1860   1861 February 1 Texas secedes from the United States. March 2 Texas joins the Confederate States of America. April 12 American Civil War begins.   1862   1863 July 26 Sam Houston dies in the bedroom of the Steamboat House, succumbing to pneumonia at age seventy. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery at Huntsville.   1864   1865 April 9 American Civil War ends.   1866   1867 February 6 The Peabody Education Fund is established. Huntsville yellow fever epidemic reportedly kills 10% of Huntsville's population.   1868   1869