Oran Milo Roberts
Canton, Van Zandt County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(July 9, 1815 - May 19, 1898) A South Carolina-born Alabama legislator, Oran M. Roberts came to San Augustine, Texas in 1841. He served in district and state judicial positions, including the first district court in Canon in 1850, and was president of the Secession Convention in 1861. After service as a colonel in the 11th Regiment, Texas Infantry, his postwar career included a second turn as a state Supreme Court judge; he made the 1877 ruling that ended the Van Zandt County Seat War. Roberts was elected governor of Texas in 1878. He was a law professor at the new University of Texas until 1893. Roberts helped form the Texas State Historical Association in 1895. (1998) Incise on base: Researched by Annette Herndon Plemmons
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Oran M. Roberts came to Texas from Alabama in 1841 and became one of its most consequential public men — a judge who presided over the secession convention in 1861, a Confederate colonel, a state Supreme Court justice, and, from 1878, governor. In retirement he taught law at the new University of Texas and helped found the Texas State Historical Association in 1895. His career bridges the Old South, the Confederacy, and the making of modern Texas institutions.
Why it matters
Roberts's life links Texas secession and the Civil War to the state's postwar rebuilding of its courts, university, and historical memory.
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Related people
- · Oran Milo Roberts
- · Annette Herndon Plemmons
Themes & tags
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