J.F. Onion

John Frank Onion

Full Name: John Frank Onion
Date of birth: February 28, 1862
Date of death: October 31, 1918

Terms of Service top

Chamber District Dates of Service Legislatures Party City/County Note Counties in District
H 92 Jan 8, 1907 - Nov 14, 1908 30th (1)   Democrat San Antonio / Bexar   Bexar
H 92 Jan 10, 1905 - Jan 8, 1907 29th   Democrat San Antonio / Bexar   Bexar
H 92 Jan 13, 1903 - Jan 10, 1905 28th   Democrat San Antonio / Bexar   Bexar
H 23 Jan 10, 1893 - Mar 23, 1894 23rd (2)   Democrat Tyler / Smith   Smith

(1) Onion resigned 11/14/1908. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004, 2005.
(2) Onion resigned 3/23/1894. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004, 2005.

Terms of Service top

House District 92
Jan 8, 1907 - Nov 14, 1908
Legislatures: 30th (1)  
Party: Democrat
Home City/County: San Antonio / Bexar
Counties in district: Bexar
House District 92
Jan 10, 1905 - Jan 8, 1907
Legislatures: 29th  
Party: Democrat
Home City/County: San Antonio / Bexar
Counties in district: Bexar
House District 92
Jan 13, 1903 - Jan 10, 1905
Legislatures: 28th  
Party: Democrat
Home City/County: San Antonio / Bexar
Counties in district: Bexar
House District 23
Jan 10, 1893 - Mar 23, 1894
Legislatures: 23rd (2)  
Party: Democrat
Home City/County: Tyler / Smith
Counties in district: Smith

(1) Onion resigned 11/14/1908. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004, 2005.
(2) Onion resigned 3/23/1894. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004, 2005.

Biographical Information top

Resolutions and Journal entries

  • Mentioned in 86th Legislature, R.S., HR 942, In memory of former presiding judge John F. "Jack" Onion, Jr., of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, "grandson of former state representative John Frank Onion." Resolutions - Memorial.

Biographical Sketches

  • Biographical sketch of John F. Onion in oral history of his grandson. John F. Onion (died 1918) elected to Texas House of Representatives from Tyler and San Antonio; came to Tyler, Smith County, Texas, from Harrison County, Indiana in 1877; marriage to Victoria Harper; four children.
    John F. Onion's son was Frank Leslie Onion (1890-1955), who later took the name John F. Onion, Jr. ("Pete"), "then dropped the 'Junior,' as many families did in those days when the Senior—they didn‘t call them 'Seniors'—when the elder person with the name died." John F. "Pete" Onion's son was John F. Onion, Jr., born 1925. Oral Memoirs of John Frank Onion Jr., 5/17/2010. Baylor University Institute for Oral History, Baylor University.

Other Resources

  • Obituary and photo, "John F. Onion Dies After Brief Illness: Body Will Be Shipped to San Antonio Tonight for Burial; Prominent Dallas Man Who Died Yesterday," 11/1/1918, p. 7. Born 2/28/1862 in Harrison County, Indiana; died 10/31/1918. In 1892, "elected to the lower House from Smith County. At the end of the Twenty-Third Legislature he moved to Bexar County and was elected to the Twenty-Eighth, Twenty-Ninth and Thirtieth Legislatures." Dallas Morning News.
  • John F. Onion, birth date 2/28/1862 in Indiana; death date 10/31/1918 in Dallas, Dallas County, Texas; lawyer, Vice President Southland Life. FamilySearch Texas Deaths, 1890-1976.
  • John F. Onion, birth date 2/28/1862, death date 10/31/1918, burial in Knights of Pythias Cemetery, San Antonio, Bexar County. Includes reprint of obituary in the San Antonio Light, 11/2/1918. Find a Grave.
  • Obituary, "Funeral of Judge Onion to Be Held Here Today," San Antonio Express, 11/3/1918, p. 24, crediting the Abilene Library Consortium. Death date 10/31/1918. Represented Tyler and San Antonio in the state legislature. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries).
  • 29th Legislature (1905) - J.F. Onion, postoffice San Antonio, nativity Indiana, age 42 (born circa 1863), lawyer, Democrat. Texas Legislative Manual.

Photographs

  • Photograph. J.F. Onion, 30th Legislature, State Preservation Board
  • Photograph. J.F. Onion, 29th Legislature, State Preservation Board
  • Photograph. J.F. Onion, 28th Legislature, State Preservation Board
  • Photograph. J.F. Onion, 23rd Legislature, Texas State Library and Archives Commission
  • Photograph. J.T. Onion, 23rd Legislature, State Preservation Board

Composite Photographs on Display in the Capitol

Committee Information top

30th R.S. - 1907
Constitutional Amendments  
Criminal Jurisprudence  
Liquor Traffic  
29th R.S. - 1905
Criminal Jurisprudence  
Judiciary  
Municipal Corporations  
Pan American College of Commerce  
Pan-American Trade Relations and Projected Trades College, Special (Co-Chair) 
Public Lands and Land Office  
Revenue and Taxation  
State Asylums (Chair) 
28th R.S. - 1903
Irrigation  
Judicial Districts  
Judiciary No. 2  
Revenue and Taxation  
23rd R.S. - 1893
Insurance, Statistics and History  
Internal Improvements  
Judicial Districts  
Judiciary No. 1  
Penitentiaries (Chair) 
Penitentiaries  
State Asylums  

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