Branch T. Archer

{{Short description|Texian diplomat and politician}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Branch T. Archer | image = Branch Tanner Archer.jpg | order = 5th Texas Secretary of War | president = Mirabeau B. Lamar | order2 = 2nd Speaker of the House (Republic of Texas) | order3 = Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the Powhatan County district | predecessor = Albert Sidney Johnson | predecessor2 = Ira Ingram | predecessor3 = Colin Clarke | successor = George Washington Hockley | successor2 = Joseph Rowe | successor3 = Henry W. Watkins | term_start = February 1840 | term_end = December 13, 1841 | term_start2 = 1837 | term_end2 = 1838 | term_start3 = 1819 | term_end3 = 1820 }}

'''Branch Tanner Archer''' (December 13, 1790 – September 22, 1856) was a Texan who served as Commissioner to the United States and Speaker of the House of the Republic of Texas House of Representatives and Secretary of War of the Republic of Texas.

==Early life== Archer was born in Fauquier County, Virginia on December 13, 1790, to Major Peter Field Archer and Frances Tanner.<ref name="Handbook of Texas">{{cite web |last=Minor|first=David |title=Branch Tanner Archer| work =Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association| url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/far02}}</ref> He attended the College of William and Mary and received his medical degree in 1808 from the University of Pennsylvania.<ref name="Lone Star Junction">{{cite web |title=Branch Tanner Archer| work=Lone Star Junction| date=4 December 2020|publisher=Lyman Hardeman| url=http://www.lsjunction.com/people/archer.htm}}</ref> Archer married Eloisa Clarke on January 20, 1813; their union produced six children. Archer practiced medicine and was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates representing Powhatan County from 1819 to 1820. Archer was elected as a presidential elector in the 1820 United States presidential election, casting his vote for Virginia's native son, James Monroe (Democratic-Republican).<ref name="Handbook of Texas"/> On May 13, 1828, Archer killed his cousin, Dr. James Ottway Crump, in a duel fought with pistols near Scottsville, Virginia, in Powhatan County.

==In service to Texas== Archer arrived in Texas about 1831, residing in Brazoria County. Archer was an active Mason and helped organize a Masonic Lodge in Brazoria. He was also an outspoken advocate of Texas' independence from Mexico and was elected to represent Brazoria at the Convention of 1833.<ref name="Handbook of Texas"/> In October 1835, Archer fought at the Battle of Gonzales which ended in a Mexican withdrawal. The next month he was elected Chairman of the Consultation of 1835, meeting in San Felipe de Austin which formed a provisional government for Texas. Although Archer was a hard-liner in favor of independence, he acceded to the will of the majority which voted to support a return to the Mexican Constitution of 1824.<ref name="Handbook of Texas"/>

The Consultation subsequently elected Archer, along with Stephen F. Austin and William H. Wharton to serve as Commissioners of Texas in the United States. Their purpose was to raise funds, recruit troops and gain support among Americans for the cause of Texas.<ref name="Lone Star Junction"/> The trio sailed from Galveston to New Orleans in late December 1835 and moved up the Mississippi River over the next several weeks making speeches to crowds before moving east to Washington, D.C.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Boyd|first1=Bob|title=The Texas Revolution: A Day-by-Day Account|date=1986|publisher=San Angelo Standard, Inc.|isbn=9996165280|pages=54, 62, 85}}</ref> While the Commissioners were in Washington, on March 2, 1836, Texas declared its independence from Mexico. The United States refused to recognize the nascent republic at that point.

Archer returned to Texas and was elected to the Texas House of Representatives representing Brazoria. He also supported the election of his former colleague Austin to be President of Texas.<ref name="Handbook of Texas"/> In 1837, during the Second Session of the First Congress, Archer was elected Speaker of the Texas House.<ref name="Handbook of Texas"/>

While in Congress, Archer joined James Collinsworth in sponsoring legislation to set up the Texas Railroad, Navigation, and Banking Company.<ref name="Lone Star Junction"/> Even though President Houston supported the establishment of the company, it later failed primarily due to its banking provisions and because of public opposition led by President Anson Jones.

In 1838–1839, Archer achieved the position of Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Texas.<ref name="Lone Star Junction"/>

During the administration of President Mirabeau B. Lamar, Archer was chosen to serve as Secretary of War from February 1840 until December 13, 1841.<ref name="Handbook of Texas"/>

==Final years== Archer remained politically active throughout his life. He died on September 22, 1856, at Brazoria and was buried at William H. Wharton's Eagle Island Plantation on Oyster Creek in Brazoria County.<ref name="Handbook of Texas"/> Archer City and Archer County, Texas, the brig ''Archer'' of the Second Texas Navy were all named in his honor.

==References== {{Reflist|2}}

== External links == * {{cite BDA1906 |wstitle= Archer, Branch T. |volume= 1 |page= 134 |short=}}

{{s-start}} {{s-dip}} {{succession box | title=Texas Commissioner to the United States | before=post created | after=William H. Wharton | years=1835 – 1836 served alongside Stephen F. Austin and William H. Wharton }} {{s-off}} {{succession box | title=Member of the Virginia House of Delegates representing Powhatan County | before=Colin Clarke | after=Henry W. Watkins | years=1819–1820

}} {{succession box | title=Speaker of the Republic of Texas House of Representatives | before=Ira Ingram | after=Joseph Rowe | years=1837 }} {{succession box | title=Secretary of War of the Republic of Texas | before=Albert Sidney Johnston | after=George Washington Hockley | years=February 1840 – December 13, 1841 }} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Archer, Branch T.}} Category:1790 births Category:1856 deaths Category:1st Congress of the Republic of Texas Category:19th-century American medical doctors Category:American duellists Category:College of William & Mary alumni Category:Diplomats of the Republic of Texas Category:Members of the Texas House of Representatives Category:Members of the Virginia House of Delegates Category:People from Brazoria County, Texas Category:People from Fauquier County, Virginia Category:People from Coahuila y Tejas Category:People of the Texas Revolution Category:Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni Category:Republic of Texas politicians Category:Speakers of the Republic of Texas House of Representatives Category:Speakers of the Texas House of Representatives Category:Texas Consultation delegates Category:19th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly