Texas Legislators: Past & Present

Elias Mayes

Full Name: Elias Mayes
Other surnames: May, Mays
Birth date: February 15, 1831
Death date: January 5, 1910

Terms of Service

House, 21st ⁽¹⁾ ⁽³⁾ Legislature
1/8/1889 - 1/13/1891
Republican
House, 16th ⁽²⁾ ⁽⁴⁾ ⁽⁵⁾ Legislature
1/14/1879 - 1/11/1881
Republican

(1) Republican. Biennial Report of the Secretary of State of the State of Texas: List of Senators and Representatives .
(2) Republican, 1/14/1879, p. 1. Galveston Daily News .
(3) A. Asberry, Elias Mays, and R.B. Renfro [Rentfro], Republicans. Roster of Representatives of the 21st Legislature, "Twenty-First Legislature: Members of the House, Address, Occupation and Politics," Galveston Daily News, 1/5/1889, p. 2, crediting Abilene Library Consortium. "The star indicates republican; those unmarked are democrats. [Note - Quite a number of the members who are marked democrats were elected as independents.]" Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries) .
(4) Republican. Texas Legislative Manual, 1879-80 1879.
(5) "Mays campaigned and was elected on the Greenback ticket," p. 129. Through Many Dangers, Toils, and Snares: Black Leadership in Texas, 1868-1898 2016.

Biographical Notes and Resources

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. Elias (Elius) Mayes (Mays), State Preservation Board
Photograph. Elias Mays, State Preservation Board

Other Resources

Elias Mays, memorial marker in Bryan City Cemetery, Bryan, Brazos County. Find a Grave .
Biographical sketch, Elias (Elius) Mayes (Mays). Birth date 1/1830 or 2/15/1831; death date 1/5/1910. Forever Free: Nineteenth Century African-American Legislators and Constitutional Convention Delegates of Texas 2002.
MAYES, ELIAS (1831-?). Birth date 2/15/1831. Handbook of Texas Online .
Mentioned in CLARKSVILLE, TEXAS Handbook of Texas Online .
Mentioned in Historical Clarksville 2000.
Elias Mays. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004 2005.
Mentioned in Negro Legislators of Texas and Their Descendants 1970.
Biographical Information, p. 97. Born 2/15/1831. Negro Legislators of Texas and Their Descendants: A History of the Negro in Texas Politics from Reconstruction to Disfranchisement 1935.
Biographical sketch, Elias Mays, pp. 260-261. Born 2/15/1831 in Canecka County, Alabama. Personnel of the Texas State Government with Sketches of Distinguished Texans, 21st Legislature 1889.
Death notice, "Elias Mays Dead," The Bryan Daily Eagle and Pilot, 1/5/1910, p. 3. "Elias Mays, one of the oldest and best known colored men in Bryan, and this section of the state, died at his home in this city this morning. He was at one time was a member of the legislature from this county." Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries) .
Biographical sketch, Elias May, p. 260. Texas Legislative Manual, 1879-80 1879.
Biographical sketch, Chapter VI, "Black Belt Politics," p. 107. The Negro in Texas, 1874-1900 1971.
Biographical sketch, pp. 61-62. Birth date 2/18/1831; death date 7/5/1910. Elias [Elius] Mays, Appendix D. Through Many Dangers, Toils, and Snares: Black Leadership in Texas, 1868-1898 2016.