David G. Burnet

Who was David G. Burnet?

David Gouverneur Burnet was an early politician within the Republic of Texas, serving as interim President of Texas, second Vice President of the Republic of Texas, and Secretary of State for the new state of Texas after it was annexed to the United States of America.

Burnet was born in Newark, New Jersey, and attended law school in Cincinnati, Ohio. As a young man, he lived with a Comanche tribe for a year before returning to Ohio. In 1826, he moved to Stephen F. Austin's colony in Mexican Texas. He received a land grant as an empresario but was forced to sell the land after failing to attract enough settlers to his colony, and later lost his right to operate a sawmill after he refused to convert to Roman Catholicism.

On hearing of William Barret Travis's plea for help at the Alamo, Burnet traveled to Washington-on-the-Brazos to recruit help from the Convention of 1836. He remained at the convention and was elected interim president on March 17, 1836. On his orders, the government fled Washington-on-the-Brazos for Harrisburg, thus inspiring the Runaway Scrape. Burnet narrowly avoided capture by Mexican troops the following month. After Sam Houston's victory at the Battle of San Jacinto, Burnet took custody of Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna and negotiated the Treaties of Velasco. Many Texans were infuriated that the treaty allowed Santa Anna to escape execution, and some people called for Burnet's arrest for treason. Burnet declined to run for president and resigned as interim president on October 22, 1836.