Preceded by Edward C. Walthall Lieutenant J. H. Jones Party Democratic Party Succeeded by James Gordon Spouse Laura Rauch | Preceded by William V. Sullivan Name Anselm McLaurin Succeeded by Edward C. Walthall Preceded by John M. Stone | |
 | ||
Died December 22, 1909, Brandon, Mississippi, United States Previous offices Senator (MS) 1901–1909, Senator (MS) 1894–1895 | ||
Anselm Joseph McLaurin (March 26, 1848 – December 22, 1909) was the 34th Governor of Mississippi, serving from 1896 to 1900.
Contents
Life and career
McLaurin was born on March 26, 1848 in Brandon, Mississippi, the son of Ellen Caroline (Tullus) and Lauchlin McLaurin III. He married Laura Elvira Rauch and had a daughter, Stella May McLaurin.
He became district attorney at age 21 and was described as "one of the foremost lawyers in the State". He participated in the convention for the writing of the Mississippi Constitution in 1890 and was described as a free-coinage man. A Democrat, as were most white conservatives in the South through the mid-twentieth century, McLaurin was elected by the state legislature to the U.S. Senate, serving from 1894 to 1895.
He was the first Governor of Mississippi to be elected under the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, which disenfranchised most blacks by raising barriers to voter registration. These changes essentially ended the competitiveness of the Republican Party in the state, as well as severely weakening the Populist Party. The last Confederate veteran elected as governor, McLaurin won the 1895 election, defeating Populist Frank Burkitt. He served from 1896 to 1900.
At Hazlehurst in 1898 the Governor explained in a speech that one of the causes of the depleted state treasury was inadequate taxation of the railroad corporations.
In October 1898 McLaurin traveled by train to Forest, Mississippi after white rioting in nearby Harperville. Blacks had resisted the arrest of one of their community, killing one white man. A mob of whites quickly gathered, killing nine blacks by the next day. The county sheriff and a posse arrested some blacks, while the white mob continued to kill blacks on sight. The New Orleans Picayune said that 11 black men were killed and one white. The sheriff took several black men under armed guard to Meridian, Mississippi to protect them from the white mobs in Forest.
McLaurin returned to the US Senate in 1901 after being elected by the state legislature to that seat in 1900; he was re-elected January 19, 1904.
He died of heart disease at age 61 on December 22, 1909 at his home in Brandon, Mississippi. He was sitting in a rocking chair in front of his fireplace.
Legacy
A great-great-grandson of McLaurin was actor and comedian Robin Williams, who was given McLaurin as his middle name.