Texas Legislators: Past & Present

Jeremiah Galvan

Full Name: Jeremiah "Jerry" Galvan
Other surnames: Galvin
Birth date: 1824
Death date: June 20, 1879

Terms of Service

House, 14th ⁽¹⁾ ⁽²⁾ Legislature
1/14/1874 - 4/18/1876
Republican

(1) Republican. Directory of the Members and Officers of the Fourteenth Legislature of the State of Texas . . . 1874.
(2) 30th District, Louis Cardis, P.F. Murphy, and Santos Benavides, list of members elect in typescript journal. Cardis and Murphy sworn 1/13/1874, p. 3; Jeremiah Galvan of Cameron sworn 1/14/1874, typescript journal, p. 7. House Journal . Typescript Journal
January 13, 1874

Biographical Notes and Resources

Photographs

Photograph. Jeremiah Galvan, State Preservation Board

Other Resources

Jeremiah Galvan, Brownsville, Cameron County, merchant, age 50, born circa 1824 in Ireland. Directory of the Members and Officers of the Fourteenth Legislature of the State of Texas . . . 1874.
Census of 1860 - J. Galvan, Brownsville, Cameron County, age 32, born circa 1828 in Ireland, merchant, living in household with Mary Galvan and John Clark.
Census of 1870 - Jeremiah Galvan, Brownsville, Cameron County, age 45, born circa 1825 in Ireland, merchant, wholesale general. Not found in Cameron County in the Census of 1880. FamilySearch . 1860 1870
Mentioned in TEJANO POLITICS. Listed among the Tejanos who served in the Texas House and Senate. Handbook of Texas Online .
Portrait and biographical information. Galvan emigrated in 1846 from Cork, Ireland; he later settled in Brownsville. "He was an enterprising man, making himself useful to military leaders and building political equity for himself," pp. 122-123. Account of testimony before the Robb Commission, pp. 321-323. The commission investigated bandit problems on the border during 1872 and 1873. Jeremiah Galvan "describes himself as someone who knew Mexico and the Mexican people well, having spent five years in Mexico as a clerk, or imprisoned, until he moved to Brownsville. He took it upon himself to relate his own Irish-Anglo-Texan point of view," p. 321. I Would Rather Sleep in Texas: a History of the Lower Rio Grande Valley and the People of the Santa Anita Land Grant 2003.
Description of Radical Republican takeover of Brownsville during reconstruction: Israel Bigelow and, eventually, Jerry Galvan ousted; Ferdinand Schlickum sent to first Republican Convention; Rip Ford wounded in fight with the sheriff, pp. 305-309. I Would Rather Sleep in Texas: a History of the Lower Rio Grande Valley and the People of the Santa Anita Land Grant 2003.
Mentioned in Minority Civil Rights and the Texas Legislature 2018.
Obituary, Hon. Jeremiah Galvan, The Galveston Daily News, 7/3/1879, p. 4. Born in Ireland, death date 6/20/1879. "He was made county judge in 1868-9. Subsequently, he was elected to the legislature, where his business ability and industry were only equaled by his generosity. A motion was made to adjourn for St. Patrick's day. A member asked: 'Who will pay our per diem if we adjourn?' 'I will,' said Mr. Galvan. The house adjourned, and the festival of Ireland's patron saint was duly kept."
Death notice, "The death of the genial Jerry Galvan of Brownsville . . . He had been a member of the Texas Legislature and we believe a candidate for Congress." San Marcos Free Press, 7/12/1879, p. 2.
Recounting of death near Lake Providence, Louisiana, "Sixteen Years Ago," The Daily Herald (Brownsville, Texas), 6/20/1895, p. 3. "Sixteen years ago today [June 20] Jeremiah Galvan, a well known citizen of this frontier." Death date 6/20/1879. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries) . San Marcos Free Press Galveston Daily News