Texas Legislators: Past & Present

James Winwright Flanagan

Full Name: James Winwright Flanagan
Birth date: September 7, 1805
Death date: September 19, 1887

Terms of Service

Senate, 6th ⁽⁴⁾ ⁽⁵⁾ ⁽⁶⁾ Legislature
11/5/1855 - 11/2/1857
House, 4th ⁽¹⁾ Legislature
11/3/1851 - 11/7/1853

(1) "A Whig in the 1830s and 1840s and thereafter a staunch Republican, Flanagan was a close friend and supporter of Sam Houston." Handbook of Texas Online .
(2) "[James] Flanagan's successor, Donald Campbell, 'President of the Senate for the time being,' was elected October 27, 1870 [sic], died November 6, 1871 and was succeeded by Webster Flanagan, elected November 13, 1871." Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004 2005.
(3) [James] Flanagan presided as President of the Senate in Provisional Session and was elected U.S. Senator, vacating his state office. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004 2005.
(4) Included "[a]mong 1855 legislators that this writer has positively identified as Know Nothings." The party was active in Texas at the state level between 1855 and 1857. "An Analysis of the Texas Know Nothings," The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 70, Number 3, January 1967, pp. 414, 416-417, crediting Texas State Historical Association. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries) .
(5) 6th Legislature, Regular Session - Roll of Senators elected since the last adjournment presented their credentials, and being qualified, took their seats, 11/5/1855, p. 2. Senate Journal .
(6) 6th Legislature - "The Know-Nothings claimed to have won 11 of 33 seats in the Senate in 1855. Although only 5 - John Caldwell, William H. Martin, William M. Taylor, James W. Flanagan, and Elisha E. Lott - can be positively identified . . .", p. 258. The Texas Senate: Volume I, Republic to Civil War, 1836-1861 1990.

Biographical Notes and Resources

Other Resources

J.W. Flanagan elected lieutenant governor 11/30/1869. However, the "legislature was organized February 10, 1870, with Ira H. Evans as Speaker of the House, and Donald Campbell as President of the Senate," p. 185-187. A Comprehensive History of Texas, 1685 to 1897 .
Portrait, p. 186. A Comprehensive History of Texas, 1685 to 1897 .
FLANAGAN, James Winright (1805-1887). Senator, TX. Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress .
J.W. Flanagan, birth date 9/7/1805, death date 9/19/1887, photo, burial in Flanagan Family Cemetery, Henderson, Rusk County. Find a Grave .
FLANAGAN, JAMES WINWRIGHT (1805-1887). Relatives: James Winwright Flanagan - father; David Webster Flanagan - son. Handbook of Texas Online .
Mentioned in list of "Future Republicans . . . at one time or another championed Know-Nothingism." Baggett, James Alex, "Origins of Early Texas Republican Party Leadership," The Journal of Southern History, Vol.40(3), August 1974, p. 443. Journal of Southern History .
Included in "Table II, Constitutional Unionists (Identified from newspapers) with Biographical Data," list of leaders of the Texas Constitutional Union Party in 1860. The party was formed in January of 1860. "The Constitutional Union Party in Texas," The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 82, Number 3, January 1979, pp. 238, 256-262, crediting Texas State Historical Association. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries) . Table II, Constitutional Unionists
Delegate to Constitutional Convention, 1868. Included in "List of Delegates to the Reconstruction Convention, As Announced in Special order No. 213, Dated Headquarters Fifth Military District, New Orleans, LA., April 13th, 1868." Journal of the Reconstruction Convention, Which Met at Austin, Texas, June 1, A.D., 1868 (1870), pp 533-534. Texas Constitutions Digitization Project (Tarlton Law Library, The University of Texas at Austin) 2009.
J.W. Flanagan was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1869, but was never inaugurated. His successor, Donald Campbell, served as "acting president of the senate until his death in November of 1871." Texas State Library and Archives Commission .
Radical Republican James W. Flanagan was elected Lieutenant Governor in the hotly-disputed election of 1869. He presided over the Senate during the Provisional Session, pp. 84-87. The Texas Senate: Volume II, Civil War to the Eve of Reform, 1861-1889 1999.
"After the Senate chose Lieutenant Governor James W. Flanagan to represent Texas as a senator in Washington, [Donald] Campbell was elected president pro tempore of the Senate on April 27, 1870, and so became ex officio lieutenant governor of Texas," p. 91. The Texas Senate: Volume II, Civil War to the Eve of Reform, 1861-1889 1999.
Biographical sketch of James Winwright Flanagan and Webster Flanagan, pp. 97-98, 100. Print edition includes portrait of Webster Flanagan, p. 99. The Texas Senate: Volume II, Civil War to the Eve of Reform, 1861-1889 1999.
Portrait and biographical sketch. Birth date 9/5/1805. "A Whig, he served a term in the Texas House. . . and was elected to the state senate in 1855." The Texas Senator 1978.