Chamber	District	Dates of Service	Legislatures	Party	City/County	Note	Counties in District
H	30	Feb 14, 1870 - Feb 14, 1870	12th ⁽¹⁾ ⁽²⁾ ⁽³⁾	Radical Republican	Brownsville / Cameron		Atascosa, Cameron, Dimmit, Duval, El Paso, Frio, Hidalgo, Karnes, Kinney, La Salle, Live Oak, McMullen, Maverick, Medina, Nueces, Presidio, Starr, Uvalde, Webb, Zapata, Zavala, Encinal

(1) Plato was unseated in a "particlularly flagrant" way: he did not receive notice of the contest until the legislature convened; he was given no time to collect evidence; the majority report that unseated him threw out the vote of Cameron County," p. 289. A Comprehensive History of Texas, 1685 to 1897.
(2) Ferdinand Schlickum, sworn 2/14/1870, succeeded Nelson Plato, unseated in election contest 2/14/1870. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004, 2005.
(3) "In each house the radicals had a slight majority over both Democrats and conservative Republicans. . .These made short work of the [election] contests; the radical contestants were seated in nearly every instance. Several of those who lost their seats were leading Hamilton Republicans, as A.J. Evans in the senate and M.L. Armstrong in the house. . .fn3, One case that seems particularly flagrant was the unseating of Nelson Plato (Dem.) of the Brownsville district," p. 289. Reconstruction in Texas, 1910.

Biographical Notes and Resources top

Biographical Sketches

Description of Radical Republican takeover of Brownsville during reconstruction: Israel Bigelow and, eventually, Jerry Galvan ousted; Ferdinand Schlickum sent to first Republican Convention; Rip Ford wounded in fight with the sheriff, pp. 305-309. I Would Rather Sleep in Texas: a History of the Lower Rio Grande Valley and the People of the Santa Anita Land Grant, 2003.

Other Resources

Ferdinand Schlickum funeral on 11/14/1876, "Austin History Center Newspaper Index July 26, 1871-Dec 21, 1877." . Austin Genealogical Society, 2001.

Committee Information top

12th Adjourned - 1871 Immigration Private Land Claims
12th R.S. - 1871 Immigration Indian Affairs Private Land Claims
12th 1st C.S. - 1870 Federal Relations Finance

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