Thomas Calloway Lea, Jr. - El Paso, Texas

Thomas Calloway Lea, Jr. - El Paso, Texas

Thomas Calloway Lea, Jr. (1877-1945), was a prominent American attorney from El Paso, Texas, and mayor of El Paso from 1915 to 1917. Lea arrived in El Paso with no money. He washed dishes and later he found a job as a bill collector. 1906 he married Zola Utt. The couple had three sons including the noted artist and writer Tom Lea. He was appointed Police Court Judge in 1907 for four years, later he became a trial lawyer. He also volunteered in the Spanish-American War and in World War I. He came back to El Paso and continued his law business. Lea and his law partner, Robert Ewing Thomason, were noted for their use of emotionalism in court. On February 16, 1915, Tom Lea became the youngest mayor ever elected to that date, carrying four out of seven precincts, with a vote of 4,218 to 3,149. During his term in office, the city council passed an ordinance forbidding the public sale of narcotics and marijuana. As a mayor Lea also made a public declaration, after Pancho Villa (one of the most prominent Mexican Revolutionary generals) raided Columbus, New Mexico, on March 9, 1916, that he would arrest Villa if he dared to enter El Paso. Villa then responded by offering a thousand pesos worth of gold bounty on Lea. Consequently, the Lea children had to have a police escort to and from school. In 1936 his first wife died of cancer and Lea married Mrs. Rosario Partida Archer in 1939. Thomas Calloway Lea, Jr. died of a heart attack in Southwestern General Hospital on August 2, 1945, and was interred in Evergreen Cemetery on August 4. A city park located below Rim Road in El Paso Texas was named for him. Tom Lea is remembered as a charismatic political reformer, and his oratorical style and success in the courtroom helped him to become an effective leader in the cause.

Creator: Silke

Area: Central / Downtown

Collection: Stout-Feldman Studio Photographs

Source: University of Texas at El Paso Library - Special Collections Department

Reference ID: PH074-14G

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Comments

Add a comment
Thank you for your comment

Report this entry

Choose the most important reason for this report

Your name

Your email address

Optional detail

Thank you for your report

More from the same community-collection

David S. Billingsley and Helen L. Billingsley

These children are identified as David S. Billingsley and Helen ...

Mrs. Bob Campbell

This photograph was taken at the Bushong & Feldman Studio in El ...

Wedding Couple

Written on the photograph - "Season's Greetings and a Happy New ...

Gist House

The Gist House where Maude & Zach White spent their first ...

Plaza Bandstand

This view of the Plaza looks across Oregon St. towards the ruins ...

Mrs. Sarah Gist - El Paso, Texas

Mrs. Gist, a widow, ran a boarding house at 501 Mesa from ...

Plaza and U.S. Custom House

This view looks across the Plaza and St. Louis (Mills) St. to ...

Billy Wilson and Mrs. U.S. Stewart

Mrs. Ulysses S. Stewart was married to a cashier of the First ...

International Bridge - circa 1895

This view shows two boys on horse or mule back, with a glimpse ...

Group of Women in a Religious Procession

Groups of women dressed in white gowns walking down Mesa street ...

Parade in Downtown El Paso

The image shows a wagon participating in a parade in 1930. The ...

Snow Fall In El Paso

View of the Hussmann (now Cortez) building, during Christmas Eve ...

Eva Reckhart

Eva Reckhart was the daughter of Captain Jack Crawford, "the ...

Captain Jack Crawford, the Poet Scout

A Civil War veteran, scout with General Crook, actor in Buffalo ...

San Jacinto Plaza

"Glimpse of San Jacinto Plaza, El Paso, Texas. A beautiful ...

Trost Buildings on Mills Street

The notation on the postcard says: "2314 Mills Street Looking ...

Barricade on Commercial Street, Juarez

The picture was taken at Calle de Comercio, Juarez, during the ...

Hotel Hilton 1941

This postcard features the Hotel Hilton in 1941. On the front it ...

Hotel Paso Del Norte

The postcard shows the Hotel Paso Del Norte, it probably dates ...

Pioneer Plaza

The notation on the postcard says: "Pioneer Plaza (Little Plaza) ...

Image of Downtown El Paso

Mesa looking south past San Jacinto Plaza.

Hotel Cortez

The Cortez was designed by the famous architect Henry C. Trost ...

El Paso Chamber of Commerce - El Paso, Texas

Chamber of Commerce, El Paso, Texas. Visible: A gray building ...

home.search_collection