The Junior Historian, Volume 27, Number 3, December 1966 Page: 2
32 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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THE JUNIOR HISTORIAN
pocket full of money. What are the causes?-
We must start again and start right-The public
must sooner or later learn that the Government
is not an apple tree whose fruit can be plucked
at will and resupplied by nature. The Govern-
ment is the people, and whatever burdens the
Government must, in its last analysis, burden
the people.Governor James Edward Ferguson
The wisdom in the above remarks can-
not be questioned. A man capable of
forming such ideas and expressing them
so plainly could never fall short of being
a statesman.
Miriam Amanda Wallace, distant rela-
tive of James Ferguson by a common
ancestor from north Alabama, was born
on June 13, 1875, in Bell County.
The Wallace family was intensely
more prominent than the Fergusons, since
Joseph Wallace was a rich landowner.
Because of the family's prominence and
wealth, Miriam Amanda was able to re-
ceive a formal education at Salado Col-
lege and Baylor College for Women at
Belton. After returning from Salado to
Belton, Miriam met James Ferguson,
gradually becoming more and more at-
tracted to him. On December 31, 1899,they were married, beginning a new life
with the start of a new year and a new
century.
Mrs. Ferguson was primarily a home-
maker, but she believed in her husband
and was so devoted to him that she stood
by him in victory and defeat. When James
was impeached by the senate in 1917,
she vowed to vindicate the injustices
which caused his impeachment. There-
fore, her name appeared boldly on the
1924 election ballots as that of the first
woman ever to be a candidate for election
as governor of a state. Despite much
controversy, Mrs. Ferguson, commonly
known as "Ma," defeated her opponent,
a Ku Klux Klan candidate, and entered
office in 1925. When asked why she, a
contented wife and mother, wanted to
enter the dramatic world of politics, Mrs.
Ferguson replied:
When I am questioned as to why I wanted
to be Governor of Texas, I hardly know how
to express that desire in a few words. The sub-
ject covers so much that it is difficult to crys-
tallize into one little paragraph. To sum it up
concisely, however, of course, everyone knows
that my main incentive was to clear away the
cloud that political hatred had draped about
the honorable name of Ferguson. I wanted to
right the grievous wrong which enmity had
perpetrated upon my husband, James E. Fer-
guson, once Governor of Texas. Frankly, that
was my reason of reasons for seeking the office.
But naturally, having been associated and al-
lied with political life for years, I knew the
needs and problems of my State, and my in-
terest in the welfare of our Commonwealth is
deep and sincere. This, I have consistently
tried to prove by my actions as Governor. Be-
ing human, also, I have enjoyed the distinctive
honor which has been mine to receive as an
expression of confidence from the people, the
bestowal of this sacred trust.
"Ma" served until 1927, when her term
expired, but she again placed her name
on the Democratic ticket of the 1926
election. Mrs. Ferguson was, however, de-
feated by Dan Moody. In 1930, she lost
to Ross Sterling. In 1932, "Ma" sought
governorship for a fourth time, and, sur-
prisingly enough, won this election against
Sterling. When this second term ended in
1935, her political career and the Fergu-
son Era came to a close. She was defeated
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Texas State Historical Association. The Junior Historian, Volume 27, Number 3, December 1966, periodical, December 1966; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth391374/m1/4/: accessed May 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.