Home of Last Texas Confederate Governor Pendleton Murrah

(Star and Wreath) (1824-1865) Born South Carolina. Successful lawyer and businessman in Marshall. Elected to Texas Legislature 1857. At start of Civil War, served as colonel 14th Texas Cavalry. Governor 1863-1865, the most trying years of Confederacy. Debt, need, dependents of soldiers, and Confederate demands for more men and supplies all plagued his tenure. Conditions at time are shown by fact that cake served at his inaugural state dinner was made of corn meal. Early in his term, the South was split in two by loss of Mississippi River. Texas became the main source of supply, food and arms for western half.