Robert M. Love

The Handbook of Texas describes the confrontation Love's marker refers to. Richard Coke defeated Governor Edmund J. Davis in December 1873, 100,415 votes to 52,141, in an election marked by fraud and intimidation on both sides. The Semicolon Court held the vote illegal, and Davis claimed the right to finish his term. Democrats took the keys to the Capitol's second floor while state troops were reported below. Coke was inaugurated on January 15, 1874. Davis sought a truce, appealed to President Grant, was told no troops would come, and resigned on January 19.

What the plaque says

Robert M. Love One of armed men who helped seat 14th State Legislature in 1873 when incumbent Gov. E. J. Davis contested Richard Coke's election. A member of the Confederate army, he fought throughout the Civil War in Ross' brigade. Became Limestone County deputy sheriff, 1872; elected sheriff, 1884. President, Texas Sheriff's Association for 5 years. Also served as U. S. Marshall. Elected state comptroller and served 1901 to 1903. Recorded, 1967

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Blind Lemon Memorial Cemetery — 5.8 mi
  The Freestone County grave of the Texas blues singer Blind Lemon Jefferson, who recorded for Paramount in Chicago from 1926 and died there in December 1929.
• Confederate Reunion Grounds State Historic Site — 8.4 mi
  Where Limestone County Confederate veterans gathered each summer from 1888, later a water supplier in the Mexia oil boom, now a Texas Historical Commission site on the Navasota River.
• Old Fort Parker — 13 mi
  A rebuilt 1830s family stockade near the Navasota River, where a May 1836 attack killed men of the Parker settlement and took five captives, among them nine-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker.
• Petroleum Industry Park — 24 mi
  The pipes and drilling tower mark where a city water well struck oil on June 9, 1894, the start of the first Texas field to produce oil and gas in important quantities.

More markers nearby

• Tehuacana — 0.7 mi
• One Half Mile North to the Site Once Occupied by Trinity University — 1.1 mi
• Joseph W. Stubenrauch — 3.5 mi
• Mrs. Lucy Haggard Longbotham — 4.7 mi