Oscar Branch Colquitt

Oscar Branch Colquitt (1910)

Oscar Branch Colquitt (born December 16, 1861 in Camilla , Mitchell County , Georgia , † March 8, 1940 in Dallas , Texas ) was an American politician and governor of the state of Texas from 1911 to 1915 .

Early years

Oscar Colquitt came from a well-known Georgia family of politicians. His uncle Alfred was governor of Georgia and represented his state in both houses of the US Congress . His grandfather Walter sat for the state of Georgia in both the US Senate and the US House of Representatives .

Oscar Colquitt came to Daingerfield , Morris County , Texas with his family in 1878 . There he attended public schools and also worked as a helper on a farm. He later completed a brief apprenticeship in the printing industry and founded his own newspaper, the Pittsburg Gazette, in the city of Pittsburg . In 1890 he sold the newspaper and instead published the "Times-Star" in Terrell between 1890 and 1897 . He was also involved in founding the First National Bank of Terrell and a cotton mill.

Political rise

Oscar Colquitt became a member of the Democratic Party . Between 1895 and 1899 he was a member of the Texas Senate . There he made a name for himself by reformulating the tax laws. Colquitt became a tax expert and was a member of a tax commission. Between 1903 and 1911 he was also the Texas State Railroad Commissioner. After studying law, he was admitted to the bar in 1900, after which he also worked in this profession for a time. In 1906 he unsuccessfully applied for the office of governor of his state. Four years later he was elected to the highest office in his state.

Texas Governor

Colquitt took up his new office on January 17, 1911. After re-election in 1912, he was able to exercise it until January 19, 1915. During this time, the Texas prison reform begun by his predecessors was completed, the education budget increased, and labor laws improved. A prohibition law narrowly failed in a referendum. The governor also had to deal with an oppositional legislature. During his reign there were also border conflicts with Mexico . Twice the governor sent the Texas Rangers to the border area to restore order. The US Army later took on this task. After the First World War broke out in Europe in August 1914 , the governor supported the German side until the United States entered the war.

Another résumé

In 1916 Colquitt ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the US Senate. He worked in the Dallas oil industry for the next ten years. In 1928 he supported the presidential campaign of Republican Herbert C. Hoover against his party . Between 1929 and 1933 he was a member of an arbitration committee of the federal government ( Board of Mediation ). Colquitt worked for the Reconstruction Finance Corporation , an independent federal agency, from 1935 until his death in 1940 . Oscar Colquitt died of influenza infection in a Dallas hospital in the late 1930s after suffering several strokes. He was married to Alice Fuller Murrell, with whom he had five children.

literature

• Robert Sobel and John Raimo (Eds.): Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978. Volume 4, Meckler Books, Westport, 1978. 4 volumes.

Web links

• Oscar Branch Colquitt in the National Governors Association (English)
• Oscar Branch Colquitt in the Handbook of Texas (English)
• Oscar Branch Colquitt in the database of Find a Grave (English)