Texas Legislators: Past & Present

Nicholas Henry Darnell

Full Name: Nicholas Henry Darnell
Birth date: April 20, 1807
Death date: July 10, 1885

Terms of Service

House, 15th ⁽¹⁾ ⁽²⁾ Legislature
4/19/1876 - 1/14/1879
Democrat
House, 9th ⁽³⁾ ⁽⁴⁾ Legislature
11/4/1861 - 1/14/1862

Speaker 12/7/1861 - 1/14/1862.
House, 8th Legislature
11/7/1859 - 11/4/1861

(1) Mentioned in "The news from Austin . . . Resignations of Representative Barziza and four others accepted after critical debate . . . Hunter restored to his seat . . . Other resignations not improbable," Thursday, 8/3/1876, p. 1. Galveston Daily News .
(2) Sworn 4/19/1876, p. 8. "Pending the drawing of seats, N.H. Darnell, of Tarrant county, presented his credentials, and was sworn in." House Journal .
(3) Darnell succeeded Constantine W. Buckley as speaker on 12/7/1861; Darnell left for the war end of Regular Session; Buckley was again speaker in 1st Called Session. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004 2005.
(4) McCoy, sworn 2/3/1863, succeeded Nicholas H. Darnell. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004 2005.

Biographical Notes and Resources

Resolutions and Journal entries

Portrait, 9th Legislature, Regular Session. House Journal .
1st Legislature - Darnell declared duly and constitutionally elected Lieutenant Governor, February 17, 1846, pp. 9-10. House Journal .
1st Legislature - Counting of late Fannin County returns results in Darnell's defeat in race for Lieutenant Governor. Darnell declines to take office, February 23, 1847, p.29, 244-246. House Journal .

Photographs

Photograph. Nicholas Henry Darnell, Presiding Officers of the Texas Legislature, 1846-2006
Photograph. N.H. Darnell, Constitutional Convention of 1875 Composite Photo. From the collection of the Texas State Library and Archives Commisison.
Photograph. N.H. Darnell, State Preservation Board
Photograph. Gen. N.H. Darnell, Texas Album of the Eighth Legislature

Other Resources

Biographical sketch. American Legislative Leaders, 1850-1910 1989.
Biographical sketch, pp. 74-75. Biographical Directory of the Texan Conventions and Congresses, 1832-1845 1942.
Obituary and account of funeral ceremony, "The Funeral Obsequies of General Darnell," The Dallas Daily Herald, 7/12/1885. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers .
Obituary, "Death of General Darnell," The Dallas Daily Herald, 7/11/1885. Darnell "died yesterday at his home in Tarrant County, will be interred here today by the Masonic fraternity." Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers .
Obituary, "A Pioneer Dead," Fort Worth Daily Gazette, 7/11/1885, p. 5. Darnell died 7/10/1885. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers .
Nicholas Henry Darnell, birth date 4/20/1807, death date 7/16/1885, burial in Pioneer Cemetery, Dallas, Dallas County. Includes photos, historical marker photo. Find a Grave .
DARNELL, NICHOLAS HENRY (1807-1885). Handbook of Texas Online .
Confederate States Army, Colonel, 18th Texas Cavalry. "He was speaker of the House in the Ninth Legislature but resigned in 1862 to enter the Confederate Army as colonel of the Eighteenth Texas Cavalry. The flag of the regiment, made at his home, was placed in the Capitol at Austin." Handbook of Texas Online .
16th Speaker of the House of Representatives: Nicholas Henry Darnell. Portrait and biographical sketch. Presiding Officers of the Texas Legislature, 1846-2016 2016.
Biographical sketch, pp. 122-123. Sketches of Legislators and State Officers, Fifteenth Legislature, 1876-1878 1876.
Biographical sketch and portrait. Texas Album of the Eighth Legislature 1860.
Nicholas Henry Darnell, birth date 4/20/1807, death date 7/10/1885. Texas Burial Sites of Civil War Notables: A Biographical and Pictorial Field Guide 2002.
Delegate to Constitutional Convention, 1845. Journals of the Convention, assembled at the city of Austin on the Fourth of July, 1845, for the purpose of framing a constitution for the State of Texas, pp. 377-378. Austin: Miner & Cruger, printers to the Convention, 1845. Texas Constitutions Digitization Project (Tarlton Law Library, The University of Texas at Austin) 2009.
Delegate to Constitutional Convention, 1875. Included in Journal of the Constitutional Convention of the State of Texas: Begun and Held at the City of Austin Texas. Constitutional Convention (1875). Galveston : Printed for the Convention at the "News" Office, 1875, pp. 3-4. Texas Constitutions Digitization Project (Tarlton Law Library, The University of Texas at Austin) 2009.
Historical marker, Nicholas Henry Darnell, Pioneer Cemetery, Dallas, Dallas County. Texas Historic Sites Atlas (Texas Historical Commission) .
Biographical sketch and portrait, pp. 26, 117-118, Plate No. 47. Texas in the War, 1861-1865 1965.