With the coming of Sam Houston to Nacogdoches in 1833, followed by such men as General Thomas J. Rusk in 1835; with the backing of Colonel Frost Thorne, Haden Edwards, Adolphus Sterne, Charles S. Taylor, John S. Roberts, William G. Logan, Henry Raguet, Dr. James H. Starr, John Forbes, Kelsey H. Douglass, Wm. B. Ochiltree and a host of others, Nacogdoches practically financed the Texas Revolution, feeding and arming the men pouring in from the United States to the defence of the new Republic.
Run-Away Scrape
The tide of war never really rolled near to East Texas. For a time General Sam Houston was accused of intending to flee through Nacogdoches to the Sabine, where an American army was supposed to be expecting him, but he had other designs, which were consummated on the field of San Jacinto, and the danger was dispelled. East Texas, however, did suffer the throes of a paroxysm of panic. It was known that Mexican agents were dispersed among the Cherokee and other Indians north of the settlements. Reports, highly colored no doubt, were disseminated that these Indians were about to move in an overwhelming body on the unprotected settlements, whose men were in the field against the Mexican army, and wipe out town and countryside alike. Fugitives from the devastated West, passing through, helped to spread the terror, and so it happened that the “Run-Away Scrape” came to include both Nacogdoches and San Augustine in the frantic flight to safety beyond the Sabine.
The Republic
The news of victory soon restored the minds of the people to sanity, and they entered with alacrity into the work of establishing the new government of the Republic. After the disorganization of the West and South, which were devastated by the advance of the enemy. East Texas remained in a position of leadership, and furnished perhaps more than its share of the prominent officials of the Republic. The towns, including Nacogdoches, were alive with the discussions of governmental problems, and the advocacy of the names of the foremost citizens for high offices. After the repression of Mexican domination, politics arose to unprecedented heights, and everybody was affected by political fervor. Among the first officials of the new-formed Republic, Nacogdoches furnished Sam Houston for President, General Thomas J. Rusk as Secretary of War; Colonel John Forbes as Commissary General of the Army.
Following the formation of the new government, the business men of Nacogdoches entered upon a period of expansion, resulting in the laying out of numerous new towns in the then Nacogdoches county, extending almost to the Gulf of Mexico on the south and including Dallas on the north. Among the towns thus formed following the Revolution may be mentioned Pattonia south of Nacogdoches on the Angelina river, and a little further south the town of Travis on the same river, Mount Sterling at the home of John Durst on the Angelina river west of Nacogdoches, and a few miles further up the river where the present highway crosses, the town of Angelina where James Durst and his father, Joe Durst, lived. The original town of Rusk was south of Nacogdoches where the road to Fort Teran crossed the Angelina river on the Pierre Roblo grant. Thornville, near the present village of Mahl; Liberty, a few miles northwest of Douglass; Jackson, built on an island on the Attoyac not far from where Chireno was later founded. Haden Edwards founded two towns north of Nacogdoches on the Sabine river, near the present town of Longview, one of which was named Fredonia, in memory of his ill-fated revolution, and the other he called Cotton-Plant. In addition to these ghost towns of long ago, we may mention such towns as Attoyac, Melrose, Chireno and Douglass, each of which was regularly laid out in lots and blocks, in anticipation of the boom to come.
The Cordova Rebellion
But the war was not over yet. The Mexican army had been defeated and expelled, but there were enemies at home. The town of Nacogdoches was aroused to feverish excitement when the preacher and congregation of a country meeting came in one night with the news that the Mexican population of the country had risen in arms under the leadership of a former alcalde, Vicente Cordova, and were on the warpath against the American citizens. General Rusk at once called for volunteers, and scouts were sent everywhere to discover the whereabouts of the insurgents. All the next day their efforts were in vain, but at length John Durst and a party of scouts under him, came in with the report that they were encamped across the Angelina river in what is now Cherokee county, where they were doubtless waiting to join those Indians to make war against the American settlers. Rusk appealed to the people of San Augustine and Sabine counties, and within forty-eight hours they began to arrive, armed and equipped for a campaign. After some delay, caused by contradictory orders from President Houston, Rusk marched into the Indian country, where he found that the rebels had gone to other tribes, and were beyond his reach. He marched to the Cherokee and Shawnee villages and so impressed them with the readiness with which he had assembled so considerable a body of soldiers that they readily premised peace and disavowed any connection with the Mexican insurgents.
Commercial Expansion
In the meantime the town began to grow. It was the home of many of the prominent leaders of Texas during the time of the republic, whose influence was felt in the public affairs of the country. General Thomas J. Rusk was a citizen of Nacogdoches until his death. Sam Houston frequently was a resident until his removal to Huntsville. Charles S. Taylor was very prominent in public affairs. William B. Ochiltree lived here for a time. Thomas J. Jennings, the elder, lived here until his removal to Marshall, as did Dr. James H. Starr. James Reily, who was minister to the United States, had his home here. These are some of the men more prominent in public life; among private citizens there were also many whose names were well known throughout the land. Adolphus Sterne, Archibald Hotchkiss, Henry Raguet and others might be mentioned. Of the county officers Oscar L. Holmes, Richard Parmalee, Murray Orton, William Hart and others were prominent. Colonel Haden Edwards, who returned to Nacogdoches after the bitterness of the Fredonian rebellion had subsided, was here until his death, and his family continued to live here for many years afterwards.