Terms of Service top

Chamber	District	Dates of Service	Legislatures	Party	City/County	Note	Counties in District
S	24	Apr 18, 1876 - Jan 14, 1879	15th (1)	Democrat	Comanche / Comanche		Bosque, Brown, Callahan, Coleman, Comanche, Coryell, Eastland, Erath, Hamilton, Hood, Jones, Palo Pinto, Runnels, Shackelford, Somervell, Stephens, Taylor
H	19	Jan 13, 1874 - Apr 18, 1876	14th	Democrat	Comanche / Comanche		Bosque, Brown, Coleman, Comanche, Coryell, Hamilton, McLennan, Runnels

(1) 15th Legislature - All Senators except District 7 listed in roll call as Senators elect, oath of office administered, 4/18/1876, p. 1; Drawing of Senatorial Terms, 4/27/1876, p. 98, drew "short term" (two years). Senate Journal. April 18, 1876 April 27, 1876

Biographical Notes and Resources top

Biographical Sketches

• Biographical sketch in "State Senators Elect: Personal Sketches Completed - Seventeen Lawyers, Seven Grangers, Two Doctors, One Editor and Four Colored Politicians - the Political Structure of the New Senate of Texas," 3/3/1876, p. 2. Galveston Daily News.
• Biographical sketch, John D. Spephens [sic], pp. 39-41. Native of Tennessee, lawyer, admitted to the bar in 1868 in Columbus, Colorado County, moved to Comanche, Comanche County, in early 1872. Sketches of Legislators and State Officers, Fifteenth Legislature, 1876-1878, 1876.
• Biographical sketch, p. 238. Born 4/19/1845 in Tennessee. "When his legislative service was over, Stephens prospected in California and Mexico but came back to Texas, where 1886 found him occupied as grass commissioner . . . " The Texas Senate: Volume II, Civil War to the Eve of Reform, 1861-1889, 1999.

Military Service Notes

• Confederate States Army. Sketches of Legislators and State Officers, Fifteenth Legislature, 1876-1878, 1876.
• Confederate States Army, 62nd Tennessee Regiment under Colonel J.A. Rowan. The Texas Senate: Volume II, Civil War to the Eve of Reform, 1861-1889, 1999.

Other Resources

• Possibly John D. Stephens, birth date 4/19/1843 in Tennessee, death date 2/12/1898 in Matamoros, Mexico, burial in San Antonio. Residence in Sweetwater, Monroe County, Tennessee in 1860, and Comanche County, Texas, in 1880. Michael Connor Griffith and Sylvia Lynn Weise Family Tree. Ancestry.com.
• J.D. Stephens, postoffice Comanche, Comanche County, lawyer, born circa 1845 in Tennessee, moved to Texas 1867, single, age 29. Directory of the Members and Officers of the Fourteenth Legislature of the State of Texas . . ., 1874.
• J.D. Stephens, tax assessments in Comanche County, 1873-1878 and 1880. Census of 1880 - John D. Stephens, Comanche, Comanche County, age 36, born circa 1844 in Tennessee, single, lawyer, boarder in household of Artie Lowery. FamilySearch. 1880 Texas, U.S. County Tax Rolls, 1837-1910
• Possibly J.D. Stephens, birth date 4/19/1843, death date 2/12/1898, "The first manufacturer of cotton seed oil in the Republic of Mexico," burial in City Cemetery #4, San Antonio, Bexar County. Find a Grave.
• "Comanche: Grass Commissioner Stephens Addresses a Large Audience on the Land Question," Fort Worth Daily Gazette, 2/12/1886, p. 6. Hon. John D. Stephens "claimed to have been the first legislator to have drawn up a bill providing for the sale of the state school lands to actual settlers . . . "
  "John D. Stephens, attorney at law . . . state senator from this district," mentioned in "Among Your Old Friends and Acquaintance of 40 Years Ago," The Comanche Vanguard, 7/7/1916, p. 1, crediting Comanche Public Library. Law office of Stephens & Armstrong with R.G. Armstrong. Uncle of Will and Jack Stephens. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries). Comanche Fort Worth
• Possibly J.D. Stephens of San Pedro, Coahuila, Mexico, death notice, 2/13/1898, p. 4. San Antonio Daily Express.
• John D. Stephens, Comanche County, p. 33. Born 4/19/1845 in Monroe County, Tennessee, "was a member of Fourteenth Legislature and is now State Senator." Texas Legal Directory for 1876-77, 1877.

Photographs

• Photograph. J.D. Stephens, 15th Legislature, State Preservation Board
• Photograph. J.D. Stephens, 14th Legislature, State Preservation Board

Composite Photographs on Display in the Capitol

• 15th session composite photo of Senate members (Senate Sergeant-at-arms office, west wall. 2E.10A). State Preservation Board.
• 14th session composite photo of Senate and House members (Ground floor elevator vestibule, east wall. GW.V3). State Preservation Board.

Committee Information top

15th R.S. - 1876 Constitutional Amendments   Engrossed Bills (Chair)  Federal Relations (Chair)  Indian Affairs and Frontier Protection   Judiciary No. 2   Military Affairs   Private Land Claims   Public Buildings and Grounds   Revision of Senate Rules of Order and Joint Committee on Rules of Joint Session   State Affairs   Stock and Stock Raising   Treasurer's and Comptroller's Department

14th R.S. - 1874 Asylums   Constitutional Amendments   Immigration   Indian Affairs   Judiciary No. 1   Military Affairs   Public Debt   Public Lands and Land Office