Governors of Texas, 1846-present

J. Pinckney Henderson

James Pinckney Henderson, the first governor of the state of Texas, held office from February 19, 1846 to December 21, 1847. He was born March 31, 1808 in North Carolina and came to Texas in 1836 from Mississippi after raising a company of volunteers to fight for Texas independence. President David G. Burnet commissioned Henderson to raise troops for Texas in the United States. Once Texas became a republic, Henderson served as attorney general and then secretary of state under President Sam Houston in 1836 and 1837, acted as special minister to England and France from 1837 to 1840, assisted Isaac Van Zandt in negotiating an annexation treaty in 1844, and served as a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1845. Henderson ran for governor after the death of Kenneth Anderson, who was his law partner and a leading contender in the governor's race. Lieutenant Governor Albert Clinton Horton became acting governor on May 19, 1846 when Henderson led a regiment of Texas volunteers to fight in the Mexican War. Henderson returned to his duties as governor on December 13, 1846. He did not seek re-election after his term as governor expired, but returned to his San Augustine law practice. Henderson filled the United States Senate seat of Thomas J. Rusk from November 9, 1857 until his death on June 4, 1858 in Washington, D.C.

George T. Wood

George T. (Tyler or Thomas) Wood, second governor of the state of Texas, held office from December 21, 1847 to December 21, 1849. Born in Georgia on March 12, 1795, Wood was a veteran of the Battle of Horseshoe Bend at nineteen and served in the Georgia state assembly. In 1839, he brought his family and 30 slaves to Texas where he settled a plantation along the Trinity River. Wood served in the Sixth Congress (1841) and the Annexation Convention of 1845. He resigned his seat in the state senate to become a regimental colonel in the Mexican War. Considered by his men to be a hero at the Battle of Monterrey, he was slighted by James Pinckney Henderson in the general's report; the incident may have been decisive in Wood's election as governor in 1847. Issues in his administration included increased defense of the frontier against Indians, payment of the large public debt, and establishment of Texas' right to the territory east of the Rio Grande above El Paso. Wood was defeated by the anti-Houston faction in 1849. He made two more unsuccessful attempts at re-election before he died on September 3, 1858.

Peter Hansbrough Bell

Peter Hansbrough Bell served as third governor of Texas from December 21, 1849 to November 23, 1853. Born in Virginia on March 11, 1808, Bell came to Texas in 1836 and fought as a private in Henry Karnes' cavalry company at the Battle of San Jacinto. After serving as inspector general in 1839, he joined the Texas Rangers under Jack Hays in 1840 and was a major in the Somervell Expedition of 1842. Bell was in command of the Corpus Christi District when the Mexican War broke out. He served as lieutenant colonel in Colonel George T. Wood's regiment and fought at Buena Vista; he then rejoined the rangers to protect the Rio Grande frontier. In 1849, Bell traded his military career for a political one, defeating George T. Wood for governor. He was re-elected in 1851. The major event of Bell's tenure was the settlement of the western boundary dispute by the Compromise of 1850. Bell had requested troops from the state legislature to occupy Santa Fe, and Mississippi had promised to help Texas should war break out with United States troops. Despite this, the federal government obtained the cession of the area (amounting to 56 million acres) in exchange for $10 million in U.S. securities, with which Texas paid its public debt. In addition, Austin was re-named the temporary capital. A few months before the expiration of his second term, Bell resigned to take the vacant seat in the U.S. Congress from the Western District of Texas. Lieutenant Governor James Wilson Henderson completed the last month of Bell's term. In 1857 Bell married and moved to North Carolina, his bride's home state. Impoverished by the loss of slaves in the Civil War, Bell was awarded a pension by Texas in 1891. He died in North Carolina in 1898.

Elisha M. Pease

Elisha Marshall Pease, fifth governor of Texas, served from December 21, 1853 to December 21, 1857. Pease was born in Connecticut in 1812, where he clerked in a general store and then in a post office. In 1835 he immigrated to Texas, settling at Mina (Bastrop), where he read law under D.C. Barrett. As secretary of Mina's Committee of Public Safety (the first in Texas), Pease was a member of the peace faction until hostilities loomed; he fought in the first battle of the revolution, at Gonzales. His offices under the Republic included secretary of the General Council, clerk of the committee writing the Constitution of 1836, chief clerk of the navy and treasury departments, acting secretary of the treasury, clerk of the judicial committee of the House of Representatives, and comptroller of public accounts in 1837. After annexation, Pease was district attorney and state representative from Brazoria County; as chairman of the Judicial Committee he wrote the probate code of 1848. He also served in the state senate from 1849-1850. Pease was elected to the first two of his three terms as governor in 1853 and 1855. As governor, he supported Texas' first state school fund with $2 million in U.S. bonds from the Compromise of 1850; appropriations were also made for a state university. Pease encouraged railroad construction through state loans prorated per mile of new track laid. A new capitol was built, and Pease was the first governor to inhabit the present governor's mansion. Asylums for the deaf and dumb and the insane were also established. In 1854 Pease sent rangers to deal with the violent attacks on Mexican freight carriers in South Texas, known as the Cart War. The next year, a border war with Mexico was narrowly averted after mounted volunteers pursued a band of raiding Lipan Apaches across the Rio Grande, an incident which Pease handled diplomatically. He defeated a Know-Nothing candidate in 1855. As a Unionist, Pease spent the years from 1858 to 1866 in semi-retirement from public life. For further biographical information, see description of records for Pease's third term as governor.

Hardin R. Runnels

Hardin Richard Runnels served as fifth governor of the state of Texas from December 21, 1857 to December 21, 1859. Runnels was born in Mississippi on August 30, 1820. He settled with his mother and two brothers on a plantation in Bowie County in 1842. From 1847 to 1852, Runnels represented Bowie and various surrounding counties in the 2nd through 5th Legislatures; he was chosen speaker of the house in his last term. Runnels was elected lieutenant governor under Elisha M. Pease, and was the only person to defeat Sam Houston in a political campaign, becoming governor in 1857 on a states-rights ticket. Indian trouble, the border raids of Juan Cortina, and sectional factionalism were probable factors which helped Houston defeat Runnels in 1859. Runnels was a delegate to the Secession Convention of 1861 and the Constitutional Convention of 1866. He died in 1873.

Sam Houston

Sam Houston served as sixth governor of Texas from December 21, 1859 to March 16, 1861. Houston was born in Virginia in 1793, moved to Tennessee in his early teens, and lived most of three years with the Cherokee Indians in his late teens. He was wounded in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend (1814), gaining the admiration of Andrew Jackson. His legal and political career began in 1818: he was elected district attorney of Nashville, adjutant general, congressman, and finally governor of Tennessee. In 1829 marital difficulties probably moved Houston to resign the governorship and leave the state. He spent the next six years in diplomatic and business ventures in the Indian country. Although he represented Nacogdoches in the Convention of 1833, he was not a permanent resident of Texas until 1835. Houston was a delegate to the Consultation in 1835, and was elected major general of the Texas army by the General Council. As delegate from Refugio, he was a leading figure at the Convention of 1836, which then named him commander-in-chief of the Texas Army. After leading the victory at San Jacinto, he was elected second president of the Republic of Texas. He was representative from San Augustine County in the 4th and 5th Congresses before being elected president once again in 1841. After annexation, he served in the U.S. Senate (1846-1859), during which tenure he was defeated by Hardin Runnels in the gubernatorial election of 1857. Houston was elected governor of Texas in 1859. His term was dominated mainly by his anti- secessionist activities, in which he warned of the dangers of civil war and worked for a compromise. When he refused to take the oath of allegiance to the Confederate States of America in March of 1861 (arguing that now Texas was again an independent republic), Houston was replaced by his lieutenant governor, Edward Clark. He died at his farm near Huntsville on July 26, 1863.

Edward Clark

Edward Clark served as governor of Texas from March 16, 1861 to November 7, 1861. Clark was born on April 1, 1815 in Georgia, the son and grandson of governors. He moved to Alabama in 1832, and then to Marshall, Texas in 1842 to practice law. Clark was elected to the Annexation Convention of 1845, the House of Representatives in the First Legislature, and the state senate in the Second Legislature. He served under General J. Pinckney Henderson at the Battle of Monterrey and later was appointed secretary of state by Governor E.M. Pease (1853-1857) and state commissioner of claims in 1858. As lieutenant governor under Sam Houston, Clark replaced Houston as governor after Houston's refusal to take the oath of allegiance to the Confederate States of America. The major event of Clark's governorship was the enlistment of 20,000 Texans to fight for the Confederacy. After being narrowly defeated by Francis Lubbock (he lost by 124 votes), Clark became colonel of the 14th Texas Infantry. He was wounded at Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, and promoted to brigadier general. After a brief exile in Mexico at the end of the war, Clark returned to business and a law practice in Marshall, where he died May 4, 1880.

Francis R. Lubbock

Francis Richard Lubbock was eighth governor of Texas, serving from November 7, 1861 to November 5, 1863. Lubbock was born in South Carolina on October 16, 1815; he clerked in a hardware store and managed a cotton warehouse before he became a druggist in New Orleans in 1834. He followed his brother Tom to Texas in 1836, after the Battle of San Jacinto. He claimed to have sold the first barrel of flour and the first sack of coffee in the village of Houston. After clerking in the House of Representatives in the Second Congress of Texas, he was appointed comptroller of the Republic. He became the district clerk of Harris County in 1841, and bought a ranch near Harrisburg in 1846. Lubbock was elected lieutenant governor in 1857, and governor in 1861. Among his actions were the mobilizing of a frontier regiment of cavalry against hostile Indians, the modest expansion of industrial resources, and the sale of U.S. bonds acquired in 1850 to help replenish an exhausted treasury. His interpretation of conscription laws made every able-bodied man between 16 and 60 years of age liable for military service. He did not run for re-election, preferring to join the Confederate Army as a lieutenant colonel in November 1863. In 1864 he joined Jefferson Davis' staff, and was captured with him in May 1865. Upon his release he returned to business in Houston and Galveston. He was tax collector in Galveston for three years, and state treasurer (1879-1891). He served under Governor James Hogg on the Board of Pardons before retiring at age 80. Lubbock wrote his autobiography Six Decades in Texas in 1900. He died in Austin on June 22, 1905.

Pendleton Murrah

Pendleton Murrah served as ninth governor of Texas from November 5, 1863 to June 17, 1865. Murrah was probably born in South Carolina in 1824, either illegitimate or orphaned early. He attended the University of Alabama and graduated from Brown University in 1848. Murrah moved to Marshall, Texas and began practicing law there sometime before 1855, when he was defeated by the Know-Nothing candidate in a race for Congress. In 1857, he was elected to the state legislature. He defeated T.J. Chambers in the gubernatorial election of 1863. During his administration, military and financial difficulties pushed the state and the Confederacy into contests over conscription, frontier defense, and the impressment of cotton, cattle, and slaves. In addition, Murrah was dying of tuberculosis. In May 1865, Governor Murrah fled to Mexico, where he died at Monterrey in July or August. In Murrah's absence (May to June 1865), Lieutenant Governor Fletcher S. Stockdale was acting governor. Stockdale was born in Kentucky in 1827 and moved to Indianola, Texas in 1846. In 1856 he was a promoter of the Powderhorn, Victoria, and Gonzales Railroad. He served in the state senate from 1857 to 1861, and was on the committee which drafted the Ordinance of Secession in 1861. After the Civil War, Stockdale practiced law and promoted land in Cuero. He was active in a number of Democratic National Conventions, and in the Constitutional Convention of 1875. He died in Cuero in 1902.

Andrew J. Hamilton

Andrew Jackson Hamilton served as tenth governor of Texas from June 17, 1865 to August 9, 1866. Hamilton was born on January 28, 1815 in Alabama. He left there in 1846 to practice law in La Grange, Texas. Governor P. Hansbrough Bell appointed "Colossal Jack" Hamilton attorney general in 1849, and he was elected state representative from Travis County in 1851 and 1853. After briefly considering the Know-Nothing party, Hamilton was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1859 as an Independent. He retained his seat after other Southern congressmen had withdrawn. In 1861 Hays, Travis, and Bastrop counties elected him to the state senate, but Hamilton refused to take the oath to the Confederacy and left the state in 1862. President Abraham Lincoln named him military governor of Texas, with headquarters at federally-occupied New Orleans and Brownsville. In 1865, President Andrew Johnson confirmed Hamilton as provisional governor. Among the problems faced were Indian incursions, general lawlessness, chaotic finances, and the huge number of freedmen, emancipated since June 19, whom he advised to work hard and acquire property. He criticized the Constitutional Convention, which met in early 1866, for its reluctance to grant black suffrage. Hamilton chose not to run for governor in the 1866 election, but supported E.M. Pease, who lost to James Throckmorton. Hamilton did not finish his term, but turned the governor's office over to the secretary of state while he went to Philadelphia to fight President Johnson's plan for Reconstruction. After General Philip Sheridan removed Governor Throckmorton and the Texas Supreme Court, General J.J. Reynolds named Hamilton to the state supreme court. In the Constitutional Convention of 1868-1869, and again in the gubernatorial election of 1869, A.J. Hamilton ran against the leader of the Radical Republicans, E.J. Davis. Hamilton had alienated General Reynolds, who threw his support to Davis, who won by a narrow margin. In 1871 Hamilton participated in the anti- Davis Non-Partisan Taxpayers' Convention. He died in Austin on April 11, 1875.

James W. Throckmorton

James Webb Throckmorton served as eleventh governor of Texas from August 9, 1866 to August 8, 1867. The son of a physician, James Throckmorton was born in Tennessee in 1825; as a boy he moved to Arkansas in 1836, then to Fannin County, Texas in 1841, and again to Collin County. In 1844, he left the Rangers to study medicine in Kentucky with his uncle. He served as an army surgeon in the Mexican War, but received a medical discharge. Disliking the practice of medicine, he turned to law and politics. After five years each as a state representative and state senator, he was elected a delegate to the Secession Convention of 1861, where he was one of seven who voted against secession. Although a Unionist, he joined the Confederate army when war came, and was eventually brigadier general in charge of troops guarding the Texas frontier, and confederate commissioner to the Indians. After serving as president of the Constitutional Convention of 1866, Throckmorton defeated E.M. Pease in the race for governor, taking office in August 1866. When presidential reconstruction gave way to congressional reconstruction in March 1867, Throckmorton and the U.S. military differed: he disagreed with their deployment of troops in the interior rather than on the frontier; and they accused him of failing to punish crimes against blacks and Unionists. In July General Philip Sheridan removed Throckmorton from the governorship as "an impediment to reconstruction." E.M. Pease was appointed in his place. After fighting against radicalism in the early 1870s, Throckmorton was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives (1874-1888), where he argued among other things for government encouragement of and government regulation of railroads. He ran for governor twice more, in 1878 and 1890, before he died in McKinney on April 21, 1894.

Elisha M. Pease

Elisha M. Pease served his third term as governor of Texas from August 8, 1867 to September 30, 1869. For biographical information through his first two terms in office, see the finding aid for his earlier terms. As a Unionist, Pease spent 1858 through 1866 in semi-retirement from public life, refraining even from practicing law during the Civil War. After attending the Convention of Southern Loyalists at Philadelphia, Pease ran for governor in 1866 as the candidate of the Union Party, but lost to James Throckmorton. When General Philip Sheridan removed Throckmorton, he appointed Pease as provisional governor. Sheridan's successor, General Winfield Scott Hancock did not provide the full military support Pease needed (since he ruled by order of Congress and the Army and against the will of the people) to impose a provisional government on Texas, with the result that civilian control waned. Pease urged the Constitutional Convention of 1868-1869 to accept radical reconstruction so that Texas could normalize relations with the Union as soon as possible. Pease supported A.J. Hamilton in the gubernatorial race of 1869, but when General J.J. Reynolds interfered to secure the election of E.J. Davis, Pease resigned on September 30. In 1870, Pease joined A.J. Hamilton and James Throckmorton in protesting the conduct of the Davis administration; in 1871 he helped lead a taxpayers' revolt; and in 1872 he helped gain amnesty for disenfranchised Democrats. Pease accepted a post as collector of the Port of Galveston in 1879. He died in Lampasas on August 26, 1883.

Edmund J. Davis

Edmund Jackson Davis served as fourteenth governor of Texas from January 8, 1870 to January 15, 1874. Florida native E.J. Davis was born on October 2, 1827. His family moved to Texas in 1848, settling in Galveston. After reading law in Corpus Christi, he served as customs inspector in Laredo (1850-1853), district attorney (1853-1856), and then district judge (1856-1861) at Brownsville. An anti- secessionist, he was defeated in a race for the Secession Convention of 1861. In 1862, Davis left the state to avoid conscription in the Confederate Army and organized a Union cavalry regiment. He was honorably discharged as a brigadier general when the Civil War ended. As a radical Republican, Davis took part in the Constitutional Conventions of 1866 and 1868-1869. The 1869 gubernatorial election was one of the most turbulent and controversial in Texas history. Favoritism by the military for candidate Davis over A.J. Hamilton caused Governor E.M. Pease to resign September 30. General J.J. Reynolds ordered the drawing up of a new voter registration list, eliminating many of those who had qualified in 1867. Troops stationed at the polls probably prevented many Democrats from voting: only about half of the registered white voters actually cast a ballot, and many polling places were either not opened, or ordered closed. Irregularities were reported but never investigated, and official returns reported that Davis won by slightly more than 800 votes.

Appointed provisional governor on January 8, 1870 (about five weeks after the election and before the official outcome had been confirmed), Davis began a four-year term and was inaugurated on April 28, 1870. After the state legislature ratified the 14th and 15th Amendments, the civilian rule of the state officially replaced the military rule on March 30, 1870. The Constitution of 1869 had given the governor power to appoint more than 9,000 offices, impinging on the independence of local government and the will of the people. A taxpayers' convention met in September 1871, chaired by E.M. Pease, to protest high taxes, needless expenditures, and the legislature's cancellation of that year's regular elections. A special election was held in October, with Democratic victories for seats to the U.S. Congress. Democrats won a majority in the state legislature the next year, despite the presence of the state police at polling places. The legislature nearly impeached Governor Davis in 1873. The Texas Supreme Court in Ex Parte Rodriguez (the "semi-colon case" of December 1873) invalidated the election of 1873 in which Richard Coke had defeated Davis. Texans ignored this decision, and President U.S. Grant refused to intervene on Davis' behalf. Davis did not intend to leave office until April 1874, but he did so reluctantly in January, officially marking the end of Reconstruction in Texas. Davis was defeated in the 1880 gubernatorial race, and again in the 1882 congressional race. He died in Austin on February 7, 1883.

Richard Coke

Richard Coke, fifteenth governor of Texas, held office from January 15, 1874 to December 1, 1876. Coke was born March 13, 1829 in Williamsburg, Virginia. He graduated from the College of William and Mary and began practicing law before moving to Waco, Texas in 1850. In 1859 he was a member of a commission which removed the Brazos Reservation Indians to the Indian Territory. After serving in the Secession Convention of 1861, Coke rose in the ranks of the Confederate Army from private to captain. In 1865 he was appointed district judge, and in 1866 was elected Supreme Court justice, but was removed by General Philip Sheridan in 1867 as an "impediment to reconstruction." In 1873, Coke won the governor's chair over E.J. Davis. Several tense days in January 1874 saw the state capitol turned into an armed camp, with two rival legislatures, as Davis refused to surrender his office. When President U.S. Grant would not support Davis' request for troops, Davis conceded and Coke was inaugurated. During Coke's term in office, he faced a state government which was in debt and without funds, an unprotected frontier, and problems with Indians and Mexican bandits. Coke reduced expenditures and made a new beginning of the public school system. He was re-elected in 1876 after the Constitution of 1876 had returned the governor's term of office to two years. Later the same year, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, and so resigned the governorship on December 1, 1876. Coke served three terms in the Senate (1877-1895) and died in Waco on May 14, 1897.

Richard B. Hubbard

Richard Bennett Hubbard served as sixteenth governor of Texas from December 1, 1876 to January 21, 1879. He was born in Georgia on November 1, 1832 and graduated from Mercer College (1851) and Harvard Law School (1853). Hubbard then moved to Texas and began practicing law in Tyler. While campaigning for James Buchanan in the presidential election of 1856, Hubbard's oratorical skill earned him the nickname of "the Demosthenes of Texas." He was appointed U.S. district attorney for the Western District of Texas in 1858, and elected state representative in 1859. After serving as a colonel in the Confederate Army, Hubbard farmed until he could resume his law practice upon being pardoned. He was elected Richard Coke's lieutenant governor in 1873 and 1876. When Coke resigned in December 1876 to become U.S. Senator, Hubbard became governor and served out his term. No legislatures met during this period. Besides an enormous public debt, Hubbard had to contend with renewed feuding and outlawry in the state. Other issues included the penitentiary lease system, the rise of the Grange and the Greenback Party, and the first experiments with the party primary. Hubbard received a majority of votes for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in July 1878, but did not receive a two-thirds majority. He was passed over in favor of the compromise candidate, Oran Roberts. President Grover Cleveland appointed Hubbard U.S. minister to Japan from 1885-1889. In 1899, Hubbard's book The United States and the Far East was published. He died in Tyler in 1901.

Oran M. Roberts

Oran Milo Roberts served as governor of Texas from January 21, 1879 to January 16, 1883. Born in South Carolina in July 1815, Roberts was raised in Alabama from the age of three. By the time he graduated in 1836, he was librarian of the University of Alabama. Roberts was admitted to the bar the next year, and served a term in the Alabama Legislature. In 1841 Roberts moved to San Augustine, Texas, where he became district attorney (1844) and district judge (1846-1851). He was a member of the board of trustees and the faculty of the University of San Augustine when he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Texas (1857). Roberts was elected president of the Secession Convention of 1861, led an infantry regiment during the Civil War, and briefly served as chief justice of the Supreme Court (1864-1865). After serving in the Constitutional Convention of 1866, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, but was refused his seat by that radical Republican body. Roberts practiced law in Tyler and Gilmer until he was reappointed to the Supreme Court in 1874. In 1878 Roberts was unanimously chosen candidate for governor by the Democratic state convention after a week of deadlocked ballots. His motto was "pay as you go," and to reduce the state debt inherited from the Davis and other administrations, he reduced pensions to veterans of the Revolution. Roberts also discontinued the payment of rewards for capture of criminals, liberally granted pardons to relieve the overcrowded prisons, and reduced appropriations for the public school system to save money. Despite this latter measure, he helped found two normal schools (Sam Houston State and Prairie View), revitalized Texas A&M, and helped create the University of Texas, where classes began in 1883. An unexpected added expense was the need to build a new state capitol building after the old one burned in 1881. After his second gubernatorial term ended in 1883, Roberts taught law at the University of Texas for ten years. In addition to writing several books, he helped create and lead the Texas State Historical Association. Roberts died in Austin on May 19, 1898.

John Ireland

John Ireland served as governor of Texas from January 16, 1883 to January 18, 1887. Ireland was born in Kentucky on January 1, 1827. While in his 20s, he was constable and deputy sheriff of his home county, and he studied law. In 1853 he moved to Seguin, Texas, where he was elected mayor in 1858. After serving in the Secession Convention of 1861, he joined the Confederate army where he rose in rank from private to lieutenant colonel. Ireland was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1866, and a district judge until removed by General Philip Sheridan as an impediment to reconstruction (1867). In 1872 he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives, and in 1874 to the Texas Senate. While legislator (and later as governor), Ireland was known as "Ox Cart John" for his opposition to railroad subsidies on the grounds of their encouraging monopoly and privilege. He was briefly a Supreme Court justice until the Constitution of 1876 eliminated his seat. He was then defeated in a race for U.S. Senate (1876) and again in a race for U.S. House of Representatives (1878). Ireland won the gubernatorial race in 1882 over strong opposition from the Independent candidate George W. "Wash" Jones. As governor, Ireland reversed Oran Roberts' policy of rapid sale of public lands, arguing instead for a minimum price and sale to the highest bidder. The proceeds from these sales went into permanent funds for public schools, the state university, and state institutions. The constitution was amended to provide school districts with taxing power, and a state superintendent of education was created. Ireland reduced the number of pardons, and called a special session of the legislature in 1884 to deal with the fence-cutting war. That same year, Ireland was re- elected by a greater margin than before. Ireland's suggestion to establish a railroad commission failed to pass and he had to contend with strikes by the Knights of Labor in 1885 and 1886. He refused to sign a contract to rebuild the capitol unless native Texas stone was used. Upon retirement in 1887, Ireland unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate against John H. Reagan. He then resumed the practice of law in Seguin. Ireland died in San Antonio on March 15, 1896.

Lawrence Sullivan Ross

Lawrence Sullivan Ross was governor of Texas from January 18, 1887 to January 20, 1891. Although born in Iowa on September 27, 1838, Sul Ross became a Texan before his first birthday, when his family settled in Milam County. The family moved to Austin in 1846 and Waco in 1849, where Ross' father was U.S. Indian agent on the Brazos Reservation. Ross attended Baylor University and graduated from Wesleyan University in Florence, Alabama. In 1860 the ranger company which he commanded recaptured Cynthia Ann Parker. During the Civil War, Ross fought in 135 battles or skirmishes, rising to command Ross' Brigade as brigadier general. He farmed near Waco until he was elected sheriff of McLennan County in 1873, achieving a reputation for effectiveness. Ross was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1875 and a state senator in 1881-1882. He easily won the governor's chair in 1886. During his terms in office, progress was made in the sale and leasing of public lands, the regulation of railroads, and the establishment of eleemosynary institutions, and a state prohibition amendment was defeated. Ross' second inauguration took place in the new state capitol building. In 1891 he became president of Texas A&M College, ending an eight-year vacancy in that post. Ross died near Bryan, Texas on January 3, 1898.

James Stephen Hogg

James Stephen Hogg served as governor of Texas from January 20, 1891 to January 15, 1895. The first native Texan to be elected governor, Jim Hogg was born on March 4, 1851 near Rusk, and orphaned before his teens. After a year of school in Alabama, he began work as a typesetter in Rusk. Later he worked on a paper in Tyler, and edited newspapers in Longview and Quitman (1871-1873). Hogg's political career began when he served as justice of the peace while studying law (1873-1875). He suffered his career's only loss in an 1876 race for the state legislature. After a term as Wood County attorney (1878-1880), Hogg gained a reputation as the most aggressive district attorney in Texas (1880-1884). As attorney general (1886-1890), Hogg continued the crusade against corporate abuses that he had begun as a journalist. He forced the return of some 1.5 million acres of fraudulently-acquired public land, broke up a major railroad price-fixing scheme, and aided in drafting the nation's second state anti-trust law. The promise to create a railroad commission was a major plank in the 1890 platform when Hogg was elected to his first term as governor. In addition to the Railroad Commission, the "Hogg Laws" included legislation reducing watered stock, forcing the sale of land corporation holdings, restricting grants to foreign corporations, and placing a ceiling for local governments' bond indebtedness. He encouraged educational institutions at all levels, and appointed C.W. Raines as state librarian in 1892. Railroads, banking, and business opposed Hogg's reelection in 1892, but he was supported by farmers and local newspapers. Through investments after retirement, he managed to pay his financial debts and build a sizable estate. He continued to work for populist/progressive reforms, campaigning for William Jennings Bryan in 1896 and 1900. Hogg died in Houston on March 3, 1906.

Charles A. Culberson

Charles Allen Culberson served as twenty-first governor of Texas from January 15, 1895 through January 17, 1899. Culberson was born in Alabama on June 10, 1855. The next year his family moved to Gilmer, Texas. Culberson's father, David B. Culberson, was a U.S. Congressman (1875-1897). After graduating from the Virginia Military Institute (1874) and the University of Virginia law school (1877), Culberson returned to Jefferson, Texas to practice law with his father, and was elected county attorney for Marion County. In 1887 he moved to Dallas. Culberson was elected attorney general in 1890 and again in 1892. During his tenure he defended Governor Hogg's railroad and anti-trust legislation before the U.S. Supreme Court and was mostly successful. Although Culberson, as Attorney General, did recapture a vast area of West Texas from a railroad, Texas lost its claim to Greer County on the Red River to the federal government. In 1894, Culberson was elected governor, defeating Thomas Nugent, the Populist candidate. Although he opposed national prohibition (believing the right belonged to the states), he called a special legislative session to outlaw prizefighting. After being re-elected in 1896, Governor Culberson supported a uniform system of school textbooks. Towards the end of his term four infantry regiments and one cavalry regiment of volunteers were raised for the Spanish- American War, although only one left the United States. Culberson was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1899, where he served four terms. He was active in formulating domestic policy during World War I. In 1922 Culberson was defeated in the primary by the Ku Klux Klan candidate. His health had deteriorated, and he died in 1925 in Washington, D.C.

Joseph D. Sayers

Joseph Draper Sayers served as governor of Texas from January 17, 1899 to January 20, 1903. Sayers was born in Mississippi in 1841. When he was ten, Sayers' family moved to Bastrop, Texas, where he attended the Bastrop Military Institute until 1860. Sayers advanced from private to major in the Confederate army. At the war's end, he taught school and studied law at night in Bastrop. Sayers became a law partner of George W. "Wash" Jones in 1866. He was elected to the state senate in 1872, to the lieutenant governorship in 1879, and to the U.S. Congress in 1885. As Congressman (1885-1898) Sayers helped to gain federal pensions for Texas Rangers for the Indian Wars. Colonel E.M. House, who had run the campaigns of Governors Hogg and Culberson, selected Sayers to break the pattern of attorneys general succeeding to the governor's chair. Sayers was elected governor in 1898, and re-elected in 1900. He coped with three major disasters: the Huntsville Penitentiary fire of 1899, the Brazos River flood of 1899, and the Galveston storm of 1900. Sayers returned to law practice after his retirement, and was on the University of Texas Board of Regents during its power struggle with Governor James E. Ferguson in 1916. He served on the Industrial Accident Board (1915-1917), the Board of Legal Examiners (1922-1926), and the Board of Pardon Advisors (1927). Sayers died in Austin on May 15, 1929.

S.W.T. Lanham

Samuel Willis Tucker Lanham served as governor of Texas from January 20, 1903 to January 15, 1907. Born (1846) and raised in South Carolina, Lanham was the last Confederate soldier to serve as governor of Texas. He immigrated to Texas in 1866 with his wife, settling in Red River County, and then in Weatherford in Parker County. Teaching school while he studied law, Lanham was admitted to the bar in 1869. He was soon appointed district attorney for the 11th District, covering most of West Texas. His early career was marked by the successful prosecution of the Kiowas Satanta and Big Tree. He served as U.S. Congressman from the 11th District, 1882 to 1892 and 1896 to 1902. Twice elected governor, in 1902 and 1904, Lanham presided over the creation of two reform election laws, which required filing of campaign expenditures (Lanham spent only $20 on his 1904 campaign) and provided uniform primaries for major political parties. An important anti-trust law was passed, and two schools of higher education opened: the College of Industrial Arts at Denton, and Southwest Texas Normal School at San Marcos. Lanham died on July 29, 1908.

Thomas M. Campbell

Thomas Mitchell Campbell served as governor of Texas from January 15, 1907 to January 17, 1911. Campbell, the second native Texan to become governor, was born in Cherokee County in 1856, and was a boyhood friend of Jim Hogg. He attended Rusk Masonic Institute and spent a year at Trinity University before being admitted to the bar in 1878 at Longview. In 1891 Campbell was named receiver for the International and Great Northern Railroad, and in 1893 he became the line's general manager. Conflict with the owners over policies toward employees and the public caused him to resign in 1897 and reenter private law practice. Endorsed by former Governor Jim Hogg, Campbell ran for the Democratic nomination for governor in the state's first primary in 1906. He received a plurality but no majority, and since the law did not yet provide for a primary run-off, the issue went into party convention. The last-minute support of U.S. Senator Joe Bailey may have guaranteed Campbell's nomination. In 1908 he was easily re-elected. Among the reform items passed during Campbell's administration were stronger anti-trust laws, a pure food law, lobby regulation, municipal regulation of utilities, increased tax support for public schools, and insurance reform. Other changes included the creation of the Department of Insurance, Banking, Statistics, and History, the creation of the Texas State Library and Historical Commission, stock quarantine laws, reorganization of the state banking system, the establishment of irrigation and drainage districts, and the abolition of contract leasing of prison labor. Campbell returned to private practice in 1911, and was defeated in a 1916 race for U.S. Senate. He died in 1923.

Oscar Branch Colquitt

Oscar Branch Colquitt served as governor of Texas from January 17, 1911 to January 19, 1915. Colquitt was born on December 16, 1861 at Camilla, Georgia. With his family, he moved to Daingerfield, Texas in 1878. Colquitt owned and published several newspapers from 1884 to 1897. He served as state senator from 1895 to 1897 and authored delinquent tax laws. Colquitt acted as a paid lobbyist for several corporations during the sessions of 1899 and 1901. During this time he also practiced law, having been admitted to the bar in 1900. While serving as a railroad commissioner from 1903 to 1911, Colquitt lost a race for governor in 1906. In 1910 and 1912 he was elected and re-elected governor of Texas. Colquitt's administration was known for reform of the prison system, improvement in the physical plants and in the management of eleemosynary institutions, advancements in the education system, and a number of labor reform measures. Following his two terms as governor, Colquitt ran for the U.S. Senate and lost to the incumbent, Charles A. Culberson. Colquitt married Alice Fuller Murrell of Minden, Louisiana on December 9, 1885. They had four sons and one daughter. Colquitt died on March 8, 1940.

James E. Ferguson

James Edward Ferguson served as governor of Texas from January 19, 1915 to August 25, 1917. Ferguson was born on August 31, 1871 near Salado, Bell County, Texas. His father died in 1876, and as soon as Ferguson was able, he helped out on the family's farm. He entered Salado College at 14, attending for two years. For the next two years, Ferguson worked his way west, taking a variety of jobs. He returned to Texas and worked on the railroads until 1895 when he began studying law. Ferguson was admitted to the bar in 1897 and began his practice in Belton. He developed interests in real estate, insurance, banking, and politics. In 1914 he won the governorship and was reelected in 1916. During his first term, legislation regarding state aid to rural schools, the establishment of the Austin State School, college building programs, and large appropriations for education were passed. During Ferguson's second term in office, a quarrel with the University of Texas administration grew into a controversy. Resultant charges against him precipitated impeachment proceedings. The Senate, sitting as a court of impeachment, by the vote of 25 to 3, convicted Ferguson on ten charges, which included the misapplication of public funds, and failing to respect and enforce the banking laws of the state. Although he resigned on August 25, 1917, the day before the judgment was announced, the court of impeachment's judgment was sustained, preventing Ferguson from holding public office in Texas. He continued to be politically active. In 1924 and 1932 he conducted the successful campaigns of his wife for the governorship. Ferguson married Miriam Amanda Wallace on December 31, 1899, and they had two daughters. He died on September 21, 1944.

William Pettus Hobby

William Pettus Hobby served as governor of Texas from August 25, 1917 to January 18, 1921. Hobby was born on March 26, 1878 at Moscow, Polk County, Texas. In 1892 his family moved to Houston. Later, Hobby quit high school to take a job with the circulation department of the Houston Post, and eventually was promoted to managing editor. In 1904 Hobby helped organize the Young Men's Democratic Club, and was its first president. He attended the 1904 Democratic state convention as chairman of the delegation for the Sixteenth Congressional District, and later became secretary of the State Democratic Executive Committee. In 1907 Hobby moved to Beaumont to become editor and proprietor of the Beaumont Enterprise. He was selected president of the Chamber of Commerce in February 1912. Hobby was elected lieutenant governor in 1914 and re- elected in 1916. He became acting governor on August 25, 1917 and governor on September 25, 1917, when James Ferguson resigned. While filling Ferguson's term, Hobby agreed to the proposal allowing women to vote during the primary, and supported legislation banning alcohol sales within ten miles of military installations. Hobby was elected governor in 1918, and supported a generous appropriation for education, state assistance in obtaining home loans, and tax levies on oil and gas products. The Eighteenth Amendment regarding prohibition was passed by the legislature and approved by the voters while Hobby was in office. He married Willie Cooper of Beaumont on May 15, 1915 at New Orleans; she died in 1929. Hobby married Oveta Culp on February 23, 1931. Two children were born to this marriage: William Pettus Hobby, Jr., who was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1972, and Jesse Oveta. Hobby died on June 7, 1964 in Houston.

Pat M. Neff

Pat Morris Neff served as governor of Texas from January 18, 1921 to January 20, 1925. Neff was born near McGregor, Texas on November 26, 1871. He worked on his father's farm and ranch, attended a country school when time would allow, and then went to McGregor High School. Neff graduated from Baylor University in 1894. He taught school in Arkansas for two years and then entered the University of Texas Law School, receiving a degree in 1897. Neff began practicing law at Waco in 1897 while pursuing a Master of Arts degree at Baylor University. He was McLennan County representative from 1901 to 1905, and was speaker of the house for the 28th Legislature. From 1906 to 1912, Neff was prosecuting attorney of McLennan County. From 1912 to 1919, he practiced law in Waco and worked on civic, religious, and educational projects. In 1920 and 1922 Neff won the gubernatorial elections. The first day Neff was in office, he abolished the Board of Pardon Advisors. He called for economy in government, lower taxes, and improved education. Although he had problems with the legislature, he worked for sizable appropriations for conservation, helped develop a State Parks Board, and recommended the creation of a State Historical Board. During his administration Neff also helped develop medical facilities, including the American Legion Hospital, and advanced education in rural areas. When Neff completed his service as governor, he resumed his law practice in Waco. President Calvin Coolidge appointed Neff to the United States Board of Mediation (1927-1929). Governor Dan Moody asked Neff to be chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission, a position he held from 1929 to 1931. He became president of Baylor University, serving from 1932 to 1947. Neff married Myrtie Mainer on May 31, 1899 at Lovelady, Texas. They had two children. Pat Neff died on January 19, 1952.

Miriam A. Ferguson

Miriam Amanda Ferguson served two terms as governor of Texas, from January 20, 1925 to January 17, 1927 and January 17, 1933 to January 15, 1935. Miriam Amanda Wallace was born in Bell County in 1875. She attended Salado College and Baylor Female College. In 1899 she married James E. Ferguson, with whom she had two daughters. Her political involvement was minor during her husband's terms in office (1915-1917). But in 1924, after "Pa" Ferguson was denied a place on the ballot, "Ma" Ferguson announced her own candidacy. Her campaign, under the slogan "Two governors for the price of one," was fiscally conservative, anti-Klan, anti-prohibition, and aimed at the vindication of James Ferguson's reputation. Ferguson was the first woman to be elected state governor, but the second woman governor to be inaugurated (after Wyoming's Nellie T. Ross) in the United States. Her first administration was noted for the unusually large number of pardons granted (averaging one hundred per month), the prohibiting of wearing masks in public (aimed at the Ku Klux Klan), and the frequent charges that she was open to graft and corruption. In 1926 she was defeated in the primary by Dan Moody, and in 1930 she was defeated in the run-off primary by Ross Sterling. In 1932, promising to reduce taxes, Ferguson defeated Governor Ross Sterling in the run-off primary and the Republican candidate in the general election. Her proposal for a corporate income tax failed in the legislature, but her practice of granting liberal pardons continued. Ferguson remained in political semi-retirement until 1940 when she attempted to unseat Governor Lee O'Daniel. She was widowed in 1944, and died in 1961.

Dan Moody

Dan Moody served as governor of Texas from January 17, 1927 to January 20, 1931. Moody was born in Taylor, Williamson County, Texas on June 1, 1893. He attended the University of Texas from 1910 to 1914, although he did not graduate. Moody passed the bar and began practicing law in Taylor prior to World War I. He joined the Texas National Guard during the war. After being elected Williamson County attorney in 1920, Moody became district attorney two years later. He worked against the Ku Klux Klan, becoming known statewide, and was elected attorney general in 1924 at the age of thirty-one. In 1926 Moody ran for governor, blaming Governor Miriam Ferguson and her husband for the corruption and inefficiency in state government. Moody became the youngest governor and the first to hold an outdoor inaugural ceremony when he took office in January 1927. During his terms in office he sought reform of the judiciary, taxation, and the prison system; improvements in the highway system and education; and development of a uniform accounting system and creation of a state civil service system. The legislature passed only about half of Moody's proposals: funding for education was increased, taxes were reduced, the highway system was expanded, and the administration of the prison system was changed superficially. After retiring from the governor's office, Moody practiced law in Austin. He ran for the Senate in 1942, but was defeated. Moody died on May 22, 1966 and was buried in the state cemetery in Austin.

Ross S. Sterling

Ross Shaw Sterling served as governor of Texas from January 20, 1931 to January 17, 1933. Sterling was born February 11, 1875 in Anahuac, Chambers County, Texas. He grew up on a farm and, after little formal education, began working as a clerk at the age of twelve. At the age of 21 he started his own merchandising business, and in 1911 he organized the Humble Oil Company. In addition to oil, Sterling was also involved in a railroad, a newspaper, banking, and real estate in the Houston area, and was an active member of the Houston Port Commission. He served as chair of the Highway Commission under Governor Dan Moody. Sterling defeated former governor Miriam Ferguson and several other candidates in the 1930 race for governor. When Sterling took office, the worst effects of the Depression were beginning to appear in the state. Appropriations exceeded revenues, and Sterling had to veto funding for education and other programs. During Sterling's term in office, the East Texas oil fields experienced rapid and uncontrolled development. The Railroad Commission attempted proration, but the courts struck the plan down. Because of the chaotic situation, Sterling declared martial law in four counties for six months. National Guard troops were sent to the oil fields to limit waste and control production. This action was later declared unwarranted by the federal district court and the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Railroad Commission's plan for proration was accepted. Cotton prices also suffered during Sterling's term in office. Governor Sterling was defeated by Miriam Ferguson in his attempt at re-election in 1932. Ross Sterling died on March 25, 1949.

William P. Clements

Finding aids Guide to Clements' records created during his first term. Records are available for use at Texas A&M University. Guide to Clements' records mainly created during his second term. Records are available for use at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Mark White

Mark Wells White, Jr., 41st governor of Texas, was born in Henderson, Texas on March 17, 1940. He attended Houston public schools and Baylor University, earning a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1962 and a law degree from Baylor Law School in 1965. White worked briefly in a private legal practice in Houston before serving three years as an Assistant Attorney General. In 1969, he returned to Houston to a private practice until 1973 when Governor Dolph Briscoe appointed him Secretary of State. White resigned as Secretary of State in October 1977 in order to run for Attorney General. After being elected and serving as Attorney General from 1979 to 1983, he ran against and defeated Governor Bill Clements in the 1982 governor's race. Governor Mark White served as head of the state from January 18, 1983 to January 20, 1987. During his term in office, White focused his energies on education reform (HB 72, including no-pass/no-play) and utility rate regulation. White also concentrated on economic development and the appointment of minorities to positions on his staff and in the government. Texas' Sesquicentennial occurred in 1986, and the Governor attended and hosted a number of events. The Goddess of Liberty was restored and planning for Capitol restoration began during White's term in office. White was defeated by Clements in the 1986 election and returned to private life after his term ended in January 1987. He ran for governor in the Democratic primary in 1990 but lost to Ann Richards. Mark White and his wife Linda Gale Thompson have two sons and a daughter.