Sam Rayburn

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Sam

Sam Rayburn, during his time as Speaker of the US House of Representatives By Douglas Chandor – http://history.house.gov/Collection/Detail/29447?ret=True, Public Domain, [source]

Working and Learning
Born in 1887 in Tennessee, Sam Rayburn grew up on a cotton farm in Bonham, Texas. At 18, he attended East Texas Normal School, completing his degree in two years while also teaching school to earn the money to pay for his college. He taught for a couple of years after graduating before pursuing a different dream: law and politics. At only 24, Rayburn was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1906. While serving in the legislature, Rayburn also attended the Law School at the University of Texas, passing the bar in 1908. 

Speaker of the Texas House
In 1911, Rayburn narrowly won election as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. One of his first moves was request the appointment of a special committee to determine the “duties and rights of the speaker.” As it turned out, the Speaker had enormous power which had gone largely untapped. Rayburn used this power to preside over a well-run progressive session. This would not be Rayburn’s last term as Speaker, though the next would require a change of scenery.

Sam Rayburn, 1937. By Harris & Ewing, photographer – Library of Congress Catalog: https://lccn.loc.gov/2016871300 Original url: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2016871300/, Public Domain

The National Stage
In 1912, Rayburn won election as a Democrat to the Fourth Texas District of the US House, where he would serve for the next 49 years. Rayburn was assisted by another powerful Texan, John Nance Garner, who helped Rayburn make connections and get appointed to powerful committees. In 1937, he became the Democratic Majority Leader, then, in 1940, he became Speaker of the US House of Representatives, a position he retained, except for a few interruptions for Republican controlled sessions, until his death. Almost immediately, Rayburn proved his leadership, helping Roosevelt keep the US Military intact on the eve of World War II, when isolationists would have let it lapse. He would go on to be key in obtaining funding and keeping secrecy for the Manhattan Project. After the war, Rayburn would continue to be a giant in the House, often collaborating with fellow Texan, Senator Lyndon Baines Johnson, to muscle legislation through Congress, including one of the first civil rights bills.

Sam Rayburn’s 1947 Cadillac Fleetwood Series 62, gifted to him by his fellow congressmen. By Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, [source]

Mr. Sam
Rayburn was personable, preferring private meetings to public confrontations, and kept a middle-of-the-road stance during several polarizing times. He was known for being un-bribable, refusing any donations larger that $25. When Republicans gained control of Congress in 1947, Rayburn lost the use of the car provided for the Speaker. To show their appreciation, 142 Democratic congressmen and 50 Republican congressmen pooled $25 checks to purchase him a new car. Rayburn accepted the car, but returned the checks from the Republican congressmen, since he felt it would be a conflict of interest as he was continuing to serve as Democratic Minority Leader. Rayburn came into the legislature when Wilson was president and died in 1961 during the Kennedy administration. Altogether, Rayburn served 17 years as the Speaker of the House, a record that has yet to be broken. In Washington, D.C. and throughout Texas, people fondly remember “Mr. Sam.”

Beauford Jester

Beauford Jester, 1949. [source]

School, War, and Law
Beauford Jester was born into a political family: his father had been lieutenant governor under Governor Culberson. Following in the tradition, Jester attended Harvard Law School, but put his studies on hold to serve in World War I as a captain in the Army. When the war ended, he returned to his studies at the University of Texas. He earned his law degree in 1920 and returned to Corsicana to start a practice and help run the family ranch. Jester served on the UT Board of Regents and, in 1933, became the youngest chair of that board. He undertook a massive building campaign, giving the UT campus many of its iconic buildings, including the UT Tower.

Campaign ad for Beauford Jester, [source]

Politics
In 1942, Jester was appointed to the Railroad Commission, a position he kept in the next election. From there, Jester campaigned for governor in the 1946 election. There was a wide field, but he won the Democratic primary and then the state election. Jester’s two terms saw a few milestones in Texas history, including the first budget over $1 million. He worked for increased funding for education, rural roads, and state parks. Jester supported anti-lynching measures and a repeal of the state poll tax, though he opposed civil rights legislation on the national level. He also supported making Texas a right-to-work state, preventing union dues from being deducted automatically from paychecks, and prohibiting mass picketing, all of which earned him a reputation as anti-union.

A Fateful Train Ride
A few months into his second term in office, Jester took the train from Austin to Houston to take advantage a vacation after the legislative session and complete what he called a “secret mission.” It had been a hectic session, with members of the legislature calling for Jester’s impeachment and Jester threatening a special session. Jester was supposed to stop at a Galveston clinic for a physical, something he needed after the stress of the session. He would never make it to his appointment. Sometime after leaving Austin late on the night of July 10th, Jester suffered a heart attack and died, presumably in his sleep. Despite traveling with several state troopers as bodyguards, Jester’s death wasn’t discovered until a porter attempted to wake him at the train’s arrival in Houston.

Allan Shivers [source]

Jester’s body was flown back to Austin, where a short funeral service was held in the Senate Chamber. It was then taken back to his home town of Corsicana where he was buried. Jester was succeeded as governor by a man with perhaps one of the most appropriate last names, Allan Shivers.

Hortense Sparks Ward

Hortense Sparks Ward [source]

Law Career
Hortense Sparks Ward was almost 40 in 1910 when she became the first practicing female lawyer admitted to the Texas Bar*, but she was far from done making firsts. In 1915, she would become the first Texas woman to be admitted to practice law before the US Supreme Court. Through the 1910s she was an advocate for women’s rights, including a 54 hour workweek for women in industry (a 40 hour workweek wouldn’t become standard until 1938) and a married women’s property law in 1913.

Suffragette
Ward also campaigned for women’s suffrage. In 1917 and 1918 she lobbied on behalf of the 19th amendment, which narrowly passed the US House with just 6 of 18 Texas Representatives voting for it. In 1918 she went to Austin to continue to lobby for the adoption of the 19th amendment and for primary suffrage for women in Texas. She campaigned for Governor William P. Hobby, who was running for reelection with the slogan “The Man Whom Good Women Want.” Hobby signed women’s primary suffrage into law in March of 1918. Since Texas was a one party state, this essentially gave women the right to vote in Texas. On June 27th, Ward became the first women to register to vote in Harris County. She would also write articles and pamphlets encouraging women to register to vote, leading to over 350,000 women registering in less than three weeks. (Hobby would win the 1918 Democratic Party nomination by a landslide.)

From left to right: Ruth Brazzil, Chief Justice Hortense Ward, and Hattie L. Henenberg sit on the All-Women Supreme Court. [source]

All-Women Supreme Court
In 1925, Ward would serve as Texas’s first female Supreme Court Chief Justice on the All-Woman Supreme Court. It would be the first all-woman high court in the US. The case was even reenacted in 2016 at the State Bar annual meeting. The court is even more remarkable since it would be another 30 years before women were allowed to serve on juries.

Ward continued working for women’s rights throughout her life. She also maintained a law practice with her husband until his death in 1939. She would pass away only a few years later in 1944.

* There seems to be a lot of confusion about whether she was the first or just one of the first. Edith Locke was admitted to the bar earlier, but apparently never actually practiced law. Alice Tiernen was admitted to the bar at about the same time, but the title of “first” is almost unanimously given to Ward.

Edith Wilmans

First Texas Woman Legislator

Image: Edith Wilmans, Prints & Photographs, 1975/205-1.

In Office
Only two years after the 19th amendment was ratified, Edith Wilmans ran and successfully won the District 50 seat in the Texas House of Representatives, becoming the first woman to serve in the Texas Legislature. She was one of eight women who ran in 1922, but the only one who won. Wilmans already had a history of suffrage work in Dallas and began studying law to better understand the legal problems facing women. She would pass the bar in 1918. She used her term to push for social reform, including increased protection for women and children and increasing the mandatory school age.

After the Legislature
After her term in the Texas House, Governor Neff appointed her to serve on the All Woman Supreme Court, though she was ineligible to serve due to a lack of the necessary legal experience. She would go on to unsuccessfully run for governor in 1926 and 1928. Though she would run for other state and federal seats, she would never again serve in public office. Wilmans returned to Dallas where she practiced law until her retirement in 1958. She then lived with her daughter until her death in 1966.