Legislative Reference Library

Texas Legislators: Past & Present

Robert A. Kerr

R.A. Kerr
Full Name: Robert A. Kerr
Birth date: December 23, 1833
Death date: January 7, 1913

Terms of Service

  • House, 17th (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Legislature
    1/11/1881 - 1/9/1883
    Greenback
(1) Republican, 11/17/1880, p. 2. Galveston Daily News .
(2) Republican. Pocket Directory of the Seventeenth Legislature of Texas 1881.
(3) "When the Greenback Party met in June 1880 to nominate a state ticket, Kerr's name was placed on the ticket as representative from Bastrop County," p. 129. "Greenbackers elected one senator and three representatives, only one of whom was black — Robert A. Kerr," p. 130. Through Many Dangers, Toils, and Snares: Black Leadership in Texas, 1868-1898 2016.
(4) "The leadership of the Republican Party decided not to fuse with the Greenbackers in 1880, but rather placed a ticket in the field. . . Among the few blacks who remained visible in the Greenback fold [in 1880] were Hal Geiger and Robert A. Kerr," p. 129. Through Many Dangers, Toils, and Snares: Black Leadership in Texas, 1868-1898 2016.
(5) Involvement in Greenback/Republican politics, pp. 129-131. "Robert J. Evans and R.A. Kerr ran on Republican ticket for reelection (in 1882) in a losing cause." Through Many Dangers, Toils, and Snares: Black Leadership in Texas, 1868-1898 2016.

Biographical Notes and Resources

Resolutions and Journal entries

Photographs

Other Resources

  • Hon. R.A. Kerr, birth date 12/23/1833, death date 1/7/1913, burial in Fairview Cemetery, Bastrop. Includes Kerr plaque from Bastrop County Historical Society. Find a Grave .
  • Portrait and biographical sketch. Forever Free: Nineteenth Century African-American Legislators and Constitutional Convention Delegates of Texas 2002.
  • "Texas Briefs: Bastrop, Tex.," dateline Jan. 8, 1/9/1913, p. 9. Died "last night" (1/7/1913), "at one time represented this county in the Legislature." Galveston Daily News .
  • KERR, ROBERT A. (1842-1912). "Although Kerr won his legislative seat as a member of the Greenback party, he returned to the Republican party in 1882." Born 1842, died 1/12/1912, buried in Fairview Cemetery, Bastrop. Handbook of Texas Online .
  • Mentioned in Negro Legislators of Texas and Their Descendants 1970.
  • Photos, biographical sketch, and descendants, pp. 84-86. Born 12/23/1833 in New Orleans. Negro Legislators of Texas and Their Descendants: A History of the Negro in Texas Politics from Reconstruction to Disfranchisement 1935.
  • Biographical sketch, Chapter VI, "Black Belt Politics," p. 108. The Negro in Texas, 1874-1900 1971.
  • Biographical sketch, pp. 62-63; political party, pp. 129-131. Birth date 12/23/1833 in New Orleans, died in 1912. Through Many Dangers, Toils, and Snares: Black Leadership in Texas, 1868-1898 2016.
  • Mentioned, pp. 147-156. Time of Hope, Time of Despair: Black Texans During Reconstruction 1981.

Committee Information

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