DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about C. W. Raines, so take this straight from the historical record.
Now, if you were to sit down and design a Texan from scratch — the kind who leaves a mark on just about everything he touches — you might end up with somebody a whole lot like Cadwell Walton Raines. Born in Upson County, Georgia, in 1839, this man would go on to be a Methodist preacher, a schoolteacher, an attorney, a newspaper publisher, a county official, a historian, and a state librarian. That is not a résumé.
That is a small town's worth of careers packed into one human being. And he wasn't even born here. Nobody's perfect.
He first came to Texas in 1853, arriving as a boy with his parents, Thomas and Aletha Raines — she was a McClendon before she married — and the family put down roots in Rockwall and Paris. Then 1861 came along the way 1861 had a habit of doing, and young Raines enlisted in the Confederate army under Richard Montgomery Gano. When the war was done, he took a breath, found his footing, and in 1871 he married Mary Bowden.
He spent a spell preaching in Arkansas — because of course he did, why not add another state to the list — and then he came back to Texas and began practicing law in Canton, about twenty miles southwest of where this marker stands. Canton is where everything interesting started to accelerate, because that is where Raines got acquainted with a man named James Stephen Hogg, who had a future ahead of him that neither of them could fully see yet. Raines got into the newspaper business, and Hogg, apparently convinced that Raines could handle yet one more occupation, sent him right here to Mineola to begin publishing The Mineola Hawkeye in 1880.
By 1884, the Raines family had settled up in Quitman, ten miles north, where C. W. was teaching at the Concord Academy. Then in 1886, the voters of Wood County elected him County Judge, and he served two terms.
Meanwhile, that acquaintance from Canton, James Stephen Hogg, was ascending — and in 1891, upon taking office as Texas' first native governor, Jim Hogg appointed his old friend C. W. Raines as state librarian.
Raines served in that capacity from 1891 to 1895, stepped away, then came back in 1899 and held the post until his death in 1906. In that time, he led the state library through a substantial period of growth and began its Texana collection — which, if you think about it, is the kind of thing that outlasts nearly everything else a person can do. And if all of that weren't enough, Raines was also the author of numerous reference books and journal articles, and a co-founder of the Texas State Historical Association.
A native of Georgia, a man who came to Texas as a boy in 1853, and by the end of it all — one of the people most responsible for making sure Texas remembered itself.
What the marker says
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)