The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 94, July 1990 - April, 1991 Page: 11
692 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Sam Houston and Eliza Allen
acrid than the governor's race, more poignant, and with far greater
bearing on his political future."
The most elaborate chronicle of Houston's private life at this time
must be viewed with some skepticism, having been diffused through
the memory of a single individual, Balie Peyton, for forty-nine years
before he revealed it to his daughter, who apparently waited over a de-
cade before recording it. Yet, it is the most detailed account of the deso-
late marriage available, and originated from a reliable contemporary
who knew both people.2 At the time of the interview with Eliza, Peyton
was twenty-six years old, and "her sincere friend, though never a
lover." His daughter Emily claims in her written account that before
Peyton's death in 1878 he described a conversation he had with Eliza
soon after she had separated from Houston, in which Eliza admitted
that she married Houston by her own choice but left him for good rea-
sons.24 Emily quotes her father Balie on Eliza's manner: "modest, sen-
sible, and with a rare dignity of carriage. No one could presume to take
a liberty with her." But Houston did presume. Eliza had told Balie
Peyton that her husband was "'insanely jealous and suspicious'" to the
point of locking her in her room and absconding with the key. Further,
the governor believed in ghosts and was "'averse to being alone at
night."' In short, he was "demented.... he evinced no confidence in
my [Eliza's] integrity, and had no respect for my intelligence, or trust in
my descretion.'" "
22 William White, "To'lb the Public," National Banner and Nashville Whig, Aug. 25, 1827.
21Louise Davis, "New Light on the Mystery of Sam Houston," Nashville Tennessean, 3 pts.,
Aug. 5, '2, and ig, 1962. The account was stored in an attic, where it was discovered more than
half a century after it was written. Balie Peyton later served in Congress and as minister to
Chile. His daughter Emily, who recorded his recollections of Sam and Eliza, was his secretary in
Chile Peyton remained in contact with both Sam and Eliza after the separation and is listed as
one of three who testified to the validity of the will belonging to El7a's second husband, Elmore
Douglass, dated in 1862 The Peyton family made a name in Texas as well as T'lennessee; Balle's
sister, Angelina Bell Peyton Eberly, fired the canon in the Texas archives war of 1842 (Walter
Prescott Webb, H. Bailey Carroll, and Eldon Stephen Branda [eds.], Handbook of Texas [3 vols.;
Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1952, 1976], I, 540). For more on Balie Peyton and
the Peyton family, consult Jay Guy Cisco, l historic Sumner County, Tennessee, with Genealogies of the
Bledsoe, Cage, and Douglass Famzlies (Nashville, 'Tenn.: Folk Keelhn Printing Co., 19o9), 288- 291.
See also Clayton, History of Davidson County, Tennessee, 199, and Guild, Old Tmes in Tennessee,
81-9o.
21Davis, Nashville Tennessean, Aug 19, 1962. In accordance with Emily Peyton's account is
Eliza's great-niece Eleanor Allen Sullivan, who stated in 1962 that Eliza entered the marriage
"freely and hopefully," and that the tale of family coercion is "absurd" (Wlsehart, Sam lou.ston-
American Giant, 653). Eliza's relative M. B. H agrees, calling John and Laetitia Allen "unam-
bitious," but adding, "To be sure, the match was considered good, and they told their daughter
so ..." (New Orleans Repubhlican, Sept 14, 1871).
T'l'hese were strong words for a southern woman im 1829 Though the feminist thinking
Eliza expresses here had been voiced by early feminists, one has to wonder if her statement was
perhaps fortified by Emily Peyton, who went on to write, "Where is the woman .. who would
as a bride consent to be locked up by an exasperating Bluebeard ." (Davis, Nashville Tennes-
sean, Aug. 19, 1962).
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 94, July 1990 - April, 1991, periodical, 1991; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101214/m1/35/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.