Nelson "Nat" R. Strong (11 February 1862 – 26 February 1930) was an American politician. Strong was born on February 11, 1862 in Illnois and later arrived in

Port Arthur, Texas Port Arthur is a city in Jefferson County within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Texas. A small, uninhabited portion extends into Orange County; it is east of Houston. The largest oil refinery in the United Sta ...

in 1896 where he served as a founding developer, became its first postmaster, and the first mayor of Port Arthur, between 1898 and 1899.

Personal life

He married

Cora Gray Strong Cora Gray Strong (4 September 1882 – 21 March 1959) was an American politician. Cora Gray was born in Elkhart, Texas, on 4 September 1882. Gray attended the Summer Hill Select School for Young Women, and became a teacher. She taught in Anderson ...

in 1905, and the couple settled in her hometown of

Slocum, Texas Slocum is an unincorporated community in southeast Anderson County, Texas, in the United States. According to the '' Handbook of Texas'', the community had a population of 198 in 2018. It is located within the Palestine, Texas micropolitan area. ...

Political career

Strong was elected as Port Arthur's first mayor upon the town's incorporation in May 1898. Incidentally as recalled by early Port Arthur dignitaries, Strong was declared the winner by one vote in the final tabulation after an error that occurred when R.H. Woodworth, who later became the city's third mayor, accidentally dropped a cashier check instead of his ballot into the voting box. Strong resigned as mayor in September 1899. Nelson Strong was elected to

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abou ...

in 1928, and held the District 55 seat as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

from 8 January 1929 until his death on 26 February 1930. Strong's wife succeeded him as a state representative.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, Nelson R. People from Port Arthur, Texas People from Anderson County, Texas 20th-century American politicians 19th-century American politicians American city founders Mayors of places in Texas Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives 1862 births 1930 deaths Spouses of Texas politicians