Be different!

X

X was a prominent Texas lawyer, politician, land baron and one of the signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence. He was also interested in cattle rearing and was an avid rancher. But for some reason, he never used to brand his cattle, contrary to the common practice. When asked about this, he told that he didn't want to hurt the animals. His competitors however insinuated that he did this because it enabled him to claim any unbranded cattle as his own! Other sources state that he didn't do it because he was too less interested in cattle rearing to spend his time in branding them. His surname has entered the English lexicon since then as someone that refuses to abide by the dictates of or resists adherence to a group. Identify X and the word.

Good bye Baby!

This is a very well-known word, in fact, too well-known word. However we know the word in a context entirely different from what in which it was originally used. According to some, it is of Aramaic origins, meaning "I will create as I speak". Some sources posit that it derives from a conflation of a Hebrew word meaning "the blessing" (used in this sense as a euphemism for "the curse") and an Aramaic form another Hebrew word  meaning pestilence. One of its earliest recorded instances is in the poem De Medicina Praecepta written by Serenus Sammonicus (royal physician of Roman emperor Caracalla), where he suggests that people suffering from malaria should wear an amulet bearing the word in the form of an inverted Pascal Triangle. It was later used by certain gnostics to invoke beneficent spirits for combating evil spirits. Its Greek roots suggest that it is a cabalistic word for the supreme god. Which word am I talking about?