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William Prissick

Full Name: William Prissick
Date of birth: 1805
Date of death: 1881

Terms of Service top

Chamber District Dates of Service Legislatures Party City/County Note Counties in District
H 12 Feb 9, 1870 - Jan 14, 1873 12th (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)   Radical Republican Palacios / Matagorda   Brazoria, Galveston, Matagorda

(1) William Prissick, oaths of office as representative of the 12th Legislature, 2/9/1870 and 4/26/1870. Ancestry.com, Texas, U.S., Bonds and Oaths of Office, 1846-1920.
(2) Prissick "did not return to the legislature after its adjournment in the summer of 1871." Handbook of Texas Online.
(3) 12th Legislature, Provisional Session - Qualified and took the oath of office on 2/9/1870. House Journal.
(4) Prissick listed as "absent, not excused" throughout the 12th Legislature, Adjourned Session (9/12/1871-12/2/1871). "On motion of Mr. Slaughter, Mr. Prissick was excused for non-attendance during the past session," 12/2/1871, p. 836. House Journal.
(5) Prissick left Matagorda County in September 1871 to travel in Northwest Texas and then through Denver, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and beyond. "In September, 1871, Mr. Prissick left Matagorda County, ostensibly for the purpose of attending as a member the second session of the Twelfth Legislature, but in fact he struck off into the uninhabited regions of Northwestern Texas . . . " Obituary, section on "His Seven Years of Travels," The Galveston Daily News, 1/8/1882, p. 2, crediting Abilene Library Consortium. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries).
(6) Party affiliation, Radical. Texas Almanac for . . . and Emigrant's Guide to Texas.

Terms of Service top

House District 12
Feb 9, 1870 - Jan 14, 1873
Legislatures: 12th (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)  
Party: Radical Republican
Home City/County: Palacios / Matagorda
Counties in district: Brazoria, Galveston, Matagorda

(1) William Prissick, oaths of office as representative of the 12th Legislature, 2/9/1870 and 4/26/1870. Ancestry.com, Texas, U.S., Bonds and Oaths of Office, 1846-1920.
(2) Prissick "did not return to the legislature after its adjournment in the summer of 1871." Handbook of Texas Online.
(3) 12th Legislature, Provisional Session - Qualified and took the oath of office on 2/9/1870. House Journal.
(4) Prissick listed as "absent, not excused" throughout the 12th Legislature, Adjourned Session (9/12/1871-12/2/1871). "On motion of Mr. Slaughter, Mr. Prissick was excused for non-attendance during the past session," 12/2/1871, p. 836. House Journal.
(5) Prissick left Matagorda County in September 1871 to travel in Northwest Texas and then through Denver, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and beyond. "In September, 1871, Mr. Prissick left Matagorda County, ostensibly for the purpose of attending as a member the second session of the Twelfth Legislature, but in fact he struck off into the uninhabited regions of Northwestern Texas . . . " Obituary, section on "His Seven Years of Travels," The Galveston Daily News, 1/8/1882, p. 2, crediting Abilene Library Consortium. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries).
(6) Party affiliation, Radical. Texas Almanac for . . . and Emigrant's Guide to Texas.

Biographical Information top

Biographical Sketches

  • PRISSICK, WILLIAM (1805-1881). Handbook of Texas Online.
  • Obituary, "William Prissick: Passages in the Life of an Eccentric Texas Legislator: The Family Pedigree of Hon. William Prissick—Oddities of an Odd Englishman—Scraps of Early History in the Settlement of Texas," The Galveston Daily News, 1/8/1882, p. 2, crediting Abilene Library Consortium. Born in county Shropshire, England; "in the summer of 1841 he suddenly and unheralded appeared in Matagorda." Description of Prissick's service "As a Legislator": "Mr. Prissick, from having been an abolitionist efore the war and a prominent and active Union man during the four years of internecine strife, naturally, after emancipation, became the freedman's friend and counselor, and was elected by their vote as one of the Representatives of the Twelfth Legislature from the Twelfth District." Died "in the early part of the year 1881." Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries).

Other Resources

  • Census of 1860 - William Prissick, Matagorda, Matagorda County, age 54, born circa 1806 in England, butcher.
    Census of 1880 - William Presick, Matagorda County, age 75, born circa 1805 in England. FamilySearch. 1860 1880
  • William Prissick, shareholder in the "Social Library Tax for 1847," p. 356; received payments in 1849 from Matagorda County government for surveying the courthouse lot and delivering cedar blocks, p. 421; Member of the 12th Legislature, p. 666; Assessor of Taxes, Matagorda County, 1854-1855, p. 668. Matagorda County Book Committee. Historic Matagorda County, Volume 1, book, 1986; Houston, Texas; crediting Palacios Area Historical Association. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries).

Committee Information top

12th Adjourned - 1871
Immigration  
Judiciary  
12th R.S. - 1871
Indian Affairs  
Judiciary  
12th 1st C.S. - 1870
Immigration  
Public Buildings and Grounds  

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