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Legislative Families: Siblings

Oct 15

posted by TexasLRL in Texas history, Legislative families, Members of the Legislature

The Texas Legislature has seen many siblings who have legislative service in common. As of 2019, there have been 46 sibling sets!* Read on for a list of brothers and sisters who have shared time in the Capitol (along with some interesting details about a few of these family units).

 

Ten sets of siblings have had overlap in their years of service (though not necessarily in the same chamber): 

  • Dennis Bonnen and Greg Bonnen

    • Dennis serves in the House, 1997–present (75th–86th)
    • Greg serves in the House, 2013–present (83rd–86th)
  • William H. Bourland and James G. Bourland
    • William served in the House, 1846–1849 (1st–2nd), and 1853–1855 (5th)
    • James served in the Senate, 1846–1849 (1st–2nd)
  • James Washington Guinn and Robert Guinn
    • Robert served in the Senate, 1853–1870 (5th–11th)
    • James served in the House, 1863–1866 (10th–11th)
  • Ross Hardin and Doss Hardin The first and only twins to serve in the Texas Legislature. Read a speech given by Doss Hardin at Baylor University's 1939 "Convention of Twins" that was read into the Senate Journal record.
    • Ross served in the House, 1935–1941 (44th–46th)
    • Doss served in the Senate, 1938–1940 (45th–46th)
  • Jim Keffer and Bill Keffer
    • Jim served in the House, 1997–2017 (75th–84th)
    • Bill served in the House, 2003–2007 (78th–79th)
  • William Henry Pope and Alexander Pope In an act of brotherly devotion, Alexander died when shot by W.T.S. Keller "while endeavoring to prevent him from shooting his brother, W.H. Pope" during a child custody trial. William was shot but survived the assault.
    • William served in the Senate, 1883–1893 (18th–22nd)
    • Alexander served in the House, 1887–1889 (20th–21st)
  • Joseph Draper Sayers and William Sayers
    • Joseph served in the Senate, 1873–1874 (13th)
    • William served in the House, 1873–1876 (13th–14th)
  • Henry Berryman Terrell and George Butler Terrell The Terrells appear to be the first brothers to serve at the same time, in the same chamber.
    • H.B. served in the House, 1901–1909 (27th–30th), and in the Senate, 1909–1915 (31st–34th)
    • George served in the House, 1899–1903 (26th–27th), 1907–1913 (30th–32nd), 1917–1920 (35th–36th), and 1931–1933 (42nd)
  • Carlos Uresti and Tomas Uresti
    • Carlos served in the House, 1997–2006 (75th–79th), and in the Senate, 2006–2018 (79th–85th)
    • Tomas served in the House, 2017–2019 (85th)
  • Phillip L. Willis and Doyle Willis The Willis brothers are noted as the first siblings to serve two consecutive terms together in the Texas House of Representatives (HR 95, 74R).
    • Phillip served in in the House, 1947–1949 (50th–51st)
    • Doyle served in the House, 1947–1953 (50th–52nd), 1969–1971 (61st), and 1973–1997 (63rd–74th), and in the Senate, 1953–1963 (53rd–57th) 

No siblings have served at the same time in the Senate, according to our research.

 

Other siblings served in the Legislature at different times:

*This blog post is the second in a series, with a previous post on legislative spouses, and posts to come on legislative parents/children, and other family connections. We've attempted to identify all of the legislative siblings, but let us know if you think we missed some! This information is provided as a public service by the Legislative Reference Library. The Legislative Reference Library makes no representation as to its completeness or accuracy and makes no warranty in regard to its use. Users assume all risk of reliance on the information included on this site.

 

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