DUANE
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Duane's take
Now, I'm tellin' you what the official marker says about this man, so let's get into it. Coke R. Stevenson.
Kimble County's own. Son of pioneer settlers R. M. and Virginia Hurley Stevenson, born right here in this county on March 20, 1888.
And if you think you know where this story is going, I'd wager you don't; not yet. Here's how it starts. This boy got only twenty-two months of formal schooling.
Twenty-two months total, the whole of his life. But he studied throughout his life, the marker tells us, and what he did with that self-made mind is something worth slowing down for. At ten years old, he got a ranch job.
Not unusual for a pioneer family's boy in Kimble County. But at sixteen (sixteen) he owned and operated the Junction-Brady Freight Line. At eighteen, he entered banking.
As a janitor. Now you file that away, because he didn't stay a janitor. He advanced, all the way, to president of that bank.
He studied law and was licensed in 1913. County attorney, county judge, legislator from 1929 to 1939. The man was buildin' something, step by deliberate step.
He served as speaker of the house, and became the first speaker to succeed himself, serving in that chair from 1935 to 1937. While he was speaker, the State House of Representatives passed what the marker calls landmark legislation. The first driver's license law in Texas.
A municipal indebtedness reporting law. The creation of the state auditor's office. The Lower Colorado River Authority.
And a Highway Department pay-as-you-go plan. That's a list that shaped the lives of every Texan who came after, and it came through that chamber on his watch. Then Lieutenant Governor, 1939 to 1941.
And then: governor of Texas, 1941 to 1947. First Texas governor to serve more than two terms. The first person ever to hold all three of the highest state offices.
That's speaker, lieutenant governor, and governor, in case you're counting, and the marker counts them carefully. Now here is the part that'll make a fiscally-minded Texan sit up straight. When Stevenson took the governorship, the state was carrying a thirty-four million dollar deficit.
When he was done, that deficit had become a thirty-five million dollar surplus. He placed the state on a cash basis; without curtailing services to the people, and without a tax increase. You do that arithmetic yourself.
He was a lifetime resident of Kimble County. Over fifty years a Methodist, a lawyer, a Mason, a rancher. He married Fay Wright in 1912; she passed in 1942.
In 1954, he married Mrs. Marguerite King Heap. He had two children, Coke Junior and Jane.
A boy with twenty-two months of school, who got his first ranch job at ten and ran a freight line at sixteen. Who walked into a bank as a janitor and walked out, years later, as its president. Who turned a thirty-four million dollar hole in the state's finances into a thirty-five million dollar cushion.
Coke R. Stevenson never left Kimble County, and in a way, Kimble County never left him.
What the marker says
First Texas governor to serve more than two terms (1941-1947). First speaker of the house to succeed himself (1935-1937). Lieutenant Governor, 1939-1941. Was first to hold the three highest state offices. As governor, placed state on a cash basis without curtailment of services to the people and without a tax increase. Changed a $34,000,000 deficit to a $35,000,000 surplus. Lifetime resident, Kimble County. Son of pioneer settlers, R. M. and Virginia Hurley Stevenson. Born March 20, 1888. In school only 22 months; studied throughout his life. At 10 got a ranch job; at 16 owned and operated Junction-Brady Freight Line; at 18, entered banking as a janitor, advancing to president. Studied law and was licensed in 1913. County attorney, county judge; legislator, 1929-1939. While he was speaker, State House of Representatives, landmark legislation included first driver's license law; municipal indebtedness reporting Law; creation of state auditor's office; Lower Colorado River Authority; Highway Department pay-as-you-go plan. Over 50 years a Methodist, lawyer, Mason, rancher. Married in 1912, Fay Wright (deceased 1942); in 1954, Mrs. Marguerite King Heap. Children; Coke, Jr. and Jane.