DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells this story, and I'm gonna give it to you straight — with a little room to breathe. Now Taylor, Williamson County, Texas, has sent some notable souls out into the world, but few carried quite the weight of a name like Dan Moody. Born right here, the son of Daniel and Nancy Elizabeth Robertson Moody, young Dan apparently decided early that the ordinary pace of things wasn't quite going to suit him.
At sixteen years old — sixteen — he entered the University of Texas. And he didn't stop there. He went right on through and finished law school.
After World War I service, he came home and got to work. He won election as county attorney, and then Governor Pat Neff appointed him District Attorney for Travis and Williamson counties. Now, here's where the story starts to get the kind of weight that makes people pay attention.
Dan Moody won statewide notice — real notice — for his prosecutions of Ku Klux Klansmen in what the marker calls notorious flogging cases. That was no small thing. That took a particular kind of spine.
His friends urged him to run for Attorney General of Texas, and he did, and he won. He served as Attorney General from 1925 to 1927, during what the marker plainly calls an era of alleged corruption. Moody moved to halt kickbacks on highway contracts, and in doing so he recovered for the state of Texas hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Hundreds of thousands. That record spoke for itself. So in 1926 he ran for governor on that record, and Texas elected him.
When he was inaugurated, Dan Moody was thirty-three years old — the youngest man ever to take the oath for that office. Let that settle in a moment. Thirty-three years old, standing at the top of Texas government.
During his terms, 1927 to 1931, Texans' faith in their state government was restored — those are the marker's own words, and they carry the full weight of what came before them. Great reforms were made in the State Highway Department and the state penitentiary system. After he left the governor's office, Moody went back to practicing law.
And the President of the United States appointed him to prosecute a tax evader — a quiet coda to a career built on exactly that kind of accountability. He married Mildred Paxton, and they had two children. A crusader for integrity in public office — that's the very first line on the marker.
By the time you reach the end of his story, that phrase doesn't feel like flattery. It feels like a verdict.
What the marker says
A crusader for integrity in public office. Born in Taylor, Williamson County; son of Daniel and Nancy Elizabeth Robertson Moody. At 16 entered University of Texas, where he completed law school. After World War I service, won election to the office of county attorney, then an appointment by Governor Pat Neff to District Attorney, Travis and Williamson counties. Won statewide notice for prosecutions of Ku Klux Klansmen in notorious flogging cases, and was urged by friends to run for Attorney General of Texas. He won this office, and served 1925-1927 in an era of alleged corruption. Moving to halt kickbacks on highway contracts, he recovered for Texas hundreds of thousands of dollars. In 1926 ran for governor on his record as Attorney General, and was elected. Inaugurated when he was 33, he was youngest man ever to take oath for that office. During his terms, 1927-1931, Texans' faith in their state government was restored. Great reforms were made in the State Highway Department and state penitentiary system. After retirement from the governor's office, he practiced law, and was appointed by the President of the United States to prosecute tax evader. He married Mildred Paxton; they had two children.