C. W. Raines
Mineola, Wood County, Texas
Marker Inscription
A native of Upson County, Georgia, Cadwell Walton Raines (1839-1906) contributed to Texas history as a Methodist preacher, schoolteacher, attorney, newspaper publisher, county official, historian and state librarian. He first came to this state in 1853 with his parents, Thomas and Aletha (McClendon) Raines, and lived in Rockwall and Paris before enlisting in the Confederate army in 1861 under Richard Montgomery Gano. Following the war, Raines married Mary Bowden in 1871 and, after a period spent as a preacher in Arkansas, he began practicing law in Canton (about 20 mi. SW). There he became acquainted with future governor James Stephen Hogg and entered the newspaper business. Hogg sent him here to Mineola to begin publishing The Mineola Hawkeye in 1880. By 1884, the Raines' lived in Quitman (10 mi. N), where C. W. taught at the Concord Academy. He was elected Wood County Judge in 1886 and served two terms. Upon taking office as Texas' first native governor in 1891, Jim Hogg appointed C. W. Raines as state librarian. Serving in that capacity from 1891 to 1895 and again from 1899 until his death in 1906, Raines led the state library through a substantial period of growth and began its Texana collection. Among his many and varied accomplishments, Raines also was a historian, the author of numerous reference books and journal articles, and a co-founder of the Texas State Historical Association. (2001)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Cadwell Walton Raines (1839–1906) packed several careers into one Texas life — Methodist preacher, teacher, lawyer, newspaper publisher, county judge, and finally state librarian. A Georgia native who came to Texas in 1853 and served in the Confederate army, he founded The Mineola Hawkeye in 1880 at the urging of his friend, future governor James Stephen Hogg. As state librarian from the 1890s until his death, Raines built the library's Texana collection, wrote reference works, and helped found the Texas State Historical Association.
Why it matters
Raines helped create the institutions—a state library, a historical association, published reference works—through which Texas came to know and preserve its own past.
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Related people
- · Cadwell Walton Raines
- · James Stephen Hogg
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Cadwell Walton Raines
Canton, TX
Georgia-born Cadwell Walton Raines came to Texas in 1858 and served in R.M. Gano's Texas Cavalry during the Civil War before turning to teaching, law, and journalism. As Van Zandt County judge he was caught up in the county's turbulent 1877 County Seat War, and he later published newspapers in several East Texas towns. Appointed State Librarian in 1891 by his friend Governor James Stephen Hogg, he rebuilt the neglected library and assembled its foundational collection of Texana before his death in 1906.
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