Matthew Washington Gaines

Full Name: Matthew Washington Gaines
Date of birth: August 4, 1840
Date of death: June 11, 1900

Terms of Service
Biographical Notes
Committee Information

Terms of Service top

Chamber	District	Dates of Service	Legislatures	Party	City/County	Note	Counties in District
S	16	Feb 8, 1870 - Jan 13, 1874	12th ⁽⁴⁾ ⁽⁵⁾ 13th ⁽¹⁾ ⁽²⁾ ⁽³⁾	Radical Republican	Brenham / Washington		Washington

(1) Entire Senate went up for reelection due to Senatorial redistricting. Act passed Apr. 24, 1873 [presented to Governor May 1, 1873 and became law without his signature], 13th Legislature, R.S., ch. 35, Apportionment Laws of Texas, 1836-1950, 1950.
(2) Republican. Directory of the Members of the Thirteenth Legislature of the State of Texas, 1873.
(3) "Returning radicals [to the 13th Legislature] were Thomas H. Baker, Webster Flanagan, S.W. Ford, Albert J. Fountain, Matthew Gaines, Phidello W. Hall, Henry Rawson, George T. Ruby, William A. Saylor, and Robert P. Tendick," p. 145. The Texas Senate: Volume II, Civil War to the Eve of Reform, 1861-1889, 1999.
(4) 12th Legislature, 1st C.S. - Drawing for Terms of Office, 5/2/1870, pp. 51-52. Drew 6-year term. Senate Journal.
(5) Party affiliation, Radical. Roster of members, 12th Legislature, 1870. Texas Almanac for . . . and Emigrant's Guide to Texas.

Terms of Service top

Senate District 16
Feb 8, 1870 - Jan 13, 1874
Legislatures: 12th ⁽⁴⁾ ⁽⁵⁾ 13th ⁽¹⁾ ⁽²⁾ ⁽³⁾
Party: Radical Republican
Home City/County: Brenham / Washington
Counties in district: Washington

Biographical Information top

Selected newspaper articles

Resolutions and Journal entries

77th Legislature, R.S., HR 753. Resolutions - Congratulatory and Honorary.
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 - Congratulatory and Honorary. SB 667 SCR 13
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
12th Legislature, Provisional Session - Mathew Gaines. Senate Journal.
14th Legislature, Regular Session - Seth Shepard and Matthew Gaines election contest: Memorial of Shepard protesting the seating of Matthew Gaines, 3/17/1874, pp. 176-178. Presentation of Gaines' credentials, 3/20/1874, pp. 189-190. Shepard prevailed in election contest over Gaines, report of Committee on Privileges and Elections 3/24/1874, printed in journal 3/25/1874, pp. 207-217. Memorial of C.B. Francis, claiming to have been elected Senator from the 16th District, does not delay seating of the Hon. Seth Shepard as Senator from said district; Shepard qualified and was seated immediately, 3/26/1874, pp. 220-221, 225-226. Gaines never seated. Senate Journal.

Biographical Sketches

Portrait and biographical sketch: "Matt Gaines: Reconstruction politician," pp. 48-81. Black Leaders: Texans for Their Times, 1981.
Biographical information in Alwyn Barr, "Black Legislators of Reconstruction Texas," Volume 32, Number 4, December 1986, pp. 340-352. Civil War History.
Portrait and biographical sketch, Matthew (Matt) Gaines. Born Pineville, near Alexandria, Louisiana, 8/4/1840 or 1842, died Giddings, Texas, 6/11/1900. Forever Free: Nineteenth Century African-American Legislators and Constitutional Convention Delegates of Texas, 2002.
Mentioned in footnote 5, p. 264, Gideon Lincecum, 1793-1874: a Biography, by Lois Wood Burkhalter. "During the Reconstruction, Negroes found their military and political services in demand by the Texas Republican Party." Google Books.
GAINES, MATTHEW (1840-1900). Handbook of Texas Online.
Portrait, biographical information, and statements concerning the Matthew Gaines memorial at Texas A&M. Matthew Gaines Memorial Homepage.
Portrait, description of Senate speech, biographical sketch, and list of legislation authored by Gaines. Negro Legislators of Texas and Their Descendants: A History of the Negro in Texas Politics from Reconstruction to Disfranchisement, 1935.
"Reconstructing a Legacy: The Trials and Accomplishments of Black Legislators in Post-Civil War Texas," by Michael Hurd, July 2021, pp. 68-71. Texas Highways.
Biographical sketch, background, and oratory of Matthew Washington Gaines, pp. 102-105. The Texas Senate: Volume II, Civil War to the Eve of Reform, 1861-1889, 1999.
Portrait, biographical sketch, and "Matthew Gaines: The Militant," pp. 19, 169-179. Birth date 8/4/1840; death date 6/11/1900. Through Many Dangers, Toils, and Snares: Black Leadership in Texas, 1868-1898, 2016.

Other Resources

Mentioned in Black Texans: a History of African Americans in Texas, 1528-1995, 1996.
Matthew Gaines, state senator from the 16th Senate district, and legislative agenda in the 12th Legislature, pp. 173-175. The Confederates of Chappell Hill, Texas: Prosperity, Civil War and Decline, 2005.
Listing of Matthew Gaines' grandchildren provided by Ronnie Jackson, Jr., grandson of Monzella Brown; origin of paperwork unknown. Matthew Gaines Working File.
Photo, mentioned in Minority Civil Rights and the Texas Legislature, 2018.
Mentioned in Chapter VI, "Black Belt Politics." The Negro in Texas, 1874-1900, 1971.
Mentioned in Negro Legislators of Texas and Their Descendants, 1970.
Mentioned, pp. 147-156. Time of Hope, Time of Despair: Black Texans During Reconstruction, 1981.

Photographs

Photograph. Matthew Gaines, 13th Legislature, DeGolyer Library, SMU, Lawrence T. Jones III Texas Photographs
Photograph. Matthew Gaines, 13th Legislature, State Preservation Board
Photograph. Matthew Gaines, State Preservation Board

Composite Photographs on Display in the Capitol

13th session composite photo of Senate and House members (Ground floor elevator vestibule, east wall. GW.V3). State Preservation Board.
Pictorial Monogram of the State Government of Texas 1873 (DeGolyer Library, SMU, Lawrence T. Jones III Collection). DeGolyer Library, SMU, Lawrence T. Jones III Texas Photographs.

Committee Information top

13th R.S. - 1873 Federal Relations Immigration Penitentiary Roads, Bridges and Ferries
12th Adjourned - 1871 Counties and County Boundaries Elections Indian Affairs and Frontier Protection Journal Clerk (Chair) Penitentiary Privileges and Elections
12th R.S. - 1871 Counties and County Boundaries Elections Indian Affairs and Frontier Protection Penitentiary Privileges and Elections
12th 1st C.S. - 1870 Counties and County Boundaries Elections Indian Affairs and Frontier Protection Penitentiary Privileges and Elections Public School Lands
12th Provisional - 1870 Elections

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