December Timeline
December 1
1863 - A.J. Hamilton arrived at Brownsville. He made an attempt to exercise authority as military governor of Texas. He returned to Texas in July of 1865 with a presidential appointment to be provisional governor of the state.
1876 - Richard Coke left the office of governor for the Senate.
December 2
1832 - Sam Houston came to Texas from Tennessee for the first time.
1879 - Buckner's Orphan's Home was established in Dallas by Robert Cooke Buckner ("Father Buckner") with three children and one cottage.
December 3
1860 - Prominent citizens of the state requested that a Secession Convention be held. It took place January 28, 1861, in Austin.
December 4
1835 - Gen. Edward Burleson ordered a retreat from the San Antonio area to the already secured areas of Goliad and Gonzales.
December 5
1835 - Ben Milam called for volunteers to march with him into San Antonio to meet Gen. Cos' army. "Who will go with Ol' Ben Milam?" was the cry. Gen. Burleson backed Milam with his army as the fight began.
December 6
1835 - Ben Milam and Edward Burleson sent a report to the president of the provisional government describing the Battle of Bexar and requesting reinforcements.
December 7
1835 - Ben Milam was killed on this date, the third day of the Battle of Bexar. Col. Frank Johnson took Milam's place as commander of the assault. The Jose Navarro house was captured in this battle.
December 8
1835 - On the fourth day of the Battle of Bexar, the Zambrano Row of buildings was captured by the Texans, allowing time to advance room by room by breaking through the walls.
1914 - The Southwest Conference, an intercollegiate athletic conference, was formally organized.
December 9
1835 - Land was set aside for public use in an area later known as Fort San Jacinto on Galveston Island.
1835 - Gen. Cos surrendered to the Texans.
1844 - Sam Houston ended his second term as President of the Republic and Anson Jones took over.
December 10
1835 - A capitulation was signed by Gen. Cos and Edward Burleson. It provided for the withdrawal of the Mexican troops below the Rio Grande.
1836 - The first official flag of the Republic, the David G. Burnet flag, was adopted.
December 11
1891 - The Alien Land Law of 1891 was declared unconstitutional in the case of Gunter v. Texas Land and Mortgage Company.
1934 - W.L. Waggoner, who willed each of his children 90,000 acres of land and 10,000 head of cattle, died on this date. Oil was also discovered on his land.
December 12
1840 - Mirabeau B. Lamar left the office of President of the Republic to convalesce. David G. Burnet was the acting President during this time.
1882 - The Texas Bar Association was permanently organized in Galveston on this date during its second meeting.
December 13
1841 - Sam Houston was inaugurated as President of the Republic for the second time.
December 14
1837 - Doctors were needed in the newly formed Republic. On this date a Board of Medical Censors were created to grant licenses to practice medicine and surgery.
1839 - The Congress of the Republic passed a law that provided for the building of a National Road to be built thought the settled areas of the Republic.
December 15
1836 - President Sam Houston wanted the government of Texas to be in his namesake town, Houston. On this date he ordered the government to be moved to Houston.
1876 - Black Horse, the Comanche chief, led his braves off the Fort Sill Reservation to make raids in Texas.
December 16
1826 - The Fredonian Rebellion began in Nacogdoches when the "Republic of Fredonia" was proclaimed to be free from Mexico by Benjamin Edwards and 30 men. Under a flag that read "Independence, Liberty and Justice," the men planned to control half of Texas and give the Indians the other half.
December 17
1743 - Justo Boneo y Morales received his appointment as governor of Texas.
December 18
1860 - At the age of 34, Cynthia Ann Parker was recaptured by the Texas Rangers at the battle of the Pease River. Her daughter, Topsannah, was taken with her.
December 19
1842 - The Mier Expedition began on this date by selecting William Fisher to lead the troops into Mexico. Alexander Somervell ordered all the men back to Gonzales but only 189 Texans returned.
December 20
1835 - Ira Ingram and Philip Dimitt wrote the Goliad Declaration of Independence and read it to the citizens of Goliad. It was signed by 89 Texans of Anglo descent and two Texans of Mexican descent.
December 21
1847 - J. Pinckney Henderson left the office of governor.
1859 - Sam Houston took over as governor of Texas.
December 22
1836 - The First Congress of the Republic of Texas established the General Land Office. The office opened in October 1837.
1854 - The first recruits for the socialistic French colony, La Reunion, entered Texas and later settled west of Dallas.
December 23
1890 - A gambler named Charlie Wright went gunning for Luke Short in Fort Worth. Wright shot Short from ambush with a shotgun and badly wounded him. Luke shot Wright in the wrist, both men recovering.
December 24
1852 - The first locomotive in Texas was the "General Sherman." It began serving Texas on Christmas Eve, 1852 at Harrisburg and was used until 1870. It was scrapped in 1899.
December 25
1859 - The city of Houston had a white Christmas.
1895 - Add-Ran University moved to Waco. Its name was changed to Texas Christian University in 1902 and moved to Fort Worth in 1910-11.
December 26
1851 - Gen. Edward Burleson died in Austin during a senate session.
December 27
1835 - Fort Milam was established in Falls County as a Ranger Station.
1836 - Stephen F. Austin, the "Father of Texas," died of pneumonia at 43.
December 28
1870 - During December of 1870 the El Paso Salt War, escalated with the killing of Judge Gaylord Judd Clarke. The war finally ended in 1877.
December 29
1836 - Stephen F. Austin was buried at Peach Point Cemetery. Later he was reburied at the State Cemetery in Austin.
1845 - Texas became the 28th state of the Union. The final transfer of authority happened on February 16, 1846.
December 30
1880 - Jane Long, the "Mother of Texas," died on her plantation in Richmond, Texas.
December 31
1835 - The steamboat Yellow Stone began its first trip to Texas, departing from Galveston. The steamboat served Texas during the Revolution by transporting troops to Texas, transporting Sam Houston and the Texas Army across the Brazos River, aiding Runaway Scrape refugees, etc.