Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas Page: 447 of 894
762 p., [172] leaves of plates : ill., ports. ; 30 cm.View a full description of this book.
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INDDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
371
studied law, secured admission to the bar and, in
copartnership with his brother, Judge Dudley S.
Jennings, practiced at Paris about two years. The
partnership was then dissolved and he went to
Huntington, Tenn., where he formed a connection
with Berry Gillespie. In 1836 he went to Yazoo
City, Miss., and there enjoyed a large and lucrative
practice until the spring of 1840, at which
time he moved to San Augustine, Texas, and later,
in the fall of that year, to Nacogdoches.
In January, 1844, he married at the latter place,
Mrs. Sarah G. Mason, the only daughter of Maj.
Hyde, a prominent citizen in Nacogdoches and
formerly a leading merchant of Jackson, Tenn.
While residing in Nacogdoches he was in partnership,
successively, with J. M. Ardrey and Judge
W. R. Ochiltree.
In 1852 he was elected Attorney-General of Texas
and, on the expiration of his term in 1852, was reelected
and held the position until 1856, when he
declined a further re-election to the office, his large
private interests and law practice requiring his undivided
attention. On retiring from the attorneygeneralship
he moved to his plantation near Alto,
in Cherokee County.
In 1857 he was elected to the Legislature from
that county and in 1861 to the Convention that
passed the ordinance of secession. In the fall of
1861 he suffered a stroke of paralysis which confined
him to his bed for eighteen months and from
the effects of which he never afterward recovered.
In the fall of 1864 he moved to Tyler, where he
formed a law partnership with Col. B. T. Selman.
In 1868, having retired from this copartnership, he
and his son, Hon. Tom R. Jennings, formed a copartnership
which continued for a number of years.
Gen. Jennings remained in the practice of his
profession until 1875, when, owing to his advanced
years and failing health, he retired from active pursuits,
after being in harness as a practitioner at
the bar for half a century. At different times
he was a copartner of George F. Moore, late
Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court; Stockton
T. Donley and Ruben H. Reeves, late Associate
Justices of that tribunal. In 1877 he moved to
Fort Worth, Texas, where he died, after a long and
painful illness, September 23, 1881. He was a
member of the Masonic and I. 0. O. F. fraternities.
He had three sons: Tom R., Monroe D., and Hyde
Jennings. Monroe died in 1868 at Alto, Cherokee
County, when nineteen years of age. Hyde is one
of the leading citizens of Fort Worth and, as a
lawyer, seems to have inherited the solid abilities
possessed by his distinguished father. As a practitioner,
he has for a number of years deservedly
ranked among the foremost in the State. Tom R.
is a lawyer at Nacogdoches and represented Nacogdoches
County in the Twenty-fourth Legislature.
Gen. Jennings' widow survived him a number
of years, dying April 6th, 1873, in Fort Worth, at
the home of her son, Mr. Hyde Jennings, of which
she had been an honored and beloved inmate since
her husband's death. She was one of the sweetest
and most lovable ladies that the old regime could
boast.
Gen. Jennings possessed in a marked degree
those qualities of mind and heart that challenge
confidence and esteem. One trait of his character,
one worthy of all admiration, was the disinclination
that he manifested to think or speak evil of others.
Of this, the writer of this memoir had an example
in 1857. Gen. Jennings was then a member of
the Legislature and, upon being drawn out as to
his opinion of the leading men of the State, took
them up seriatim, dwelling upon the excellent
mental, moral and social qualities of each. Sentiments
of jealous rivalry never disturbed the calm
equipoise of his mind. Socially he was amiable and
generous to a fault. He mastered every question
he endeavored to discuss. His speeches were clear,
forcible and logical and, when he concluded, court
and jury were impressed with the conviction that he
had exhausted the subject, as viewed from his standpoint.
He was one of the brighest and ablest of
the able men of his day in Texas and one of the
purest and best as well.
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Brown, John Henry. Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas, book, 1880~; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth6725/m1/447/?rotate=270: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.