Thomas Jefferson Terral (December 21, 1882 – March 9, 1946) was an American attorney and the 27th governor of

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

Early life

Terral was born in

Union Parish Union Parish ( French: ''Paroisse de l'Union'') is a parish located in the north central section of the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,107. The parish seat is Farmerville. The parish was created on Ma ...

in northern

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. He attended the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

and transferred to the

University of Arkansas School of Law The University of Arkansas School of Law is the law school of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, a state university. It has around 445 students enrolled in its Juris Doctor (J.D.) and Master of Law (LL.M) programs and is home to ...

in Fayetteville from which he graduated in 1910. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1910 and established a private law practice in

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 ...

. He also worked as a school teacher.

Career

From 1911 to 1915, Terral worked as an assistant secretary of the

Arkansas Senate The Arkansas State Senate is the upper branch of the Arkansas General Assembly. The Senate consists of 35 members, each representing a district with about 83,000 people. Service in the state legislature is part-time, and many state senators have ...

where he learned the mechanics of state politics. In addition to the Senate position, Terral served as deputy state superintendent of public instruction from 1912 to 1916. These dual positions allowed Terral to assembly a range of statewide political contacts.

State politics

In 1916, Terral was elected

Arkansas Secretary of State The secretary of state of Arkansas is one of the elected constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The current Secretary of State is Republican John Thurston, former Arkansas land commissioner from Pulaski County in central Arka ...

and served two two-year terms from 1917 to 1921. He ran unsuccessfully for governor in the 1920 Democratic primary, having lost to

Thomas Chipman McRae Thomas Chipman McRae (December 21, 1851June 2, 1929) was an American attorney and politician from Arkansas. He served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives (1885 to 1903) and the 26th Governor of Arkansas, from 1 ...

. Preparing to run again for governor in 1924, Terral joined the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

Morehouse Parish Morehouse Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 27,979. The parish seat is Bastrop. The parish was formed in 1844. Morehouse Parish comprises the Bastrop, LA Micropolitan Stat ...

, which adjoins his native Union Parish. Apparently, he was rejected for Klan membership by various chapters in Arkansas but wanted to show his commitment to the organization as he mounted his gubernatorial race. In the Democratic

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

, prior to the institution of

runoff election The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...

s in Arkansas, Terral defeated several opponents, including future

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

William Lee Cazort William Lee Cazort, Sr. (December 3, 1887 – October 6, 1969) was a lawyer and Democratic politician from Johnson County in the Arkansas River Valley. Winning a seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1915, Cazort became a rising ...

of Johnson County, the original choice of the Ku Klux Klan hierarchy. Terral also defeated

John Ellis Martineau John Ellis Martineau (December 2, 1873 – March 6, 1937) was the 28th governor of Arkansas and was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. His term as Governor was marked by the G ...

, who came back in 1926 to unseat Terral in the primary. In the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

held that year in October 1924, Terral defeated

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

John W. Grabiel John Willington Grabiel (March 17, 1867 – April 13, 1928) was an attorney in Fayetteville, Arkansas, who was the Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1922 and 1924. Background Grabiel was one of nine children born to John Grabiel (1815 ...

, an

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

native and an attorney from Fayetteville who had also run unsuccessfully against Governor McRae in 1922. Terral received 99,598 votes (79.8 percent) to Grabiel's 25,152 (20.2 percent). Terral served as governor from 1925 to 1927. During Terral's term the first state park was opened at

Petit Jean Mountain Petit Jean State Park is a park in Conway County, Arkansas managed by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. It is located atop Petit Jean Mountain adjacent to the Arkansas River in the area between the Ouachita Mountains and Ozark Platea ...

. Construction of the state hospital was commenced during his tenure and the post of Commissioner of Insurance and Revenue was created. After one term, Terral was unseated in the Democratic primary by Martineau, who accused him of having previously taken kickbacks from publishers in developing the state-approved list of public school textbooks. Terral would become the first of three Arkansas governors denied second terms. The others were

Francis Cherry Francis Cherry may refer to: * Francis Cherry (governor) (1908–1965), governor of Arkansas, USA * Francis Cherry (diplomat) (1552–1605), English ambassador to the Court of Russia, 1598–1599 * Francis Cherry (non-juror) (1665–1713), English l ...

, and Frank White.

Death

After his term as governor, Terral made three unsuccessful comeback bids for Governor and returned to his private law practice in Little Rock, where he died in 1946. Terral is interred at Roselawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Little Rock. He and his wife, Eula Terral (same maiden and married names), originally from Pine Bluff in Jefferson County, had no children.

References

External links