The 1st Congress of the Republic of Texas convened in October 1836 at Columbia (now West Columbia). It overturned the Mexican prohibition of slavery, although it allowed slaveholders to free their slaves if they desired. Stephen F. Austin, known as the "Father of Texas", died December 27, 1836, after serving two months as Secretary of State for the new Republic. In 1836, five sites served as temporary capitals of Texas (Washington-on-the-Brazos, Harrisburg, Galveston, Velasco and Columbia) before President Sam Houston moved the capital to Houston in 1837. In 1839, the capital was moved to the new town of Austin by the next president, Mirabeau B. Lamar.