Texas Legislators: Past & Present

George Preston Finlay

Full Name: George Preston Finlay
Birth date: November 16, 1829
Death date: March 24, 1911

Terms of Service

House, 23rd ⁽⁵⁾ Legislature
1/10/1893 - 7/17/1893
Democrat
House, 17th ⁽²⁾ ⁽⁸⁾ Legislature
1/11/1881 - 1/9/1883
Democrat
House, 16th ⁽³⁾ Legislature
1/14/1879 - 1/11/1881
Democrat
Senate, 13th ⁽¹⁾ ⁽⁹⁾ ⁽¹²⁾ Legislature
1/14/1873 - 1/13/1874
Democrat
Senate, 9th ⁽⁴⁾ ⁽⁶⁾ ⁽⁷⁾ ⁽¹⁰⁾ ⁽¹¹⁾ Legislature
11/4/1861 - 1/14/1862

(1) Entire Senate went up for reelection due to Senatorial redistricting. Act passed Apr. 24, 1873 [presented to Governor May 1, 1873 and became law without his signature], 13th Legislature, R.S., ch. 35, Apportionment Laws of Texas, 1836-1950 1950.
(2) Democrat, 11/17/1880, p. 2. Galveston Daily News .
(3) Democrat, 1/14/1879, p. 1. Galveston Daily News .
(4) Current city of Port Lavaca orginally known as Lavaca. Handbook of Texas Online .
(5) Finlay resigned 7/17/1893. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004 2005.
(6) S. Addison White, sworn 2/2/1863, succeeded George P. Finlay, resigned. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004 2005.
(7) "On the adjournment of the Ninth Legislature, in March, 1862, Colonel Finlay raised a company of infantry in Victoria County, Texas, and was assigned to duty in the Sixth Texas infantry . . ." Personnel of the Texas State Government with Sketches of Representative Men of Texas, 22nd Legislature 1892.
(8) Democrat. Pocket Directory of the Seventeenth Legislature of Texas 1881.
(9) 13th Legislature - Senators elect qualified and took their seats, 1/14/1873, p. 1. Senate Journal .
(10) 9th Legislature, Regular Session - Roll of Senators, oath of office administered, 11/4/1861, p. 1. Senate Journal .
(11) 9th Legislature, Regular Session - Classification of Senators (drawing for terms of office) - drew "the long term" (four years), 11/12/1861, p. 42. Senate Journal .
(12) 13th Legislature - Included in list of 15 Senate members that were conservative Democrats, p. 145. The Texas Senate: Volume II, Civil War to the Eve of Reform, 1861-1889 1999.

Biographical Notes and Resources

Resolutions and Journal entries

Member roster, 9th Legislature, Regular Session: name, district, resident county, post office, state of nativity, occupation, and age. Senate Journal .

Photographs

Photograph. G.P. Finlay, DeGolyer Library, SMU, Lawrence T. Jones III Texas Photographs
Photograph. Geo. P. Finlay, Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Photograph. G.P. Finlay, State Preservation Board
Photograph. Geo. P. Finlay, State Preservation Board

Other Resources

FINLAY, GEORGE PRESTON (1829-1911). He was "an ardent Democrat who attended every state convention from 1865 until at least 1881." Handbook of Texas Online .
Portrait and biographical sketch, George Preston Finlay, pp. 375-379. Born 11/16/1829 in Augusta, Perry County, Mississippi; married Carrie Rea 11/16/1854 in Lavaca, Texas. Personnel of the Texas State Government with Sketches of Representative Men of Texas, 22nd Legislature 1892.
Biographical sketch, p. 262. Texas Legislative Manual, 1879-80 1879.
Biographical sketch and portrait, Hon. George P. Finlay, pp. 98-100. The Encyclopedia of the New West 1881.