Huntsville celebrated Sam Houstons birthday and Texas Independence Day on March 2.
The celebration started at the Gibbs-Powel Home Walker County Museum where attendees enjoyed coffee and breakfast. More than 50 people showed up for this part of the day and were talking throughout the home.
Several descendants of Houston were also present, including great great grandson, John Murray and Isabella and Lyla, Houstons great great great great grandchildren. Isabella and Lyla are cousins and just met for the first time at the Gibbs-Powel home. Isabella and Lyla are five and six.
Murrays great grandfather was Andrew Jackson Houston. Murray said that he was a character.
His grandmother was a pretty good size and she kept her coffin in the house… and he hid in it one time waiting on her to check on it, Murray said. She looked in it and there he was playing like he was dead.
The next event of the day was the march to Houstons grave. This was led by Erin Cassidy, sponsor of the Webb Historical Society.
Students, faculty and history lovers all showed up, despite the cold weather, to march to Houstons grave.
Ed Anderson came out from Houston to celebrate Texas Independence day and because of a new found interest in Sam Houston.
He was a very interesting man, Anderson said.
Anderson said there was a church in Liberty County that Houston attended. There is a pew that they took out that Houston had carved his and Margarets name into.
Once the group reached the grave there was a ceremony in Houstons honor.
The speaker for the ceremony was Dr. Howard Horton, who has portrayed Houston since 1998 in Salado Legends: An Outdoor Musical Drama. He performed a skit about Houstons reaction to Texas wanting to secede from the Union.
The audience laughed and cheered during Hortons skit.
The day ended with a Toast to Texas, and birthday cake. Horton returned to read the Toast to Texas as Houston.