Terms of Service

• Senate, 16th ⁽¹⁾ & 15th ⁽²⁾ Legislatures
  4/18/1876 - 1/11/1881
  Republican
  

(1) Republican, 1/14/1879, p. 1. Galveston Daily News .
(2) 15th Legislature - All Senators except District 7 listed in roll call as Senators elect, oath of office administered, 4/18/1876, p. 1; Drawing of Senatorial Terms, 4/27/1876, p. 98, drew "long term" (four years). Senate Journal . April 14, 1876
April 27, 1876

Biographical Notes and Resources

Resolutions and Journal entries

• 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. W. Ripton, State Preservation Board
• Photograph. Walter E. Ripton (Ripetoe/Riptoe), State Preservation Board

Other Resources

• Walter Ripetoe, Republican state senator, teacher, pp. 313-314, 319, 353. A Southern Community in Crisis: Harrison County, Texas, 1850-1880 1983.
• Representative's real name Walter Ripton, "The roots of Texas' black lawmakers," 3/18/1996. Austin American-Statesman .
• Census of 1870 - Walter Reptoe, Marshall, Harrison County, age 40, born circa 1830 in Alabama, alderman, in household with Lydda Reptoe. FamilySearch .
• Portrait and biographical sketch, Walter E. Ripton (Ripetoe/Riptoe). Forever Free: Nineteenth Century African-American Legislators and Constitutional Convention Delegates of Texas 2002.
• Biographical sketch,"Senator from Harrison county, the Fourth District, a colored man named Roberts [sic], a farmer," in "The State Capital: extending the international railroad to Austin - personal notices of Senators elect," 2/27/1876, p. 1. Galveston Daily News .
• Biographical sketch, "Proud legacy: Family's legislative heritage discovered in aging trunks," 2/28/2010, p. 9. "Rippetoe died on August 15, 1886." Marshall News Messenger .
• Photo, mentioned in Minority Civil Rights and the Texas Legislature 2018.
• Biographical sketch, Walter Ripetoe, p. 10. "In politics Mr. Ripetoe is a Republican." Sketches of Legislators and State Officers, Fifteenth Legislature, 1876-1878 1876.
• Biographical sketch, Walter Rippetoe, p. 240. "Elected to the Senate as a Republican." Texas Legislative Manual, 1879-80 1879.
• Roster lists name W. Ripetoe; bio lists name Walter Rippetoe. Texas Legislative Manual, 1879-80 1879.
• Biographical sketch, p. 59. Birth year 1838, Appendix D. Through Many Dangers, Toils, and Snares: Black Leadership in Texas, 1868-1898 2016.

Committee Information

• 16th R.S. - 1879
• Penitentiary  
• Public Claims and Accounts  
• 15th R.S. - 1876
• Agricultural Affairs