At the time of Governor Davis’ election, the military was finally withdrawn from the state, the citizens were restored to their civil rights, and Texas was readmitted to the Union. During his administration a Homestead Law was passed, a one-per-cent tax was levied for the building of schoolhouses, and the growth of railroads was encouraged by liberal grants of land. But there was still a great deal of trouble and discontent, and it was not until Governor Coke took his seat that the state, so long shaken by contention, began once more to breathe freely and to put forth the strength within her. Governor Coke served from 1874 to 1876; in 1876 he was elected to the United States senate, and Richard B. Hubbard became governor (1876-1879). The governors who guided the Ship of State from 1879 to 1895 were Oran M. Roberts (1879-1883), John Ireland[43] (1883-1887), Lawrence S. Ross (1887-1891), and James S. Hogg (1891-1895). In 1894 Charles A. Culberson became governor, and in 1896 he was returned by a large majority to the same office. On his election by the legislature in 1897 to the senate of the United States, he was succeeded by Joseph D. Sayers, who was the chief executive of the great state of Texas at the close of the nineteenth century. These years have been marked by many wonderful changes in Texas. Not the least of these changes has been the growth of the great public school system. The first free school in Texas was opened at San Antonio in 1844. A state public school system was organized in 1870. From these imperfect beginnings to the admirable system of to-day, when an army of earnest and gifted men and women are banded together in the noble work of teaching, and countless multitudes of children pass daily in and out of the schoolroom,—from that gray dawn to this blazing noontide, what a change! The cause of education has indeed been ever in the minds and hearts of the people. [Illustration: The Sam Houston Normal Institute.] An Agricultural and Mechanical College was founded at Bryan, and opened in 1876. In 1879 a State Normal School for teachers, called the Sam Houston Normal Institute, was established at Huntsville, Governor Houston’s old home. A few years later the Prairie View, a normal school for colored teachers, was established. A State University was founded in 1881. The fine group of buildings crowning one of Austin’s green hills was finished and thrown open to the young men and women students of the state in 1883.