Judge Robert Henry Burney

[https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbu52] Robert H. Burney, state legislator and district judge, eldest son of Hance McCain and Mary A. (Tatum) Burney, was born in McNary County, Tennessee, on October 22, 1854. His family moved to Texas and settled in the Guadalupe valley while he was still an infant. At the age of twenty, he joined the Texas Rangers under Capt. Neal Caldwell. He resigned after a year in order to attend Southwestern University at Georgetown. He entered the law department of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1878 and received a bachelor of laws degree in 1879. The same year Southwestern University awarded him the bachelor of arts degree as well. After graduating, he practiced law for a short time in Georgetown in partnership with Judge Thomas P. Hughes. He returned to Kerr County in 1880 and continued to practice law in Kerrville. He was elected state senator as a Democrat from the Twenty-eighth District in 1886 and reelected in 1890. While a member of the legislature he chaired the Committee on Education, the Committee on State Asylums, and a joint committee established to investigate the state comptroller's office. He also authored a bill establishing the state geological department at the University of Texas. In 1904 he was appointed judge of the Thirty-eighth Judicial District by Governor S. W. T. Lanham. He held that office until his death and earned a wide reputation for honesty and independence of thought. Burney married Mattie Prather of Palestine, Texas, in September 1879. They had four children. He died on April 2, 1926.

Biography

Judge Robert Henry Burney was born on October 22, 1854, in McNairy County, Tennessee, United States of America. He was a District Judge in Kerr County, Texas

Robert married Martha Elizabeth Prather on September 30, 1879, in Anderson, Texas, USA. Together they had the following children:

• Golda B Burney;
• Vela Burney;
• Ivy Hance Burney, II;
• Henry Prather Burney, I.

He died on April 2, 1926, in Uvalde, Uvalde County, Texas and was buried in Kerrville, Kerr County, Texas, United States of America. [https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/43092845]

   Senate, 22nd (1) (3) (7) Legislature

   1/13/1891 - 1/10/1893

   Democrat

   Senate President Pro Tempore, elected 4/12/1892, 1st C.S.

   Senate, 21st (2) (4) & 20th (5) (6) Legislatures

   1/11/1887 - 1/13/1891

   Democrat

(1) 2-year term; the entire Senate went up for reelection in 1892 due to redistricting. Act approved Apr. 19, 1892, 22nd Legislature, 1st C.S., ch. 20, Apportionment Laws of Texas, 1836-1950 1950. (2) Democrat. Biennial Report of the Secretary of State of the State of Texas: List of Senators and Representatives. (3) Democrat. Biennial Report of the Secretary of State of the State of Texas: List of Senators and Representatives. (4) List of Senators of the 21st Legislature, "The State Senate: Members-Elect in the Different Districts - Austin Local Notes," Galveston Daily News, 11/20/1888, p. 6, crediting Abilene Library Consortium. "There are two independents in the list. The rest are Democratic nominees." Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries). (5) Robert Henry Burney, Kerrville. The roster of senators and representatives of the 20th Legislature with their post office address, Austin Weekly Statesman, "Governmental," 12/30/1886, p. 6. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries). (6) 20th Legislature - Listed as a new member in the roll call, 1/11/1887, p. 1: "The credentials of the new members were presented, and the following Senators had the oath of office administered them by the Lieutenant Governor, to-wit:.." Senate Journal. (7) 22nd Legislature - 1/14/1891, p. 5. Seats formerly occupied by Townsend, Kimbrough & Burney were reserved for them, the seat formerly occupied by his predecessor was reserved for Carter, those Sens. being absent. Kimbrough indefinitely excused. Senate Journal. Biographical Notes and Resources Photographs

   Photograph. R.H.Burney, State Preservation Board

   Photograph. R.H. Burney, State Preservation Board

   Photograph. R.H. Burney, State Preservation Board

Other Resources

   Robert Henry Burney, birth date 10/22/1854, death date 4/2/1926 in Uvalde. FamilySearch Texas Deaths, 1890-1976.

   Robert H. Burney, grave marker photo, interment in Glen Rest Cemetery, Kerrville, Kerr County. Find a Grave.

BURNEY, ROBERT HANCE (1854-1926). "He was elected state senator as a Democrat from the Twenty-eighth District in 1886 and reelected in 1890." Handbook of Texas Online.

   Biographical sketch, Burney family, pp. 294-302. Robert H. Burney, state senator and district judge (known as "Judge of the Hill Country"), born 10/22/1854 in McNairy County, Tennessee, died 4/2/1926. Jesse Burney, born 5/10/1864, served in Texas Legislature for four years, died in 1946. Burney pioneer family portrait. Relatives: Judge Robert H. Burney and Jesse G. Burney - brothers, both sons of Hance McCain Burney and Mary Tatum Burney (pp. 294-295) Kerr County, Texas, 1856-1976 1975.

   Biographical sketch, Robert Henry Burney, pp. 64-66. Personnel of the Texas State Government with Sketches of Distinguished Texans, 20th Legislature 1887.

   Biographical sketch, Robert Henry Burney, pp. 156-160. Personnel of the Texas State Government with Sketches of Distinguished Texans, 21st Legislature 1889.

   Portrait and biographical sketch. Personnel of the Texas State Government with Sketches of Representative Men of Texas, 22nd Legislature 1892. 

Committee Information

   22nd R.S. - 1891

       Frontier Protection  

       Judicial Districts  

       Judiciary No. 1  

       Military Affairs  

       Mining and Irrigation  

       Public Health  

       Public Lands  

       Public Printing  

       State Asylums (Chair) 

   21st R.S. - 1889

       Alamo Monument  

       Constitutional Amendments  

       Counties and County Boundaries  

       Education (Chair) 

       Frontier Protection  

       Internal Improvements  

       Judicial Districts  

       Judiciary No. 1  

       Judiciary No. 2  

       Mining, Geology and Irrigation  

       Public Health  

       Public Lands  

       Public Printing  

       Rules  

       State Institutions of Learning  

   20th R.S. - 1887

       Comptroller's Office, Examine (Chair) 

       Education  

       Frontier Protection  

       Internal Improvements  

       Judicial Districts  

       Judiciary No. 2  

       New Capitol Construction, Examine  

       New Capitol, Grounds and Cost of Furnishing  

       Proposition by T.H. Wheless, Stenographic Report of the Proceedings of the Legislature (Co-Chair) 

       Public Buildings and Grounds  

       Public Health  

       Public Lands  

       Public Printing (Chair) 

LRL Home | View full site Education

Robert H Burney Publication Year: 1877 Publication Place: Texas School Name: Southwestern University Residence Place: Center Point, Texas

• Reference: [https://lrl.texas.gov/mobile/memberDisplay.cfm?memberID=3693] Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Jan 23 2020, 21:49:06 UTC