Jean Baptiste Adoue, Jr. (November 4, 1884 – November 17, 1956) was the mayor of

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

from 1951 to 1953.

Early career

He is born in Dallas County, Texas, as one of four children of Jean Baptiste Adoue, Sr. and Mittie Neosha "Simpson" Adoue. In 1906, he graduated in law from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...

and returned to his home town to practice law for the following year before working with Adoue Sr. at the National Bank of Commerce (formerly known as Flippen, Adoue, and Lobit which changed when his father became president in 1892). He went on to marry Hester Ann Allen on October 12, 1909. They had two children. After his father's death by suicide in his home on June 24, 1924, Adoue succeeded him as president of the National Bank of Commerce. After the death of his first wife, he married his second wife, Mary J. Wilson, on May 12, 1937. They had no children. From 1939 to 1947, Adoue was president of the Dallas Chamber of Commerce, which he financially strengthened, earning him the

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for community service in 1943.

Life as a mayor

In 1942, he served in the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

where he became well known and appreciated. He was re-elected in 1943 and 1945. In 1949, he ran for mayor but lost to

Wallace H. Savage Wallace Savage (November 21, 1912 – June 19, 2000), attorney, was mayor of Dallas in 1949–1951. Biography Savage was born in Houston, Harris, Texas to Homer Hamilton Savage and Mary Wallace. He married Dorothy Minnie Harris, daughter of Will ...

, though he received the most votes as an elected council member. By 1951, another mayor vote by the public brought him into office. During his term as a mayor which resulted in clashes between his office and a number of unions, he passed a public-works program with which the Love Field would be expanded. Adoue didn't run for a second term as his health was in decline. When his term as mayor ended, he went back to his banker job where he worked until his death on November 17, 1956. He was buried at

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, Dallas, Texas.

Feats

He was once on the list of top ten tennis players in Texas and was sitting on the board of director of the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association for thirty years. He was also a Member of American Arbitration Association,

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of aca ...

Newcomen Society Newcomen may refer to: People * John Newcomen (c.1613–1630), English first white settler murdered by another white settler in Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts * Matthew Newcomen (c. 1610–1669), English nonconformist churchman *Thomas Newcomen (16 ...

and Phi Delta Theta.

References

''Handbook of Texas Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adoue, Jean Baptiste 1884 births 1956 deaths Mayors of Dallas 20th-century American politicians