George Thompson Ruby

Full Name: George Thompson Ruby
Date of birth: July 1, 1841
Date of death: October 31, 1882

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	12	Feb 8, 1870 - Jan 13, 1874	12th ⁽⁴⁾ ⁽⁵⁾ 13th ⁽¹⁾ ⁽²⁾ ⁽³⁾	Radical Republican	Galveston / Galveston		Brazoria, Galveston, Matagorda

(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 12
Feb 8, 1870 - Jan 13, 1874
Legislatures: 12th ⁽⁴⁾ ⁽⁵⁾ 13th ⁽¹⁾ ⁽²⁾ ⁽³⁾
Party: Radical Republican
Home City/County: Galveston / Galveston
Counties in district: Brazoria, Galveston, Matagorda

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

Biographical Sketches

Biographical sketch, pp. 12-13. Afro-American Texans, 1994.
Biographical sketch, Republican and constitutional conventions, legislation, pp. 44-48, 51-52, 68. Black Texans: a History of African Americans in Texas, 1528-1995, 1996.
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, George Thompson (G.T.) Ruby. Forever Free: Nineteenth Century African-American Legislators and Constitutional Convention Delegates of Texas, 2002.
Portrait and biographical sketch, The 1860s: George T. Ruby. Forever Free: Nineteenth Century African-American Legislators and Constitutional Convention Delegates of Texas, 2002.
Biography in LRL collection, 976.4 M742G 2020. George T. Ruby: Champion of Equal Rights in Reconstruction Texas, 2020.
RUBY, GEORGE THOMPSON (1841-1882). Birth date 7/1/1841. Handbook of Texas Online.
Biographical sketch. Historic Figures that Influenced the History of the Red and Canadian Basins.
Biographical sketch, Birth of the party, Republican conventions, pp. 5-8, 12-13. History of the Republican Party in Texas 1865-1965, 1965.
Constitutional Convention 1868-1869 and resignation letter, biographical sketch, Radical conventions 1868, pp. 20, 24-30; Ruby's letters to Governor E.J. Davis, pp. 55-57. Negro Legislators of Texas and Their Descendants: A History of the Negro in Texas Politics from Reconstruction to Disfranchisement, 1935.
Biographical sketch, p. 182. Overreached on All Sides: the Freedmen's Bureau in Texas Administrators, 1865-1868, 1991.
"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, p. 2, portrait and Chapter 11, "George T. Ruby: The Party Loyalist," pp. 180-189. Included in list of eleven African-American delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1868-1869, Appendix A. Birth year 1841, death year 1882, Appendix D. Through Many Dangers, Toils, and Snares: Black Leadership in Texas, 1868-1898, 2016.

Other Resources

"George T. Ruby: Reconstruction Politician/Journalist" by Donna L. Dickerson. Volume 15, No. 1, pp. 51-68. American Journalism, 1983.
Biographical information, pp. 55-57. 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.
George Ruby and James P. Butler mentioned in account of the Constitutional Convention of 1868-1869. The Howling of the Coyotes: Reconstruction Efforts to Divide Texas, 1979.
Photo, mentioned in Minority Civil Rights and the Texas Legislature, 2018.
Mentioned in Negro Legislators of Texas and Their Descendants, 1970.
Reconstruction Convention of 1868-1869 and biographical information, pp. 200-201. Reconstruction in Texas, 1910.
"George T. Ruby: A Black Militant in the White Business Community," pp. 269-280. Red River Valley Historical Review, 1974.
Mentioned in Republicanism in Reconstruction Texas, 1980.
Delegate to Constitutional Convention, 1868. Included in "List of Delegates to the Reconstruction Convention, As Announced in Special order No. 213, Dated Headquarters Fifth Military District, New Orleans, LA., April 13th, 1868." Journal of the Reconstruction Convention, Which Met at Austin, Texas, June 1, A.D., 1868 (1870), pp 533-534. Texas Constitutions Digitization Project (Tarlton Law Library, The University of Texas at Austin), 2009.
Mentioned in Time of Hope, Time of Despair: Black Texans During Reconstruction, 1981.

Photographs

Photograph. George T. Ruby, 13th Legislature, DeGolyer Library, SMU, Lawrence T. Jones III Texas Photographs
Photograph. George T. Ruby, 13th Legislature, State Preservation Board
Photograph. George T. Ruby, 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 Claims and Accounts Constitutional Amendments Contingent Expenses, Select Engrossed Bills Judiciary No. 2 Public Debt Redistricting/Apportionment, Select Rules, Select State Affairs
12th Adjourned - 1871 Contingent Expenses Engrossed Bills (Chair) Judiciary Militia Public Lands Superintendent of Education
12th R.S. - 1871 Contingent Expenses Engrossed Bills (Chair) Judiciary Militia Public Lands
12th 1st C.S. - 1870 Contingent Expenses Engrossed Bills (Chair) Judiciary Loss of Evidence in Contested Election, Select Militia Public Lands

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