Members of Confederate Congresses

Of the two Red River County names on the plaque, Simpson H. Morgan has the shorter story. Born in Tennessee in 1821, he practiced law in Clarksville. Voters of the sixth district elected him in November 1863 over the incumbent William B. Wright, who appears on the plaque as a Lamar County delegate. Morgan attended only the first session. In December 1864 he caught pneumonia on the road to the next one in Richmond and died at Monticello, Arkansas, on the fifteenth. He is buried in the family plot at Clarksville.

What the plaque says

Members of Confederate Congresses (Texas in the Civil War) During the 4 years, 4 months after secession, Texas sent 18 lawmakers to the Confederate capitols. Her delegates to the Provisional Congress, Feb. 1861 to Feb. 1862, were John R. Gregg, Freestone County; John Hemphill, Travis County; Wm. B. Ochiltree, Nacogdoches County; Williamson S. Oldham, Washington County; John H. Reagan, Anderson County; Thomas N. Waul, Gonzales County; and Louis T. Wigfall, Harrison County. Texans in the first Confederate States Congress, Feb. 1862-Feb. 1864, were B. H. Epperson of Red River County; M. D. Graham, Rusk County; Peter W. Gray, Harris County; Claiborne C. Herbert, Colorado County; Frank B. Sexton, San Augustine County; John A. Wilcox, Bexar County; and Wm. B. Wright, Lamar County. Oldham and Wigfall served as senators, 1862-1865. Herbert and Sexton were re-elected to the Second Confederate Congress, in 1864. Their colleagues were Gen. John R. Baylor, Parker County; Anthony M. Branch, Walker County; Stephen H. Darden, Gonzales County; and Simpson H. Morgan, Red River County. Several congressmen left the legislative branch of the government for the battlefield, two becoming generals. Others left for presidential assignments-- one, Reagan, to be postmaster-general in the cabinet. (1965)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lennox Woods Preserve — 10 mi
  A Nature Conservancy preserve of mature East Texas forest north of Clarksville, kept by the Lennox family for four generations, with a 1.5-mile loop under post oaks more than 300 years old.

More markers nearby

• Five Signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence from Red River County — steps away
• Stagecoach Stand, C. S. A. — steps away
• The Rev. William Stevenson — steps away
• The Northern Standard — steps away