Thomas Jefferson Rusk

Rusk was a soldier, attorney and politician and an early settler in Texas. He was born in South Carolina in 1803, studied law and opened a practice in Clarksville, Georgia. He went to work for his father-in-law’s gold mining business, and when his partners embezzled funds, Rusk chased them to Texas. He did not retrieve the funds but decided to move to Texas. He acquired a grant in David Burnet’s colony and joined the Texas independence movement, signing the Texas Declaration of Independence and being named the Secretary of War for the interim Texas government. He fought at the Battle of San Jacinto and briefly resumed duties as Secreatry of War before resigning. He served one term as a representative from Nacogdoches, then assumed command of the Nacogdoches militia and led campaigns against Kickapoo, Caddo, and Cherokee Indians in East Texas. Rusk supported President Lamar’s policies to remove all Indians from Texas and participated in the Battle of Neches that drove the last of the Cherokee out of Texas. After a brief stint as a Supreme Court justice, Rusk concentrated on his law practice and argued many famous cases in Texas, including defending ten men accused of murdering Secretary of the Navy Robert Potter. He also supported annexation, and after statehood, he was selected to represent Texas in the US Senate alongside Sam Houston. He served until 1857 when, despondent over the death of his wife a year earlier, he committed suicide. Rusk County and Rusk, Tex., were named in his honor.