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- Alexander Horton, early settler, local official, and aide-de-camp to Sam Houston during the Texas Revolution, the son of Julius and Susan (Purnell) Horton, was born on April 18, 1810, in Halifax County, North Carolina. In 1823 he moved, with his widowed mother and other members of her family, to Texas. With his brother, Sam W., and his brother-in-law James Whitis Bulloch, Horton crossed the Sabine River into Texas on January 1, 1824. The three built a cabin on the Attoyac River, where Horton, aged thirteen, was left in charge, while the other two returned to Louisiana for the remainder of the family. In 1827 Horton participated in putting down the Fredonian Rebellion, and on August 2, 1832, under Bulloch, he fought in the battle of Nacogdoches against José de las Piedras. From 1831 to 1833 he served as sheriff of Ayish Bayou and in 1835 represented Ayish Bayou (or San Augustine) in the Consultation. When Sam Houston was appointed commander-in-chief of the Texas army in 1836, Horton was named his aide-de-camp and fought as such in the battle of San Jacinto. He was chairman of the board of land commissioners in 1838 and collector of customs of San Augustine in 1838-39. Horton was again sheriff of San Augustine in 1844 and played an active part in arresting the leaders of the Regulator-Moderator War. After 1844 he was mayor of San Augustine for several years. His last public office was as representative of San Augustine and Sabine counties in the Fifteenth Legislature.
Alexander was known to friends and family as "Sandy". He married Elizabeth Cooper at San Augustine on 23 Jan 1837 and their children were Sam H., Eliza and Mary Jane Horton. After Elizabeth's death he married Mary Elizabeth Harrell at San Augustine on 30 Dec 1847 and their children were Wade W., Elizabeth J., Susan P., Lavena C., Emily L., Alexandra E. and Mary Z. Horton. Alexander Horton had three brothers: Sam W., William Wade and Henry Purnell Horton, and four sisters: Nancy (mrd Jas W. Bulloch), Elizabeth (mrd Mr. Holland), Martha (mrd Ruben D. Wood), and Susan (mrd Sam W. Rainer).
In 1849 when Alexander's brother Wm Wade Horton died, Alexander buried him on his San Augustine County farm (about 1.5 miles north of the city of San Augustine) and thereby began what is known today as the "Alexander Horton Cemetery". Alexander Horton died on January 11, 1894, and was also buried in the Horton family Cemetery on his farm just north of San Augustine. Today a Texas Historical Marker (TX7618) designates this as a historical cemetery.
(Re: Information includes some excerpts from "The Handbook of Texas Online".)
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