H.R. No. 1120
                                  R E S O L U T I O N
    1-1        WHEREAS, The Honorable Richard Bennett Hubbard of Tyler
    1-2  served as governor of Texas during an important post-Reconstruction
    1-3  era, as the state struggled to chart a new course and future under
    1-4  its recently approved 1876 constitution; and
    1-5        WHEREAS, Born on November 1, 1832, in Walton County, Georgia,
    1-6  Hubbard was a graduate of Mercer College and Harvard Law School and
    1-7  came to Tyler in 1853, where he established a law practice and
    1-8  became active in the 1856 presidential campaign of James Buchanan;
    1-9  and
   1-10        WHEREAS, Displaying a special eloquence on behalf of his
   1-11  candidate, Hubbard became known as the "Eagle Orator" of Texas; in
   1-12  the words of one contemporary, "He speaks with directness to the
   1-13  point, avoiding all . . . ornament, and grapples at once with the
   1-14  strong points of his adversary"; and
   1-15        WHEREAS, He was appointed federal district attorney for the
   1-16  Western District of Texas, a position that he held from 1858 to
   1-17  1859; Hubbard resigned his position to serve a term in the Texas
   1-18  House of Representatives, until 1861 and the outbreak of Civil War
   1-19  hostilities; and
   1-20        WHEREAS, Following the war, he was elected lieutenant
   1-21  governor in 1872 and presided over the senate during the 14th and a
   1-22  portion of the 15th legislatures; when Governor Richard Coke
   1-23  resigned following Hubbard's reelection, the lieutenant governor
   1-24  was elevated to the state's highest office, where he served from
    2-1  1876 to 1879; and
    2-2        WHEREAS, Governor Hubbard's term was marked by attempts to
    2-3  quell statewide lawlessness, banditry, and civil disorder,
    2-4  reflecting a period of transitional turbulence during which the
    2-5  governor exercised the talents of the Texas Rangers to the fullest;
    2-6  and
    2-7        WHEREAS, In later life, the former chief executive spent four
    2-8  years as an American envoy to Japan, an experience that he
    2-9  chronicled carefully in his book, The United States and the Far
   2-10  East, published in 1899; and
   2-11        WHEREAS, Governor Hubbard's hometown of Tyler, founded
   2-12  initially in 1846, marks an important sesquicentennial in 1996, and
   2-13  it is appropriate that the contributions of one of that city's most
   2-14  reputable and talented sons be recognized; now, therefore, be it
   2-15        RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 74th Texas
   2-16  Legislature hereby honor the life of Governor Richard Bennett
   2-17  Hubbard and commend to students of Texas history the recognition of
   2-18  his many accomplishments on behalf of this state; and, be it
   2-19  further
   2-20        RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
   2-21  prepared for local officials in Tyler, the hometown of this
   2-22  distinguished 19th-century governor.