Thomas Henry Ball (January 14, 1859 – May 7, 1944) was a

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

politician and a Democratic member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. He was mayor of

Huntsville, Texas Huntsville is a city in and the county seat of Walker County, Texas, United States. Its population was 45,941 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the center of the Huntsville United States micropolitan area, micropolitan area ...

, from 1877 to 1892, and moved to Houston in 1902. Thomas Henry Ball and Frank Andrews formed a law firm in Houston in 1902. Melvin Kurth joined in 1913.

Andrews Kurth Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP was a Houston, Texas based international law firm founded by Frank Andrews and U.S. Congressman Thomas Henry Ball in 1902, and later joined by Melvin Kurth in 1913. In April 2018, the firm merged with Hunton & Williams ...

was important to Texas railroad firms early in the twentieth century. It represented

Reconstruction Finance Corporation The Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) was an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States federal government that served as a lender of last resort to US banks and businesses. Established in ...

and Federal National Mortgage Corporation,

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

agencies. In the early twenty-first century, Andrews Kurth had offices in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, and employed more than 400 lawyers. He held many posts in the

Democratic Party of Texas The Texas Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Texas and one of the two-party system, two major political parties in the state. The party's headquarters are in Austin, Tex ...

, and unsuccessfully sought the 1914 nomination to be

Governor of Texas The governor of Texas is the head of state of the U.S. state of Texas. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the government of Texas and is the commander-in-chief of the Texas Military Forces. Established in the Constit ...

on a

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

platform, despite endorsements from

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

and

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator, and politician. He was a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running three times as the party' ...

. His Houston law practice represented chiefly railroads and corporations, and he promoted Texas port facilities both in Congress and after. He was general counsel for the Port Commission of Houston. He was a delegate at the

1892 Democratic National Convention The 1892 Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois, from June 21 to 23, 1892. Former President Grover Cleveland, who had been the party's standard-bearer in 1884 and 1888, was nominated again. Adlai Stevenson I of Illinois was n ...

, and in

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

and

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

. Because Ball had been instrumental in routing a railroad through Peck, Texas, the town was renamed

Tomball, Texas Tomball ( ) is a city in Harris County, Texas, Harris County in the U.S. state of Texas, a part of the Greater Houston, Houston metropolitan area. The population was 12,341 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census. In 1907, the community ...

, in his honor in 1907.

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* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Thomas Henry 1859 births 1944 deaths Austin College alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas Mayors of places in Texas People associated with Hunton Andrews Kurth People from Huntsville, Texas Texas lawyers University of Virginia School of Law alumni 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives

References

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External links