R.L. Smith

Robert Lloyd Smith

Full Name: Robert Lloyd Smith
Date of birth: January 6, 1861
Date of death: July 10, 1942

Terms of Service top

Chamber District Dates of Service Legislatures Party City/County Note Counties in District
H 43 Jan 12, 1897 - Jan 10, 1899 25th (1)   Republican Oakland / Colorado   Colorado
H 43 Jan 8, 1895 - Jan 12, 1897 24th (2) (3) (4)   Republican Oakland / Colorado   Colorado

(1) Republican. Texas Legislative Manual.
(2) Republican. Biennial Report of the Secretary of State of the State of Texas: List of Senators and Representatives.
(3) District 43, composed of Colorado county. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004, 2005.
(4) Republican. "Official Returns," "The Next Legislature," The Galveston Daily News, 11/15/1894, p. 6, crediting Abilene Library Consortium. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries).

Terms of Service top

House District 43
Jan 12, 1897 - Jan 10, 1899
Legislatures: 25th (1)  
Party: Republican
Home City/County: Oakland / Colorado
Counties in district: Colorado
House District 43
Jan 8, 1895 - Jan 12, 1897
Legislatures: 24th (2) (3) (4)  
Party: Republican
Home City/County: Oakland / Colorado
Counties in district: Colorado

(1) Republican. Texas Legislative Manual.
(2) Republican. Biennial Report of the Secretary of State of the State of Texas: List of Senators and Representatives.
(3) District 43, composed of Colorado county. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004, 2005.
(4) Republican. "Official Returns," "The Next Legislature," The Galveston Daily News, 11/15/1894, p. 6, crediting Abilene Library Consortium. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries).

Biographical Information top

Selected newspaper articles

Resolutions and Journal entries

Biographical Sketches

  • Portrait and biographical sketch. Forever Free: Nineteenth Century African-American Legislators and Constitutional Convention Delegates of Texas, 2002.
  • SMITH, ROBERT LLOYD (1861-1942). Handbook of Texas Online.
  • Biographical sketch, pp. 75-76. History of the Republican Party in Texas 1865-1965, 1965.
  • Biographical sketch, Chapter VI, "Black Belt Politics," pp. 110-111. The Negro in Texas, 1874-1900, 1971.
  • Biographical sketch, pp. 101-104; Letter recalling 24th Legislature, "A personal afterword," pp. 120-121. Negro Legislators of Texas and Their Descendants: A History of the Negro in Texas Politics from Reconstruction to Disfranchisement, 1935.
  • Biographical sketch. p. 15. "He was born January 6, 1861 in Charleston, South Carolina, of free parents." Robert Lloyd Smith and the Farmers' Improvement Society of Texas, 1974.
  • Biographical sketch, Robert L. Smith, p. 159. Born 1/6/1861 in Charleston, South Carolina. Texas State Government: A Volume of Biographical Sketches and Passing Comment, 25th Legislature, 1897.
  • Biographical sketch, pp. 66-67, "He [Robert Lloyd Smith] was reelected in the same county in 1897, making him the only black to serve in the Twenty-fifth Legislature and the last black to sit in the Texas Legislature until Barbara Jordan was elected to the Senate in 1966." Birth year 1861, death year 1942, Appendix D. Through Many Dangers, Toils, and Snares: Black Leadership in Texas, 1868-1898, 2016.
  • Biographical sketch and photos, "Teacher, Statesman, Pioneer: Former Legislator Founded Group That Helped Long-Term Prosperity for Blacks in Texas," 1/15/2011, p. 1D.
    Biographical sketch, exhibit at the Texas Collection at Baylor University, and photos, "Exhibit Hails Black Pioneer: Texas Collection Celebrates Legacy of Robert Lloyd Smith, Founder of Farmers Improvement Society," 2/4/2012, p. 1D. Member of the Texas House of Representatives in 1894 and 1896. Waco Tribune-Herald.

Other Resources

  • Photo, p. 120; founder of Farmers' Improvement Society, pp. 90, 148-149; state business league, p. 153. Black Texans: A History of African Americans in Texas, 1528-1995, 1996.
  • Robert Loyd Smith, birth date 1/8/1863 in South Carolina; death date 7/10/1942 in Waco, McLennan County, Texas; teacher. FamilySearch Texas Deaths, 1890-1976.
  • Robert Lloyd Smith (1861-1942), burial in Greenwood Cemetery, Waco, McLennan County. Includes photos of R.L. Smith Elementary School in Waco and Texas State Cemetery memorial for Reconstruction Legislators. Find a Grave.
  • Mentioned in Negro Legislators of Texas and Their Descendants, 1970.

Photographs

Composite Photographs on Display in the Capitol

Committee Information top

25th R.S. - 1897
Education  
Institute for the Colored Deaf, Dumb and Blind, Special  
Penitentiaries  
Public Printing  
24th R.S. - 1895
Education  
Military Affairs  
Privileges and Elections  
Ventilation of the House, Special  

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