Thomas Mitchell Campbell (April 22, 1856April 1, 1923) was the 24th governor of Texas, serving two terms from 1907 to 1911. He was an attorney and businessman, working as a manager for the International-Great Northern Railroad before entering politics from Palestine, Texas.

Life

Campbell was born in

Rusk A rusk is a hard, dry Biscuit#Biscuits in British usage, biscuit or a twice-baked bread. It is sometimes used as a teether for babies. In some cultures, rusk is made of cake rather than bread: this is sometimes referred to as cake rusk. In the ...

in Cherokee County in

East Texas East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that consists of approximately 38 counties. It is roughly divided into Northeast Texas, Northeast, Southeast Texas, Sout ...

, the son of Thomas Duncan and Rachel (Moore) Campbell. He attended school at Rusk and entered Trinity University in 1873 to study law. He was unable to support himself and withdrew after a year. Campbell went to work in the Gregg County clerk's office and continued his studies at night. In 1878, he was admitted to the Texas bar. In the same year, he married Fannie Irene Bruner 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 ...

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 ...

. Her father, William Bruner, had served as a captain from

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 ...

in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

. After the war, he settled in Shreveport. There he became a landholder and was elected as city comptroller in Shreveport. Campbell practiced law in Longview until he became involved with the troubled International-Great Northern Railroad in 1889. He became its court-appointed receiver in 1891 and moved his family to

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

. The next year, after lifting the line from

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

, he remained in Palestine as the general manager of the

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

Political career

Campbell distrusted

monopolistic A monopoly (from Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic competition to produce a particular thing, a lack of viable sub ...

big business and sympathized with

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

s. He shared many of the reformist political views of former Texas governor James Stephen Hogg. In 1897, Campbell resigned from the railroad and became active in Democratic Party politics. At Hogg's urging, he decided to run for governor. Campbell was elected governor in 1906. In his two terms in office, 1907–1911, Campbell initiated a number of reforms including railroad regulation, equitable taxation, lobbying restrictions and various labor measures. Shocked when the Slocum Massacre broke out on July 29, 1910, when a large mob of whites attacked blacks in and around Slocum in his home Anderson County, Campbell ordered the state militia to the area to suppress the violence. Twenty-two unarmed blacks were documented as killed in the white riot, but the death toll was said to be much higher. Many black families fled the area, losing all their property. Campbell's most significant legislation centered on

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

reform, as Campbell's administration ended the

convict lease Convict leasing was a system of forced penal labor in the United States, penal labor that was practiced historically in the Southern United States before it was formally Convict leasing#End of the system, abolished during the 20th century. Un ...

system for inmates and implemented more humane treatment of prisoners. Under Campbell, many state agencies were established, including the Department of Insurance and Banking, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the State Board of Health, and the Texas State Library. Campbell returned to private law practice in Palestine, but remained active in Democratic politics. In

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Empire, British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that has been stored ...

, he ran unsuccessfully against his fellow Democrat Charles Culberson for the

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

. Well into the 1960s, Texas was essentially a one-party state, with the only competitive contests taking place in the Democratic primaries. He died in

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

and is interred in Palestine, Texas. His grave is marked with a tall white

obelisk An obelisk (; , diminutive of (') ' spit, nail, pointed pillar') is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called ''tekhenu'', the Greeks used th ...

.CAMPBELL, THOMAS MITCHELL
''The Handbook of Texas Online''
Retrieved Apr. 11, 2005.

References

External links

''Message of Governor T.M. Campbell to the thirtieth legislature of Texas, to which is appended the State Democratic Platform adopted at Dallas, Texas, August 13, 1906.''
hosted by the Portal to Texas History
''Message of Governor T.M. Campbell to the first called session of the thirtieth legislature of Texas: together with the proclamation of the Governor convening the legislature in extra-ordinary session.''
hosted by the Portal to Texas History {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Thomas Mitchell 1856 births 1923 deaths Democratic Party governors of Texas People from Rusk, Texas Candidates in the 1907 United States elections