John McClannahan Crockett (December 26, 1816 – August 4, 1887) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the

mayor of Dallas The Mayor of the City of Dallas is a member of the Dallas City Council and its presiding officer. The current mayor is Eric Johnson (Texas politician), Eric Johnson, who has served one term since 2019 Dallas mayoral election, 2019 and is the 60 ...

for three nonconsecutive terms between 1857 and 1866 as the eighth

lieutenant governor of Texas The lieutenant governor of Texas is the second-highest executive officer, executive office in the government of Texas, a state in the United States, U.S. It is the second most powerful post in Texas government because its occupant controls the wor ...

from 1861 to 1863. A

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 ...

native, Crockett moved to Texas in 1847.. Retrieved on August 6, 2009.

Early life

Crockett was born at

Lancaster, South Carolina The city of Lancaster () is the county seat of Lancaster County, South Carolina, United States, located in the Charlotte Metropolitan Area. As of the United States Census of 2010, the city population was 8,526. The city was named after the famou ...

, on December 26, 1816. He studied at Franklin Academy in Lancaster. Before studying law, he was involved in a business career. He married Catherine W. Polk on March 17, 1837. He started studying law in 1841, and in 1844, he was granted a license to practice law.

Life in Texas

Crockett and his wife, Catherine, moved to the city of

Paris, Texas Paris is a city and county seat of Lamar County, Texas, United States. Located in Northeast Texas at the western edge of the Piney Woods, the population of the city was 24,171 in 2020. History Present-day Lamar County was part of Red River ...

in 1847. In 1848 they moved to the

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

area. William H. Hord, the brother-in-law of Crockett, was county judge there. Crockett started practicing law in the Dallas area, and also became deputy county clerk there. He became commissioner of the Mercer colony in 1850. In 1851 he became state representative from the Dallas area. He was involved in multiple court trials, and was a law partner of John Jay Good in the first half of the 1850s. Dallas was granted a town charter on February 2, 1856, by the

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 ...

.. Retrieved on August 6, 2009. Crockett was elected as the second mayor of Dallas in 1857, serving for three non-consecutive terms; his last was 1865–1866. Crockett became meteorological observer for the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

in Dallas in 1859. He was elected as the eighth

Lieutenant Governor of Texas The lieutenant governor of Texas is the second-highest executive officer, executive office in the government of Texas, a state in the United States, U.S. It is the second most powerful post in Texas government because its occupant controls the wor ...

in 1861. He left the lieutenant governor's office in 1863. Despite a supportive constituency, he refused to enter the race for the governorship of Texas. He returned to the Dallas area to become superintendent of the Confederate arms factory in

Lancaster, Texas Lancaster ( ) is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States. Its population was 41,275 according to the 2020 census. Founded in 1852 as a frontier post, Lancaster is one of Dallas County's earliest settlements. Today, it is a suburban communi ...

. After the war, he incorporated the Dallas Grain, Elevator, and Flouring Company in 1872. In 1875, he became a charter member of the executive committee of the Dallas Pioneers Association.

Death

Crockett died on August 4, 1887; he was interred at the Old Masonic Cemetery, Dallas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crockett, John Mcclannahan 1816 births 1887 deaths Lieutenant governors of Texas Mayors of Dallas People from Lancaster, South Carolina Texas Democrats 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century mayors of places in Texas