In 1868 he moved to Collin County, Texas, where he taught school for three years at Hide Out school and at Rowlett. He studied law under James W. Throckmorton and Thomas Jefferson Brown, the former governor and future chief justice of Texas, respectively.[4] Baines began to practice law in Plano, Texas, in 1870, later moving to nearby McKinney the same year. Prior to his appointment as Secretary of State by John Ireland in 1883, Baines was the publisher,[6] editor, and proprietor of the McKinney Advocate.[3] He was re–appointed to the Secretaryship after Ireland's second inauguration.[7] He was involved as owner and publisher of multiple papers in McKinney, Texas.[2] Baines was the Secretary of State of Texas until 1887. Later, beginning in 1903, he was a member of the Texas House of Representatives for one term,[8] and was succeeded by his future son-in-law Samuel Ealy Johnson Jr.[2]
^Loughery, E. H. (1885). "Biographical Sketches of Members of the 19th Legislature"(PDF). Personnel of the Texas State Government for 1885; Containing Biographical Sketches of the Governor, Heads of Departments and Members and Officers of the 19th Legislature. Austin, Texas: J. M. Snyder, Book and Job Printer. p. 70. Retrieved August 1, 2023 – via Legislative Reference Library of Texas. Joseph W. Baines was born January 24, 1846, came to Texas when a boy, was educated at Independence, Washington county, served in the Confederate army until peace was declared, and then moved to Collin county where he taught school and studied law whenever his duties left him an hour at his disposal. In 1870, he began the practice of law at Plano, moved to McKinney, and up to the time of appointment as Secretary of State by Governor Ireland in 1883, edited, with great ability, the McKinney Advocate. He was re–appointed to the Secretaryship after the Governor's second inauguration.
^"Joseph Wilson Baines". Texas Legislators: Past & Present. Legislative Reference Library of Texas.
Sources
Goodwin, Doris Kearns (1991). Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream: The Most Revealing Portrait of a President and Presidential Power Ever Written. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN0312060270. OCLC975962635.
Conrad, David Eugene; Craddock, Emmie; Pool, William Clayton (1965). Lyndon Baines Johnson: The Formative Years. Austin: Southwest Texas State College Press. OCLC475217.