Tomas G. Pollard, Sr.

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker on Tomas G. Pollard, Sr. tells it, as near as I can relay. Now, East Texas has produced its share of big personalities, but every now and then you come across a man who just quietly got things done, and that's the story here.

Tomas G. Pollard was born in 1895, and by the time his life was through in 1962, he had left a mark on East Texas that his family, and the law, and the land itself still carry. He was an attorney and a legislator, and the marker is plain about what drove him: improving the lives of East Texans.

That's it. No fancy framing needed. While Pollard was still in college, he married Edna Martin.

The two of them would go on to rear three children together. And here's the part that makes you raise an eyebrow just a little: also while still in college, he got himself elected as a state representative. Nineteen nineteen to nineteen twenty-one.

The man was not inclined to wait around. Then in 1921 he stepped up again, elected as a state senator this time. And once he had that seat, he used it.

He sponsored legislation touching education, small businesses, oil and gas production, and consumer protection. The kinds of things that land close to home for ordinary folks. He also chaired the Senate's Finance Committee, and in 1927 the Senate elected him president pro-tem.

That is about as high as you climb in that chamber. He held on in office until 1935, then retired and reestablished a civil law practice in Tyler. Back to the work he knew, in the city he knew.

He died in 1962. And then, in 1970, his family donated property for a park named in his honor. That's how East Texas remembered Tomas G.

Pollard, Sr.: not with a monument of stone, but with open ground, something a community could actually use. Feels about right for a man whose whole career was built on exactly that idea.

What the marker says

(1895-1962) Tomas G. Pollard was an attorney and legislator whose work improved the lives of East Texans. While in college, Pollard married Edna Martin, with whom he reared three children, and was elected as a state representative (1919-21). After being elected as state senator in 1921, Pollard sponsored legislation that focused on education, small businesses, oil and gas production, and consumer protection; he also chaired the Senate's Finance Committee and was elected president pro-tem in 1927. After retiring from office in 1935, Pollard reestablished a civil law practice in Tyler. In 1970, Pollard's family donated property for a park named in his honor. (2009)