David Abner
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David Abner, Sr. (1826 – 1902) was an American legislator and former slave. He served in the Fourteenth Texas Legislature, where he represented the Fifth District and sat on the Education Committee. He also served as a delegate to the 1875 Texas Constitutional Convention.[1]
Early life
Abner was born into slavery in Selma, Alabama, in 1826. At the age of 17, in 1843, he was taken to Upshur County, Texas.[2] After being emancipated during the American Civil War, he moved to Marshall, Texas. In Marshall, he rented a plot of land and a mule from the sister of his original owner. A few years later he was able to buy the farm and become a wealthy farmer.[2]
Political life
In 1873, Abner was appointed to the executive committee of the first Colored Men's State Convention.[3] Later, he was elected to the position of treasurer for Harrison County.[4] In 1874, Abner was elected to sit in the Fifth District of the Texas House of Representatives as a part of the Fourteenth Texas Legislature. There he represented Harrison County and Rusk County.[5] In the Texas State House, he sat on the education committee.
Halfway through his term in the State House, in August 1875, a convention was called to rewrite the 1869 Texas State Constitution. Abner was one of three delegates who were elected to the convention from the Senatorial District that made up Harison and Rusk Counties.[6] He was the only Republican at the convention who voted for a clause in the State Constitution that prohibited the state from spending money on encouraging immigration.a[7]
After the conclusion of his term in the Texas State House of Representatives, he served as the vice president of the 1876 Republican State Convention.[4]
After politics
In 1881, Abner helped establish Bishop College,[2] and served as one of its first trustees. In 1884, his son David Abner, Jr. became the first black man to graduate from a Texas college.[8]
Abner died in 1902 in Marshall, Texas and was buried in a family cemetery.[2]
External links
Notes
- ^a Article 16, section 56 of the Texas State Constitution states: "The Legislature shall have no power to appropriate any of the public money for the establishment and maintenance of a bureau of immigration, or for any purpose of bringing immigrants to this State." It was part of the constitution from 1875 until it was repealed in 2001.[7]
References
- ^ Forever Free: the biographies (page 1) at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission; published August 26, 2011; retrieved October 30, 2013
- ^ a b c d ABNER, DAVID, SR. at the Texas State Historical Association; by Merline Pitre; retrieved October 30, 2013
- ^ Barr, Alwyn. "Black State Conventions". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
- ^ a b Harvey, Bill (1 February 2003). Texas Cemeteries: The Resting Places of Famous, Infamous, and Just Plain Interesting Texans. University of Texas Press. p. 181. ISBN 978-0-292-73466-1.
- ^ "David Abner, Sr". Legislative Reference Library of Texas. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
- ^ Campbell, Randolph B. (1997). Grass-roots Reconstruction in Texas, 1865-1880. Louisiana State University Press. pp. 128–29. ISBN 978-0-8071-2194-8.
- ^ a b Rozek, Barbara J. (22 July 2003). Come to Texas: Attracting Immigrants, 1865-1915. Texas A&M University Press. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-58544-267-6.
- ^ ABNER, DAVID, JR. at the Texas State Historical Association; by Diana J. Kleiner; retrieved October 30, 2013