Robert Lloyd Smith (January 8, 1861 – July 10, 1942) was an educator, businessman, and Republican politician who served two terms in the Texas Legislature. Born a free black in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

in 1861, he moved to Texas about 1880. He served as principal of the Oakland Normal School in

Colorado County Colorado County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 20,557. Its county seat is Columbus. It is named for the Colorado River of Texas. The county was founded in 1836 and organized the next y ...

in 1885. In 1890 he founded the Farmer's Home Improvement Society, a farmer's cooperative association whose purpose was to help poor blacks lift themselves out of poverty. He was first elected to the legislature in 1895 and served until 1899. He was the last African-American to serve in the Texas State Legislature until Barbara Jordan's election in the 1960s. He was a delegate to the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...

in 1896. In 1902, he was appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt as

Deputy U.S. Marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforcem ...

for the Eastern District of Texas. He was an associate of

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...

and also served as a trustee of the

Jeanes Foundation The Jeanes Foundation, also known as the Negro Rural School Fund or Jeanes Fund, helped support education and vocational programs for African American in rural communities from 1908 to the 1960s. It was founded by Anna T. Jeanes with help from Book ...

. He was married to Ruby Cobb and had two adopted children. He is depicted at the lower left on the Black Legislators Monument erected in 2010 at the Texas State Cemetery.

References

Texas Legislators: Past & Present - Robert L. Smith
: :

: ttp://www.cemetery.state.tx.us/monuments.asp Texas State Cemetery - Monuments Republican Party members of the Texas House of Representatives 1861 births 1942 deaths Politicians from Charleston, South Carolina Businesspeople from Charleston, South Carolina African-American politicians during the Reconstruction Era 20th-century African-American people {{Texas-politician-stub

See also

References