History of Texas, Together with a Biographical History of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson Counties. Page: 98
[7], iv-vii, [2], 10-826, [2] p., [56] leaves of plates : ill., ports. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this book.
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iISTORY OP TEXAS.
before issuing the order. The members of
the convention who believed in having a
formal order issued annulling all acts during
the period of secession, were called by nickname
"Ab Initios." Another difference concerned
the question of suffrage, a portion of
the convention being inclined to be more intolerant
toward the ex-Confederates than the
other party. For three months these opposing
factions argued these matters and made
but little progress in framing a constitution.
August 31 they adjourned to reassemble
December 7, and when they did meet again,
the differences appeared to be more irreconcilable
than ever; but finally the more liberal
party prevailed by a vote of thirty-seven
yeas against twenty-six nays, on February 3,
1869. The article concerning the franchise,
which was finally adopted, was drafted by
Governor Hamilton, and reads as follows:
" Every male citizen of the United States,
of the age of twenty-one years and upward,
not laboring under the disabilities named in
this constitution, without distinction of race,
color or former condition, who shall be a resident
of this State at the time of the adoption
of this constitution, or who shall thereafter
reside in this State one year, and in the
county in which le offers to vote sixty days
next preceding any election, shall be entitled
to vote for all officers that are now, or hereafter
may be, elected by the people, and upon
all questions submitted to the electors at any
election; provided, that no person shall be
allowed to vote or hold office who is now or
hereafter may be disqualified therefor by the
constitution of the United States, until such
disqualification shall be removed by the Congress
of the United States: provided further,
that no person, while kept in any asylum
or confined in prison, or who has been
convicted of a felony, or is of unsound mind,
shall be allowed to vote or hold office."/
But the very next day after the adoption
of the form of constitution to be submitted,namely, on February 4th, twenty-two of the
minority members signed a protest, the president,
E. J. Davis, being one of them. In
substance the objections they raised were:
That it was based on the assumption that the
constitution of the United States and the
accepted constitution of Texas of 1845 had
not been continuously the supreme law of
the land; that the article on the right of
suffrage enfranchised all those who voluntarily
became the public enemy of the United
States; that the majority of the convention
had deliberately removed from the constitution
every safeguard for the protection of the
loyal voter, white or black; had stricken from
it the whole system of registry; had repudiated
the oath of loyalty contained in the
reconstruction laws; had spurned the test of
equal civil and political rights, etc.
The convention was so disorderly as to not
adjourn in a formal and decent manner, and
the members left for their homes before the
journal of the proceedings was made up and
approved. General C(anby reported the trouble
to Washington, and on instruction proceeded
to gather together the records as well as lie
could and compile them in an orderly
shape.
The popular vote on the constitution, taken
November 30 following, resulted in 72,866
in favor of it, to 4,928 against it. At the
same election Edmund J. Davis was chosen
governor, and J. W. Flanagan lieutenant
governor. Members of the legislature were
also appointed, and an order was issued by
the military commander, summoning the legislature
to assemble at Austin February 8,
following.
Governor Pease, finding his position an
embarrassing one, the military rule being so
awkwardly* mixed in with civil affairs, that
lie resigned September 30, 1869, and ar in
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History of Texas, Together with a Biographical History of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson Counties. (Book)
Book containing a brief overview of the state of Texas and more specific focus on six specific counties, with extensive biographical sketches about persons related to the history of those places. An alphabetical index of persons who are included follows the table of contents at the front of the book.
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Lewis Publishing Company. History of Texas, Together with a Biographical History of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson Counties., book, 1893; Chicago, Illinois. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth29785/m1/103/?rotate=90: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.