17th Texas Legislature

The 17th Texas Legislature met from January 11, 1881, to May 5, 1882, in its regular session and one called session. All members of the House of Representatives and about half of the members of the Senate were elected in 1880 General Election.

Sessions

• 17th Regular session: January 11–April 1, 1881
• 17th First called session: April 6–May 5, 1882

Officers

Senate

Lieutenant Governor

Leonidas Jefferson Storey, Democrat

President pro tempore

Edwin Hobby, Democrat, Regular session

Francis Marion Martin, Democrat, ad interim, First called session

House of Representatives

Speaker of the House

George Robertson Reeves, Democrat

Members

Members of the Seventeenth Texas Legislature as of the beginning of the Regular Session, January 11, 1881:

Senate

District	Senator	Party	Took office
1	Samuel Bronson Cooper	Democrat	1881
2	William Wallace Weatherred		1881
3	Richard M. Wynne		1881
4	Richard L. Hightower		1881
5	William H. Tilson		1879
6	William Jesse Swain		1879
7	John Martin Duncan		1879
8	John Young Gooch		1879
9	Henry W. Lightfoot		1881
10	John C. Buchanan		1879
11	J. M. Martin		1881
12	William D. Lair	Democrat	1879 (Prior: 1861–1863)
13	Anson Rainey		1881
14	Francis Marion Martin	Democrat	1879 (Prior: 1859–1861)
15	John Nathaniel Henderson		1881
16	John T. Buchanan		1879
17	Walter Moses Burton	Republican	1874
18	Charles Stewart		1879
19	James B. Stubbs		1881
20	William Kercheval Homan		1879
21	Andrew Jackson Harris		1881
22	Lawrence Sullivan Ross	Democrat	1881
23	William R. Shannon	Democrat	1879 (Prior: 1865–1867)
24	Jewett H. Davenport		1879 (Prior: 1874–1876)
25	Alexander Watkins Terrell	Democrat	1876
26	A. W. Moore	Democrat	1881 (Prior: 1861–1865)
27	Samuel C. Patton		1879
28	Ellsberry R. Lane		1876
29	Stephen Powers		1881
30	Augustus W. Houston	Democrat	1879
31	William Henry Burges	Democrat	1881

House of Representatives

• Benjamin M. Baker
• Thomas Beck
• William John Caven
• R. J. Evans
• George Finlay
• George Washington Lafayette Fly
• Lafayette Lumpkin Foster
• Charles Reese Gibson
• Andrew Jackson Harris
• William Kercheval Homan
• Joseph Chappell Hutcheson
• Robert A. Kerr
• Felix J. McCord
• Absolom C. Oliver
• Henry Joseph Richarz
• Thomas A. Rodríguez
• George Robertson Reeves
• Benjamin Dudley Tarlton
• George T. Todd
• Arthur Tompkins
• John Henry Traylor
• James W. Truitt
• William Wallace Weatherred
• Charles Louis Wurzbach

Membership Changes

District	Outgoing Senator	Reason for Vacancy	Successor	Date of Successor's Installation
District 11	J. M. Martin	Martin died March 9, 1882.	William O. Davis	April 6, 1882
District 16	John T. Buchanan	Buchanan died January 29, 1882.	James G. McDonald	April 6, 1882
District 28	Ellsberry R. Lane	Lane resigned February 1, 1882.	Lucas H. Brown	April 6, 1882
District 29	Stephen Powers	Powers died after the Regular Session.	Charles A. McLane	April 6, 1882

External links

• Texas Legislature Online
• Texas Senate
• Texas House of Representatives
• Election Results from the Office of the Secretary of State
• Legislative Reference Library