Richardson Scurry

Richardson A. Scurry (November 11, 1811 – April 9, 1862) was a Texas politician, jurist, and a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives. He served one term in Congress representing Texas during a significant period in American history, participating in the legislative process and representing the interests of his constituents as a member of the Democratic Party.

Scurry was born in Gallatin, Sumner County, Tennessee, on November 11, 1811, the eldest of five children of Thomas J. Scurry and Catherine (Bledsoe) Scurry. He received his early education from private tutors and then read law under a relative, Judge Josephus Conn Guild. In 1830 he was admitted to the bar and began the practice of law in Covington, Tennessee. His early legal career in Tennessee provided the professional foundation for his later prominence in the Republic of Texas and the state of Texas.

In early 1836, Scurry moved to Texas and promptly joined the army of the Republic of Texas during the Texas Revolution. He served as first sergeant in the company commanded by Isaac N. Moreland and took part in the Battle of San Jacinto, the decisive engagement that secured Texas independence from Mexico. He was later commissioned a first lieutenant and continued in military service until his resignation on October 4, 1836. After leaving the army, he settled in Clarksville, Texas, where he established a successful law practice and became active in the political and legal affairs of the young republic.

With the organization of the new government of the Republic of Texas following independence, Scurry was chosen to serve as secretary of the senate during the 1st Texas Congress, which met from October 2 to December 22, 1836. In December 1836, President Sam Houston appointed him district attorney of the First Judicial District. His judicial career advanced further when, in January 1840, the Texas Congress elected him judge of the Sixth Judicial District, a position that also made him an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Texas. He served on the bench until February 1841, when he resigned to become district attorney of the Fifth Judicial District. During this period he practiced law in San Augustine, Texas, in partnership with his brother William Read Scurry, as well as with Thomas Jefferson Rusk and James Pinckney Henderson. While residing in San Augustine, he also served in a militia company commanded by Rusk that participated in the Texas–Indian wars, further linking his career to the defense and consolidation of the republic.

Scurry entered elective office in the Republic of Texas legislature as a member of the Texas House of Representatives during the 7th and 8th Congresses, serving from 1842 to 1844. During the 8th Congress he was chosen Speaker of the House, reflecting his growing influence in Texas politics. After Texas was admitted to the Union in 1845, he continued his political career in the state’s Democratic Party. In 1851, he was elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives in a special election to fill the vacancy caused by the death of David S. Kaufman. Scurry served in the 32nd Congress from August 4, 1851, to March 3, 1853. His single term in Congress occurred during a formative period in the antebellum United States, and he took part in the national legislative process on behalf of Texas. He did not seek reelection to a full term and, upon leaving Congress, resumed the practice of law near Hempstead, Texas.

In his personal life, Scurry married Evantha Foster of what is now Waller County, Texas, in 1843. The couple had nine children, four of whom survived to adulthood. Among their children was Thomas Scurry (1859–1911), who later served as adjutant general of the Texas National Guard, extending the family’s tradition of public and military service. Scurry’s siblings included William Read Scurry (1821–1864), who became a general in the Confederate army, further underscoring the family’s prominence in Texas and Confederate affairs.

Scurry’s later years were marked by declining health resulting from a serious accident. In August 1854, while hunting, he accidentally shot himself in the foot. A physician partially amputated the injured foot, but the wound left him largely an invalid and he suffered complications for the remainder of his life. Despite his disability, Scurry supported the Confederacy during the American Civil War. In 1861 he was commissioned a colonel in the Confederate States Army and ordered to raise a regiment, but his physical limitations prevented him from fulfilling this command. Instead, he appealed to his friend General Albert Sidney Johnston, commander of the Confederate Western Department, who appointed him as an adjutant on his staff.

Hoping to regain sufficient mobility to serve actively under Johnston, Scurry underwent surgery in 1862 to amputate his leg more completely, intending to use crutches thereafter. He did not recover from the operation and died from surgical complications at his home near Hempstead, Texas. The existing record places his death on April 9, 1862, and he was interred in Hempstead Cemetery in Hempstead, Texas.