Legislative Reference Library

Texas Legislators: Past & Present

David Young Portis

Full Name: David Young Portis
Birth date: October 1812
Death date: February 3, 1883

Terms of Service

  • Senate, 3rd (1) (2) (3) Legislature
    11/5/1849 - 11/3/1851
     
(1) Entire Senate went up for reelection due to Senatorial redistricting. Act approved Jan. 16, 1850, 3rd Legislature, ch. 44. Apportionment Laws of Texas, 1836-1950 1950.
(2) Roster of members elect of the 3rd Legislature, Matthewson, R.C., Texas State Gazette (Austin, Texas), 9/29/1849, p. 6, crediting Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries) .
(3) 3rd Legislature, Regular Session - Roll of Senators, oath of office, 11/5/1849, p. 3. Senate Journal .

Biographical Notes and Resources

Other Resources

  • Biographical sketch, p. 155. Biographical Directory of the Texan Conventions and Congresses, 1832-1845 1942.
  • Census of 1850 - David Y. Portis, Austin County, age 37, born circa 1813 in North Carolina, lawyer, living in household with Rebecca Portis.
    Census of 1860 - D.Y. Portis, Bellville post office, Austin County, age 47, born circa 1813 in North Carolina, attorney law. FamilySearch . 1860 1850
  • David Young Portis (1812-1883), photo with autograph, memorial marker in Odd Fellows Cemetery, San Antonio, Bexar County. Find a Grave .
  • David Young Portis, birth date 4/5/1814, death date 2/3/1883. Family group sheet and biographical notes, Descendants of John Portis. Genealogy.com 2004.
  • PORTIS, DAVID YOUNG (1812-1883). Born October 1812 in Nash County, North Carolina. Portis "in 1840 or 1841 moved to Austin County . . . He represented Austin County in the Secession Convention of 1861. Portis seems to have lived the remainder of his life in Austin County and to have died there in February 1883." Handbook of Texas Online .
  • Included on list of "Texas Know Nothing Leaders with a Summary of Biographical Data Taken from the . . . United States Eighth Census, 1860." The party was active at the state level in Texas in 1855 and 1856. "By 1857 the party had virtually disappeared in Texas." "An Analysis of the Texas Know Nothings," The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 70, Number 3, January 1967, pp. 414-423, crediting Texas State Historical Association. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries) .
  • Death of D.Y. Portis reported in The San Angelo Times (Tom Green County), reprinted in The Galveston Daily News, 2/10/1883, p. 2, crediting Abilene Library Consortium. " . . . the death of Colonel D.Y. Portis, which took place at Big Springs, on Saturday [2/3/1883] . . . He was was once well known in Texas, having served as a law-maker, and in other important positions." Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries) .
  • Delegate to Secession Convention of Texas, 1861. Journal of the Secession Convention of Texas 1861. Edited from the original in the department of state by Ernest William Winkler, State Librarian. Texas Library and Historical Commission, the State Library. Austin: Austin Print. Co., 1912, pp. 20-22. Originally published serially in newspapers. Texas Constitutions Digitization Project (Tarlton Law Library, The University of Texas at Austin) 2009.
  • Mentioned in 3rd Legislature, p. 196. The Texas Senate: Volume I, Republic to Civil War, 1836-1861 1990.
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