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Thomas Rusk

Thomas Jefferson Rusk
ThomasJeffersonRusk.jpg
President pro tempore of the
United States Senate
In office
March 14, 1857 – July 29, 1857
Preceded by James M. Mason
Succeeded by Benjamin Fitzpatrick
United States Senator
from Texas
In office
February 21, 1846 – July 29, 1857
Preceded by (none)
Succeeded by James P. Henderson
Member of the Republic of Texas House of Representatives from Nacogdoches County
In office
1837–1838
Preceded by John Kirby Allen
Succeeded by David S. Kaufman
1st Texas Secretary of War
In office
March 17, 1836 – November 13, 1837
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by William S. Fisher
Personal details
Born (1803-12-05)December 5, 1803
Pendleton, South Carolina, US
Died July 29, 1857(1857-07-29) (aged 53)
Nacogdoches, Texas, US
Spouse(s) Mary Frances "Polly" Cleveland Rusk
Profession Politician, Lawyer, Judge

Thomas Jefferson Rusk (December 5, 1803 – July 29, 1857) was an early political and military leader of the Republic of Texas, serving as its first Secretary of War as well as a general at the Battle of San Jacinto. He was later a US politician and served as a Senator from Texas from 1846 until his suicide. He served as the President pro tempore of the United States Senate in 1857.

Rusk was born in Pendleton, South Carolina, to John Rusk, a stonemason, and Mary Sterritt Rusk. After being admitted to the bar in 1825, Rusk began his law practice in Clarkesville, Georgia. In 1827, he married Mary F. (Polly) Cleveland, the daughter of general John Cleveland. Rusk became a business partner of his father-in-law after the marriage. He lived in the gold region of Georgia and made sizable mining investments. In 1834, however, the managers of the company in which he had invested embezzled all the funds and fled to Mexican Texas. Rusk pursued them to Nacogdoches, but never recovered the money.

Rusk decided to stay in Texas and became a citizen of Mexico in 1835, applied for a headright in David G. Burnet's colony, and sent for his family. After hearing Nacogdoches citizens denounce the despotism of Mexico, Rusk became involved in the independence movement. He organized volunteers from Nacogdoches and hastened to Gonzales, where his men joined Stephen F. Austin's army in preventing the Mexicans from seizing their cannon. They proceeded to San Antonio, but Rusk left the army before the Siege of Bexar.


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