# 16th Texas Legislature

The 16th Texas Legislature met from January 14 to July 9, 1879 in its regular session and one called session. All members of the House of Representatives and about half of the members of the Senate were elected in 1878 General Election.

## Sessions

* 16th Regular session: January 14–April 24, 1879
* 16th First called session: June 10–July 9, 1879

## Officers
### Senate
#### Lieutenant Governor

    Joseph Draper Sayers, Democrat

#### President pro tempore

    Edwin Hobby, Democrat, Regular session, ad interim
    Leonidas Jefferson Storey, Democrat, First called session

### House of Representatives
#### Speaker of the House

    John Hughes Cochran, Democrat

## Members

Members of the Sixteenth Texas Legislature as of the beginning of the Regular Session, January 14, 1879:

### Senate

| District | Senator | Party | Took office |
| 1 | Edwin Hobby | Democrat | 1874 |
| 2 | Peyton Forbes Edwards | | 1876 |
| 3 | John W. Motley | | 1876 |
| 4 | Walter Riptoe | Republican | 1876 |
| 5 | William H. Tilson | | 1879 |
| 6 | William Jesse Swain | | 1879 |
| 7 | John Martin Duncan | | 1879 |
| 8 | John Young Gooch | | 1879 |
| 9 | Charles D. Grace | | 1876 |
| 10 | John C. Buchanan | | 1879 |
| 11 | William Blassingame | | 1876 |
| 12 | William D. Lair | Democrat | 1879 (Prior: 1861–1863) |
| 13 | Robert S. Guy | | 1876 |
| 14 | Francis Marion Martin | Democrat | 1879 (Prior: 1859–1861) |
| 15 | Thomas J. McCulloch | | 1876 |
| 16 | James R. Burnett | | 1876 |
| 17 | Walter Moses Burton | Republican | 1874 |
| 18 | Charles Stewart | | 1879 |
| 19 | Andrew Phelps McCormick | Republican | 1876 |
| 20 | William Kercheval Homan | | 1879 |
| 21 | William M. Brown | | 1876 |
| 22 | John W. Moore | Democrat | 1876 (Prior: 1861–1865) |
| 23 | William R. Shannon | Democrat | 1879 (Prior: 1865–1867) |
| 24 | Jewett H. Davenport | | 1879 (Prior: 1874–1876) |
| 25 | Alexander Watkins Terrell | Democrat | 1876 |
| 26 | William Hamilton Ledbetter | | 1874 |
| 27 | Samuel C. Patton | | 1879 |
| 28 | Ellsberry R. Lane | | 1876 |
| 29 | John Salmon "Rip" Ford | Democrat | 1876 (Prior: 1851–1853) |
| 30 | Augustus W. Houston | Democrat | 1879 |
| 31 | Leonidas Jefferson Storey | Democrat | 1876 |

### House of Representatives

* Benjamin M. Baker
* Thomas Beck
* William Bell
* Guy Morrison Bryan
* William Clemens
* John Hughes Cochran
* James N. English
* R. J. Evans
* George Finlay
* Jacob E. Freeman
* Samuel Frost
* Caleb Jackson Garrison
* Charles Reese Gibson
* Bedford G. Guy
* William Kercheval Homan
* Elias Mayes
* George Pickett
* Joseph Benjamin Polley
* Alonzo Sledge
* Ashbel Smith
* Felix Ezell Smith
* M. D. K. Taylor
* Robert H. Taylor
* Benjamin Franklin Williams
* Charles Louis Wurzbach

## Membership Changes

| District | Outgoing Senator | Reason for Vacancy | Successor | Date of Successor's Installation |
| District 1 | Edwin Hobby | Hobby resigned July 10, 1879. | Vacant | |
| District 2 | Peyton Forbes Edwards | resigned December 4, 1871. | Vacant | |
| District 15 | Thomas J. McCulloch | McCulloch resigned September 3, 1879. | Vacant | |
| District 16 | James R. Burnett | Burnett resigned October 9, 1879. | John T. Buchanan | after February 17, 1880 |
| District 19 | Andrew Phelps McCormick | McCormick resigned April 12, 1879. | Robert Gould Street | June 10, 1879 |
| District 20 | William Kercheval Homan | Homan resigned July 9, 1879. | William Kercheval Homan | after February 17, 1880 |
| District 29 | John Salmon "Rip" Ford | Ford resigned August 30, 1879. | Vacant | |
* ^ District 16: Buchanan was elected in special election February 17, 1880
* ^ District 20: Homan was reelected in special election February 17, 1880