Nevada-Union County ArArchives Biographies.....McRae, Thomas Chipman 1851 - 
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Author: S. J. Clarke (Publisher, 1922)

HON. THOMAS CHIPMAN McRAE.
    Hon. Thomas Chipman McRae, whose political career has extended over a period
covering almost half a century and who has long been recognized as one of the
distinguished statesmen of Arkansas, is now serving as the twenty-sixth governor
of the commonwealth, having been elected in November, 1920. His birth occurred
at Mount Holly, Union county, Arkansas, on the 21st of December, 1851, his
parents being Duncan L. and Mary Ann (Chipman) McRae, who were natives of North
Carolina and Georgia, respectively. In the paternal line the family comes of
Scotch ancestry. Duncan L. McRae took up his abode among the pioneer settlers of
this state, here becoming a successful planter and a citizen of prominence and
influence whose efforts contributed in no inconsiderable degree to the work of
general improvement and progress. He died July 30, 1863, while his wife,
surviving him for a third of a century, was called to her final rest on the 19th
of April, 1897. Both were residents of Columbia county, Arkansas, at the time of
their demise. Two sons of the family still survive.

    Thomas C. McRae largely acquired his early education in private schools of
Shady Grove, Mount Holly and Falcon, Arkansas, and subsequently spent one year
as clerk in a general store at Shreveport, Louisiana. He next removed to New
Orleans, where he completed a course in the Soule Business College by graduation
with the class of 1869, after which he was employed in a store at Falcon,
Arkansas, for a year. Having determined upon a professional career, he then
entered the law department of the Washington and Lee University at Lexington,
Virginia, in 1871, this institution conferring upon him the degree of Bachelor
of Laws in 1872. In January, 1873, at Rosston, which was then the county seat of
Nevada county, Arkansas, he was admitted to the bar and there commenced his work
as a representative of the legal fraternity. In January, 1876, he was admitted
to practice in the supreme court of the state and in January, 1886, to the
supreme court of the United States. In 1917 he was elected president of the
Arkansas Bar Association.

    The county seat of Nevada county was changed from Rosston to Prescott in
1877 and in July of the same year Mr. McRae established his home in the latter
place, where he won notable distinction in the practice of law. His political
career began in 1874, when he was appointed election supervisor for Nevada
county. In 1876 he was elected to represent that county in the lower house of
the state legislature, while three years later he became a member of the city
council of Prescott, of which he was likewise chosen recorder and city attorney
in 1879. He has always remained a stanch supporter of democratic principles and
has long been one of the leaders of the party in Arkansas. In 1880 he was made
presidential elector on the democratic ticket and in 1884 he served as chairman
of the democratic state central committee of Arkansas, while in the latter year
he was also sent as a delegate to the democratic national convention. From 1896
until 1900 he was the democratic national committeeman from Arkansas. During the
period between 1S90 and 1893 he acted as school director and for several terms
was special judge of the district composed of Lafayette and Pike counties. At a
special election in 1885 he was elected representative of the third
congressional district of Arkansas in the United States congress. By successive
reelections he remained in the national halls of legislation for eighteen
consecutive years or until he voluntarily retired in 1903—a record that has not
been equaled by that of any other congressman from this state. Popular
appreciation of his services was thus shown in an unequivocal way, and as a
diligent, conscientious and able member of the United States congress his record
became an integral part of the history of that body during the long period of
his active and effective service therein. He was appointed a member of the state
board of charities in April, 1909, and was elected as a delegate to the
constitutional convention of 1917. The highest honor within the gift of the
state was conferred upon him when he was elected governor in November, 1920. and
is now ably guiding the destinies of the commonwealth. He is now a candidate for
reelection.

    While engaged in law practice at Prescott, Mr. McRae also became identified
with varied and extensive business interests there and he is still the president
of the Bank of Prescott. In 1909 he was honored with the presidency of the
Arkansas Bankers' Association.

    On the 17th of December, 1874, Mr. McRae was united in marriage to Miss
Amelia Ann White, daughter of Captain William R. and Mary Jane (Clarke) White,
of Ross-ton, Arkansas. Her father, one of the honored citizens of Nevada county,
was at that time serving as county clerk. Mr. and Mrs. McRae became the parents
of nine children, six daughters and three sons: Ethel, who is the widow of
Horace Bemis of Prescott, Arkansas; Herbert, who died at the age of five years;
Mary, who is the widow of Dr. F. H. Montgomery and resides in Prescott,
Arkansas; Alice, twin sister of Mary, who died in infancy; Corrie, who died at
the age of seventeen years; Thomas C, Jr., who is cashier of the Bank of
Prescott at Prescott, Arkansas; Norvelle, who died at the age of eleven years;
Duncan L., an attorney practicing as a member of the firm of Tompkins, McRae &
Tompkins; and Mildred, the wife of John D. Barlow of Hope, Arkansas.

Fraternally Governor McRae is well known as a representative of the Masonic
order, in which he has attained the Knights Templar degree of the York Rite and
the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. He is likewise identified with
the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of
the World. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the
Presbyterian church, in which he is an elder and to which his wife also belongs.
Not seeking honor but simply endeavoring to do his duty, honors have yet been
mnltiplied to him and prosperity has followed all his  undertakings.  No man in
public life perhaps has had so few enemies. Even those opposed to him
politically entertain for him the warmest personal regard and admiration. His
life record finds embodiment in the words of Pope:
     "Statesman, yet friend to truth, of soul sincere,
     In action faithful and in honor clear;
     Who broke no promise, served no private end,
     Who gained no title and who lost no friend."


Additional Comments:

Citation:
Centennial History of Arkansas
Volume II
Chicago-Little Rock: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company
1922


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