William B. Ochiltree

William B. Ochiltree
Ochiltree in 1855
Deputy from Texas
to the Provisional Congress
of the Confederate States
In office
1861–1862
Preceded byNew constituency
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Associate justice of
the Supreme Court of the Republic of Texas
In office
January 3, 1842 – December 12, 1844
Preceded byGeorge Whitfield Terrell
Succeeded byRoyall T. Wheeler
Texas Secretary of Treasury
In office
December 1844 – ?
Preceded byGeorge Whitfield Terrell
Succeeded byJohn Alexander Greer
Adjutant General of the Republic of Texas
In office
1845
Texas Attorney General
In office
November 1845 – 1846
Preceded byEbenezer Allen
Succeeded byVolney Howard
Member of the Texas House of Representatives
from the 27th district
In office
November 5, 1855 – November 2, 1857
Serving with William Peck
Preceded byBeauford Warren Brown
David V. Muckleroy
Succeeded bySamuel Kirk
Harris Rhodes
Personal details
BornWilliam Beck Ochiltree
(1811-10-18)October 18, 1811
Fayetteville, North Carolina, US
DiedDecember 27, 1867(1867-12-27) (aged 56)
Jefferson, Texas, US
Resting placeOakwood Cemetery
PartyWhig
RelationsLord Ochiltree
Children9, including Thomas
OccupationPolitician, lawyer, judge, military officer
Military service
Allegiance Republic of Texas
Confederate States of America
Branch/serviceConfederate States Army
RankColonel
Unit18th Texas Infantry Regiment
Battles/wars

William Beck Ochiltree (October 18, 1811 – December 27, 1867) was an American politician, lawyer, judge, and military officer. A Whig, he held various Texas statewide offices.

Born in North Carolina, Ochiltree moved to the Republic of Texas in 1829 and practiced law. Throughout his career, he was a justice in the Supreme Court of the Republic of Texas, Secretary of Treasury, Adjutant General of Texas, and Texas Attorney General. He was a member of the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, resigning to fight in the American Civil War. He was the namesake of Ochiltree County.

Early life and early career

Ochiltree was born on October 18, 1811, near Fayetteville, North Carolina, the son of David Ochiltree and Kezia (or Kosiah; née Beck) Ochiltree.[1][2] Of Scottish ancestry,[3] he was descendent of the family Lord Ochiltree. He received a limited education.[4]

As a teenager, Ochiltree and his parents moved to the Florida Territory,[4] and in 1830, to Alabama.[2] In Alabama, he read law and began practicing.[5] In 1839 or 1840, he moved to Nacogdoches, Texas, where he practiced law.[1] He may have lived in Palestine for a time.[6]

Career

From January 3, 1842, to December 12, 1844, Ochiltree was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Texas,[2] representing the 5th judicial district. In December 1844, he was appointed Secretary of Treasury by President Anson Jones.[7] According to the Tarlton Law Library, of the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, he was Adjutant General of the Republic of Texas in 1845.[8]

Ochiltree opposed Texas annexation, being a delegate to the 1845 annexation convention, where he helped draft the Constitution of Texas.[5] In 1846 and 1847, he was first judge of Smith County,[9] having been appointed by Governor J. Pinckney Henderson.[4] He resigned to practice law privately.[5][10] He and James Smith donated the land on which the city of Henderson was built, with it being named Henderson by the their wish, in honor of Governor Henderson.[11]

After Texas joined the United States, Ochiltree joined the Whig Party.[1] From either early 1845 or November of the same year, to 1846, he was Texas Attorney General,[2][4] being the last of the Republic of Texas to hold the office.[12] In 1848, he was a Whig Party elector.[1] He unsuccessfully ran for the United States House of Representatives in 1851,[5] 1859, and 1866,[3] as well as the 1853 Texas gubernatorial election.[5] He was a delegate to the 1852 Whig National Convention.[1]

Ochiltree was a member of the Texas House of Representatives, from November 5, 1855, to November 2, 1857, representing the 27th district. While serving, he was a member of the Joint Committees on Judicial Districts; and on Land Titles West of Nueces River. He was chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary and on Slaves and Slavery, as well as a member of the Committees on Civil and Criminal Codes; on Constitutional Amendments; on Internal Improvements; and on Public Debt.[13]

On March 13, 1858, Ochiltree moved to Marshall,[14] where he joined the partnership Ochiltree, Jennings, & Wigfall.[15] He was made chairman of the Texas Democratic Convention held that same year.[16] A secessionist, he was a delegate to the 1861 constitutional convention, where he signed the state's declaration of secession. He was a signatory of the Provisional Constitution of Confederate States, later of the full Constitution.[4] He was appointed to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States,[1] serving from 1861 until his resignation in 1862.[17] While serving, he pushed for a port to be built in Sabine Pass, Port Arthur.[18]

On April 12, 1862, Ochiltree organized the 18th Texas Infantry Regiment[1] in Jefferson, with 98 men joining.[16] He was made the regiment's colonel.[1] A mild injury he sustained developed into illness, which led to his resignation in 1863.[19] However, the Jefferson Jimplecute claims he fought alongside in the Battle of Mansfield, which occurred in 1864.[2]

In 1863, Ochiltree was made district attorney of Marion County, as which he collected taxes to fund the war.[16] On October 6, 1865, he re-established his law practice,[20] operating between Jefferson[1] and Marshall.[21]

On October 4, 1866, during the Reconstruction era, a group of men in Jefferson entered the city's jailhouse and disarmed three guards, after which they killed a prisoner and two black men. Those accused of the crime were mainly prominent residents of Jefferson, Ochiltree being one of them. Those accused were arrested and charged with murder, though all but six men were acquirtted; it is unknown if Ochiltree was ever arrested.[16]

Personal life and legacy

In 1834, Ochiltree married Novaline Peck, with whom he had five children. She later died, and he married Mariah Louisa Smith, with whom he had at least four more children. She died, after which he married Atala T. Hotchkiss.[1] One of his children was politician Thomas P. Ochiltree.[5]

Ochiltree was Anglician[4] and a Freemason.[3] He was nicknamed "Buffalo Head", in reference to his large head; it was reported that he had hats specially made to fit his large head shape.[19]

Ochiltree died on December 27, 1867, aged 56, in Jefferson, from illness, and was buried at the Oakwood Cemetery, in Jefferson. In 1876, Ochiltree County was named for him,[1] as well as an unincorporared community of the same name.[5][22] In 1963, a commemorative plaque in Perryton was installed in his honor.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Blake, Robert Bruce; Campbell, Randolph B. "William Beck Ochiltree: Pioneer Settler, Judge, and Legislator". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2026-07-05.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Grand Lodge of Texas Honors the Late William B. Ochiltree". Jefferson Jimplecute. 1 June 1967. p. 1. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  3. 1 2 3 "The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Obrien-bodnar to Oconner". politicalgraveyard.com. Retrieved 2026-07-05.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. James T. White. 1921. pp. 192, 193.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ellis, J. Tuffly. "Ochiltree, William Beck | NCpedia". www.ncpedia.org. Retrieved 2026-07-05.
  6. ↑ Leonard, John W. (16 June 1929). "Uncle Willie's Column". The Beaumont Eagle. p. 28. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  7. ↑ "Biographical Encyclopedia of Texas". The Portal to Texas History. 1880. Archived from the original on 2024-09-03.
  8. ↑ "Ochiltree, William B." tarlton.contentdm.oclc.org. Retrieved 2026-07-05.
  9. ↑ "Some Interesting and Valuable Information". The Tyler Courier-Times. 23 September 1908. p. 3. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  10. ↑ Railey, Clementine Brown (1916). History of the house of Ochiltree of Ayrshire, Scotland. Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. Sterling, Kan. : Bulletin Printing Co. p. 28.
  11. ↑ "Henderson Seat of Rusk County". The Tyler Courier-Times. 16 February 1969. p. 4. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  12. 1 2 "Colonel William B. Ochiltree Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. Retrieved 2026-07-05.
  13. ↑ "Member profile for William Beck Ochiltree - Texas Legislative Reference Library". lrl.texas.gov. Retrieved 2026-07-05.
  14. ↑ "Professional Cards". The Texas Republic. 12 August 1858. p. 4. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  15. ↑ "Ochiltree Was Able Lawyer Here In 1850's". The Marshall News Messenger. 10 November 1963. p. 64. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  16. 1 2 3 4 "Silent Legends In Oakwood". Jefferson Jimplecute. 27 May 1971. p. 7. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  17. ↑ Guttery, Ben R. (2008). Representing Texas. Ben Guttery. p. 114. ISBN 978-1-4196-7884-4.
  18. ↑ Warner, Ezra J. (1975-09-01). Biographical Register of the Confederate Congress. LSU Press. p. 186. ISBN 978-0-8071-4942-3.
  19. 1 2 Bishop, Curtis (27 December 1950). "This Day In Texas". The Beaumont Enterprise. p. 4. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  20. ↑ "Professional Cards". The Texas Republican. 8 December 1865. p. 1. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  21. ↑ "Legal Cards". The Texas Republican. 5 January 1867. p. 1. Retrieved 2026-07-05.
  22. ↑ Anderson, Hugh Allen. "History of Ochiltree, Texas: From Establishment to Decline". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2026-07-05.
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