Legislative Reference Library

Texas Legislators: Past & Present

Matthew Washington Gaines

Matthew Gaines
Full Name: Matthew Washington Gaines
Birth date: August 4, 1840
Death date: June 11, 1900

Terms of Service

  • Senate, 13th (1) (2) (5) & 12th (3) (4) Legislatures
    2/8/1870 - 1/13/1874
    Radical Republican
(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 6-year term. Senate Journal .
(4) Party affiliation, Radical. Roster of members, 12th Legislature, 1870. Texas Almanac for . . . and Emigrant's Guide to Texas .
(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

Selected Newspaper articles

Resolutions and Journal entries

  • 79th Legislature, R.S., HR 589, paying tribute to African American legislators and constitutional convention delegates of 1868-1900. Resolutions - Congratulatory and Honorary .
  • 77th Legislature, R.S., HR 753. Resolutions - Congratulatory and Honorary .
  • 81st Legislature, R.S., HCR 81, paying tribute to African American legislators and constitutional convention delegates. Resolutions - Congratulatory and Honorary .
  • 85th Legislature, R.S., HR 452, celebrating Black History Month and honoring the leadership and vision of African American lawmakers. Resolutions - Congratulatory and Honorary .
  • 88th Legislature, R.S., SCR 13, Recognizing the Texas Black Reconstruction Legislators Recognition Act. SB 667, Texas Black Reconstruction Legislators Recognition Act. Resolutions - Congratulatory and Honorary . SB 667 SCR 13
  • 88th Legislature, R.S., SCR 13, Recognizing the Texas Black Reconstruction Legislators Recognition Act. SB 667, Texas Black Reconstruction Legislators Recognition Act. Resolutions - Legislative Policy . SB 667 SCR 13
  • 12th Legislature, Provisional Session - Mathew Gaines. Senate Journal .
  • 14th Legislature, Regular Session - Seth Shepard and Matthew Gaines election contest: Memorial of Shepard protesting the seating of Matthew Gaines, 3/17/1874, pp. 176-178. Presentation of Gaines' credentials, 3/20/1874, pp. 189-190. Shepard prevailed in election contest over Gaines, report of Committee on Privileges and Elections 3/24/1874, printed in journal 3/25/1874, pp. 207-217. Memorial of C.B. Francis, claiming to have been elected Senator from the 16th District, does not delay seating of the Hon. Seth Shepard as Senator from said district; Shepard qualified and was seated immediately, 3/26/1874, pp. 220-221, 225-226. Gaines never seated. Senate Journal .

Photographs

Other Resources

  • Portrait and biographical sketch: "Matt Gaines: Reconstruction politician," pp. 48-81. Black Leaders: Texans for Their Times 1981.
  • Mentioned in Black Texans: a History of African Americans in Texas, 1528-1995 1996.
  • Biographical information in Alwyn Barr, "Black Legislators of Reconstruction Texas," Volume 32, Number 4, December 1986, pp. 340-352. Civil War History .
  • Portrait and biographical sketch, Matthew (Matt) Gaines. Born Pineville, near Alexandria, Louisiana, 8/4/1840 or 1842, died Giddings, Texas, 6/11/1900. Forever Free: Nineteenth Century African-American Legislators and Constitutional Convention Delegates of Texas 2002.
  • Mentioned in footnote 5, p. 264, Gideon Lincecum, 1793-1874: a Biography, by Lois Wood Burkhalter. "During the Reconstruction, Negroes found their military and political services in demand by the Texas Republican Party." Google Books .
  • GAINES, MATTHEW (1840-1900). Handbook of Texas Online .
  • Portrait, biographical information, and statements concerning the Matthew Gaines memorial at Texas A&M. Matthew Gaines Memorial Homepage .
  • Listing of Matthew Gaines' grandchildren provided by Ronnie Jackson, Jr., grandson of Monzella Brown; origin of paperwork unknown. Matthew Gaines Working File .
  • Photo, mentioned in Minority Civil Rights and the Texas Legislature 2018.
  • Mentioned in Negro Legislators of Texas and Their Descendants 1970.
  • Portrait, description of Senate speech, biographical sketch, and list of legislation authored by Gaines. Negro Legislators of Texas and Their Descendants: A History of the Negro in Texas Politics from Reconstruction to Disfranchisement 1935.
  • "Reconstructing a Legacy: The Trials and Accomplishments of Black Legislators in Post-Civil War Texas," by Michael Hurd, July 2021, pp. 68-71. Texas Highways .
  • Matthew Gaines, state senator from the 16th Senate district, and legislative agenda in the 12th Legislature, pp. 173-175. The Confederates of Chappell Hill, Texas: Prosperity, Civil War and Decline 2005.
  • Mentioned in Chapter VI, "Black Belt Politics." The Negro in Texas, 1874-1900 1971.
  • Biographical sketch, background, and oratory of Matthew Washington Gaines, pp. 102-105. The Texas Senate: Volume II, Civil War to the Eve of Reform, 1861-1889 1999.
  • Portrait, biographical sketch, and "Matthew Gaines: The Militant," pp. 19, 169-179. Birth date 8/4/1840; death date 6/11/1900. Through Many Dangers, Toils, and Snares: Black Leadership in Texas, 1868-1898 2016.
  • Mentioned, pp. 147-156. Time of Hope, Time of Despair: Black Texans During Reconstruction 1981.
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