- This article is about the Texas politician. For his uncle, a Virginia congressman, see Richard Coke, Jr..
Richard Coke (March 13, 1829 – May 14, 1897) was an American lawyer,
farmer, and statesman from Waco, Texas. He was governor of
Texas from 1874 to 1876 and
represented Texas in the U.S. Senate from 1877 to
1895. His uncle was Congressman Richard Coke, Jr..
Coke was born in Williamsburg, Virginia, to John and Eliza (Hankins) Coke. He
graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1848 with a law degree. In 1850, he moved to Texas and opened a law practice in Waco.
In 1852, he married Mary Horne of Waco. The couple would have four children, but all of them died
before age 30.
Coke was a delegate to the Secession Convention at Austin in 1861. In 1862 he raised a company
that became part of the 15th Texas Infantry, and served as its Captain for the rest of the war. He was wounded in an action known
as Bayou Bourbeau on November 3, 1863, near Opelousas, Louisiana. After the war, he returned home to Waco.
In 1865, he was appointed a Texas District Court judge, and then in 1866 he was elected as an associate justice to the Texas Supreme
Court. The following year the military governor, Philip Sheridan, ordered his
removal as a part of the Reconstruction policies.
Coke was elected governor as a Democrat in 1873 and took office in January of 1874. His administration was marked by vigorous
action to balance the budget and by a revised state constitution adopted in 1876. He was also instrumental in creating the
Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, which became Texas A&M
University.
The governor resigned his office in December 1876, following his election to the United
States Senate. He would be elected to that office twice more, serving until March 3,
1895. Coke was not a candidate for reelection in 1894.
He retired to his home in Waco and his nearby farm. He became ill after suffering exposure while fighting a flood of the
Brazos River in April of 1897. After a short illness, he died at his home in Waco and was
buried in Oakwood Cemetery there. Coke County in West
Texas is named in his honor.
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