Terms of Service top

Chamber	District	Dates of Service	Legislatures	Party	City/County	Note	Counties in District
S	16	Aug 6, 1866 - Feb 7, 1870	11th (1) (2)		Houston / Harris		Brazoria, Fort Bend, Harris
S	18	Nov 9, 1859 - Nov 4, 1861	8th (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)		Houston / Harris		Harris

(1) Constitution of 1866, Article III, §§ 29, 30, retained the apportionment of 1860 for Senatorial districts. Texas Constitutions Digitization Project (Tarlton Law Library, The University of Texas at Austin), 2009.
(2) Entire Senate went up for reelection - Constitution of 1869, Article III, § 39. Texas Constitutions Digitization Project (Tarlton Law Library, The University of Texas at Austin), 2009.
(3) Entire Senate went up for reelection due to Senatorial redistricting. Act passed Feb. 6, 1860, 8th Legislature, ch. 45, Apportionment Laws of Texas, 1836-1950, 1950.
(4) "In April 1860 two seemingly unrelated meetings of Unionists occurred . . . The newly created Constitutional Union party met in the Tyler courthouse to nominate delegates to that party's national convention. A.M. Gentry, . . . Anthony Bannon Norton, Benjamin Holland Epperson, and Lemuel D. Evans, completed a quartet made up of two Whigs, a Know-Nothing, and a Union Democrat. "Origins of Early Texas Republican Party Leadership," Vol. 40, No. 3, pp. 444. Journal of Southern History.
(5) 8th Legislature, Regular Session - Not present at the organization of the Senate. First mentioned in appointments to Senate committees, 11/9/1859, p. 10. Senate Journal.
(6) Included on list of leaders of the Texas Constitutional Union Party in 1860. The party was formed in January of 1860. "The Constitutional Union Party in Texas," Vol. 82, No. 3, p. 238, 256-262. Southwestern Historical Quarterly.
(7) 8th Legislature - One of 15 newcomers to the Senate, 8th Regular Session, p. 302. The Texas Senate: Volume I, Republic to Civil War, 1836-1861, 1990.

Biographical Notes and Resources top

Resolutions and Journal entries

• Member roster, 11th Legislature, Regular Session: A.M. Gentry, Houston, Harris County, President Railroad, age 50 in 1866 (born circa 1816). Senate Journal.

Biographical Sketches

• GENTRY, ABRAM MORRIS (1821-1883). Handbook of Texas Online.
• Biographical sketch and portrait. Texas Album of the Eighth Legislature, 1860.

Other Resources

• ". . . one of four delegates representing Texas at the National Constitutional Union Conventions commencing May 9 at Baltimore." Baggett, James Alex, "Origins of Early Texas Republican Party Leadership," The Journal of Southern History, Vol.40(3), August 1974, p. 444. Journal of Southern History.
• Gentry was one of four delegates elected to the Constitutional Union Party's national convention in Baltimore. "Senator Abram M. Gentry, who as a Union Democrat had been a very active participant at the earlier San Jacinto assembly." "The Constitutional Union Party in Texas," Vol. 82, No. 3, p. 240. Southwestern Historical Quarterly.

Photographs

• Photograph. Abram Gentry, 8th Legislature, Texas Album of the Eighth Legislature

Composite Photographs on Display in the Capitol

• 11th session composite photo of Senate members (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History). By the Austin Photograph Co., Prints and Photographs Collection, [identifier number: di_03923, di_03924], The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

Committee Information top

11th R.S. - 1866 Freedmen   Internal Improvements (Chair)

8th R.S. - 1859 Finance   Internal Improvements   Penitentiary   Public Grounds and Public Buildings   Revenue Laws   Roads, Bridges and Ferries   State Affairs