Richard Bache Jr. (Texas politician)
Encyclopedia
Richard Bache, Jr. was a Representative to the Second Texas Legislature
in 1847 and assisted in drawing up the Texas Constitution of 1845
, the first of Texas' five state constitutions.
, Sr. a marine insurance underwriter and importer in Philadelphia. Bache, Sr. had also served as United States Postmaster General
from 1776 to 1782.
His mother was Sarah Franklin Bache
(September 11, 1743 – October 5, 1808), who was the daughter of Benjamin Franklin
, one of the Founding Fathers
of the United States of America
, and his wife by common law marriage to Deborah Read
.
an American statesman who served as the U.S. Treasury Secretary under President James Madison
. Richard and Sophia were the parents of nine children.
His brother was Benjamin Franklin Bache
His nephew was Andrew A. Harwood
. He also served in the United States Navy and as Philadelphia postmaster. When he moved to Texas from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1832, he abandoned his family, possibly for financial reasons, and settled in Stephen F. Austin
’s colony at Brazoria. He served on the Zavala
in the Texas Navy
and on May 1, 1836, he was mustered into the Louisiana Independent Volunteers, commanded by J. J. Robinson, and while in service he briefly guarded Antonio López de Santa Anna
after the Battle of San Jacinto
.
In 1838-39 he served as chief clerk in the Navy Department at Houston and was enrolling clerk of the House of Representatives in the Third Congress of the republic. In 1842 he settled in Galveston, where he held a number of government posts of trust and responsibility. He became commissioner of the navy yard, elected to the office of collector of customs, and was a justice of the peace for Galveston County when he was elected a delegate to the 1845 Texas Annexation
Convention. He was the only elected official to vote against annexation, allegedly because he did not wish to enlarge the domain of his brother-in-law, George M. Dallas
, the vice-president of the United States; nevertheless, he helped draw up the Constitution of 1845. He was elected twice, to the First and Second Texas Legislatures, representing Galveston in the Texas Senate, District 11
.
, on March 17, 1848, and is buried at the national historic Oakwood Cemetery located in central Austin.
Second Texas Legislature
The Second Texas Legislature met from 13 December 1847 to 20 March 1848 in regular session. All members of the House of Representatives and about half of the members of the Senate were elected in 1847.-Senate:...
in 1847 and assisted in drawing up the Texas Constitution of 1845
Texas Constitution
The Constitution of the State of Texas is the document that describes the structure and function of the government of the U.S. State of Texas.Texas has had seven constitutions: the constitution of Coahuila y Tejas, the 1836 Constitution of the Republic of Texas, the state constitutions of 1845,...
, the first of Texas' five state constitutions.
Early life and ancestors
Richard Bache, Jr. was born on March 11, 1784 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Richard BacheRichard Bache
Richard Bache , born in Yorkshire, England, was the son-in-law of Benjamin Franklin. After arriving in Philadelphia from Yorkshire, England, in 1761, Bache prospered as a marine insurance underwriter and importer. In 1767, misfortune struck; debts contracted by him were repudiated by his London...
, Sr. a marine insurance underwriter and importer in Philadelphia. Bache, Sr. had also served as United States Postmaster General
United States Postmaster General
The United States Postmaster General is the Chief Executive Officer of the United States Postal Service. The office, in one form or another, is older than both the United States Constitution and the United States Declaration of Independence...
from 1776 to 1782.
His mother was Sarah Franklin Bache
Sarah Franklin Bache
Sarah Franklin “Sally” Bache was the daughter of Benjamin Franklin and Deborah Read.Known as "Sally" throughout her life, she was an ardent American patriot during the Revolutionary War through relief work and as her father's political hostess...
(September 11, 1743 – October 5, 1808), who was the daughter of Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
, one of the Founding Fathers
Founding Fathers of the United States
The Founding Fathers of the United States of America were political leaders and statesmen who participated in the American Revolution by signing the United States Declaration of Independence, taking part in the American Revolutionary War, establishing the United States Constitution, or by some...
of the United States of America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and his wife by common law marriage to Deborah Read
Deborah Read
Deborah Read Franklin was the spouse of Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, and a prominent inventor, printer, thinker, and revolutionary.-Life Before Second Marriage:...
.
Marriage and family
He married on April 4, 1805, Sophia Burrell Dallas, the daughter of Arabella Maria Smith and Alexander J. DallasAlexander J. Dallas (statesman)
Alexander James Dallas was an American statesman who served as the U.S. Treasury Secretary under President James Madison....
an American statesman who served as the U.S. Treasury Secretary under President James Madison
James Madison
James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
. Richard and Sophia were the parents of nine children.
- Alexander Dallas BacheAlexander Dallas BacheAlexander Dallas Bache was an American physicist, scientist and surveyor who erected coastal fortifications and conducted a detailed survey mapping of the United States coastline.-Biography:...
(1806–1867) - Mary Blechenden Bach (1808–1873), married Robert John Walker, Secretary of the Treasury under President James Knox Polk.
- George Mifflin Bache (1811–1846), whose son was George Mifflin Bache, Jr.George M. BacheGeorge Mifflin Bache was an officer in the United States Navy, fighting on the Union side in the American Civil War and continuing to serve for a decade after the war's end.-Early life and ancestors:...
- Richard Bache III (1813–1850)
- Sophia Arabella Bache (1815–1904), who married William Wallace IrwinWilliam W. IrwinWilliam Wallace Irwin was Mayor of Pittsburgh and a Whig member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.-Early life:...
, Mayor of Pittsburgh and a WhigWhig Party (United States)The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...
member of the U.S. House of Representatives from PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. - Matilda Wilkins Bache (1819–1900), who married General William H. EmoryWilliam H. EmoryWilliam Hemsley Emory was an United States Army officer and surveyor of Texas.-Early life and career:...
, a United States Army officer and surveyor of Texas. - Henrietta Constantia Bache (1822–1887)
- Sarah Franklin Bache (1824–1880), who married Richard Wainwright
- Maria Campbell Bache (1827–1851)
His brother was Benjamin Franklin Bache
Benjamin Franklin Bache (Journalist)
Benjamin Franklin Bache , son of Richard and Sarah Bache and the grandson of Benjamin Franklin, was an American journalist. He headed the openly Jeffersonian publication, the Philadelphia Aurora, which is notable for being some of the impulse behind the Alien and Sedition Acts...
His nephew was Andrew A. Harwood
Andrew A. Harwood
Andrew Allen Harwood, was an Admiral in the United States Navy-Biography:Andrew Allen Harwood was born on 9 October 1802 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He was the son of John Edmund Harwood and Elizabeth Franklin Bache...
Career
He served as a captain of the Franklin Flying Artillery of the Philadelphia Volunteers in the War of 1812War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. He also served in the United States Navy and as Philadelphia postmaster. When he moved to Texas from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1832, he abandoned his family, possibly for financial reasons, and settled in Stephen F. Austin
Stephen F. Austin
Stephen Fuller Austin was born in Virginia and raised in southeastern Missouri. He was known as the Father of Texas, led the second, but first legal and ultimately successful colonization of the region by bringing 300 families from the United States. The capital of Texas, Austin in Travis County,...
’s colony at Brazoria. He served on the Zavala
Texan schooner Zavala
The Texan steamship Zavala was a Texas Navy ship in Texas' second Navy after the Texas Revolution. She was the first steamship-of-war in the Texas Navy.-Background of the Texas Navy:...
in the Texas Navy
Texas Navy
The Texas Navy was the official navy of the Republic of Texas. Two Texas Navies were naval fighting forces. There is a “Third and Honorary” Texas Navy, in which officers are commissioned by the Governor of Texas as Admirals, Commanders and Lieutenants....
and on May 1, 1836, he was mustered into the Louisiana Independent Volunteers, commanded by J. J. Robinson, and while in service he briefly guarded Antonio López de Santa Anna
Antonio López de Santa Anna
Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón , often known as Santa Anna or López de Santa Anna, known as "the Napoleon of the West," was a Mexican political leader, general, and president who greatly influenced early Mexican and Spanish politics and government...
after the Battle of San Jacinto
Battle of San Jacinto
The Battle of San Jacinto, fought on April 21, 1836, in present-day Harris County, Texas, was the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. Led by General Sam Houston, the Texian Army engaged and defeated General Antonio López de Santa Anna's Mexican forces in a fight that lasted just eighteen...
.
In 1838-39 he served as chief clerk in the Navy Department at Houston and was enrolling clerk of the House of Representatives in the Third Congress of the republic. In 1842 he settled in Galveston, where he held a number of government posts of trust and responsibility. He became commissioner of the navy yard, elected to the office of collector of customs, and was a justice of the peace for Galveston County when he was elected a delegate to the 1845 Texas Annexation
Texas Annexation
In 1845, United States of America annexed the Republic of Texas and admitted it to the Union as the 28th state. The U.S. thus inherited Texas's border dispute with Mexico; this quickly led to the Mexican-American War, during which the U.S. captured additional territory , extending the nation's...
Convention. He was the only elected official to vote against annexation, allegedly because he did not wish to enlarge the domain of his brother-in-law, George M. Dallas
George M. Dallas
George Mifflin Dallas was a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania and the 11th Vice President of the United States , serving under James K. Polk.-Family and early life:...
, the vice-president of the United States; nevertheless, he helped draw up the Constitution of 1845. He was elected twice, to the First and Second Texas Legislatures, representing Galveston in the Texas Senate, District 11
Texas Senate, District 11
District 11 of the Texas Senate is a senatorial district that currently serves portions of Brazoria, Galveston and Harris counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The current Senator from District 11 is Mike Jackson.-2004:-2002:-1998:...
.
Death
He died in Austin, TexasAustin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, on March 17, 1848, and is buried at the national historic Oakwood Cemetery located in central Austin.