Meshack Roberts
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Meshack R. Roberts was an American enslaved man and later politician.


Early life

Born in
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
, his owner O. B. Roberts moved him to
Gilmer, Texas Gilmer is a city in, and the county seat of, Upshur County, Texas, United States. It is best known for being the home of the East Texas Yamboree and the birthplace of popular music singers Don Henley of the Eagles band and Johnny Mathis, as wel ...
in 1844. During the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, O. B. served in the
Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...
while Roberts cared for his house and family. After the war, O. B. gave him land and material to build a log cabin. In 1867, he was whipped by members of the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
, and soon moved to
Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...
, where he worked as a blacksmith.


Career

In 1873, Roberts was elected to the
13th Legislature In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the Musical note, note thirteen scale degrees from the root (chord), root of a chord (music), chord and also the interval (music), interval between the root and the thirteenth. The thirteenth is m ...
of 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. There are no Term limits in the United States, term limits. The ...
. A Republican from the
5th district District 5, 5 District or 5th District may refer to: Europe * District 5 (Zürich) * District 5, Düsseldorf * V District, Turku * Districts of Malta#District 5, District 5, an electoral district of Malta * Districts of Malta#District 5 2, Distric ...
, he helped improve education of African American children. He was also noted for his sarcasm and sense of humor. He was reelected for the 14th and 15th Legislatures. He was removed from office by the
White Citizens Parties White Citizens Parties were autonomous local parties (often county-based) in the Southern United States, that served as the public face and often directly as what would today be considered Political Action Committees for racist organizations like th ...
. He also helped establish
Wiley University Wiley University (formerly Wiley College) is a private historically black college in Marshall, Texas. Founded in 1873 by the Methodist Episcopal Church's Bishop Isaac Wiley and certified in 1882 by the Freedman's Aid Society, it is one of the ol ...
.


Legacy

He was honored by the 79th Texas Legislature, along with other early African-American legislators, for their service to Texas.


See also

*
African American officeholders from the end of the Civil War until before 1900 More than 1,500 African-American officeholders served during the Reconstruction era (1865–1877) and in the years after Reconstruction before white supremacy, disenfranchisement, and the Democratic Party fully reasserted control in Southern sta ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Shack Republican Party members of the Texas House of Representatives Year of birth missing Year of death missing 19th-century American slaves Methodists from Texas American blacksmiths 19th-century American artisans People from Rusk County, Texas People from Harrison County, Texas People from Upshur County, Texas African Americans in Texas 19th-century African-American politicians African-American politicians during the Reconstruction Era 19th-century members of the Texas Legislature