J. Oscar Humphrey (January 25, 1886 - March 31, 1956) was a politician from

Southwest Arkansas The geography of Arkansas varies widely. The state is covered by mountains, river valleys, forests, lakes, and bayous in addition to the List of cities in Arkansas, cities of Arkansas. Hot Springs National Park features bubbling springs of hot wate ...

. He served as the

Arkansas State Auditor The Arkansas State Auditor (formally known as the Auditor of State) is a constitutional officer within the executive branch of the U.S. state of Arkansas. Thirty-five individuals have occupied the office of state auditor since statehood. The incu ...

from 1929 to 1935 and 1937–1956, despite having both arms amputated above the elbow due to a sawmill accident as a child.

Early life

Humphrey was raised in

DeQueen, Arkansas De Queen ( ) is a city and the county seat of Sevier County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 6,629 at the 2010 census. The placename is the anglicization of the family name of the Dutch merchant and railway financier, Jan de Goeije ...

on his father's farm. When he was six, a farm accident mangled Humphrey's arms, requiring amputation above the elbow. He learned to write by placing a pen between his stub arm and his cheek, and was an avid hunter and fisherman despite his disability. His father died when he was fifteen, leaving Humphrey to provide for his mother and sibling. He completed two years of college while teaching school to pay for tuition. He taught school for twelve years before winning election as Sevier County Assessor and later Sevier County Treasurer.

Auditor

Humphrey defeated Ralph Thomas of

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

and Roy Hand of Yellville in the Democratic primary in August 1928. During the

Solid South The Solid South or Southern bloc was the electoral voting bloc of the states of the Southern United States for issues that were regarded as particularly important to the interests of Democrats in those states. The Southern bloc existed especial ...

period, winning the Democratic primary was

tantamount to election A safe seat is an electoral district (constituency) in a legislative body (e.g. Congress, Parliament, City Council) which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combinati ...

for almost every office in Arkansas. The Auditor had a staff of eleven in 1928, ten of which were new appointments by Humphrey. In his role as Auditor, Humphrey also had an ex-officio board seat on the Confederate Pension Board. Much of Humphrey's first term in office involved devising and implementing a plan to remove undeserving Confederate pensioners from the rolls "plainly not entitled to" benefits following a bill in the 47th Arkansas General Assembly. State Senator Brewer claimed the bill's real purpose was retaliation against Humphrey for failing to reappoint State Senator Walter W. Raney's niece to the Auditor's Office. In 1929, the Auditor's office was drawn into controversy regarding the Hall Net Income Tax Law. Two members of the

Arkansas House of Representatives The Arkansas State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Arkansas. The House is composed of 100 members elected from an equal amount of constituencies across the ...

were listed by Revenue Commissioner David A. Gates as employees of his department.

Arkansas Attorney General The Attorney General of Arkansas, usually known simply as the Attorney General (AG), is one of Arkansas's seven constitutional officers. The officeholder serves as the state's top law enforcement officer and consumer advocate. Since January 13 ...

Hal L. Norwood issued decisions that the representatives were barred from collecting salary from state government service outside their constitutional office. Though initially seeking to remain neutral, Humphrey later refused to certify the representatives' paychecks, and the issue was sent to the

Arkansas Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Arkansas is the highest court in the state judiciary of Arkansas. It has ultimate and largely discretionary appellate jurisdiction over all state court cases that involve a point of state law, and original jurisdiction o ...

. Act 298 of 1929 required poll taxes to be paid by any adult citizen before obtaining state licenses or state funds, requiring the Auditor's Office to coordinate with county clerks extensively.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Humphrey, J. Oscar 1886 births 1956 deaths State Auditors of Arkansas Arkansas Democrats 20th-century American politicians American politicians with disabilities People from De Queen, Arkansas