Constantine B. Kilgore

(Redirected from Constantine Buckley Kilgore)

Constantine Buckley Kilgore (February 20, 1835 – September 23, 1897) was a U.S. Representative from Texas.

Constantine B. Kilgore
Judge for the Southern District of the United States Court for the Indian Territory
In office
March 20, 1895 – September 23, 1897
Appointed byGrover Cleveland
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byHosea Townsend
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 3rd district
In office
March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1895
Preceded byJames H. Jones
Succeeded byC. H. Yoakum
President pro tempore of the Texas Senate
In office
1885–1886
Preceded byWilliam Russell Shannon
Succeeded byWilliam Henry Pope
Member of the Texas Senate
In office
1884–1886
Personal details
Born
Constantine Buckley Kilgore

(1835-02-20)February 20, 1835
Newnan, Georgia, U.S.
DiedSeptember 23, 1897(1897-09-23) (aged 62)
Ardmore, Indian Territory, U.S.
Resting placeWhite Rose Cemetery
Wills Point, Texas, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Military career
Allegiance Confederate States of America
Service / branch Confederate States Army
RankAdjutant general
UnitArmy of the Tennessee
Battles / warsAmerican Civil War

Early life and Confederate Army service

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Constantine Buckley "Buck" Kilgore was born on February 20, 1835, in Newnan, Georgia. In 1846, his family moved to Rusk County, Texas, where Kilgore attended school.[1] He also studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practiced in Rusk County, Texas. During the Civil War, Kilgore entered the Confederate States Army as a private and by 1862 attained the rank of adjutant general of Matthew Ector's brigade in the Army of the Tennessee.[2] During the war he was wounded during the Battle of Chickamauga and was captured. He was a prisoner of war for the rest of the war.[1]

Political career

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A political cartoon of Constantine Buckley Kilgore nicknamed Buck Kilgore

Kilgore was elected Justice of the Peace in 1869.[2] In 1872 the city of Kilgore, Texas was named in his honor after the International–Great Northern Railroad acquired land for a depot just south of Longview, Texas.[3] He served as a member of the Texas Constitutional convention in 1875 and was elected to the Texas Senate in 1884 for a term of four years. He was voted president of that body in 1885 for two years. He resigned from the State senate in 1886 after winning an election to Congress.[2]

Kilgore was elected as a Democrat to the Fiftieth and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1895).[2] When House Speaker Thomas Brackett Reed attempted to end the "silent filibuster" in 1890, a process by which the minority party could stop House business by calling quorums but then not answering when their names were called, Reed ended the process by directing the House Clerk to record those not answering to their names when the roll was called as present but not voting. Kilgore famously attempted to avoid being counted by kicking through a locked door to escape the House chamber.[4]

In 1895, President Grover Cleveland appointed Kilgore judge for the southern district of the United States Court for the Indian Territory. He served from March 20, 1895 until his death in Ardmore, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) on September 23, 1897. Kilgore was interred at White Rose Cemetery, Wills Point, Texas.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b Creel, Von Russell (Summer 2008). "Fifteen Men in Ermine: Judges of the United States Court for the Indian Territory, 1889-1907" (PDF). Chronicles of Oklahoma. 86 (2): 158–185. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Kilgore, Constantine Buckley". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. United States Congress. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  3. ^ Long, Christopher (February 1, 1995). "Kilgore, TX (Gregg County)". tshaonline.org. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  4. ^ Butterfield, Roger (1947). The American Past. New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 254. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
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  This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 3rd congressional district

1887–1895
Succeeded by