Tom Blue

Tom Blue (died 1910) was an enslaved personal servant and coachman of Sam Houston, who purchased Blue prior to his marriage to Margaret Lea. He worked for Houston for nearly 30 years. In the fall of 1862, he ran away with another servant, a boy named Walter Hume. They traveled together to the border and Blue sold Hume for $800. Blue crossed into Mexico, where he lived as a free man. He later settled in Harrisburg, where he married a woman who was around age 30. He said at the time that he was 119.

Early life Tom Blue, of West Indian and European descent, was born in Pennsylvania between 1790 and 1817. (Blue claimed to have been 119 years old when he married in 1909 (meaning he was born around 1790), From there, the government and Santa Anna traveled to Velasco for the signing of treaties.) Houston had suffered a serious wound to his foot during the battle and on May 28 boarded the schooner Flora for medical treatment in New Orleans. Houston won the 1836 presidential election for the Republic of Texas.

Role in the Houston household Blue was Houston's body guard and coachman. He was also described as a "negro retainer" along with a man named Esau (also Esaw), both of whom were acquired before Houston's marriage to Margaret Lea. Blue was described as "a fine-looking mulatto with the manners and speech of a high-class gentleman."

Houston had twelve enslaved people when he became the governor of Texas. Blue, Joshua Houston and Jeff transported Houston, his family, and their belongings to the Governor's Mansion in Austin. One of the maids was named Eliza. Aunt Mary and her daughters Creasy and Mary were also enslaved by Houston. The male servants of the Houston family had quarters in the stable.

Throughout his life, Houston had a penchant for travel and his family and their servants learned to become "as mobile as the cavalry".

Flight Blue left Huntsville, Texas, for Mexico in the fall of 1862. (There is an erroneous claim in a magazine article and in his obituary that Blue was with Houston until his death (1863).)

Later life Blue worked at the Harris County Courthouse, where he met Judge Vasmer. He later received a pension from the county.

He lived in Harris County, Texas most of his life. and was interred at the Harrisburg-Jackson Cemetery. He is mentioned on a Texas historical marker as one of the interred African American citizens of Harrisburg.