Meshack Roberts

Full Name: Meshack R. "Shack" Roberts
Date of birth: 1821
Date of death: Deceased, date unknown

Terms of Service
Biographical Notes
Committee Information

Terms of Service top

Chamber	District	Dates of Service	Legislatures	Party	City/County	Counties in District
H	10	Apr 18, 1876 - Jan 14, 1879	15th ⁽¹⁾	Republican	Marshall / Harrison	Harrison
H	5	Jan 13, 1874 - Apr 18, 1876	14th ⁽²⁾	Republican	Marshall / Harrison	Harrison, Rusk
H	7	Jan 14, 1873 - Jan 13, 1874	13th ⁽³⁾	Republican	Marshall / Harrison	Harrison

(1) Mentioned in "The news from Austin . . . Resignations of Representative Barziza and four others accepted after critical debate . . . Hunter restored to his seat . . . Other resignations not improbable," Thursday, 8/3/1876, p. 1. Galveston Daily News.
(2) Republican. Directory of the Members and Officers of the Fourteenth Legislature of the State of Texas . . ., 1874.
(3) Republican. Directory of the Members of the Thirteenth Legislature of the State of Texas, 1873.

Biographical Notes and Resources 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.
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 - Congratulatory and Honorary. SB 667 SCR 13
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

Portrait and biographical sketch. Forever Free: Nineteenth Century African-American Legislators and Constitutional Convention Delegates of Texas, 2002.
ROBERTS, MESHACK (?-?). Handbook of Texas Online.
Biographical sketch, p. 115. A History of Upshur County, Texas, 1966.
Biographical sketch, Chapter VI, "Black Belt Politics," pp. 103-104. The Negro in Texas, 1874-1900, 1971.
Biographical sketch, Meshack Roberts, pp. 65-68, 72. Negro Legislators of Texas and Their Descendants: a History of the Negro in Texas Politics from Reconstruction to Disfranchisement, 1935.
Biographical sketch, S.R. Roberts, pp. 68-69. "He is fifty-eight years old." Sketches of Legislators and State Officers, Fifteenth Legislature, 1876-1878, 1876.
Biographical sketch, pp. 38, 40. Birth year 1821, Appendix D. Through Many Dangers, Toils, and Snares: Black Leadership in Texas, 1868-1898, 2016.

Other Resources

Mentioned, p. 67. Black Texans: a History of African Americans in Texas, 1528-1995, 1996.
Mentioned in Minority Civil Rights and the Texas Legislature, 2018.
Harrison County "continued to support a Republican delegation to the state legislature" in 1873: Webster Flanagan to the State Senate, Shack Roberts ("black leader from Harrison County") and Ed Brown ("Negro from Rusk County, as a representative of the two county district") to the House, p. 310. A Southern Community in Crisis: Harrison County, Texas, 1850-1880, 1983.
Shack Roberts, Republican state representative, pp. 308, 310, 313-314,325; "redemption" election of 1878, pp. 354, 364. A Southern Community in Crisis: Harrison County, Texas, 1850-1880, 1983.
Mentioned, pp. 98, 135. Time of Hope, Time of Despair: Black Texans During Reconstruction, 1981.

Photographs

Photograph. S. Roberts, 15th Legislature, State Preservation Board
Photograph. S. Roberts, 14th Legislature, State Preservation Board
Photograph. S. Roberts, 13th Legislature, DeGolyer Library, SMU, Lawrence T. Jones III Collection.
Photograph. Meschack (Shack) R. Roberts, State Preservation Board

Composite Photographs on Display in the Capitol

13th session composite photo of Senate and House members (Ground floor elevator vestibule, east wall. GW.V3). State Preservation Board.
13th session composite photo of Senate and House members (Ground floor elevator vestibule, east wall. GW.V3). State Preservation Board.
14th session composite photo of Senate and House members (Ground floor elevator vestibule, east wall. GW.V3). State Preservation Board.
15th session composite photo of House members (Ground floor elevator vestibule, east wall. GW.V3). State Preservation Board.
Pictorial Monogram of the State Government of Texas 1873 (DeGolyer Library, SMU, Lawrence T. Jones III Collection). DeGolyer Library, SMU, Lawrence T. Jones III Collection..

Committee Information top

15th R.S. - 1876 Roads, Bridges and Ferries
14th R.S. - 1874 Claims and Accounts Counties and County Boundaries Roads, Bridges and Ferries
13th R.S. - 1873 Immigration Private Land Claims

This website is a work in progress. Information on this website 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.

Have a question, comment or contribution? Email the Library or call 512-463-1252.

Many photos in Texas Legislators: Past and Present are used with permission of the Texas State Preservation Board. For permission to reproduce these photos, please contact the Texas State Preservation Board graphics coordinator at 512-475-3060.