Anson Jones

(January 20, 1798 - January 9, 1858) Anson Jones was born in great Barrington, Massachusetts. He earned his M.D. degree in Philadelphia in 1827; by October 1833, Jones had moved to Texas, establishing a successful medical practice in Brazoria. In 1835, he helped organize Holland Lodge No. 36, the first Masonic Lodge in Texas. In 1836, Jones joined in Texas' war for independence and served as Judge Advocate and surgeon of the Second Regiment. He fought as a private in the Battle of San Jacinto. After the war, Jones returned to his medical practice and in 1837 was elected to the House of Representatives. That year, he was also elected as the first Grand Master of Masons in Texas and was among the noted charter members who organized the Philosophical Society of Texas. In 1838, Sam Houston appointed Jones as Minister Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Texas. In this position, he began to stimulate American support for annexation by strengthening Texas' ties with Great Britain and France, playing at U.S. insecurities. Jones married Mary Smith McCrory in 1840; she was later elected the first president of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. In 1841, President Houston appointed Jones as Secretary of State, where he further encouraged annexation. In 1844, Jones was elected president of the Republic of Texas; he became the country's last president when the U.S. annexed Texas on December 29, 1845. At a formal ceremony in Austin on February 19, 1846, Jones lowered the Lone Star flag and declared, "the Republic of Texas is no more." He retired to Barrington, his plantation near what is now Washington-on-the-Brazos, where he spent much of his time writing. Today, Anson Jones is remembered for his multitude of accomplishments, including those that earned him the nickname, "the architect of annexation." (2009)