Difference between revisions of "Webster Flanagan"
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Revision as of 21:15, May 25, 2023
| David Webster Flanagan | |
|---|---|
| Former President pro tempore of the Texas Senate From: November 13, 1871 – ??? | |
| Predecessor | ??? |
| Successor | ??? |
| Former State Senator from Texas's 5th District From: February 10, 1870 – April 18, 1876 | |
| Predecessor | John G. Brown |
| Successor | Francis M. Henry |
| Information | |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Graham (died 1872) Sallie Phillip Ware |
| Religion | Baptist |
| Military Service | |
| Allegiance | Confederate States of America |
| Service/branch | Confederate Army |
| Battles/wars | American Civil War |
David Webster Flanagan (January 9, 1832 – May 5, 1924) was a prominent Republican in Texas known for his participation in state politics during the Reconstruction Era and briefly gaining the national spotlight at the 1880 Republican National Convention.
Early life, career, and Confederate Army service
Flanagan was born on January 9, 1832, in Cloverport, Kentucky (located in Breckinridge County), to James W. Flanagan and the former Polly Miller.[1] At the age of eleven, the Flanagans moved to Henderson, Texas, where the youthful Webster enrolled at local private schools and later Henderson College. The family also resided in Virginia at some point.[2]
"Under special act of the legislature," Flanagan at the age of nineteen was admitted to the state bar, practicing law up until the outbreak of the Civil War.[2] Despite his personal allegiance to the Union cause and opposition to secession, Flanagan took part in the Confederate Army during the Civil War.[1] However, due to tuberculosis, he was discharged, subsequently serving as Panola County's chief justice instead.[2]
Political career
In the postbellum era, Flanagan and his father were active in the moderate wing of the Republican Party,[1] and were popular in their district despite pro-Union viewpoints.[2] They attended the Texas Constitutional Convention of 1868–69 as delegates, where they dissented from the final draft of the document, joining Radical Republicans in supporting the division of Texas into three separate states to resolve regional divides.[2]
From 1870–76, he served in the Texas state Senate from the 5th district and temporarily was elected pro tempore for mid-November 1871 until the end of the Adjourned Session of the 12th Legislature.[3] During Flanagan's tenure, he opposed Governor Edmund J. Davis's anti-railroad actions and utilized his chairmanship of the Committee on Internal Improvements to push railroad legislation.[2]
Flanagan was a member of the state's Constitutional Convention of 1875.[1][2]
According to former U.S. senator Thomas C. Platt in his 1910 published autobiography, Flanagan was a Stalwart Republican delegate among the "Old Guard" 306 who supported the nomination of Ulysses S. Grant to a nonconsecutive third term in the 1880 U.S. presidential election.[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Watkins, Myrtis (1975). Flanagan, David Webster (1832–1924). Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Spaw, Patsy McDonald (1990). The Texas Senate: Civil War to the Eve of Reform, 1861-1889, pp. 97–100. Google Books. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
- ↑ Lieutenant Governors of Texas, 1846 - present. Legislative Library Reference of Texas. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
- ↑ Platt, Thomas C. (1910). The Autobiography of Thomas Collier Platt, p. 122. Google Books. Retrieved May 25, 2023.