Texas Legislators: Past & Present

William Henry Sinclair

Full Name: William Henry Sinclair
Birth date: October 31, 1838
Death date: January 11, 1897

Terms of Service

House, 12th ⁽²⁾ ⁽³⁾ ⁽⁴⁾ Legislature
2/8/1870 - 1/14/1873

Speaker 5/10/1871 - 1/14/1873.

(1) 12th Legislature, Adjourned Session - Resolution offered declaring Sinclair's seat vacant due to his acceptance of the office of Galveston county treasurer, 9/19/1871, p. 43; 9/20/1871, pp. 53-54. Majority and minority reports of the Committee on Privileges and Elections, 9/22/1871, in journal of 9/27/1871, pp. 106-114. House Journal . September 19, 1871
September 20, 1871
September 27, 1871
(2) 12th Legislature, Provisional Session - Qualified and took the oath of office on 2/8/1870. House Journal .
(3) Evans was elected speaker in the 12th Legislature, Provisional Session, 2/10/1870, and elected speaker again in the 12th Legislature Regular Session, 1/10/1871. Evans continued in office until 5/10/1871, when a resolution declared the office vacant. Slaughter was appointed speaker pro tempore and Sinclair elected to succeed Evans the same day. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004 2005.
(4) Party affiliation, Radical. Texas Almanac for . . . and Emigrant's Guide to Texas .

Biographical Notes and Resources

Selected Newspaper articles

Photographs

Photograph. William Henry Sinclair, Presiding Officers of the Texas Legislature, 1846-2006

Other Resources

Biographical sketch; born in Ohio in 1832. American Legislative Leaders, 1850-1910 1989.
William H. Sinclair, birth date 10/31/1838, death date 1/11/1897, burial in Lakeview Cemetery, Galveston, Galveston County. Includes portraits and reprints of obituaries. Find a Grave .
SINCLAIR, WILLIAM HENRY (1838-1897). Handbook of Texas Online .
Union Army, Civil War. Second Lieutenant, Company C, 7th Michigan Infantry and Colonel, Army of the Cumberland. Handbook of Texas Online .
Family group sheet, letters, newspaper articles, biographical sketches, Internet web hosting site; publisher unknown .
Includes extensive discussion of Sinclair's involvement in the Freedmen's Bureau, Overreached on All Sides: the Freedmen's Bureau in Texas Administrators, 1865-1868 1991.
Account of conditions in Clarksville during Reconstruction. Albert Latimer served as subassistant commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau under Inspector General William H. Sinclair, pp. 198-200, Overreached on All Sides: the Freedmen's Bureau in Texas Administrators, 1865-1868 1991.
Obituary, "Col. Sinclair Dead," and Associated Press Account, The News in Galveston, Sketch of His Life, The Galveston Daily News, 1/12/1897, p. 8, crediting Abilene Library Consortium. Born 10/31/1839 in Akron, Ohio; died 1/11/1897 in Rochester, New York; member of the 12th Legislature. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries) .
21st Speaker of the House of Representatives: William Henry Sinclair. Photo and biographical sketch. Presiding Officers of the Texas Legislature, 1846-2016 2016.
Photos, biographical sketch, newspaper article, and excerpt from "Who Was the Real Head of the Texas Freedmen's Bureau?: The Role of Brevet Colonel William H. Sinclair as Acting Assistant Inspector General." Birth date 5/30/1839. Robinson's Battery .