David G. Burnet - Later Life

Later Life

After losing the presidential election, Burnet returned to his farm. When Texas was annexed into the United States, Burnet served as the state's first Secretary of State under Governor James Pinckney Henderson. His feud with Houston continued, and in 1852 Burnet wrote a pamphlet titled "Review of the Life of General Sam Houston" which recounted many rumors and allegations of Houston's improper behavior. Houston retaliated in February 1859 by giving a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate that disparaged Burnet.

Burnet's health deteriorated so that he needed help with his farm work. He and his wife purchased an African American Slave and his sick wife for $1400. The man robbed them and ran away. Unable to make ends meet on their own, Burnet and his wife rented their 300 acres (1.2 km2) to another family in 1857, but continued to live in their house.

Hannah Burnet died on October 30, 1858. Their only surviving child, William Estey Burnet, took a leave of absence from his military service and helped Burnet move to Galveston, where he lived with an old friend, Sidney Sherman. Burnet opposed secession, and was saddened when his son joined the Confederate States Army, but later supported his efforts. Col. William Burnet was killed on March 31, 1865 at Spanish Fort, Alabama, leaving Burnet the only surviving member of his family.

In 1865, Sherman's wife died, and Burnet left his home to live with Preston Perry. The following year the first Reconstruction state legislature appointed Burnet and Oran Roberts to be senators from Texas. Neither man was able to take the Ironclad oath, so they were not permitted to take their Senate seats.

Burnet's last public service came in 1868, when he was appointed as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention which nominated Horatio Seymour for president. In his later years, Burnet suffered from senility, and before his death he carried a trunk of his private papers into an empty lot and burned them all. He died on December 5, 1870, aged 82, in Galveston. He was first buried in Magnolia Cemetery, but in 1894 his remains were moved to Galveston's Lakeview cemetery, where he was buried next to the grave of Sidney Sherman.

The county of Burnet was named in his honor when it was formed in 1852, as was the county seat. In 1936, the state of Texas erected a statue of Burnet in Clarksville.