Pendleton Murrah (1824–1865) was a governor of Texas during the American Civil War. A native of South Carolina, Murrah graduated from Brown University in 1848. He moved to Texas and opened a law practice in Marshall. He ran and was defeated for the U.S. Congress before winning the state gubernatorial race in 1863. During the American Civil War, Murrah emphatically supported the Rebel cause, although he ended up in a controversy over the conscription of Texas militia troops into the Confederate army. Still, even after Robert E. Lee surrendered in 1865, he encouraged Texans to continue the revolution. Only when Union occupation forces were en route to Texas did Murrah flee with other Confederate leaders to Mexico. The trip was too much for his already fragile health, and in May 1865, he died in Monterrey, Mexico of tuberculosis. He is grave is located in the Panteon Municipal of Monterrey,Mexico. It is said that Murrah's nephew, a young Confederate officer, committed suicide in the Texas Governor's Mansion circa April 1865, and that his ghost inhabits the northwest bedroom to this day.
External links
- Pendleton Murrah from the Handbook of Texas Online
- Entry about Pendleton Murrahfrom the Biographical Encyclopedia of Texas published 1880, hosted by the Portal to Texas History.
| Preceded by Francis Lubbock |
Governor of Texas 1863–1865 |
Succeeded by Andrew J. Hamilton |
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| J. P. Henderson • Wood • Bell • J. W. Henderson • Pease • Runnels • Houston • Clark • Lubbock • Murrah • Hamilton • Throckmorton • Pease • Davis • Coke • Hubbard • Roberts • Ireland • Ross • Hogg • Culberson • Sayers • Lanham • Campbell • Colquitt • J. Ferguson • Hobby • Neff • M. Ferguson • Moody • Sterling • M. Ferguson • Allred • O'Daniel • Stevenson • Jester • Shivers • Daniel • Connally • Smith • Briscoe • Clements • White • Clements • Richards • Bush • Perry |
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