James Stephen Hogg and Cherokee County

Duane's take

The way I tell it, this comes straight from the official marker on James Stephen Hogg and Cherokee County, so let me give it to you true. Now, some men are born for big stages, and some men are born in Rusk, Texas. James Stephen Hogg managed both.

He came into the world in 1851, son of Lucanda McMath Hogg and Joseph L. Hogg, right there on the family plantation near Rusk in Cherokee County. He cut his political teeth over in Wood County, working his way up through justice of the peace, judge, and prosecutor, the kind of resume that tells you a man is going somewhere.

And sure enough, by 1887 he was Texas Attorney General. But the story that belongs to Cherokee County, the one this marker is here to tell, that story happens in 1890. He was running as the Democratic candidate for Governor, and when the time came to kick off that campaign, James Stephen Hogg didn't pick some big city hall or some fancy hotel ballroom.

He came home. On April 19, 1890, he returned to his native Rusk and stepped up to speak at Live Oak Park. Now picture this: approximately three thousand people gathered to hear what this son of Cherokee County had to say.

And he did not disappoint. He talked for almost three hours. Three hours, friends.

That is not a speech, that is a commitment. What he laid out in those three hours was his platform, and two pieces of it would go on to be counted among his greatest accomplishments as Governor: the creation of the Texas Railroad Commission, and the Alien Land Law. He'd come back to where it all started, stood in a park called Live Oak, and told three thousand of his neighbors exactly what he intended to do.

Turns out, he meant every word.

What the marker says

James Stephen Hogg was born in 1851 to Lucanda (McMath) and Joseph L. Hogg on the family's plantation near Rusk. After a political career in Wood County as justice of the peace, judge and prosecutor, he became Texas Attorney General in 1887. In 1890, he ran as the Democratic candidate for Governor. He returned to his native Rusk on April 19, 1890 to begin his campaign with a speech at Live Oak Park, where approximately 3,000 people gathered to hear him speak for almost three hours. His speech outlined his platform, which included the creation of the Texas Railroad Commission and the Alien Land Law, later considered among his greatest accomplishments as Governor. (2004)