Matthew Gaines
*Matthew Gaines was born on this date in 1840. He was a Black community leader, minister, and Texas State Senator.
Matthew Gaines was born near Alexandria, Louisiana, to a slave woman owned by the Martin Despallier family. Gaines learned to read from a white boy who smuggled in books. This boy may have been young Blaz Philipe Despallier, who lived on the estate and later became the sole heir of Alamo hero Charles Despallier, his uncle. After being sold, Gaines escaped from his new owner in Louisiana to Arkansas and eventually made it to New Orleans, where he was captured and returned to his master. In 1859, Gaines was sold to Christopher Columbus Hearne, where he remained until 1863, when he tried to flee to Mexico. He was caught again and was forced to work as a runaway slave in Fredericksburg, Texas, until the end of the American Civil War.
Career
After the 1863 emancipation was finally officially announced in Texas on June 19, 1865, Gaines settled in Washington County, where he established himself as a leader of the freedmen as a Baptist preacher and a politician. In 1869, Gaines was elected as a Senator of Texas's 16th district in the Twelfth Texas Legislature. He gained a reputation for being a guardian of the newly won rights of Black Texans. Throughout his term, he addressed the issues of public education, prison reform, the protection of black voters, and tenant farming reform.
Gaines actively supported the forward movement that established the first public school system for all Texans and allowed Texas to take advantage of the federal Grant College Morrill Act. In 1870, Gaines played a strategic role in passing the Militia Bill, which created a state police force to combat lawlessness and protect against voter suppression. Gaines was elected to a six-year term in the Senate but only served four years. In a politically motivated trial, he was convicted of bigamy in 1873. Despite the charge being overturned on appeal, his seat was challenged by Seth Shepard, and he was removed from office on the grounds of being a convicted felon.
In 1875, he was arrested for making a civil rights speech in Giddings. He told his audience that "in the eyes of God, blacks are as good as whites; they should have pride and hold their heads up even in troubled times." Matthew Gaines, who contributed to the establishment of free public education in Texas, died in Giddings, Texas, on June 11, 1900. In 1998, activists on the campus of Texas A&M University suggested Gaines should have his statue displayed prominently. However, 19 years later, Texas A&M students and other supporters pushed again to establish a statue of Matthew Gaines on the Texas A&M College Station campus. On Juneteenth 2020, the “Matthew Gaines Initiative” donation goal was surpassed. As of June 2020, the statue is being designed and placed on the campus.
