William Henry Burges

Full Name: William Henry Burges, Sr.
Other surnames: Burgess
Date of birth: January 8, 1838
Date of death: June 24, 1898

Terms of Service
Biographical Notes
Committee Information

Terms of Service top

Chamber	District	Dates of Service	Legislatures	Party	City/County	Note	Counties in District
S	25	Jan 11, 1887 - Jan 13, 1891	21st ⁽¹⁾ ⁽²⁾ ⁽³⁾ 20th ⁽⁴⁾ ⁽⁵⁾ 21st ⁽¹⁾ ⁽²⁾ ⁽³⁾	Democrat	Seguin / Guadalupe	Senate President Pro Tempore (21st)	Blanco, Caldwell, Comal, Guadalupe, Hays, Kendall, Llano
S	31	Jan 11, 1881 - Jan 9, 1883	17th ⁽⁶⁾ ⁽⁷⁾ ⁽⁸⁾ ⁽⁹⁾	Democrat	Seguin / Guadalupe		Blanco, Caldwell, Guadalupe, Hays, Llano, McCulloch, San Saba

(1) 21st Legislature - Senate President Pro Tempore, elected 4/6/1889, Regular Session. Senate Journal.
(2) Democrat. Biennial Report of the Secretary of State of the State of Texas: List of Senators and Representatives.
(3) W.H. Burgess, Senate District 25. List of Senators of the 21st Legislature, "The State Senate: Members-Elect in the Different Districts - Austin Local Notes," Galveston Daily News, 11/20/1888, p. 6, crediting Abilene Library Consortium. "There are two independents in the list. The rest are democratic nominees." Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries).
(4) Roster of senators and representatives of the 20th Legislature with their postoffice address, Austin Weekly Statesman, "Governmental," 12/30/1886, p. 6. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries).
(5) 20th Legislature - Roll call of new members, oath of office administered, 1/11/1887, p. 1. Senate Journal.
(6) 2-year term; entire Senate went up for reelection in 1882 due to redistricting. Act passed May 3, 1882, 17th Legislature, C.S., ch. 13, Apportionment Laws of Texas, 1836-1950, 1950.
(7) Democrat, 11/17/1880, p. 2. Galveston Daily News.
(8) Democrat. Pocket Directory of the Seventeenth Legislature of Texas, 1881.
(9) 17th Legislature, Regular Session - Roll call of newly elected Senators, oath of office administered, 1/11/1881, p. 1. Senate Journal.

Terms of Service top

Senate District 25
Jan 11, 1887 - Jan 13, 1891
Legislatures: 21st ⁽¹⁾ ⁽²⁾ ⁽³⁾ 20th ⁽⁴⁾ ⁽⁵⁾ 21st ⁽¹⁾ ⁽²⁾ ⁽³⁾
Senate President Pro Tempore (21st)
(21st)
(21st)
Party: Democrat
Home City/County: Seguin / Guadalupe
Counties in district: Blanco, Caldwell, Comal, Guadalupe, Hays, Kendall, Llano

Senate District 31
Jan 11, 1881 - Jan 9, 1883
Legislatures: 17th ⁽⁶⁾ ⁽⁷⁾ ⁽⁸⁾ ⁽⁹⁾
Party: Democrat
Home City/County: Seguin / Guadalupe
Counties in district: Blanco, Caldwell, Guadalupe, Hays, Llano, McCulloch, San Saba

Biographical Information top

Resolutions and Journal entries

Senate President Pro Tempore in the absence of Lieutenant Governor George C. Pendleton, 1/13/1891-1/20/1891, 22nd R.S., pp. 1-52. Senate resolution by Tyler, thanks "tendered to the Hon. W.H. Burges, president pro tem. of the Senate, for the courtesy and fairness with which he has presided over the Senate. . .," 1/20/1891, p. 51. Senate Journal.
W.H. Burgess, 31st District in 17th Legislature; W.H. Burges, 25th District in 20th Legislature and Index of 21st Legislature. Senate Journal. 17th 20th 21st

Biographical Sketches

Biographical sketch, Colonel W.H. Burges, pp. 446-447. Born 1/8/1838 in Madison County, Tennessee. "He represented the thirty-first senatorial district in the Texas legislature in 1880-1, and made a faithful and useful member of that body." The Encyclopedia of the New West, 1881.
BURGES, RICHARD FENNER (1873-1945). Relatives: William Henry Burges, Sr. - father; Richard Fenner Burges - son. Handbook of Texas Online.
Biographical sketch, William Henry Burges, pp. 67-68. Born 1/8/1838 in Madison County, Tennessee. Democratic elector on the presidential ticket in the State of Texas, 1876. Personnel of the Texas State Government with Sketches of Distinguished Texans, 20th Legislature, 1887.
Biographical sketch, William Henry Burges, pp. 171-172. Personnel of the Texas State Government with Sketches of Distinguished Texans, 21st Legislature, 1889.
William Henry Burges, Sr., served in Texas State Senate. Burges-Perrenot Family Papers, 1890-1986, MS 262, C.L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department. The University of Texas at El Paso Library.

Military Service Notes

Confederate States Army, Company D, 4th Texas Infantry, commanded by Colonel (afterwards General) John B. Hood. Includes list of battles, p. 447. The Encyclopedia of the New West, 1881.

Other Resources

Describes the Burges-Jefferson Family papers, including correspondence of William Henry Burges, Sr. and a first-hand account of the Battle of Fredericksburg. Confederate Military Manuscripts: Series C: Holdings of the Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin, 2003.
Mentioned in "Early History of Guadalupe County," p. 430. Early Settlers and Indian Fighters of Southwest Texas, 1900.
W.H. Burges, birth date 1/8/1838, death date 6/24/1898, "A Member of 4 Texas Infantry Hood's Brigade," burial in Riverside Cemetery, Seguin, Guadalupe County. Includes portrait. Find a Grave.
"Representative Convention at Seguin," 8/27/1884, p. 3. "Hon. J.N. Stagner, of Caldwell, was elected chairman, and Sterling Fisher, of Hays, secretary." Nomination of J.M. Jolly [sic: Jolley], of Caldwell, and Dr. J.H. Coombs [sic: Combs], of Hays. Account of speech by Hon. W.H. Burges, "to explain why the Democratic majority was reduced in the last election . . . " Sterling Fisher assumed Democrat - all other members present were Democrats. Galveston Daily News.
Opening of 22nd Legislature, R.S. - Burges served as Senate President Pro Tempore and called the Senate to order. ". . . no bills will pass the senate until the lieutenant governor is inaugurated, as there is some doubt as to the legal status of the body presided over by the constitutionally elected president pro tem, but one whose successor is a member of the senate, has been qualified and occupies a seat in the body." "Milner, Of Course . . . Bill Burgess Was There" and "Lieut. Governor Pendleton's Committees," 1/14/1891, p. 1. Galveston Daily News.
Mentioned in biographical sketch of son Richard F. Burges, Volume IV, pp. 439-440. History of Texas; Fort Worth and the Texas Northwest Edition, 1922.
Mentioned in "Through the Years - San Saba Representatives in Legislative History," 4/1/1948, p. 9. San Saba News.

Photographs

Photograph. W.H. Burges, 21st Legislature, State Preservation Board
Photograph. W.H. Burges, 20th Legislature, State Preservation Board
Photograph. W.H. Burges, 17th Legislature, State Preservation Board

Composite Photographs on Display in the Capitol

17th session composite photo of Senate members (Senate chamber vestibule, west wall. 2E.V1). State Preservation Board.
20th session composite photo of Senate members (Senate chamber vestibule, west wall. 2E.V1). State Preservation Board.
21st session composite photo of Senate members (Senate chamber gallery, west wall. 3E.5). State Preservation Board.
17th session composite photo of Senate members (Texas State Library and Archives Commission). Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Committee Information top

21st R.S. - 1889 Constitutional Amendments Finance Judiciary No. 1 Judiciary No. 2 Penitentiaries Public Buildings and Grounds Public Lands (Chair) Roads and Bridges State Asylums
20th R.S. - 1887 Constitutional Amendments Finance Internal Improvements Judiciary No. 2 Memorial Services for Hon. E.F. Hall and Hon. George Pfeuffer New Capitol Construction, Examine Penitentiaries Public Buildings and Grounds Public Debt (Chair) Public Lands
17th R.S. - 1881 Congressional Districts (Chair) Congressional Districts, Apportionment (Co-Chair) Constitutional Amendments Counties and County Boundaries Educational Affairs Frontier Protection General Land Office Institute for the Blind Internal Improvements Judiciary No. 2 Penitentiaries Penitentiaries, Subcommittee on Retrenchment and Reform (Chair) State Affairs

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