Spencer Houston Jack was born 1809 in Georgia. He was the first colonist to draw Mexican blood in resistance to Mexican authority. On November 24, 1831, George Fisher ordered shipmasters to obtain clearance at Anahuac before sailing from the Brazos and certain other ports. Compliance for a vessel docked on the lower Brazos necessitated an overland journey of 200 miles or more, round-trip. On December 15, 1831, the Sabine, commanded by Capt. Jeremiah Brown, ran past the Mexican barracks at the mouth of the Brazos with cotton bales arranged on deck to protect the passengers and crew. The Mexican fusillade damaged only the ship’s rigging. The Nelson, under Capt. Samuel Fuller, following in the Sabine’s wake, also drew fire that slightly wounded Captain Fuller, who then called for his rifle, which Jack, a passenger, seized and fired, wounding one of the soldiers in the thigh. On Christmas Day the Spica, commanded by Capt. Isaiah Doane of Boston, also sailed from the Brazos without clearance. Gen. Manuel de Mier y Terán issued an order to arrest Jack and thus prevented his immediate return to Texas.
In June 1832 Jack marched with his brother William on Anahuac to demand the release of their brother Patrick C. Jack and William Barret Travis and others imprisoned there by order of Col. John (Juan) Davis Bradburn. Years later, Jack gave Mirabeau B. Lamar an interesting written account of his activities during the Anahuac Disturbances. Jack and Peter W. Grayson, both lawyers, were commissioned to go to Mexico City to present memorials from the ayuntamientos of Texas requesting the release of Stephen F. Austin, who was then imprisoned there. He was a participant in the Siege of Béxar. Jack died in Matagorda in late 1837 or early 1838.
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