Benjamin Franklin Williams

Full Name: Benjamin Franklin Williams
Date of birth: 1819
Date of death: February 27, 1886

Terms of Service
Biographical Notes
Committee Information

Terms of Service top

Chamber	District	Dates of Service	Legislatures	Party	City/County	Counties in District
H	53	Jan 13, 1885 - Feb 27, 1886	19th ⁽¹⁾	Republican	Richmond / Fort Bend	Fort Bend, Waller
H	37	Jan 14, 1879 - Jan 11, 1881	16th ⁽²⁾ ⁽³⁾ ⁽⁴⁾ ⁽⁵⁾	Republican	East Bernard / Wharton	Fort Bend, Waller, Wharton
H	25	Feb 9, 1870 - Jan 14, 1873	12th ⁽⁶⁾ ⁽⁷⁾ ⁽⁸⁾	Radical Republican	Columbus / Colorado	Colorado, Lavaca

(1) Postoffice Richmond. Rules of Order of the House of Representatives of the Nineteenth Legislature, 1885.
(2) Republican, 1/14/1879, p. 1. Galveston Daily News.
(3) Democrat. Texas Legislative Manual, 1879-80, 1879.
(4) East Bernard, Wharton County. Texas Legislative Manual, 1879-80, 1879.
(5) Regular Republicans carried Fort Bend County and B.F. Williams was elected, p. 129. Through Many Dangers, Toils, and Snares: Black Leadership in Texas, 1868-1898, 2016.
(6) 12th Legislature, Provisional Session - Qualified and took the oath of office on 2/9/1870. House Journal.
(7) Party affiliation, Radical. Texas Almanac for . . . and Emigrant's Guide to Texas.
(8) Radical Republican Association, established 6/4/1870, p. 26. Through Many Dangers, Toils, and Snares: Black Leadership in Texas, 1868-1898, 2016.

Terms of Service top

House District 53
Jan 13, 1885 - Feb 27, 1886
Legislatures: 19th ⁽¹⁾
Party: Republican
Home City/County: Richmond / Fort Bend
Counties in district: Fort Bend, Waller

House District 37
Jan 14, 1879 - Jan 11, 1881
Legislatures: 16th ⁽²⁾ ⁽³⁾ ⁽⁴⁾ ⁽⁵⁾
Party: Republican
Home City/County: East Bernard / Wharton
Counties in district: Fort Bend, Waller, Wharton

House District 25
Feb 9, 1870 - Jan 14, 1873
Legislatures: 12th ⁽⁶⁾ ⁽⁷⁾ ⁽⁸⁾
Party: Radical Republican
Home City/County: Columbus / Colorado
Counties in district: Colorado, Lavaca

Biographical Information top

Resolutions and Journal entries

79th Legislature, R.S., HR 589, paying tribute to African American legislators and constitutional convention delegates of 1868-1900. Resolutions - Congratulatory and Honorary.
81st Legislature, R.S., HCR 81, paying tribute to African American legislators and constitutional convention delegates. Resolutions - Congratulatory and Honorary.
85th Legislature, R.S., HR 452, celebrating Black History Month and honoring the leadership and vision of African American lawmakers. Resolutions - Congratulatory and Honorary.
88th Legislature, R.S., SCR 13, Recognizing the Texas Black Reconstruction Legislators Recognition Act. SB 667, Texas Black Reconstruction Legislators Recognition Act. Resolutions - Legislative Policy. SB 667 SCR 13
20th Legislature, R.S., House receives the "sad intelligence" of the deaths of Hon. A.M. Taylor of Red River county and Hon. B.F. Williams of Fort Bend county; House resolution adopted 1/20/1887, p. 97. Resolutions - Memorial.

Biographical Sketches

Biographical information in Alwyn Barr, "Black Legislators of Reconstruction Texas," Volume 32, Number 4, December 1986, pp. 340-352. Civil War History.
Narrative history, Founded By Freedmen, Continued by Faith: A History of St. Paul United Methodist Church of Columbus, Texas: Colorado County’s Oldest African American Church, By Vince Leibowitz, Research by Vince Leibowitz and Antrey Waddle, Based Upon a Historical Sketch by Lucille Chase and Additional Published Work by Dorothy Fitzgerald, further Utilizing Original Research and Narratives by Velva Whitley Burrell and Previously Published Historical Sketches by Bill Stein for Submission to the Texas Historical Commission In Consideration for a Texas Undertold Stories Historical Marker, June 2019. Donated Material.
Portrait and biographical sketch, Benjamin Franklin (B.F.) Williams. Born Brunswick County, Virginia, ca. 1819 or 1825; died Kendleton, Texas, date unknown. Forever Free: Nineteenth Century African-American Legislators and Constitutional Convention Delegates of Texas, 2002.
WILLIAMS, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1819-1886). Death date 2/27/1886. Handbook of Texas Online.
Biographical sketch, B.F. Williams, p. 57. Personnel of the Texas State Government for 1885, 19th Legislature, 1885.
Biographical sketch, p. 262. Texas Legislative Manual, 1879-80, 1879.
Portrait and biographical sketch, pp. xviii, 3. Williams was minister of Wesley Methodist Chapel in Austin, "which forbade blacks from attending if they were not Republicans." Included in list of eleven African-American delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1868-1869, Appendix A. Birth year 1825, death year 1886, Appendix D. Through Many Dangers, Toils, and Snares: Black Leadership in Texas, 1868-1898, 2016.

Other Resources

Biographical information, nominated for Speaker of the House in 12th Legislature, p. 56 and footnote 31, p. 77. Black Leaders: Texans for Their Times, 1981.
One of nine African-American delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1868-1869 (the Reconstruction Convention), Volume I, p. 731. D.W. Burley and Sheppard Mullens not included in list of African-American delegates. East Texas: Its History and Its Makers, 1940.
"In its statistics of the House of Representatives, the State Journal says . . . The tallest member is Hon. B.F. Williams, of Colorado, who measures six feet two inches. The shortest is Hon. Wm. Schlotman, of Washington, five feet, three inches. The heavy man is Hon. J.W. Lane, Democrat, of Dallas, who carries 240 pounds without seeming to mind it." 5/29/1870, p. 2. Galveston Daily News.
Mentioned in Minority Civil Rights and the Texas Legislature, 2018.
Benjamin F. Williams appointments in Methodist Episcopal Church: Texas Mission Conference, Texas Mission District, Columbus, January 3-5, 1867, pp. 8-9; Texas Mission Conference, Texas District, Austin, January 2-4, 1868, pp. 9-10; Texas Conference, Texas District, Austin, January 25-27, 1869, pp. 8-10; Texas Conference, Austin District, Austin, January 14-17, 1870, pp. 6-8; Texas Conference, Houston District, Columbus, January 8-13, 1873, pp. 8-9; West Texas Conference, Columbus District, Columbus, January 28-February 1, 1875, pp. 12-13. Minutes of the Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1840-1940.
Mentioned in Chapter VI, "Black Belt Politics." The Negro in Texas, 1874-1900, 1971.
Mentioned in Negro Legislators of Texas and Their Descendants, 1970.
Constitutional Convention 1868-1869 and resignation, Radical conventions 1868, pp. 20, 26, 29. Negro Legislators of Texas and Their Descendants: A History of the Negro in Texas Politics from Reconstruction to Disfranchisement, 1935.
Mentioned, pp. 147-156. Time of Hope, Time of Despair: Black Texans During Reconstruction, 1981.

Photographs

Photograph. B.F. Williams, 19th Legislature, State Preservation Board
Photograph. Benjamin Franklin (B.F.) Williams, State Preservation Board

Composite Photographs on Display in the Capitol

19th session composite photo of House members (House chamber vestibule, west wall. 2W.V1). State Preservation Board.

Committee Information top

19th R.S. - 1885 Finance Indian Affairs Privileges and Elections
16th R.S. - 1879 Counties and County Boundaries
12th Adjourned - 1871 Comptroller Misconduct Comptroller's and Treasurer's Offices, Examine Internal Improvements Printing and Contingent Expenses
12th R.S. - 1871 House Employees, Regulate Pay of Internal Improvements Printing and Contingent Expenses Rules
12th 1st C.S. - 1870 Alleged Illegal Sale of Newspapers by Officers of the House, Select Claims and Accounts Conduct of Comptroller A. Bledsoe, Select Committee House Officer and Employee Compensation, Select Internal Improvement
12th Provisional - 1870 Fourteenth and Fifteenth U.S. Constitutional Amendments, Passage of

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