Texas Legislators: Past & Present

Eldred James Simkins

Full Name: Eldred James Simkins
Other surnames: Sempkins
Birth date: October 13, 1839
Death date: June 25, 1903

Terms of Service

Senate, 22nd ⁽¹⁾ ⁽³⁾ ⁽⁴⁾ ⁽⁸⁾ Legislature
1/13/1891 - 4/30/1892
Democrat
Senate, 21st ⁽²⁾ ⁽⁶⁾ & 20th ⁽⁵⁾ ⁽⁷⁾ Legislatures
1/11/1887 - 1/13/1891
Democrat

(1) 2-year term; entire Senate went up for reelection in 1892 due to redistricting. Act approved Apr. 19, 1892, 22nd Legislature, 1st C.S., ch. 20. Apportionment Laws of Texas, 1836-1950 1950.
(2) Democrat. Biennial Report of the Secretary of State of the State of Texas: List of Senators and Representatives .
(3) Democrat. Biennial Report of the Secretary of State of the State of Texas: List of Senators and Representatives .
(4) Simkins resigned 4/30/1892. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004 2005.
(5) Roster of senators and representatives of the 20th Legislature with their postoffice address, Austin Weekly Statesman, "Governmental," 12/30/1886, p. 6. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries) .
(6) E.J. Sempkins, Senate District 15. List of Senators of the 21st Legislature, "The State Senate: Members-Elect in the Different Districts - Austin Local Notes," Galveston Daily News, 11/20/1888, p. 6, crediting Abilene Library Consortium. "There are two independents in the list. The rest are democratic nominees." Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries) .
(7) 20th Legislature - Roll call of new members, oath of office administered, 1/11/1887, p. 1. Senate Journal .
(8) 22nd Legislature - 1/13/1891, p. 1, listed as new member in roll call: "The credentials of the new members were presented, and the following senators had the oath of office administered them by the president pro tem of the senate." Senate Journal .

Biographical Notes and Resources

Selected Newspaper articles

Photographs

Photograph. E.J. Simkins, Texas Jurists Collection
Photograph. E.J. Simkins, State Preservation Board
Photograph. E.J. Simkins, State Preservation Board
Photograph. E.J. Simkins, State Preservation Board

Other Resources

Mentioned in "After 55 years, naming of dorm for Klansman to be reconsidered," 5/20/2010. Austin American-Statesman .
SIMKINS, ELDRED JAMES (1839-1903). Handbook of Texas Online .
Biographical sketch, Eldred J. Simkins, pp. 313-314. Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas 1890.
Biographical sketch and portrait, Eldred James Simkins, Judge, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, 1892-1894. Born 10/13/1838. Justices of Texas, 1836-1986 (Tarlton Law Library, The University of Texas at Austin) 2004.
Biographical sketch, Eldred James Simkins, pp. 84-85. Personnel of the Texas State Government with Sketches of Distinguished Texans, 20th Legislature 1887.
Biographical sketch, Eldred James Simkins, pp. 183-185. Personnel of the Texas State Government with Sketches of Distinguished Texans, 21st Legislature 1889.
Confederate States Army, Hampton Legion, then First Regular Confederate artillery regiment. Personnel of the Texas State Government with Sketches of Distinguished Texans, 21st Legislature 1889.
Biographical sketch, Eldred J. Simkins, pp. 213-215. Born 10/13/1839 in Edgefield District, South Carolina. Personnel of the Texas State Government with Sketches of Representative Men of Texas, 22nd Legislature 1892.
Biographical sketch. Lewis Publishing Company. Memorial and Biographical History of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon Counties, Texas, 1893, pp. 491-492, crediting Palestine Public Library. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries) .
Discussed in article about brother William Stewart Simkins, "‘Keep the Negroes Out of Most Classes Where There Are a Large Number of Girls’: The Unseen Power of the Ku Klux Klan and Standardized Testing at The University of Texas, 1899-1999," Thomas D. Russell, University of Denver, Sturm College of Law, March 22, 2010. Social Science Research Network 2010.
Mentioned in introduction to "Why the Ku Klux," by brother William Stewart Simkins, The University of Texas at Austin School of Law, June 1916. Reprinted in collection of documents for American Legal History course of Thomas D. Russell, University of Denver, Sturm College of Law. The Alcalde .
Biographical sketch, pp. 367-368. The Texas Senate: Volume II, Civil War to the Eve of Reform, 1861-1889 1999.
The History of the Judge E.J. Simkins Homestead by Herchel Stephens and Mrs. Allen Edens, Jr., Navarro County Scroll, Vol XX, 1975, used with permission of the Navarro County Texas Historical Society. Includes historical marker and biographical sketch of Judge Eldred James Simkins (1839-1903). Navarro County, TXGenWeb Project .
Biographical sketch, Eldred James Simkins, pp. 451-453. Types of Successful Men of Texas 1890.