# David Abner > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/David_Abner > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/David_Abner.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Abner > Source revision: 1349607118 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American politician}} {{about||his son, the American educator|David Abner Jr.}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2019}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = David Abner Sr. | image = David Abner (1826-1902).jpg | office = [Texas State Representative for District 5 (Harrison and Rusk counties)](/source/Texas_House_of_Representatives) | term_start = January 13, 1874 | term_end = March 15, 1875 | birth_date = c. 1826 | birth_place = [Selma, Alabama](/source/Selma%2C_Alabama), U.S. | death_date = {{death year and age|1902|1826}} | death_place = [Marshall, Texas](/source/Marshall%2C_Texas), U.S. | spouse = | children = [David Abner Jr.](/source/David_Abner_Jr.) | party = [Republican](/source/Republican_Party_(United_States)) | alma_mater = | profession = Politician, farmer, educator | footnotes = }} '''David Abner Sr.''' (c. 1826–1902) was an American politician who served in the [Texas House of Representatives](/source/Texas_House_of_Representatives). Born into [slavery](/source/slavery_in_the_United_States) in [Selma, Alabama](/source/Selma%2C_Alabama), he served in the [Fourteenth Texas Legislature](/source/Fourteenth_Texas_Legislature) for District 5 and sat on the Education Committee. He was a delegate to the 1875 Texas Constitutional Convention.[https://www.tsl.state.tx.us/exhibits/forever/biographies/page1.html Forever Free: the biographies (page 1)] at the [Texas State Library and Archives Commission](/source/Texas_State_Library_and_Archives_Commission); published August 26, 2011. Retrieved October 30, 2013 ==Early life== At the age of seventeen, Abner in 1843 was taken to [Upshur County](/source/Upshur_County%2C_Texas) in [East Texas](/source/East_Texas). After being [emancipated](/source/Emancipation_Proclamation) after the [American Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War), he moved to [Marshall](/source/Marshall%2C_Texas) in [Harrison County](/source/Harrison_County%2C_Texas), also in East Texas. There, he rented a plot of land and a mule from the sister of his original master. A few years later, he purchased the farm and became wealthy.{{cite web|url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fab06|title=David Abner Sr.|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|author1-link=Merline Pitre|author=Merline Pitre|accessdate= October 30, 2013}} ==Political life== In 1873, Abner was appointed to the executive committee of the first Colored Men's State Convention.{{cite web|last=Barr|first=Alwyn|authorlink=Alwyn Barr|title=Black State Conventions|url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/pkb01|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|accessdate=October 31, 2013}} Later, he was elected to the position of treasurer for Harrison County.{{cite book|last=Harvey|first=Bill|title=Texas Cemeteries: The Resting Places of Famous, Infamous, and Just Plain Interesting Texans|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fMCAuw4JifYC&pg=PA181|date=February 1, 2003|publisher=University of Texas Press|isbn=978-0-292-73466-1|page=181}} In 1874, Abner was elected to the legislature for Harrison and [Rusk](/source/Rusk_County%2C_Texas) counties and a councilman in the Texas House of Councils.{{cite web|title=David Abner Sr.|url=http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/legeLeaders/members/memberDisplay.cfm?memberID=5310|publisher=Legislative Reference Library of Texas|accessdate=October 31, 2013}} Halfway through his term in the state House, in August 1875, a convention was called to rewrite the 1869 [Texas State Constitution](/source/Texas_State_Constitution). Abner was one of three delegates elected to the convention from the [Texas State Senate](/source/Texas_State_Senate) district that comprised Harison and Rusk counties.{{cite book|last=Campbell|first=Randolph B. |title=Grass-roots Reconstruction in Texas, 1865–1880|url=https://archive.org/details/grassrootsrecons0000camp|url-access=registration|year=1997|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|isbn=978-0-8071-2194-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/grassrootsrecons0000camp/page/128 128]–29}} He was the only Republican at the convention who voted for a clause in the state constitution that prohibited the state from spending money for the encouragement of immigration.{{ref|citation|a}}{{cite book|last=Rozek|first=Barbara J.|title=Come to Texas: Attracting Immigrants, 1865–1915|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B1RKXqhKVaUC&pg=PA205|date=July 22, 2003|publisher=Texas A&M University Press|isbn=978-1-58544-267-6|page=53}} After his state legislative term, Abner was the vice president of the Republican State Convention in 1876. ==After politics== [[file:David Abner Jr.jpg|thumb|Son, [David Abner Jr.](/source/David_Abner_Jr.)]] In 1881, Abner helped establish [Bishop College](/source/Bishop_College), and served as one of its first trustees. In 1884, his son [David Abner Jr.](/source/David_Abner_Jr.), became the first black man to graduate from a Texas college, and later became president of [Guadalupe College](/source/Guadalupe_College) and then of Conroe College.[https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fab09 ABNER, DAVID, JR.] at the Texas State Historical Association; by Diana J. Kleiner. Retrieved October 30, 2013 Abner died in 1902 in Marshall, Texas, and is interred there at a family cemetery. ==Notes== *{{note|citation|a}} Article 16, section 56 of the Texas State Constitution states: "The Legislature shall have no power to appropriate any of the public money for the establishment and maintenance of a bureau of immigration, or for any purpose of bringing immigrants to this State." It was part of the Constitution from 1875 until repealed in 2001. ==External links== *{{Find a Grave|7737787}} {{Portal bar|Biography|United States|Texas|Politics|Education}} ==References== {{reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Abner, David}} Category:1820s births Category:Year of birth uncertain Category:1902 deaths Category:Republican Party members of the Texas House of Representatives Category:African-American politicians of the Reconstruction era Category:African-American state legislators in Texas Category:Politicians from Selma, Alabama Category:People from Upshur County, Texas Category:People from Marshall, Texas Category:19th-century American slaves Category:20th-century African-American people Category:People enslaved in Alabama Category:19th-century members of the Texas Legislature --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [David Abner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Abner) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Abner?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.