➼ History & Context
Major General in the Republic of Texas War of Independence, Thomas Jefferson Chambers used his own land holdings as security to raise men & arms for the war. Chambers County, Texas, was named for him.
Born in 1802 in Virginia, Chambers went to Mexico in 1826 to study Mexican & Spanish Law. Just three years later he was appointed surveyor of the state of Coahuila and Texas; in that role, and later as state attorney, he helped to further the framework of colonization & develop a judicial code throughout the state.
With his wife Abbie Chubb of Galveston he had two daughters, and he was the uncle of his own namesake TJ Chambers, a newspaper editor who later served in the Texas House.
Chambers was assassinated at Anahuac in 1865.