Pat Morris Neff

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Pat Morris Neff (November 26, 1871 – January 20, 1952) was an American politician and educator who served as the 28th governor of Texas from 1921 to 1925. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the ninth president of Baylor University from 1932 to 1947 and the twenty-fifth president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1944 to 1946. He served as Grand Master of Masons in Texas in 1946.

Early lifeEdit

Born on his family ranch near the Eagle Springs community in Coryell County, Texas, to Isabella Neff and her husband Noah, Pat Neff grew up on the Texas frontier and attended local schools. He graduated from McGregor High School. He received his bachelor's degree from Baylor University in Waco.

He worked for the next two years teaching at Southwestern Academy in Magnolia, Arkansas, to earn money to go to law school. Among his students was Harvey C. Couch, who would later become a successful entrepreneur in Arkansas.

Upon returning to Texas, Neff studied and received his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in Austin.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> There, he developed a close friendship with Tom Connally and Morris Sheppard of Texas, who both became politicians and were later elected as U.S. senators from the state.

After receiving his law degree and passing the bar, on May 31, 1899, Neff married Baylor classmate Myrtle Mainer in her hometown of Lovelady. In 1901, they had a daughter, whom they named Hallie Maude. They also had a son, Pat M. Neff, Jr.

Public office in TexasEdit

Neff joined the Democratic Party and entered politics, being elected in 1898 to the Texas House of Representatives, and serving from 1899 to 1905. He was elected to one term as Speaker. After returning to his law practice in Waco, Neff served for six years as the assistant county attorney and then as county attorney for McLennan County.

Considered a progressive Democrat and described as a "friend of organized labor,"<ref>Consolidation of Railway Properties Hearings Before the Committee on Interstate Commerce, U.S. Senate, Seventieth Congress, First Session, on S. 1175, a Bill to Promote the Unification of Carriers Engaged in Interstate Commerce, and for Other Purposes By United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Interstate Commerce, 1929, P.26</ref> Neff defeated former U.S. Senator Joseph Weldon Bailey, a former populist, in the party primary for governor in 1920. This defeat effectively ended Bailey's political career. Neff handily won the general election and started his term in 1921. During his tenure, a number of reforms were carried out such as new labor laws,<ref>Title: Labor Legislation of 1921 : Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. 308, P.243-245</ref> the organization of cooperative marketing associations to assist farmers with selling their commodities,<ref>The History of Texas By Robert A. Calvert, Arnoldo De Leon, Gregg Cantrell, 2014, P.280</ref> and higher funding for vocational and rural schools.<ref>Texas Politics Project biography on Pat M. Neff</ref>

Neff received criticism during his time as governor for vetoing a minimum wage act.<ref>BOOZE, BOOMTOWNS, AND BURNING CROSSES: THE TURBULENT GOVERNORSHIP OF PAT M. NEFF OF TEXAS, 1921-1925 Mark Stanley, BS, P.69</ref> This was introduced to replace a previous minimum wage law that had been repealed by the Texas Legislature.<ref>The Southwestern Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 2, No. 2 (SEPTEMBER, 1921)</ref> Much of Neff’s opposition to the measure, however, was directed to the fact that it excluded several categories of workers from its provisions, and in his veto message stated that his veto should not be interpreted as meaning that he did not believe in the possibility of a “just and entirely workable” minimum wage bill.<ref>VETO MESSAGE MARCH 30, 1921, Notes From Texas</ref>

Neff was a strong supporter of prohibition. He was instrumental in the development of the Texas State Parks Board. Neff and his mother, Isabella Neff, donated the land which would become the first state park in Texas. It was named Mother Neff State Park. During the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan during his administration, Neff was criticized for not taking a stronger stance. Neff is notable for his pardon of folk singer Lead Belly in his last days as governor.

Neff was reelected in 1922 but did not seek a third term in 1924. At the time, it was "understood" that no governor should run for a third term, although Texas did not have official term limits for the office.

In 1924 Miriam Wallace "Ma" Ferguson, wife of controversial former Governor James E. Ferguson, won the general election. The Republican nominee, George C. Butte, an American jurist who had opposed James Ferguson's line item veto of the 1917 University of Texas appropriations bill, had a stronger than usual showing. Many voters crossed party lines to vote for him, as they were unhappy with the corruption associated with "Pa" Ferguson.

Neff served as a member of the Railroad Commission of Texas from 1929 to 1933.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

President of Baylor UniversityEdit

After the death of Samuel Palmer Brooks, Neff was nominated to replace him as President of Baylor University. He resigned the post of President of the Board of Trustees, a position that he had held since it was vacated by B. H. Carroll in 1907, upon the nomination as President. In 1947, Neff was asked to stay on as the President by the staff at Baylor University.

File:Patneffhallbaylor.jpg

Pat Neff Hall at Baylor University

File:Pat Neff illustration from 1933 Baylor "Roundup".jpg

Illustration of Neff and handwritten signature from 1933 Baylor University "Roundup" yearbook

President of the Southern Baptist ConventionEdit

Neff was president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1944 to 1946.

LegacyEdit

Pat Neff Elementary School in Houston and Pat Neff Middle School of San Antonio (Northside Independent School District) are named for Neff, as is Pat Neff Hall at Baylor.

Neff died in Waco and is interred there at Oakwood Cemetery. His papers, including those from his time as governor, are housed in The Texas Collection at Baylor University.

ReferencesEdit

Template:Reflist

Dorothy Blodgett, Terrell Blodgett, and David L. Scott, The Land, the Law, and the Lord: The Life of Pat Neff (2007).
Stanley, Mark. "Booze, boomtowns, and burning crosses: The turbulent governorship of Pat M. Neff of Texas, 1921—1925," M.A. thesis, University of North Texas, 2005, 138 pages; AAT 1430156 in PROQUEST
Neff (Pat Morris) Collection, The Texas Collection, Baylor University

External linksEdit

Template:Handbook of Texas
Speeches delivered by Pat M. Neff, Governor of Texas, discussing certain phases of contemplated legislation, hosted by the Portal to Texas History]
Messages of Pat M. Neff, Governor of Texas to the thirty-seventh legislature, hosted by the Portal to Texas History]
Baylor University Web Site
1933 Baylor University "Roundup" via the Baylor University Libraries Digital Collections

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