George T. Ruby

George Thompson Ruby

Full Name: George Thompson Ruby
Date of birth: July 1, 1841
Date of death: October 31, 1882

Terms of Service top

Chamber District Dates of Service Legislatures Party City/County Note Counties in District
S 12 Feb 8, 1870 - Jan 13, 1874 12th (4) (5)   13th (1) (2) (3)   Radical Republican Galveston / Galveston   Brazoria, Galveston, Matagorda

(1) Entire Senate went up for reelection due to Senatorial redistricting. Act passed Apr. 24, 1873 [presented to Governor May 1, 1873 and became law without his signature], 13th Legislature, R.S., ch. 35, Apportionment Laws of Texas, 1836-1950, 1950.
(2) Republican. Directory of the Members of the Thirteenth Legislature of the State of Texas, 1873.
(3) "Returning radicals [to the 13th Legislature] were Thomas H. Baker, Webster Flanagan, S.W. Ford, Albert J. Fountain, Matthew Gaines, Phidello W. Hall, Henry Rawson, George T. Ruby, William A. Saylor, and Robert P. Tendick," p. 145. The Texas Senate: Volume II, Civil War to the Eve of Reform, 1861-1889, 1999.
(4) 12th Legislature, 1st C.S. - Drawing for Terms of Office, 5/2/1870, pp. 51-52. Drew 6-year term. Senate Journal.
(5) Party affiliation, Radical. Roster of members, 12th Legislature, 1870. Texas Almanac for . . . and Emigrant's Guide to Texas.

Terms of Service top

Senate District 12
Feb 8, 1870 - Jan 13, 1874
Legislatures: 12th (4) (5)   13th (1) (2) (3)  
Party: Radical Republican
Home City/County: Galveston / Galveston
Counties in district: Brazoria, Galveston, Matagorda

(1) Entire Senate went up for reelection due to Senatorial redistricting. Act passed Apr. 24, 1873 [presented to Governor May 1, 1873 and became law without his signature], 13th Legislature, R.S., ch. 35, Apportionment Laws of Texas, 1836-1950, 1950.
(2) Republican. Directory of the Members of the Thirteenth Legislature of the State of Texas, 1873.
(3) "Returning radicals [to the 13th Legislature] were Thomas H. Baker, Webster Flanagan, S.W. Ford, Albert J. Fountain, Matthew Gaines, Phidello W. Hall, Henry Rawson, George T. Ruby, William A. Saylor, and Robert P. Tendick," p. 145. The Texas Senate: Volume II, Civil War to the Eve of Reform, 1861-1889, 1999.
(4) 12th Legislature, 1st C.S. - Drawing for Terms of Office, 5/2/1870, pp. 51-52. Drew 6-year term. Senate Journal.
(5) Party affiliation, Radical. Roster of members, 12th Legislature, 1870. Texas Almanac for . . . and Emigrant's Guide to Texas.

Biographical Information top

Resolutions and Journal entries

  • 79th Legislature, R.S., HR 589, paying tribute to African American legislators and constitutional convention delegates of 1868-1900. Resolutions - Congratulatory and Honorary.
  • 81st Legislature, R.S., HCR 81, paying tribute to African American legislators and constitutional convention delegates. Resolutions - Congratulatory and Honorary.
  • 85th Legislature, R.S., HR 452, celebrating Black History Month and honoring the leadership and vision of African American lawmakers. Resolutions - Congratulatory and Honorary.
  • 88th Legislature, R.S., SCR 13, Recognizing the Texas Black Reconstruction Legislators Recognition Act. SB 667, Texas Black Reconstruction Legislators Recognition Act. Resolutions - Legislative Policy. SB 667 SCR 13

Biographical Sketches

  • Biographical sketch, pp. 12-13. Afro-American Texans, 1994.
  • Biographical sketch, Republican and constitutional conventions, legislation, pp. 44-48, 51-52, 68. Black Texans: A History of African Americans in Texas, 1528-1995, 1996.
  • Biographical information in Alwyn Barr, "Black Legislators of Reconstruction Texas," Volume 32, Number 4, December 1986, pp. 340-352. Civil War History.
  • Portrait and biographical sketch, George Thompson (G.T.) Ruby. Forever Free: Nineteenth Century African-American Legislators and Constitutional Convention Delegates of Texas, 2002.
  • Portrait and biographical sketch, The 1860s: George T. Ruby. Forever Free: Nineteenth Century African-American Legislators and Constitutional Convention Delegates of Texas, 2002.
  • Biography in LRL collection, 976.4 M742G 2020. George T. Ruby: Champion of Equal Rights in Reconstruction Texas, 2020.
  • RUBY, GEORGE THOMPSON (1841-1882). Birth date 7/1/1841. Handbook of Texas Online.
  • Biographical sketch. Historic Figures that Influenced the History of the Red and Canadian Basins.
  • Biographical sketch, Birth of the party, Republican conventions, pp. 5-8, 12-13. History of the Republican Party in Texas 1865-1965, 1965.
  • Constitutional Convention 1868-1869 and resignation letter, biographical sketch, Radical conventions 1868, pp. 20, 24-30; Ruby's letters to Governor E.J. Davis, pp. 55-57. Negro Legislators of Texas and Their Descendants: A History of the Negro in Texas Politics from Reconstruction to Disfranchisement, 1935.
  • Biographical sketch, p. 182. Overreached on All Sides: the Freedmen's Bureau in Texas Administrators, 1865-1868, 1991.
  • "Reconstructing a Legacy: The Trials and Accomplishments of Black Legislators in Post-Civil War Texas," by Michael Hurd, July 2021, pp. 68-71. Texas Highways.
  • Biographical sketch, p. 2, portrait and Chapter 11, "George T. Ruby: The Party Loyalist," pp. 180-189. Included in list of eleven African-American delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1868-1869, Appendix A. Birth year 1841, death year 1882, Appendix D. Through Many Dangers, Toils, and Snares: Black Leadership in Texas, 1868-1898, 2016.

Other Resources

  • "George T. Ruby: Reconstruction Politician/Journalist" by Donna L. Dickerson. Volume 15, No. 1, pp. 51-68. American Journalism, 1983.
  • Biographical information, pp. 55-57. Black Leaders: Texans for Their Times, 1981.
  • One of nine African-American delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1868-1869 (the Reconstruction Convention), Volume I, p. 731. D.W. Burley and Sheppard Mullens not included in list of African-American delegates. East Texas: Its History and Its Makers, 1940.
  • George Ruby and James P. Butler mentioned in account of the Constitutional Convention of 1868-1869. The Howling of the Coyotes: Reconstruction Efforts to Divide Texas, 1979.
  • Photo, mentioned in Minority Civil Rights and the Texas Legislature, 2018.
  • Mentioned in Negro Legislators of Texas and Their Descendants, 1970.
  • Reconstruction Convention of 1868-1869 and biographical information, pp. 200-201. Reconstruction in Texas, 1910.
  • "George T. Ruby: A Black Militant in the White Business Community," pp. 269-280. Red River Valley Historical Review, 1974.
  • Mentioned in Republicanism in Reconstruction Texas, 1980.
  • 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.
  • Mentioned, pp. 71, 91, 108, 111, 124, 138-141, 146-148, 153-155. Time of Hope, Time of Despair: Black Texans During Reconstruction, 1981.

Photographs

Composite Photographs on Display in the Capitol

Committee Information top

13th R.S. - 1873
Claims and Accounts  
Constitutional Amendments  
Contingent Expenses, Select  
Engrossed Bills  
Judiciary No. 2  
Public Debt  
Redistricting/Apportionment, Select  
Rules, Select  
State Affairs  
12th Adjourned - 1871
Contingent Expenses  
Engrossed Bills (Chair) 
Judiciary  
Militia  
Public Lands  
Superintendent of Education  
12th R.S. - 1871
Contingent Expenses  
Engrossed Bills (Chair) 
Judiciary  
Militia  
Public Lands  
12th 1st C.S. - 1870
Contingent Expenses  
Engrossed Bills (Chair) 
Judiciary  
Loss of Evidence in Contested Election, Select  
Militia  
Public Lands  

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