Franklin Barlow Sexton, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Franklin Barlow Sexton

American politician

Date of Birth: 29-Apr-1828

Place of Birth: New Harmony, Indiana, United States

Date of Death: 15-May-1900

Profession: judge, lawyer, politician

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Taurus


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About Franklin Barlow Sexton

  • Franklin Barlow Sexton (April 29, 1828 – May 15, 1900) was a politician from Texas who served in the Confederate Congress during the American Civil War. Sexton was born in New Harmony, Indiana, in rural Posey County, the only child of Dr.
  • and Mrs.
  • Samuel Sexton.
  • In 1838, the family moved from Indiana and resettled in San Augustine, Texas.
  • There, his father died when Franklin was 13 years old.
  • Sexton briefly served as an apprentice to a local printer, and then enrolled in the local Methodist academy (Wesleyan College) and studied law.
  • He was granted his license to practice law in 1848 by special legislative action.
  • He established a legal practice in San Augustine and became active in local political circles.
  • In 1852, he married Eliza Richardson, daughter of a prominent Sabine County landowner.
  • The couple had 12 children.
  • Sexton became a member of the Freemason movement, serving in 1856 as Grand Master. In April 1860, Sexton was elected as president of the Texas State Democratic Convention.
  • He presided over the convention, which passed resolutions regarding states rights and reaffirming the institution of slavery.
  • The following year, with the outbreak of the Civil War and Texas's secession, Sexton briefly joined the Confederate States Army, but resigned after being elected to fill a vacancy in the State Senate.
  • In 1862, he was elected to the First Confederate Congress as a representative from Texas's 4th District and left home in July to travel to Richmond, Virginia, to assume his duties, arriving in mid-August.
  • He worked with the War Department to improve the conditions of the average soldier in the field.
  • Sexton was reelected to a second term in 1863, serving until the fall of the Confederacy in the spring of 1865 and the dissolution of the Congress.
  • He was one of only two Texans to be elected to both terms. Returning to San Augustine after the war, Sexton resumed his legal practice and involvement with the Masons.
  • In 1870, served as Grand Commander of the Knights Templar of Texas.
  • He moved his family to Marshall, Texas, in 1872 and established a profitable practice there representing the railroad.
  • When the state authorized construction of a new Capitol building in Austin, Sexton was selected to deliver an address at the ceremony for the laying of the cornerstone.
  • He was a delegate to the 1876 Democratic National Convention in St.
  • Louis, where he made an impassioned speech supporting Samuel J.
  • Tilden.
  • After his wife died, Sexton moved in with one of his daughters at El Paso.
  • He was appointed a judge on the state Supreme Court and later served as a United States commissioner. Sexton died in El Paso and was buried in Marshall, Texas. In 1923, Sexton's diary recording his first two years in the Confederate Congress was discovered, providing a rare glimpse into the inner workings of that body.

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