James Stephen Hogg served as governor of Texas from January 20, 1891 to January 15, 1895. The first native Texan to be elected governor, Jim Hogg was born on March 4, 1851 near Rusk, and orphaned before his teens. After a year of school in Alabama, he began work as a typesetter in Rusk. Later he worked on a paper in Tyler, and edited newspapers in Longview and Quitman (1871-1873). Hogg's political career began when he served as justice of the peace while studying law (1873-1875). He suffered his career's only loss in an 1876 race for the state legislature. After a term as Wood County attorney (1878-1880), Hogg gained a reputation as the most aggressive district attorney in Texas (1880-1884). As attorney general (1886-1890), Hogg continued the crusade against corporate abuses that he had begun as a journalist. He forced the return of some 1.5 million acres of fraudulently-acquired public land, broke up a major railroad price-fixing scheme, and aided in drafting the nation's second state anti-trust law.
The promise to create a railroad commission was a major plank in the 1890 platform when Hogg was elected to his first term as governor. In addition to the Railroad Commission, the Hogg Laws included legislation reducing watered stock, forcing the sale of land corporation holdings, restricting grants to foreign corporations, and placing a ceiling for local governments' bond indebtedness. He encouraged educational institutions at all levels, and appointed C.W. Raines as state librarian in 1892. Railroads, banking, and business opposed Hogg's reelection in 1892, but he was supported by farmers and local newspapers. Through investments after retirement, he managed to pay his financial debts and build a sizable estate. He continued to work for populist/progressive reforms, campaigning for William Jennings Bryan in 1896 and 1900. Hogg died in Houston on March 3, 1906.
From the guide to the Records, 1889-1894, undated, (Texas State Archives)
