HistoricSiteMarkers
Reconstruction & Gilded AgeProgressive & Modern Era

Governor Charles A. Culberson

Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas

Marker Inscription

(June 10, 1855 - March 19, 1925) A native of Alabama, Charles A. Culberson grew up in Jefferson, Texas. He married Sallie Harrison (1861-1926) in 1882 after earning his law degree at the University of Virginia. During two terms as Attorney General of Texas, Culberson enforced the reform policies of Gov. James S. Hogg. He succeeded Hogg as Governor, 1895-99. Culberson served four terms in the United States Senate, winning the post of Democratic Minority Leader in 1907. Renowned for his knowledge of the law, he chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1913 to 1919. (1979)

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Charles A. Culberson grew up in Jefferson, Texas, earned his law degree at the University of Virginia, and rose swiftly through public life as attorney general enforcing Governor James Hogg's reform agenda. He succeeded Hogg as governor from 1895 to 1899, then served four terms in the United States Senate, becoming Democratic minority leader in 1907. Widely respected for his legal mind, he chaired the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee through the World War I years.

Why it matters

He represents the Texas reform politics of the Progressive era, carrying a state's push against corporate power into national leadership in the U.S. Senate.

Own a business near here? Add it to the map.

Related people

  • · Charles A. Culberson
  • · James S. Hogg
  • · Sallie Harrison Culberson

Themes & tags

EducationMemorial

Nearby & related markers

John Peter Smith_Oakwood Cemetery Founder

Fort Worth, TX

Pioneer Fort Worth settler John Peter Smith, who arrived from Kentucky in 1853, donated twenty acres in 1879 to establish this cemetery. A teacher, clerk, surveyor, and attorney turned civic leader, he opposed secession yet raised Confederate troops and rode with Sibley's Brigade, suffering a severe wound in Louisiana. After the war he helped organize a bank, gas company, and street railway, gave land for parks and a hospital, and as mayor in 1882 launched the city's school and water systems; he is buried in the very ground he gave.

William John Marsh

Fort Worth, TX

Born near Liverpool, England, in 1880, William John Marsh came to Fort Worth in 1904 for the cotton business but made his lasting mark in music — as organist and choirmaster for area churches and a synagogue, choral director and professor of organ at Texas Christian University, and composer of more than 100 works. In 1929 his composition "Texas, Our Texas" won the competition to become the official state song. He lived and worked in Fort Worth until his death in 1971 at age 90.

Billy Muth

Fort Worth, TX

Billy Muth, born in Pennsylvania in 1902, was playing church organ by age nine and grew into one of Texas's most celebrated performers, billed nationally as 'the master of the keyboard.' Settling in Fort Worth in 1926, he was organist at Casa Mañana during the 1936 Texas Centennial, played the grand theaters and the Fort Worth symphony, and taught organ and music seminars across the state.

Site of the First Masonic Hall in Fort Worth

Fort Worth, TX

Fort Worth's Masons organized in 1854 and by 1857 had built a two-story brick hall on land donated at the edge of the young settlement. The lodge room sat above a ground-floor school, while the first floor also hosted public meetings and church services — a civic anchor in a town still finding its shape. A bell added in 1871 announced stagecoach arrivals, fires, and the start of the school day until the growing lodge moved to larger quarters in 1878.