Thomas Magruder Wade, I (October 24, 1860 – January 22, 1929), was an educator, politician, and civic leader from Newellton in

Tensas Parish Tensas Parish () is a parish located in the northeastern section of the State of Louisiana; its eastern border is the Mississippi River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,147. It is the least populated parish in Louisiana. The parish ...

in northeastern

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

Biography

Wade was born at the

Prospect Hill Plantation The Prospect Hill Plantation was a former 5,000-acre plantations in the American South, plantation in Jefferson County, Mississippi. In the early 19th century, the plantation was owned by planter Isaac Ross (planter), Isaac Ross of South Carolina, ...

in Jefferson County near Fayette,

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

, to Isaac Ross Wade (1814-1891) and the former Catherine Elizabeth Dunbar (1820-1865). Of

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

descent, Wade was affiliated with the Clan Gregor Society. From 1888 to 1904, he served as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

in the

Louisiana House of Representatives The Louisiana House of Representatives (; ) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This chamber is composed of 105 representatives, each of whom represents approximately 4 ...

. During part of his legislative tenure, Wade served alongside

Robert H. Snyder Robert H. Snyder (July 13, 1855 – November 17, 1905) was a Democratic politician from Tensas Parish, Louisiana. Snyder served in the Louisiana House of Representatives for two nonconsecutive terms from 1890 to 1896 and from 1904 until hi ...

St. Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern Orth ...

, who was a

House Speaker The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hung ...

. Two years after Wade left the House, Samuel W. Martien, a large

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

planter from

Waterproof Waterproofing is the process of making an object, person or structure waterproof or water-resistant so that it remains relatively unaffected by water or resists the ingress of water under specified conditions. Such items may be used in wet env ...

in southern Tensas Parish, began a 14-year tenure in the House. Wade was a delegate to the 1898 Louisiana Constitutional Convention. He served on the Louisiana State Board of Education from 1896 to 1900 during the second administration of

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Murphy J. Foster, Sr. Such dual office-holding is no longer permitted in Louisiana. Wade also served on the Tensas Parish School Board and, he was thereafter appointed and served for at least twenty years as the Tensas school superintendent, long one of the most important positions in the small parish nestled along

oxbow lake An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or stream pool, pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is meander cutoff, cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. The word "oxbow" can also refer to a U-shaped bend in a river or stream, whether ...

s next to the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. In 1883, Wade married his third cousin, Anna Thomas Magruder (1862-1918). Both he and his wife had lost their mothers in early childhood. Anna's husband was named for her father, Dr. Thomas Baldwin Magruder (1800-1885), of

Port Gibson Port Gibson is a city and the county seat of Claiborne County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,567 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is bordered on the west by the Mississippi River. The first European settlers i ...

in Claiborne County in southwestern Mississippi. Anna Magruder Wade was seriously injured in a horse-and-buggy accident in 1912. After weeks of therapy, she recovered from her wounds though she had been at the point of death on several occasions. She was treated in

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, by her husband's nephew, Dr. Edward D. Newell, Jr., son of Edward D. Newell, for whom Newellton is named. Anna Wade also spent time in a sanitarium in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. Nevertheless, she died in Newellton in 1918 at the age of fifty-six of a different problem, toxiema. A biographical sketch of his parents by Thomas Wade, II, reveals their

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

commitment through the Episcopal Church. Thomas Wade was a widower for the remaining decade of his life. Thomas and Anna Wade and other family members are interred at Winter Green Cemetery in Port Gibson, Mississippi.

Family legacy

The Wades had one child, Thomas Wade, II (1889-1971), a lawyer in the Tensas parish seat of St. Joseph, who later lived in

Missoula Missoula ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is located along the Clark Fork River near its confluence with the Bitterroot River, Bitterroot and Blackfoot River (Montana), ...

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, and

El Dorado El Dorado () is a mythical city of gold supposedly located somewhere in South America. The king of this city was said to be so rich that he would cover himself from head to foot in gold dust – either daily or on certain ceremonial occasions � ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, where he died at the age of eighty-two. From his first marriage in 1913 to the former Kate Burton LaCour of

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

in far northwestern Louisiana, he had two children, namesake sons, Thomas Wade, III (1914-2012), and Burton LaCour Wade, I (1923-1998). From a second marriage to his then surviving widow, the former Mary Gwendolyn Webb, he had a daughter, Miss Anna Wade of El Dorado. Grandson Thomas Wade, III, was first an attorney and from 1940 to 1942 the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of St. Joseph before he enlisted in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Thereafter, he graduated from the theological seminary of the

University of the South The University of the South, familiarly known as Sewanee (), is a private Episcopal liberal arts college in Sewanee, Tennessee, United States. It is owned by 28 southern dioceses of the Episcopal Church, and its School of Theology is an off ...

Sewanee Sewanee may refer to: * Sewanee, Tennessee * Sewanee: The University of the South * ''The Sewanee Review ''The Sewanee Review'' is an American literary magazine established in 1892. It is the oldest continuously published quarterly in the Unit ...

, Tennessee, and became an ordained Episcopal priest with service between 1957 and 1979 in DeRidder,

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the largest town in population between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district () of Minden-Lübbecke, situated in the cultural region ...

, Baton Rouge, and Pineville, Louisiana. After he retired from the ministry, he spent his last years in St. Joseph. He and his wife of sixty-six years, Alma Fluitt Wade, originally from Haynesville, Louisiana, had two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wade, Thomas M. 1860 births 1929 deaths Democratic Party members of the Louisiana House of Representatives People from Jefferson County, Mississippi People from Newellton, Louisiana School board members in Louisiana American Episcopalians American people of Scottish descent Educators from Louisiana 19th-century members of the Louisiana State Legislature 20th-century members of the Louisiana State Legislature