Terms of Service top

Chamber	District	Dates of Service	Legislatures	Party	City/County	Note	Counties in District
H	19	Jan 14, 1879 - Jan 11, 1881	16th (1) (2)	Unaffiliated	Bonham / Fannin		Fannin
H	4	Nov 7, 1859 - Nov 4, 1861	8th (3) (4)		Bonham / Fannin		Fannin
S	3	Nov 5, 1855 - Nov 7, 1859	6th (9) (10)   7th (5) (6) (7) (8)		Bonham / Fannin		Fannin, Hunt
H	4	Nov 7, 1853 - Nov 5, 1855	5th		Bonham / Fannin		Fannin
H	24	Nov 3, 1851 - Nov 7, 1853	4th		Bonham / Fannin		Cooke, Fannin, Grayson

(1) Republican, 1/14/1879, p. 1. Galveston Daily News.
(2) Independent. Texas Legislative Manual, 1879-80, 1879.
(3) [In late 1860 and early 1861] legislators Micajah Lewis Armstrong, John L. Haynes, and Robert H. Taylor mailed circulars to their constituencies defending their unpopular Unionist positions. They joined other Unionist legislators and convention delegates on February 6 in issuing an address entreating Texans to reject secession." "Origins of Early Texas Republican Party Leadership," Vol. 40, No. 3, pp. 447. Journal of Southern History.
(4) Included on list of leaders of the Texas Constitutional Union Party in 1860. The party was formed in January of 1860. "The Constitutional Union Party in Texas," Vol. 82, No. 3, p. 238, 256-262. Southwestern Historical Quarterly.
(5) Robert H. Taylor of Fannin, pp. 69, 96, 155. American (Know-Nothing) State Convention, January 21-22, 1856, in Austin (Delegate to National Convention); Radical Union Caucus, March 1866; Republican State Convention, August 19-20, 1873, in Dallas (Nominee for Lt. Governor). Platforms of Political Parties in Texas, 1916.
(6) Listed in "Senators holding over: Opposition." Civilian and Gazette. Weekly. (Galveston, Texas), 9/8/1857, p. 2, crediting Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries).
(7) 7th Legislature - Roll of Senators (holdover Senator), 11/2/1857, pp. 1, 4. Senate Journal.
(8) 7th Legislature - Listed in "large cadre of returning senators," p. 276. The Texas Senate: Volume I, Republic to Civil War, 1836-1861, 1990.
(9) 6th Legislature, Regular Session - Roll of Senators elected since the last adjournment presented their credentials, and being qualified, took their seats, 11/5/1855, p. 2. Senate Journal.
(10) Included "[a]mong 1855 legislators that this writer has positively identified as Know Nothings." The party was active in Texas at the state level between 1855 and 1857. "An Analysis of the Texas Know Nothings," Vol. 70, No. 3, pp. 414, 416-417. Southwestern Historical Quarterly.

Biographical Notes and Resources top

Resolutions and Journal entries

• 5th Legislature - Roll of Members, Robert H. Taylor, age 28, native state South Carolina, emigrated from Georgia in 1843, lawyer, postoffice Bonham, Fannin County. House Journal.

Biographical Sketches

• Robert H. Taylor, death date 6/10/1889, burial in Willow Wild Cemetery, Bonham, Fannin County. Includes portrait, biographical sketch, and reprinted Dallas Morning News obituary, 5/11/1889. Find a Grave.
• TAYLOR, ROBERT H. (1825-1889). Handbook of Texas Online.
• Biographical sketch, History of Fannin County, Texas. . . "Before the war, he was a whig and strong Unionist, after the war, an active republican." HeritageQuest Online.
• Biographical sketch and portraits, "The remarkable life and times of Bonham native Robert H. Taylor," Tim Davis, 6/26/2007. North Texas e-News.
• Biographical sketch and portrait. Texas Album of the Eighth Legislature, 1860.
• Biographical sketch, pp. 257-258. Elected as an Independent. Texas Legislative Manual, 1879-80, 1879.
• Biographical sketch, p. 261 - attorney, native of South Carolina. Confirms legislative sessions served; also served as Comptroller, and judge of Eighth District, ran unsuccessfully for Lieutenant Governor in 1873. The Texas Senate: Volume I, Republic to Civil War, 1836-1861, 1990.

Military Service Notes

• John C. Hays' 1st Regiment of Texas Volunteers, Captain, Company B, Mexican War. Confederate States Army, Colonel, 22nd Texas Cavalry. Handbook of Texas Online.
• Robert H. Taylor. Texas Burial Sites of Civil War Notables: A Biographical and Pictorial Field Guide, 2002.
• Biographical sketch, pp. 27, 118. Texas in the War, 1861-1865, 1965.

Other Resources

• Mentioned in "'Blessed with Peace!' War's Bitter Aftermath," pp. 102-136. Brush Men and Vigilantes: Civil War Dissent in Texas, 2000.
• Mentioned in account of secession debates and vigilantism in the Sulphur Forks watershed counties of East Texas, pp. 35-41. Brush Men and Vigilantes: Civil War Dissent in Texas, 2000.
• Included in list of "prominent Republicans who soldiered in the Confederate Army." Baggett, James Alex, "Origins of Early Texas Republican Party Leadership," The Journal of Southern History, Vol.40(3), August 1974, p. 452. Journal of Southern History.
• Mentioned in list of "Future Republicans . . . at one time or another championed Know-Nothingism." Baggett, James Alex, "Origins of Early Texas Republican Party Leadership," The Journal of Southern History, Vol.40(3), August 1974, p. 443. Journal of Southern History.
• Delegate to Constitutional Convention, 1866. Journal of the Texas State Convention: Assembled at Austin, Feb. 7, 1866. Adjourned April 2, 1866, pp. 3-5. Texas Constitutions Digitization Project (Tarlton Law Library, The University of Texas at Austin), 2009.

Photographs

• Photograph. Robert H. Taylor, 8th Legislature, Texas Album of the Eighth Legislature

Committee Information top

16th R.S. - 1879 Finance   Indian Affairs   Internal Improvements (Chair)  Judiciary No. 2   Penal Code, Select

8th R.S. - 1859 Joint Indian Affairs (Chair)  Judiciary   Stock and Stock Raising

7th R.S. - 1857 Education   Indian Affairs   Militia   Printing and Contingent Expenses   Public Lands   State Affairs

6th R.S. - 1855 Judicial Districts, Select   Judiciary   Land Office   Land Titles West of Nueces River, Select   Printing and Contingent Expenses   Private Land Claims (Chair)

5th R.S. - 1853 Engrossed Bills   Finance   Judicial Districts   Privileges and Elections

4th R.S. - 1851 Adjutant General's Office, Select   Judiciary   Peters' Colony, Governor's Message, Select   Post Office and Department of State, Examine   Privileges and Elections