Pickett was born in 1823 in
Buckingham County, Virginia. He served as a private in the U. S. Army in the
War against Mexico, in 1845. "His service in the U.S. Army during the War against Mexico prompted his move to Texas. But before that, he married Virginia Orange Bell. During the 1850s, he served as a lawyer in several southeastern Texas counties. He had a brother named Howell L. Pickett. ==Politics==