Hiram George Runnels

b. 15 December 1796, d. 16 December 1857
  • Hiram George Runnels was born on 15 December 1796 in Hancock County, Georgia.
  • He married Obedience A. Smith on 16 June 1823 in Hinds County, Mississippi.
  • The following appeared on 31 March 1837 in the Mississippi Free Trrader & Nachez Gazette: Hon. Hiram G. Runnels, late Governor of this State, has been appointed by President Van Buren a Commissioner on the part of the United States to run out the boundary line between this country and Texas.
  • In 1842, in Hinds County, Mississippi, Hiram G. Runnels, guardian for three of the minor heirs of Hosea Runnels, asks permission to sell a slave family held by the estate of the said Hosea. The petitioner represents "that it will be impossible to make a fair and equal distribution of said slaves among the four distributees . . . without selling the same and dividing the proceeds among them."
  • In 1843, in Hinds County, Mississippi, Hiram R. Runnels, one of the minor heirs of Hosea H. Runnels, asks that his uncle, Hiram G. Runnels, be appointed his guardian.
  • In 1847, in Brazoria County, Hiram G. Runnels reports that his nephew, Dudley Runnels, died intestate "leaving some negros and other personal property of a perishable nature which is liable to waste and destruction." He claims that "it is the wish of the wife of the deceased" that he assume administration on the estate, and he asks that he be issued letters of administration. The petitioner plans to "hire out the negros" and safeguard the property of the estate from being "wasted."
  • Hiram George Runnels died on 16 December 1857 at age 61 in Houston, Harris County, Georgia.
  • His wife Obedience A. Smith became a widow at his death.
  • He was interred at Glenwood Cemetery, Houston, Harris County, Texas.
  • The following appeared on 16 July 1893 in The Galveston Daily News: The Customhouse . . . As the customs service of this district will henceforth be conducted by a new administration, a brief resume of former custom houses and collectors at Galveston may prove of interest: . . .
         The first collector of customs after the admission of Texas into the union was Hiram G. Runnels, his successor being Joseph Bates. During the administration of Presidents Pierce and Buchanan Colonel Hamilton Stuart served as collector, going out in 1861. . . .
  • For additional biographical information, see The Handbook of Texas Online.
  • Last Edited: 19 Jul 2013

Family: Obedience A. Smith b. 15 February 1805, d. 10 December 1883