WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT "PA" and "MA" Ferguson?

WHAT DO YOU KNOW about “PA and MA” Ferguson? Because Texas was an agrarian state, James Ferguson (1871-1944) took on the nickname name “Farmer Jim” and made his first run for public office while only in his 40s. He became governor of Texas. Born on a farm near Salado, Texas, he was kicked out of a prestigious school when he was 16, wandered in the west for several years, then returned to be a lawyer. He never attended a law school but passed the bar with help from friends of his circuit riding father. James is described as “magnetic, grandiose, a bully and a crook.” (*) By contrast his wife, Miriam Amanda Wallace (1875-1961) was introverted, apolitical, and daughter of a nearby rancher/preacher. “Even if I had the right to vote I wouldn’t do it” she said. Ferguson posed as a Democrat-populist farmer but he had a chauffeur. His wife’s money bought a big house, a farm and interest in a bank. As an anti-prohibitionist, campaign money came from brewers. Speeches were drafted on pages from his two school aged daughter’s Big Chief tablets. He won the 1914 election in part by exposing the “dry candidate” as a hypocrite because he belonged to the Houston Country Club which he defined as a “high toned saloon.” As Governor of Texas, he quickly alienated three Austin groups defined in a daughter’s book as Old Austinites, University People and State Politicians. Men were removed from the University without explanation except that he was Governor. He put state funds in his bank in Temple and loaned $156,500.00 without revealing to whom the money went. This drew a contempt of court. He was indicted on nine counts and finally his veto of University appropriations led to his impeachment in 1917. Because he resigned one day before the Senate officially removed him from office, he considered the impeachment a “baseless technicality” and called the Legislature “a den of crooks” and his successor William Hobby “a sissy”. Barred from state but not federal office, he attempted to run on his own party ticket for President in 1920, then U.S. Senate in 1922. Defeated but unbowed he made his wife his proxy. Voters decided she was the least dangerous of the three candidates and elected M.A. Ferguson twice. She became “MA” the governor and he became “PA”. He declared, “Sunday School is over” and he opened the governor’s office for influence peddling, kickbacks and pardoning. James Edward Ferguson’s political career came to an end when his bill to restore his right to run for office again was blocked by a young Attorney General and future Governor named Dan Moody. (*) Ref: Big Wonderful Thing, Stephen Harrigan’s Texas History. Carole Sikes 8/21