Name George Hockley | ||
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Died June 6, 1854, Corpus Christi, Texas, United States | ||
George Westcott Hockley (August 11, 1793 – June 6, 1851) was a Texas revolutionary who served as Secretary of War for the Republic of Texas. For many years, historians have made the error that his middle name was Washington. In 1883, Mr. Memucan Hunt Howard, a Tennessee pioneer, wrote his memoirs and mentions Maj. George Wescott Hockley, who "became somewhat prominent at an early date in Texas affairs".
Hockley was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents were Thomas Hockley (1764 to 1805), a Philadelphia merchant, and his wife Mary Wescott (1764 to 1848). In the above-mentioned recollections of Mr. Howard, he states that then-Major Hockley was an executor of his aunt Patience Wescott of Philadelphia; she had owned 32,500 acres of land in Tipton County, Tennessee.
Hockley, serving in the Texas Army as a colonel, was in charge of the artillery at the decisive Battle of San Jacinto.
He was the Secretary of War for the Republic of Texas during the first and second administrations of the new President Sam Houston. He served briefly in 1838 and again from 1841 to 1842. In 1843, Hockley was one of the ministers selected to negotiate a treaty with Mexico.
He died on June 6, 1851, in Corpus Christi, and is buried in the Old Bayview Cemetery there.
Hockley County, Texas was named in his honor.
He founded the town of Hockley, Texas in 1835.