Thomas Chipman McRae

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Thomas McRae

Thomas Chipman McRae (born December 21, 1851 in Union County , Arkansas , † June 2, 1929 in Prescott , Arkansas) was an American lawyer and politician and governor of Arkansas from 1921 to 1925 .

Early years

Thomas McRae grew up on his parents' farm. After his father's death in 1863, he had to give his mother a hand there. It was only when she remarried in 1868 that McRae was given time for training. He attended Soule Business College and then studied law at Washington and Lee University in Virginia , where he graduated in 1872. He was admitted to the bar in 1873, whereupon he opened a thriving practice in Rosston , Nevada County , which he later moved to Prescott.

Political rise

McRae was a member of the Democratic Party . Between 1877 and 1879 he was a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives . He was then elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC . There he was between 1885 and 1903. In the meantime, he was chairman of a committee that dealt with the administration of public land ( Committee on Public Land ). There he campaigned for the return of land that had once been given to the railroad and which were no longer needed by it. In 1884, 1896, and 1900, McRae was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions . He was twice president of these party congresses. In 1903 he left Congress voluntarily. Then he worked as a lawyer again.

In 1905 he acquired the Bank of Prescott and got into the banking business. In 1909 he became a member of the Arkansas Bankers Association. In addition, he continued his legal career. Between 1917 and 1918 he was President of the Arkansas Bar Association. In 1918 he was also a member of a commission to reform the Arkansas Constitution. In 1920 McRae was elected the new governor of Arkansas.

Arkansas Governor

McRaes term as governor began on January 11, 1921. After a re-election in 1922, he could remain in office until January 13, 1925. During this time, the Arkansas Railroad Committee was reformed. Unlike many of his contemporaries, the governor was a little more liberal on the racial issue. He was firmly against lynching and saw to it that a tuberculosis hospital was built for African Americans . At that time, the probability of survival with tuberculosis in this class of society was just 25%. Various taxes were also raised to improve education policy and transportation. However, a lot remained unfinished in these two areas and had to be dealt with by subsequent governments. This was also due to the fact that many of McRae's proposals did not find a political majority in parliament.

After his tenure ended, McRae returned to his legal and banking business. He also served as a specialty judge on the Arkansas Supreme Court . Thomas McRae died in June 1929. He was married to Amelia A. White, with whom he had nine children.

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