Haden Harrison Edwards (1812–1865) was a Texan, born in Virginia but brought to

Nacogdoches Nacogdoches ( ) is a city in East Texas and the county seat of Nacogdoches County, Texas, United States. The 2020 U.S. census recorded the city's population at 32,147. Stephen F. Austin State University is located in Nacogdoches and specia ...

as a youngster by his father, onetime ''

empresario An empresario () was a person who had been granted the right to settle on land in exchange for recruiting and taking responsibility for settling the eastern areas of Coahuila y Tejas in the early nineteenth century. Since ''empresarios'' attract ...

'' Haden Edwards. Haden Harrison Edwards worked as a livestock trader, soldier, politician and railroad executive. He founded the Sabine Pass and East Texas Railway and was that company's first president.Edwards, Haden Harrison

Handbook of Texas The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...

. Retrieved on June 6, 2011.

Military career

Edwards was already a well-travelled cattle trader when 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 ...

broke out. He was soon elected captain of a company of volunteers which served at the

Siege of Bexar A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characte ...

. Further military service in Indian campaigns after the Revolution led to 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 ...

government's appointing him as a brigadier general. After 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 ...

, the Texas military was dissolved and its commissions no longer recognized, so when the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

subsequently broke out, Edwards enlisted as a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

in Company E, Second Regiment of the Texas Mounted Rifles. However, he was granted a discharge due to disability on August 31, 1846.

Politics

Edwards was elected to the

1st Congress of the Republic of Texas The First Congress of the Republic of Texas, consisting of the Senate of the Republic of Texas and House of Representatives of the Republic of Texas, met in Columbia at two separate buildings (one for each chamber) and then in Houston at the pres ...

as a Representative for a district centered around Nacogdoches. Following statehood, he was also a member of the 1st and 8th

Texas Legislature The Texas State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a p ...

s, again representing the Nacogdoches area, and also represented that area as a delegate to the Texas Succession Convention, which voted to leave the Union in 1861.

Business

Edwards served as president of the Sabine Pass and East Texas Railway, beginning in 1858. Construction began and some rails were in place when the outbreak of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

halted all activity. Subsequently, the rails which had been laid were taken up and used in the fortification of Sabine Pass. As soon as the war ended, Edwards began working to revive the railroad, and was in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

in August, 1865 trying to arrange financing for it when he died.

Personal

Edwards married the former Sarah Forbes in Nacogdoches on October 22, 1843. Mrs. Edwards subsequently gave birth to eight children. The eldest, Peyton Foster Edwards (1844–1918), served as a Confederate soldier and then followed his father into the political arena, becoming known as "the red rooster of Nacogdoches", representing the area for two terms in the

Texas Senate The Texas Senate is the upper house of the Texas Legislature, with the Texas House of Representatives functioning as the lower house. Together, they form the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the state of Texas. The Senate ...

prior to moving to

El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

References

External links

Edwards, Haden Harrison

. 1812 births 1865 deaths People from Nacogdoches, Texas Republic of Texas politicians Texas Revolution Members of the Texas House of Representatives American emigrants to Mexico 19th-century members of the Texas Legislature {{texas-bio-stub