★★★ Smith, Ashbel

Ashbel Smith

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Born: August 13, 1805

Birthplace: Hartford, Connecticut

Father: Moses Smith 1775 – 1858
(Buried: Zion Hill Cemetery, Hartford, Connecticut)​

Mother: Phebe Adams Smith 1786 – 1872
(Buried: Zion Hill Cemetery, Hartford, Connecticut)​

Martial Status: Never Married

Education:

1824: Graduated from Yale University​
Studied medicine at Yale University and in France​

Occupation before War:

1824 – 1837: Medical Doctor and Teacher in Salisbury, North Carolina​
1836: Persuaded to move to Texas by J. Henderson Pickney​
1837: Surgeon General of Texas Army of Republic​
Established first hospital in what would become Houston, Texas​
Medical Doctor in Galveston, Texas​
Plantation Owner in Galveston, Texas​
1842 – 1844: Texas Republic Minister to Great Britain, and France​
1845: Texas Republic Secretary of State​
1846 – 1848: Surgeon during the Mexican – American War​
1848: President of Board of Visitors at West Point Military Academy​
1853: One of the founders of Texas Medical Association​
1856 – 1858: Texas State Representative​
Worked with Gail Borden to make a dried beef biscuit​

Civil War Career:

1861 – 1862: Captain of Company C, 2nd​ Texas Infantry Regiment​
1862: Wounded in the arm during the Battle of Shiloh​
1862: Lt. Colonel of 2nd​ Texas Infantry Regiment​
1862 – 1863: Colonel of 2nd​ Texas Infantry Regiment​
1863: Captured and Paroled during Battle of Vicksburg, Mississippi​
Commander of Confederate Forces near Galveston, Texas​
1865: Commissioner who surrendered Texas to Union Forces​

Occupation after War:
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Medical Doctor in Galveston, Texas​
President of University of Texas Regents​
1866: Texas State Representative​
1870: President of Texas State Historical Society​
Known to have been a champion of education for blacks and women​
One of the Commissioners for establishing A&M College of Texas​
1876: Judge of Judy of Awards at Great International Exhibition​
1878: Honorary Texas Commissioner to Paris International Exhibition​
1879 – 1881: Texas State Representative​

Died: January 21, 1886

Place of Death: Evergreen Plantation, Galveston, Texas

Age at time of Death: 80 years old

Burial Place: Texas State Cemetery, Austin, Texas
 
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As a graduate student at the University of Texas in 1973, I was allowed to have a study desk in the main library stacks. It was a closed library; all book requests by undergraduates were filled by librarians. To my delight, while browsing one day, I came across an old copy of Hardee's Tactics. It had the original owner's name in it: Col. Ashbel Smith! Talk about holding history in your hand!
 
Ashbel Smith was one of Texas' most interesting, yet often overlooked characters. The chronological list above shows he led an active and varied life. Although he had intentions a couple of times, Ashbel never married. He also studied medicine in France prior to coming to Texas. He was Sam Houston's personal physician and lived with him while serving at the first president of the republic. Ashbel was instrumental in establishing the University of Texas Medical School at Galveston. His home was on Gaveston Bay near today's Baytown, Texas. His boxes of personal papers at the University of Texas Center for American History contains two large hand written ledgers he kept during the CW. I found a considerable amount of information relating to my great grandfather's regiment during the last two years of the war. Folks who enjoy biographies should locate a copy of "Ashbel Smith of Texas - Pioneer, Patriot, Statesman, 1805-1886" by Elizabeth Silverthorne.
 
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Ashbel Smith, a lifelong bachelor, came to Texas soon after it became a republic. Although a Connecticut Yankee, he adopted Texas as his own. He was a Yale educated doctor who studied medicine at hospitals in New York and Paris. He served as the Surgeon General of the Texian Army. He lived with Sam Houston in a two room shack which was the first Capitol of Texas in Houston. He was as a Minister from Texas in both France and England and as Secretary of State. During the Mexicican War he served with Zachary Taylor in Mexico.

At age 56, he organized a company of the 2nd Texas Infantry and was wounded at Shiloh. Ashbel Smith was in command of the regiment at Vicksburg. After they were paroled, what was left of the regiment returned to Texas and was reactivated in November 1863 and served at various locations on the Gulf Coast. Ashbel was in command of the Galveston defenses at the end of the war.

Post war, Ashbel Smith worked to establish free public schools in the state, founding of Prairie View State Normal School, the University of Texas, and the UT medical school at Galveston. After his death, he was praised as the "best educated man in Texas," the "Ben Franklin of Texas," and a "Texas institution" This was high praise for a man who was not afraid to speak his mind on controversial issues. He had so enraged his fellow citizens that they had burned him in effigy three times. One thing for sure, Ashbel Smith led an interesting and active life.

Ashbel Smith's biographer states he was a scholar, linguist, diplomat, soldier, statesman, scientist, physician, editor, writer, farmer, rancher, philosopher, educator, and humanitarian.

If you can find it, his biography is a good read. Ashbel Smith of Texas, by Elizabeth Silverthorne was published in 1982.

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