William Beck Ochiltree

William Beck Ochiltree (October 18, 1811 – December 27, 1867) was an American politician, lawyer, judge, and military officer. A Whig, he held various Texas statewide offices.

Born in North Carolina, Ochiltree moved to the Republic of Texas in 1829 and practiced law. Throughout his career, he was a justice in the Supreme Court of the Republic of Texas, Secretary of Treasury, Adjutant General of Texas, and Texas Attorney General. He was a member of the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, resigning to fight in the American Civil War. He was the namesake of Ochiltree County.

Early life and early career Ochiltree was born on October 18, 1811, near Fayetteville, North Carolina, the son of David Ochiltree and Kezia (or Kosiah; née Beck) Ochiltree. Of Scottish ancestry, he was descendent of the family Lord Ochiltree. He received a limited education.

As a teenager, Ochiltree and his parents moved to the Florida Territory, In 1839 or 1840, he moved to Nacogdoches, Texas, where he practiced law. He may have lived in Palestine for a time.

Career From January 3, 1842, to December 12, 1844, Ochiltree was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Texas, According to the Tarlton Law Library, of the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, he was Adjutant General of the Republic of Texas in 1845.

Ochiltree opposed Texas annexation, being a delegate to the 1845 annexation convention, where he helped draft the Constitution of Texas. having been appointed by Governor J. Pinckney Henderson. He and James Smith donated the land on which the city of Henderson was built, with it being named Henderson by the their wish, in honor of Governor Henderson.

After Texas joined the United States, Ochiltree joined the Whig Party. In 1848, he was a Whig Party elector.

On March 13, 1858, Ochiltree moved to Marshall, where he joined the partnership Ochiltree, Jennings, & Wigfall. He was made chairman of the Texas Democratic Convention held that same year. A secessionist, he was a delegate to the 1861 constitutional convention, where he signed the state's declaration of secession. He was a signatory of the Provisional Constitution of Confederate States, later of the full Constitution. While serving, he pushed for a port to be built in Sabine Pass, Port Arthur.

On April 12, 1862, Ochiltree organized the 18th Texas Infantry Regiment However, the Jefferson Jimplecute claims he fought alongside in the Battle of Mansfield, which occurred in 1864. operating between Jefferson

On October 4, 1866, during the Reconstruction era, a group of men in Jefferson entered the city's jailhouse and disarmed three guards, after which they killed a prisoner and two black men. Those accused of the crime were mainly prominent residents of Jefferson, Ochiltree being one of them. Those accused were arrested and charged with murder, though all but six men were acquirtted; it is unknown if Ochiltree was ever arrested. In 1963, a commemorative plaque in Perryton was installed in his honor.