the above-mentioned recollections of Mr. Howard, he states that then-Major Hockley was an executor of his aunt Patience Wescott of Philadelphia; she had owned 32,500 acres of land in Tipton County, Tennessee. Hockley, serving in the Texas Army as a

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

, was in charge of the Twin Sisters at the decisive

Battle of San Jacinto The Battle of San Jacinto (), fought on April 21, 1836, in present-day La Porte and Deer Park, Texas, was the final and decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. Led by General Samuel Houston, the Texan Army engaged and defeated General A ...

. He was the secretary of war for the Republic of Texas during the first and second administrations of the new President

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two indi ...

. He served briefly in 1838 and again from 1841 to 1842. In 1843, Houston selected Hockley to serve as a military representative of a Texas diplomatic mission to

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 ...

. He met with Adrian Woll's delegation at

Sabinas Sabinas is a city in Sabinas Municipality of the same name located in the northeastern quadrant of the state of Coahuila in Mexico.Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía. Principales resultados por localidad 2005 (ITER). Retrieved on ...

, Mexico, where they discussed an amnesty offered by Antonio de Santa Anna to Texas, and proposed a withdrawal of Mexican troops from the

Nueces Strip The Nueces Strip or Wild Horse Desert is the area of South Texas between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande. According to the narrative of Spanish missionary Juan Agustín Morfi, there were so many wild horses swarming in the Nueces Strip i ...

. Hockley and his colleague,

Samuel May Williams Samuel May Williams (October 4, 1795 – September 13, 1858) was an American businessman, politician, and close associate of Stephen F. Austin, who was an Anglo-American colonizer of Mexican Texas. As a teenager, Williams started working in t ...

, remained in Sabinas for six months. Although no agreement from these talks was legalized, they were successful in postponing the threat of a Mexican invasion for another year while Texas negotiated with the United States and Great Britain for protection through official recognition or annexation. Hockley died on June 6, 1851, in

Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi ( ; ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, Texas, Nueces County with portions extending into Aransas County, T ...

, and is interred at the city's Old Bayview Cemetery. In 1936, the year of the Texas Centennial, the state erected a monument in his honor.

Hockley County, Texas Hockley County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 21,537. Its county seat is Levelland. The county was created in 1876, but not organized until 1921. It is named for George Washington Hoc ...

, was named in his honor. He founded the town of

Hockley, Texas Hockley is an unincorporated community located in Harris County, Texas, United States, on Texas State Highway 6 and U.S. Route 290, approximately southeast of the city hall of Waller, and northwest of downtown Houston. Description The ...

, in 1835.

In popular culture

*In season 7 of ''

Fear the Walking Dead ''Fear the Walking Dead'' is an American post-apocalyptic horror drama television series created by Robert Kirkman and Dave Erickson for AMC. It is a spin-off to '' The Walking Dead'', which is based on the comic book series of the same na ...

'', Victor Strand arms himself with a cutlass that had originally belonged to George Washington Hockley, telling Will in "The Beacon" that it dates back to the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. Strand briefly uses the sword in

season 8 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and polar ...

as well before it's stolen from him.

In popular culture

References

Further reading