Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas Page: 371 of 894
762 p., [172] leaves of plates : ill., ports. ; 30 cm.View a full description of this book.
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314
INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
Texas, he was its recognized champion. By constant
effort and labor, and by conciliatory methods,
he disarmed hostility, changed prejudice into friendliness,
and finally succeeded in winning, even from
its enemies, a recognition of the right of the University
to public support.
In 1890 he was re-elected, by a large majority, to
the State Senate from his district, after one of the
most prolonged and bitter contests ever recorded in
the political annals of Texas. The Senatorial Convention
(almost equally divided) cast more than
1800 ballots without making a nomination and
finally adjourned sine die, each side placing its
candidate before the people. He did yeoman service
on the stump for the triumph of the Democracy
in the exciting contest that followed before
the people, and the signal victory that was achieved
at the polls in November was mainly due to his
effort and the efforts of the friends who espoused
his cause.
In the Twenty-second Legislature he was Chairman
of the Senate Committee on Constitutional
Amendments, and was the author of the constitutional
amendment to the judiciary article which
was adopted in August, 1891, which totally changed
the appellate system of the State, separating the
criminal from the civil jurisdiction and preparing the
way for its separation in the district and county.
On the assembling of the Legislature in extra
session in February, 1892, he was made chairman
of the committee to frame the laws putting the new
system into operation, and the entire work of preparing
the necessary bills was relegated to him,and, after three weeks hard labor, his work was
presented and accepted by the committee and the
Legislature almost without a change, and is the
law to-day.
Immediately upon the adjournment of the Legislature
Judge White, the presiding judge of the
Court of Appeals, having resigned, Senator Simkins
was appointed in his place and went on the
bench at Austin, in May, 1892. In November,
1892, he was elected to fill the vacancy, and remained
on the bench until January 1, 1895, when
he was succeeded by the Hon. J. N. Henderson.
From his first opinion to the close of his term his
great effort was to strike down " judge-made"
technicalities and bring the administration of
criminal law to the test of reason and common
sense. This aroused a powerful opposition among
the criminal lawyers and led to his defeat in 1894
before the State convention.
On leaving the bench he returned to his home in
Corsicana.
He married Miss Eliza Trescot, of Beaufort,
S. C., and has a family of five living children.
He is a member of the Episcopal Church and
the Masonic Grand Lodge. The law firm of
Simkins
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Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas (Book)
A history of pioneers in Texas and their confrontations with local American Indians.
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Brown, John Henry. Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas, book, 1880~; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth6725/m1/371/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.