Texas Legislators: Past & Present

Robert Lloyd Smith

Full Name: Robert Lloyd Smith
Birth date: January 6, 1861
Death date: July 10, 1942

Terms of Service

House, 25th ⁽⁴⁾ Legislature
1/12/1897 - 1/10/1899
Republican
House, 24th ⁽¹⁾ ⁽²⁾ ⁽³⁾ Legislature
1/8/1895 - 1/12/1897
Republican

(1) Republican. Biennial Report of the Secretary of State of the State of Texas: List of Senators and Representatives .
(2) District 43, composed of Colorado county. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004 2005.
(3) Republican. "Official Returns," "The Next Legislature," The Galveston Daily News, 11/15/1894, p. 6, crediting Abilene Library Consortium. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries) .
(4) Republican. Texas Legislative Manual .

Biographical Notes and Resources

Selected Newspaper articles

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 .

Photographs

Photograph. Robert Lloyd (R.L.) Smith, State Preservation Board
Photograph. R.L. Smith, State Preservation Board
Photograph. R.L. Smith, State Preservation Board

Other Resources

Photo, p. 120; founder of Farmers' Improvement Society, pp. 90, 148-149; state business league, p. 153. Black Texans: a History of African Americans in Texas, 1528-1995 1996.
Robert Loyd Smith, birth date 1/8/1863 in South Carolina; death date 7/10/1942 in Waco, McLennan County, Texas; teacher. FamilySearch Texas Deaths, 1890-1976 .
Robert Lloyd Smith (1861-1942), burial in Greenwood Cemetery, Waco, McLennan County. Includes photos of R.L. Smith Elementary School in Waco and Texas State Cemetery memorial for Reconstruction Legislators. Find a Grave .
Portrait and biographical sketch. Forever Free: Nineteenth Century African-American Legislators and Constitutional Convention Delegates of Texas 2002.
SMITH, ROBERT LLOYD (1861-1942). Handbook of Texas Online .
Biographical sketch, pp. 75-76. History of the Republican Party in Texas 1865-1965 1965.
Mentioned in Negro Legislators of Texas and Their Descendants 1970.
Biographical sketch, pp. 101-104; Letter recalling 24th Legislature, "A personal afterword," pp. 120-121. Negro Legislators of Texas and Their Descendants: A History of the Negro in Texas Politics from Reconstruction to Disfranchisement 1935.
Biographical sketch. p. 15. "He was born January 6, 1861 in Charleston, South Carolina, of free parents." Robert Lloyd Smith and the Farmers' Improvement Society of Texas 1974.
Biographical sketch, Robert L. Smith, p. 159. Born 1/6/1861 in Charleston, South Carolina. Texas State Government: A Volume of Biographical Sketches and Passing Comment, 25th Legislature 1897.
Biographical sketch, Chapter VI, "Black Belt Politics," pp. 110-111. The Negro in Texas, 1874-1900 1971.
Biographical sketch, pp. 66-67, "He [Robert Lloyd Smith] was reelected in the same county in 1897, making him the only black to serve in the Twenty-fifth Legislature and the last black to sit in the Texas Legislature until Barbara Jordan was elected to the Senate in 1966." Birth year 1861, death year 1942, Appendix D. Through Many Dangers, Toils, and Snares: Black Leadership in Texas, 1868-1898 2016.
Biographical sketch and photos, "Teacher, Statesman, Pioneer: Former Legislator Founded Group That Helped Long-Term Prosperity for Blacks in Texas," 1/15/2011, p. 1D.
Biographical sketch, exhibit at the Texas Collection at Baylor University, and photos, "Exhibit Hails Black Pioneer: Texas Collection Celebrates Legacy of Robert Lloyd Smith, Founder of Farmers Improvement Society," 2/4/2012, p. 1D. Member of the Texas House of Representatives in 1894 and 1896. Waco Tribune-Herald .