Terms of Service top

Chamber	District	Dates of Service	Legislatures	Party	City/County	Note	Counties in District
S	25	Aug 6, 1866 - Feb 7, 1870	11th (1) (2) (3)		Gonzales / Gonzales		Caldwell, Gonzales, Guadalupe
H	64	Nov 4, 1861 - Apr 4, 1862	9th (4)		Gonzales / Gonzales		Gonzales

(1) 11th Legislature - All 33 Senate districts listed in roll call presenting credentials, oath of office administered, 8/6/1866, pp. 2, 4-5. Senate Journal.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
(4) William Wade, sworn 2/2/1863, succeeded James W. Stell, resigned 4/4/1862. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004, 2005.

Biographical Notes and Resources top

Resolutions and Journal entries

• Member roster, 11th Legislature, Regular Session: J.W. Stell, Gonzales, Gonzales County, nativity Georgia, lawyer, no age in 1866 listed. Senate Journal.

Other Resources

• Jeptha Warren Stell, birth date 9/24/1827, marriage to Elizabeth Bush Phillips 11/28/1848, Kelm-Sharp Family Tree. Ancestry.com.
• Census of 1850 - Jeptha W. Stell, Jackson County, Louisiana, age 23, born circa 1827 in Georgia, lawyer, living in household with Elizabeth, Mariah E.
  Census of 1860 - J.W. Stell, Gonzales, Gonzales County, age 32, born circa 1828 in Georgia, lawyer, living in household with Eliz, Eugene, M.F. (?), Bush.
  Census of 1870 - Jeptha W. Stell, Gonzales, Gonzales County, age 42, born circa 1828 in Georgia, lawyer, living in household with Elizabeth B., Eugene H., Mariah E., Bush M. FamilySearch. 1850 1860 1870
• J.W. Stell, death date 1/24/1874, aged 46 years and 4 months, burial in Gonzales Masonic Cemetery, Gonzales, Gonzales County. Find a Grave.
• "Annexation of Louisiana Territory to Texas," 1/3/1874, p. 2. Texas Democratic State Convention resolution adopted "last September" on motion of Hon. J.W. Stell of Gonzalez.
  "Personal," 2/4/1874, p. 2. "Col. J.W. Stell, a prominent West Texan, died near Gonzales on 24th ultimo." (Death date 1/24/1874, ultimo: in or of the month before the present one.) Galveston Daily News.
• Senator James W. Stell, opposition to state cemetery and dividing Texas, pp. 74, 76. The Texas Senate: Volume II, Civil War to the Eve of Reform, 1861-1889, 1999.
• Death notice, "Jeptha W. Stell, an old and prominent citizen of this state, died recently at Gonzales (2/19/1874)." McKinney Messenger, Collin County, TXGenWeb Project.
• Message board post, Betty Reid, 2/20/2000: "Elizabeth BUSH PHILLIPS STELL was the wife of J W Stell who was a state legislator from Gonzales . . . They had three children Eugene, Bush Malone, and Mariah E. The Stells moved from Louisiana in the 1850s." Gonzales County, TXGenWeb Project.

Photographs

• Photograph. J.W. Stell, 11th Legislature, 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

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 Jefferson Davis, Petition to Release, Select   Judiciary   State Affairs (Chair)  Stock and Stock Raising

9th R.S. - 1861 Engrossed Bills   Finance   Governor's Veto Message   Indian Affairs