Legislative Reference Library

Texas Legislators: Past & Present

William Harrison Bledsoe

W.H. Bledsoe
Full Name: William Harrison Bledsoe
Birth date: December 23, 1869
Death date: March 30, 1936

Terms of Service

  • Senate, 40th (9) & 39th (4) (8) Legislatures
    1/13/1925 - 1/8/1929
    Democrat
    Senate President Pro Tempore, Ad Interim R.S., elected 3/19/1925.
  • Senate, 38th (1) (7) Legislature
    1/9/1923 - 1/13/1925
    Democrat
  • Senate, 37th (6) & 36th (2) (5) Legislatures
    7/17/1919 - 1/9/1923
    Democrat
  • House, 36th (2) (5) Legislature
    1/14/1919 - 7/17/1919
    Democrat
  • House, 35th Legislature
    1/9/1917 - 1/14/1919
    Democrat
  • House, 34th (3) (10) Legislature
    10/9/1915 - 1/9/1917
    Democrat
(1) 2-year term; entire Senate went up for reelection in 1924 due to redistricting. Act approved 1921 and effective Apr. 1, 1924, 37th Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 60, Apportionment Laws of Texas, 1836-1950 1950.
(2) In Senate, William Bledsoe, in special election 7/14/1919, sworn 7/17/1919, succeeded William S. Bell, died 6/21/1919. In House, Roy Baldwin, in special election 8/30/1919, sworn 5/20/1920, succeeded William H. Bledsoe, resigned 7/17/1919. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004 2005.
(3) William Bledsoe, in special election 10/9/1915, succeeded Don H. Biggers, resigned 9/3/1915. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004 2005.
(4) 39th Legislature - Drawing for Terms of Office, 1/15/1925, pp. 34-35. Drew 4-year term. Senate Journal .
(5) 36th Legislature, 2nd C.S. - Senator W. H. Bledsoe (oath of office), 7/17/1919, pp. 458-459. No committee appointments listed in 2nd C.S. Senate Journal .
(6) 37th Legislature - Roll Call of Holdover Senators, 1/11/1921, pp. 1-2. Senate Journal .
(7) 38th Legislature - List of State Senators Elected at the General Election Held November Seventh, 1922, oath of office administered, 1/9/1923, p. 1-2. Senate Journal .
(8) 39th Legislature - All 31 Senators were elected on November 4, 1924, per Secretary of State, oath of office administered, 1/13/1925, p. 1. Senate Journal .
(9) 40th Legislature - Roll Call of Holdover Senators, 1/11/1927, p. 1. Senate Journal .
(10) Assumed Democrat based on listing as Democrat in 35th-40th Legislatures. Texas Legislative Manual .

Biographical Notes and Resources

Selected Newspaper articles

Resolutions and Journal entries

  • 38th Legislature, 3rd Called Session, "On Members of the Senate," pp. 325-326. Senate Journal .

Photographs

Other Resources

  • Obituary, "Bledsoe, former legislator, dies at Lubbock home," 4/1/1936, p. 1. Dallas Morning News .
  • William Harrison Bledsoe, birth date 12/23/1869, death date 3/30/1936, burial in City of Lubbock Cemetery, Lubbock, Lubbock County. Includes biographical sketch (including note, "author of Senate Bill No. 103 creating Texas Technological College"), portrait. Son of Willis Scott Bledsoe. Find a Grave .
  • BLEDSOE, WILLIAM HARRISON (1869-1936). Handbook of Texas Online .
  • Biographical sketch and inventory of the William H. Bledsoe papers, Southwest Collection, Special Collections Library. Texas Tech University Libraries .
  • "William Harrison Bledsoe and the Founding of Texas Tech University, " Vol. 78, 2002, pp. 38-53. Relatives: Willis Scott Bledsoe - father; William Harrison Bledsoe - son. West Texas Historical Association Yearbook 1925.

Committee Information

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