Texas Legislators: Past & Present

Louis Trezevant Wigfall

Full Name: Louis Trezevant Wigfall
Birth date: April 21, 1816
Death date: February 18, 1874

Terms of Service

Senate, 8th ⁽³⁾ ⁽⁷⁾ ⁽⁸⁾ & 7th ⁽²⁾ ⁽⁵⁾ ⁽⁶⁾ Legislatures
11/5/1857 - 12/7/1859
House, 3rd ⁽¹⁾ ⁽⁴⁾ Legislature
11/18/1850 - 11/3/1851

(1) Description of Democratic-Whig conflict in Harrison County, subsequent resignations of Representative J.M. Clough (September 1850) and Senator James F. Taylor, re-election of Taylor and election of L.T. Wigfall in November 1850, pp. 160-162. A Southern Community in Crisis: Harrison County, Texas, 1850-1880 1983.
(2) Election of L.T. Wigfall for State Senator and Eli T. Craig, William F. Baldwin, and lawyer Pendleton Murrah, for House of Representatives in election of August, 1857 - "the state legislative races were decided in favor of the Democrats . . .," p. 169. A Southern Community in Crisis: Harrison County, Texas, 1850-1880 1983.
(3) E.A. Blanch, sworn 1/14/1860, succeeded Louis T. Wigfall, resignation announced 12/7/1859. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004 2005.
(4) Louis T. Wigfall, sworn 11/18/1850, succeeded Jeremiah Clough, resigned after first 1st Called Session. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004 2005.
(5) Listed in "New Senators elected: Democrats." Civilian and Gazette. Weekly. (Galveston, Texas), 9/8/1857, p. 2, crediting Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries) .
(6) 7th Legislature - Oath of office, 11/5/1857, p. 46. Senate Journal .
(7) 8th Legislature, Regular Session - Roll of Senators (holdover senators), 11/7/1859, p. 4. Senate Journal .
(8) Resignation announced, 12/7/1859, p. 107. Senate Journal .

Biographical Notes and Resources

Selected Newspaper articles

Other Resources

Mentioned in discussion of Harrison County religious life and denominations, pp. 102-103. A Southern Community in Crisis: Harrison County, Texas, 1850-1880 1983.
Railroad promoter, pp. 89-93; biographical sketch, pp. 98-99; political career, pp. 151-153. A Southern Community in Crisis: Harrison County, Texas, 1850-1880 1983.
WIGFALL, Louis Trezevant (1816-1874). Senator, TX. Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress .
WIGFALL, LOUIS TREZEVANT (1816-1874). Handbook of Texas Online .
Confederate States Army, Colonel, 1st Texas Infantry; Brigadier General in Provisional Army, Wigfall "commanded the Texas Brigade of the Army of Northern Virginia (Hood's Texas Brigade) until February 1862, when he resigned to take a seat in the Confederate Congress." Handbook of Texas Online .
Billy D. Ledbetter, "The Election of Louis T. Wigfall to the United States Senate, 1859: A Reevaluation," The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 77, Number 2, October 1973, pp. 241-254, crediting Texas State Historical Association. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries) .
Secessionist letters sent to Texas Senator Louis T. Wigfall in 1863, "Sam Houston Returns? Two Letters from Texas Secessionists in 1863," Volume 117, Number 4, April 2014, pp. 404-409. Southwestern Historical Quarterly .
Biographical sketch, Lewis T. Wigfall, pp. 92-93. Texans Who Wore the Gray 1907.
Louis Trezevant Wigfall. Texas Burial Sites of Civil War Notables: A Biographical and Pictorial Field Guide 2002.
Biographical sketch and portrait, pp. 18, 97, Plate No. 37. Texas in the War, 1861-1865 1965.
Portrait and biographical sketch. "He killed Thomas Bird in an affray preceding a duel with James P. Carroll in which neither principal was hurt." The Texas Senator 1978.
Mentioned in several letters, including William Henry Lewis' letter of 11/2/1861 describing General Wigfall's "first speech before the 5th Texas [Infantry] and his influence within the Confederate government," pp. 23-25; biographical sketch, footnote 37. Touched by Fire: Letters From Company D 5th Texas Infantry Hood's Brigade Army of Northern Virginia 1862-1865 2000.