Horace Chilton (December 29, 1853 – June 12, 1932) was a printer, lawyer, and Democratic

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Biography

Chilton - a grandson of

Thomas Chilton Thomas Chilton (July 30, 1798 – August 15, 1854) was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky, a prominent Baptist clergyman, and the ghost writer of David Crockett's autobiography. Born near Lancaster, Kentucky, a son of Rev. Thomas John Chilton a ...

- was born near

Tyler, Texas Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County, Texas, Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the List of cities in Texa ...

, and by age 18 was publishing the tri-weekly Tyler ''Sun'' newspaper. At 19 he was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

and served as assistant attorney general of Texas between 1881 and 1883 and as a delegate to the Democratic national conventions of 1888 and 1896. Appointed to the Senate upon John H. Reagan's resignation in 1891, Chilton was the first native Texan to serve in the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

. Although he was defeated in the 1892 election for the seat, Chilton was elected to the Senate in 1894. Chilton decided not to run for reelection in

1901 Events January * January 1 – The Crown colony, British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and Western Australia Federation of Australia, federate as the Australia, ...

, returning to practice law in Tyler and later

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat, seat of government of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, metropo ...

, where he worked with

Spindletop Spindletop is an oil field located in the southern portion of Beaumont, Texas, in the United States. The Spindletop dome was derived from the Louann Salt evaporite layer of the Jurassic geologic period. On January 10, 1901, a well at Spindleto ...

oilfield operations. In 1906 he moved to

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

, where he lived until his death. The Horace Chilton papers are held in the

Dolph Briscoe Center for American History The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History is an organized research unit and public service component of the University of Texas at Austin named for Dolph Briscoe, the 41st governor of Texas. The center collects and preserves documents and ar ...

in Austin, Texas.

Personal life

Chilton married Mary W. Grinnan on February 20, 1877, and they had five children. She died in 1924. He died at his home in Dallas on June 12, 1932, and was buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Tyler.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chilton, Horace 1853 births 1932 deaths People from Beaumont, Texas People from Dallas People from Tyler, Texas Texas Democrats Democratic Party United States senators from Texas