urn:taro:tslac.40017 Texas Governor Richard Coke: An Inventory of Records at the Texas State Archives, 1873-1877 Finding aid by Tonia J. Wood, December 1995 This EAD finding aid was created in part with funds provided by the Texas Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund Board for the Texas Archival Resources Online project. Texas State Library and Archives Commission Text converted and initial EAD tagging provided by Apex Data Services, January 2001. Finding aid written inEnglish. July 22, 2003. Finding aid converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by TARO using the conversion stylesheet v1to02.xsl, March 2001. Corrections and further encoding to TARO project standards by Tonia J. Wood, Overview Texas State Archives Texas. Governor (1874-1876 : Coke) Records 1873-1877 Types of records are correspondence, proclamations, messages to the Texas Legislature, printed material, letterpress books, petitions, and reports, dating from 1873 to 1877. Records are from Richard Coke's tenure as governor of Texas from 1874 to 1876. 2.35 cubic ft. English. Restrictions on Access

None.

 Restrictions on Use

None.

 Technical Requirements

None.

 Biographical Sketch

Richard Coke, governor of Texas, held office from January 15, 1874 to December 1, 1876. Coke was born March 13, 1829 in Williamsburg, Virginia. He graduated from the College of William and Mary and began practicing law before moving to Waco, Texas in 1850. In 1859 he was a member of a commission which removed the Brazos Reservation Indians to the Indian Territory. After serving in the Secession Convention of 1861, Coke rose in the ranks of the Confederate Army from private to captain. In 1865 he was appointed district judge, and in 1866 was elected Supreme Court justice, but was removed by General Philip Sheridan in 1867 as an impediment to reconstruction.

In 1873, Coke won the governor's chair over E.J. Davis. Several tense days in January 1874 saw the state capitol turned into an armed camp, with two rival legislatures, as Davis refused to surrender his office. When President U.S. Grant would not support Davis' request for troops, Davis conceded and Coke was inaugurated. During Coke's term in office, he faced a state government which was in debt and without funds, an unprotected frontier, and problems with Indians and Mexican bandits. Coke reduced expenditures and made a new beginning of the public school system. He was re-elected in 1876 after the Constitution of 1876 had returned the governor's term of office to two years. Later the same year, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, and so resigned the governorship on December 1, 1876. Coke served three terms in the Senate (1877-1895) and died in Waco on May 14, 1897.

 Scope and Contents of the Records

Types of records are correspondence, proclamations, messages to the Texas Legislature, printed material, letterpress books, petitions, and reports, dating from 1873 to 1877. Records are from Richard Coke's tenure as governor of Texas from 1874 to 1876. Letters include requests and recommendations for appointment to office and for pardon of convicts; reports on Mexican border problems, such as gangs of thieves freely crossing the Rio Grande; and discussions regarding school lands, railroads, violence, and the creation of ranger companies. Correspondence is with state and local officials, citizens of various counties, and newspaper editors.

Arrangement of the Records

Arrangement is generally by type of material, then chronological.

 Index Terms

The terms listed here were used to catalog the records. The terms can be used to find similar or related records.

Personal Names: Coke, Richard, 1829-1897. Corporate Names: Texas. Office of the Governor. Texas Rangers. Texas. Constitutional Convention (1875) Subjects: Governors--Texas. Places: Texas--Politics and government--1865-1950. Texas--Officials and employees--Selection and appointment. Texas--Frontier troubles. Document Types: Correspondence--Texas--Governors --1873-1877. Proclamations--Texas--Governors--1873-1877. Petitions--Texas--Governors--1873-1877. Reports--Texas--Governors--1873-1877. Letterpress copybooks--Texas--Governors--1873-1877. Related Material

The following materials are offered as possible sources of further information on the agencies and subjects covered by the records. The listing is not exhaustive.

Texas State Archives

Texas Secretary of State, Executive record books, 1835-1917, 14 reels of microfilm. Governor Richard Coke resignation, 1876 Dec. 1, 1 item [negative photostat] [Manuscripts Collection] Texas Secretary of State, Governor's clemency proclamations, 1870, 1874-2002, 14.71 cubic ft. (originals), 165 reels of microfilm Preferred Citation

(Identify the item), Records, Texas Governor Richard Coke. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

 Processing Information

June 1984

Tonia J. Wood, December 1995

 Accession Information

No accession information for these records was located.

 Detailed Description of the Records Records, 1873-1877, 2.35 cubic ft. 301-93 1. Correspondence, February 1873 301-93 2. Correspondence, October 1873 301-93 3. Correspondence, November 1873 301-93 4. Correspondence, December 1873 301-93 5. Correspondence, January 1874 301-93 6. Correspondence, February 1874 301-93 7. Correspondence, March 1874 301-93 8. Correspondence, April 1874 301-93 9. Correspondence, May 1874 301-93 10. Correspondence, June 1874 301-93 11. Correspondence, July 1874 301-93 12. Correspondence, August 1874 301-93 13. Correspondence, September 1874 301-93 14. Correspondence, October 1874 301-94 15. Correspondence, November 1874 301-94 16. Correspondence, December 1874 301-94 17. Proclamations, February 1874 301-94 18. Proclamations, April 1874 301-94 19. Proclamations, May 1874 301-94 20. Proclamations, June 1874 301-94 21. Miscellaneous, undated 301-94 22. Correspondence, January 1875 301-94 23. Correspondence, February 1875 301-94 24. Correspondence, March 1875 301-94 25. Correspondence, April 1875 301-94 26. Correspondence, May 1875 301-94 27. Correspondence, June 1875 301-94 28. Correspondence, August 1875 301-95 29. Correspondence, September 1875 301-95 30. Correspondence, October 1875 301-95 31. Correspondence, November 1875 301-95 32. Correspondence, December 1875 301-95 33. Correspondence, undated 301-95 34. Correspondence, January 1876 301-95 35. Correspondence, February 1876 301-95 36. Correspondence, March 1876 301-95 37. Correspondence, April 1876 301-95 38. Correspondence, May 1876 301-95 39. Correspondence, June 1876 301-95 40. Correspondence, July 1876 301-95 41. Correspondence, August 1876 301-95 42. Correspondence, September 1876 301-95 43. Correspondence, October 1876 301-95 44. Correspondence, November 1876 301-95 45. Correspondence, December 1876, October-December 1877 301-95 46. Correspondence, 1876 301-95 47. Messages & proclamations, December 1876 301-95 48. Messages & proclamations, undated 301-95 49. Messages, January 1874 301-96 50. Messages, March 1874 301-96 51. Messages, undated 301-96 52. Messages, 1875 301-96 53. Printed messages, 1875 301-96 54. Printed messages, 1874-1876 301-96 Letterpress, September 18, 1875-June 6, 1876 301-92 Telegrams, Davis-Coke, January 1874-April 1875 [filed with Governor Edmund J. Davis' records] 301-92 Letterpress, Davis-Coke, January-August 1874 [filed with Governor Edmund J. Davis' records] 301-97 Letterpress, August 20, 1874-April 5, 1875 301-97 Letterpress, April 2, 1875-September 16, 1875