Earl L. Brewer
Earl Leroy Brewer | |
---|---|
Mississippi Senate | |
In office January 1896 – January 1900 | |
Personal details | |
Born | near Vaiden, Mississippi | August 11, 1869
Died | March 10, 1942 Jackson, Mississippi | (aged 72)
Resting place | Oakridge Cemetery |
Nationality | American |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Minnie Marion Block |
Profession | Lawyer |
Earl Leroy Brewer (August 11, 1869 – March 10, 1942) was the Governor of Mississippi from 1912 to 1916. Elected as a Democrat, he was unopposed in the primary and won the governorship without ever making a single public campaign speech.
Biography
Brewer was born in
Brewer attended the University of Mississippi and, after less than one year of study, obtained a Bachelor of Law degree in 1892. He immediately began practicing law (among his notable clients was Janie Jones, the widow of famed railroader Casey Jones, for whom he obtained a $2,650 settlement after Jones' death[1]) and then was elected to the Mississippi State Senate in 1895. In 1902 he was appointed district attorney for the 11th District.
In 1907 he resigned as district attorney to run for governor. Brewer was narrowly defeated in his first attempt but won handily in the next campaign. As governor, Brewer promoted progressive reforms in several areas. The constitution was changed to create an elective judiciary; banking laws were established to limit interest rates, and a Bureau of Vital Statistics was created.
During his term, there was a severe epidemic of pellagra in the state and other portions of the South. When the federal government sent Joseph Goldberger to study the disease and find a cure, Brewer offered full pardons to convicts who would participate in Goldberger's experiments. As a result of these studies, it was determined that a vitamin deficiency caused pellagra.[citation needed] Brewer also began a tradition of commuting the sentences of the convicted prisoners who served as servants at the Mississippi Governor's Mansion after his daughter appealed to him to free a convict who had acted as her bodyguard.[2]
After his term, Brewer returned to legal practice in Bolivar County. In 1924, after an unsuccessful Senate run, he took
Brewer had left Lum v. Rice to assist in defending three Black defendants accused of murder who had been convicted based on coerced confessions. Brewer argued and won their appeal to the United States Supreme Court in Brown v. Mississippi.
Brewer died in Jackson and is buried at Oakridge Cemetery in Clarksdale.
Notable relatives
- Leroy Brewer I (1793-1851) - Grandfather and namesake of Gov. Brewer. He was an early Mississippi Delta pioneer; traveling from Elbert County, GA, with his brother William Fletcher Brewer.
- Captain Ratliff Rodney Brewer (1831-1881) - Father - Confederate Officer during the Civil War.
- Mayor Leroy Jasper Brewer II (1833-1911) - Uncle - Mayor of Holcomb, MS, Civil War officer, civil engineer, and County Surveyor of Carroll County, MS.
- Mayor John Ratliff Brewer (1853-1913) - 1st Cousin - Mayor of Holcomb, MS.
- Dr. Walter Chew Brewer (1874-1932) - 2nd Cousin - Mississippi's foremost surgeon at his death. He was killed in a pistol battle near the hospital that he owned.
- Rev. Leroy Jasper Brewer Sr. (1936-1987) - 1st Cousin 1R - Former President of the Baptist Convention of New England (called Southern Baptist General Association of New England at the time).
References
- ^ "Water Valley Casey Jones Railroad Museum in Water Valley, Mississippi". Archived from the original on March 14, 2008.
- ^ Eyre, Kathy (May 29, 1988). "Convicts Used as Servants Mississippi Prisoners Wait on the Governor". Los Angeles Times (early ed.). p. 6.
- ^ ISBN 9780807083161. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
- Sansing, David G. Earl Leroy Brewer Thirty-eighth Governor of Mississippi: 1912–1916Mississippi History Now. Mississippi Historical Society.
- "State Mourns Ex-Gov. Brewer". Jackson Daily News. March 11, 1942. Archivedfrom the original on October 30, 2008.
- Kirwan, Albert D. Revolt of the Rednecks: Mississippi Politics, 1876-1925 University Press of Kentucky. 1951. Contains several passages about Earl Brewer's relationships with other politicians and lawyers at that time in Mississippi state politics.
External links
- "Earl L. Brewer". Find a Grave. Retrieved September 2, 2010.
- Profile at National Governors Association website