# 17th Texas Legislature

The 17th Texas Legislature met from January 11, 1881, to May 5, 1882, 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 1880 General Election.

## Sessions

* 17th Regular session: January 11–April 1, 1881
* 17th First called session: April 6–May 5, 1882

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

    Leonidas Jefferson Storey, Democrat

#### President pro tempore

    Edwin Hobby, Democrat, Regular session
    Francis Marion Martin, Democrat, ad interim, First called session

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

    George Robertson Reeves, Democrat

## Members

Members of the Seventeenth Texas Legislature as of the beginning of the Regular Session, January 11, 1881:

### Senate

| District | Senator | Party | Took office |
| 1 | Samuel Bronson Cooper | Democrat | 1881 |
| 2 | William Wallace Weatherred | | 1881 |
| 3 | Richard M. Wynne | | 1881 |
| 4 | Richard L. Hightower | | 1881 |
| 5 | William H. Tilson | | 1879 |
| 6 | William Jesse Swain | | 1879 |
| 7 | John Martin Duncan | | 1879 |
| 8 | John Young Gooch | | 1879 |
| 9 | Henry W. Lightfoot | | 1881 |
| 10 | John C. Buchanan | | 1879 |
| 11 | J. M. Martin | | 1881 |
| 12 | William D. Lair | Democrat | 1879 (Prior: 1861–1863) |
| 13 | Anson Rainey | | 1881 |
| 14 | Francis Marion Martin | Democrat | 1879 (Prior: 1859–1861) |
| 15 | John Nathaniel Henderson | | 1881 |
| 16 | John T. Buchanan | | 1879 |
| 17 | Walter Moses Burton | Republican | 1874 |
| 18 | Charles Stewart | | 1879 |
| 19 | James B. Stubbs | | 1881 |
| 20 | William Kercheval Homan | | 1879 |
| 21 | Andrew Jackson Harris | | 1881 |
| 22 | Lawrence Sullivan Ross | Democrat | 1881 |
| 23 | William R. Shannon | Democrat | 1879 (Prior: 1865–1867) |
| 24 | Jewett H. Davenport | | 1879 (Prior: 1874–1876) |
| 25 | Alexander Watkins Terrell | Democrat | 1876 |
| 26 | A. W. Moore | Democrat | 1881 (Prior: 1861–1865) |
| 27 | Samuel C. Patton | | 1879 |
| 28 | Ellsberry R. Lane | | 1876 |
| 29 | Stephen Powers | | 1881 |
| 30 | Augustus W. Houston | Democrat | 1879 |
| 31 | William Henry Burges | Democrat | 1881 |

### House of Representatives

* Benjamin M. Baker
* Thomas Beck
* William John Caven
* R. J. Evans
* George Finlay
* George Washington Lafayette Fly
* Lafayette Lumpkin Foster
* Charles Reese Gibson
* Andrew Jackson Harris
* William Kercheval Homan
* Joseph Chappell Hutcheson
* Robert A. Kerr
* Felix J. McCord
* Absolom C. Oliver
* Henry Joseph Richarz
* Thomas A. Rodríguez
* George Robertson Reeves
* Benjamin Dudley Tarlton
* George T. Todd
* Arthur Tompkins
* John Henry Traylor
* James W. Truitt
* William Wallace Weatherred
* Charles Louis Wurzbach

## Membership Changes

| District | Outgoing Senator | Reason for Vacancy | Successor | Date of Successor's Installation |
| District 11 | J. M. Martin | Martin died March 9, 1882. | William O. Davis | April 6, 1882 |
| District 16 | John T. Buchanan | Buchanan died January 29, 1882. | James G. McDonald | April 6, 1882 |
| District 28 | Ellsberry R. Lane | Lane resigned February 1, 1882. | Lucas H. Brown | April 6, 1882 |
| District 29 | Stephen Powers | Powers died after the Regular Session. | Charles A. McLane | April 6, 1882 |