Legislative Reference Library

Texas Legislators: Past & Present

Albert Jennings Fountain

A.J. Fountain
Full Name: Albert Jennings Fountain
Other surnames: Jennings
Birth date: October 23, 1838
Death date: February 1, 1896

Terms of Service

  • Senate, 13th (1) (2) (5) & 12th (3) (4) Legislatures
    2/8/1870 - 1/13/1874
    Radical Republican
    Senate President Pro Tempore, Adjourned Session (Webster Flanagan and Albert J. Fountain).
(1) Entire Senate went up for reelection due to Senatorial redistricting. Act passed Apr. 24, 1873 [presented to Governor May 1, 1873 and became law without his signature], 13th Legislature, R.S., ch. 35, Apportionment Laws of Texas, 1836-1950 1950.
(2) Republican. Directory of the Members of the Thirteenth Legislature of the State of Texas 1873.
(3) 12th Legislature, 1st C.S. - Drawing for Terms of Office, 5/2/1870, pp. 51-52. Drew 4-year term. Senate Journal .
(4) 12th Legislature, Regular Session - Senate President Pro Tempore, elected 3/30/1871, Regular Session, due to the vacancy in the office of Lieutenant Governor and the absence of the President Pro Tem. Senate Journal .
(5) "Returning radicals [to the 13th Legislature] were Thomas H. Baker, Webster Flanagan, S.W. Ford, Albert J. Fountain, Matthew Gaines, Phidello W. Hall, Henry Rawson, George T. Ruby, William A. Saylor, and Robert P. Tendick," p. 145. The Texas Senate: Volume II, Civil War to the Eve of Reform, 1861-1889 1999.

Biographical Notes and Resources

Photographs

Other Resources

  • Photo and biographical sketch, "Lawyer of Billy the Kid." Billy the Kid: Outlaw Legend .
  • Union, 2nd Lieutenant, 1st Regiment, California Infantry, Company G, E. Albert J. Fountain. Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System .
  • Account of the disappearance of A.J. Fountain and his son Henry, "Murders Most Foul" by Jay W. Sharp. A prominent attorney, Fountain became known for his defense of Billy the Kid. Desert USA 1996.
  • Lieutenant, Company G, 1st California Infantry. Military grave marker, Lieutenant A.J. Fountain, death date 2/1/1896, burial in the Masonic Cemetery, Las Cruces, New Mexico. Marker in memory of Albert J. Fountain, photos, biographical sketch, and resources. Find a Grave .
  • FOUNTAIN, ALBERT JENNINGS (1838-1896). "Fountain advocated 'militant Republicanism' during the Reconstruction of Texas." Handbook of Texas Online .
  • Mentioned in HOWARD, CHARLES H. (1842-1877). In El Paso, Howard allied himself with Louis Cardis and Father Antonio Borrajo against the Radical Republicans and the "Anti-Salt Ring" led by Albert Jennings Fountain. Handbook of Texas Online .
  • Biographical sketch, member of the legislature, pp. 98-99, became unpopular and accused of fraud, impact on El Paso, pp. 100-110. The Legal Heritage of El Paso 1963.
  • Biography in LRL collection, 328.764 F825G 1965. The Life and Death of Colonel Albert Jennings Fountain 1965.
  • Biographical sketch, pp. 100-102, includes an account of a former political ally's attempt to murder Fountain. Notes "he [Fountain] served as president pro tempore for a time during the spring of 1871 while acting president Campbell was ill." The Texas Senate: Volume II, Civil War to the Eve of Reform, 1861-1889 1999.
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