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After moving back to Huntsville and trying to persuade other Texans of his pro-Unionist views, Sam came down with a terminal case of pneumonia. He died in this room on July 26, 1863 at 6:15 in the afternoon. According to tradition, Sam stirred from a restless sleep and whispered: "Texas, Texas, Margaret" before closing his eyes for the last time.
Sam stayed in this room for several reasons. The main one was that he no longer had the strength to climb the stairs to the bedrooms up there. Also, Sam got lost in his own house quite often. (In order to get to the back rooms upstairs, one had to go outside onto the balcony and then back in.) Legend has it that when showing a friend the house Sam got lost and cried out, "Margaret, help me out of this damned house!" Sam also got the afternoon breeze from the opened doors in his room to help cool his fever.
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