Edward A. "Ed" Patton (born c. 1859 – ?) was an American educator, farmer and politician. A Republican who resided in

Evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

, he represented San Jacinto and

Polk Polk may refer to: People * James K. Polk, 11th president of the United States * Polk (name), other people with the name Places *Polk (CTA), a train station in Chicago, Illinois * Polk, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Polk, Missouri ...

counties in the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abou ...

during the Twenty-second Texas Legislature. At the time of his election, he was the sole Black member of the legislature. He served on the Education Committee in the House and worked for appropriations for the Prairie View State Normal School. Among other stances, he supported the establishment of the

Railroad Commission of Texas The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC; also sometimes called the Texas Railroad Commission, TRC) is the state agency that regulates the oil industry, oil and gas industry, gas utilities, pipeline safety, safety in the liquefied petroleum gas indus ...

, opposed the establishment of a

poll tax A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments fr ...

, and worked to relieve property taxes on landowners in his district whose lands suffered from flooding. However, he also supported a ban on interracial marriages and supported the Texas Confederate Home for Confederate veterans. After serving a term in the Texas House, Patton later moved to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

by 1920, where he worked for the federal government. His granddaughter Arlyne Patten was the mother of

Barbara Jordan Barbara Charline Jordan (February 21, 1936 – January 17, 1996) was an American lawyer, educator, and politician. A Democrat, she was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction and the first Southern African-A ...

, who would become the first Black member of the

Texas Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per cons ...

since 1893 and then the first Black woman to represent a Southern state in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patton, Edward African-American state legislators in Texas Members of the Texas House of Representatives 1859 births People from San Jacinto County, Texas People from Washington, D.C. 19th-century American politicians Year of death missing

See also

References