Samuel Price Carson

Who was Samuel Price Carson?

Samuel Price Carson was an American political leader and farmer in both North Carolina and Texas. He served as Congressional Representative from North Carolina. He was born in Pleasant Gardens, North Carolina, and studied under private tutors in Pleasant Gardens; engaged in agricultural pursuits; member of the State senate 1822-1824; elected as a Jacksonian to the Nineteenth and to the three succeeding Congresses; unsuccessful candidate in 1833 for reelection to the Twenty-third Congress; again elected to the State senate in 1834; delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1835.

By 1836 he had moved to Texas, and was elected by his neighbors to the Convention of 1836 where he signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the Republic of Texas. The convention also established an interim or acting government for the Republic, which was still at war in rebellion against Mexico. They considered him for president, but elected David G. Burnet instead, by six votes more than Carson received. In a later vote they elected Carson the Secretary of State. President Burnet sent him to Washington, D.C. to lead a team to negotiate for recognition of and aid for Texas, then later named James Collinsworth to replace him as Secretary of State. When Carson learned of this from a newspaper he simply went home.