Pendleton Murrah (January 1, 1824August 4, 1865) was the tenth governor of Texas from 1863 to 1865. He came to office in the middle of the American Civil War and fled to Mexico during the war's final stages, dying there in August 1865.
Early life and career
Murrah's birth date and birth location vary from source to source. Some have him born in 1824; others give his birth year as 1826. According to his 1850 and 1860 entries in the U.S. Census, Murrah was a native of Alabama. His birthplace is sometimes listed as South Carolina, but more recent sources indicate he was born in Bibb County and was the illegitimate son of Peggy Murrah, a daughter of Charles and Avarilla Jones Murrah. He was raised and educated in a Baptist orphanage, and graduated from Brown University in 1848. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in Alabama, before moving to Texas in 1850, opening a law practice in Marshall.
Despite running as a pro-administration candidate, as governor Murrah frequently clashed with the Confederate military authorities, having disagreements over the impressment of slaves for military construction, the eligibility of men serving in the Texas militia for conscription, and the mandatory sale of Texas-grown cotton to the Confederate military for export.
Murrah's health had always been poor, and the journey to Mexico proved too much for him.