Marker Inscription
On May 23, 1857, during his first Texas gubernatorial race, Sam Houston came to Marshall, the hometown of two of his most outspoken critics, Robert Loughery and Louis T. Wigfall, for a much anticipated debate against his opponent Hardin Runnels. Here under an oak tree, in an overwhelmingly secessionist area, the Unionist Houston spoke so eloquently that Runnels, who was scheduled to follow, declined to speak. Though he lost the election, Houston's stirring oratory brought him forty-eight percent of the Harrison County vote.
About this site
Sam Houston's 1857 Campaign in Marshall is a historical marker in Marshall, Harrison County, dedicated in 1964. It is one of 103 historical markers documented in Harrison County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 270 historic sites cataloged across the county.
The site sits at 32.5477, -94.3690 near Marshall. The nearest cataloged historic site is Marshall Masonic Female Institute (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Pickens, Lucy H., Temple Moses Montefiore, and First Presbyterian Church.
This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5203010174. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
