Portfolio, Governor Thomas McRae
Object number2003.084.09
DateUnknown Date
Associated LocationPrescott, Arkansas
MediumLeather
DimensionsOverall: 10 7/8 x 7 1/2 in. (27.6 x 19.1 cm)
Credit LineOld State House Museum collection
Terms
- Portfolio
- Wallet
Thomas Chipman McRae was born on December 21, 1851 in Mount Holly, Arkansas to Duncan L. and Mary Ann Chipman McRae. In 1863 McRae’s father passed away leaving him in charge of the family farm. During this time, McRae also briefly served as a courier for Confederate troops in southwest Arkansas. Once his mother remarried in 1868, McRae was free to seek out a formal education. He studied at numerous private schools in Arkansas before attending the Soule Business College in New Orleans, Louisiana, and concluding his education at Washington and Lee University in 1872. McRae began practicing law in Rosston, Arkansas in 1873 and he went on to marry Amelia Ann White in December of 1874. In 1876, McRae was elected representative in the Arkansas State House of Representatives where he supported to pay railroad, levee, and Holford bonds. McRae went on to win the 1884 election for Third Congressional District Representative for the United States House of Representatives. He went on to serve in this position for eighteen years. During this time he chaired the House Committee on Public Lands, supported increased taxation on big business and on an income tax. In 1905, he purchased the Bank of Prescott, and in 1909 was elected president of the Arkansas Bankers Association. McRae went on to be elected president of the Arkansas Bar Association in 1917. Due to pleas for progressive leadership, McRae ran for governor in 1920 and won, becoming the twenty-sixth Governor of Arkansas. During his administration McRae passed the Harrelson Road Act allowing for needed centralization and control over the construction and maintenance of roads, and he focused on improving the failing education system by trying to implement a stable source of income for higher education. McRae was also successful in constructing a tuberculosis sanatorium for African Americans and the inclusion of Arkansas women in civil appointments during his administration. McRae died on June 2, 1929 and is buried in Prescott, Arkansas.
Status
Not on view
