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A Frugal Man - Texas Governors Series LbNA #44864

Owner:Boots Tex
Plant date:Dec 2, 2008
Location:
City:Weatherford
County:Parker
State:Texas
Boxes:1
Found by: perfect_biscuit
Last found:Jul 7, 2016
Status:FFFFaOFFFFFFFFFFa
Last edited:Dec 2, 2008
**Box was replaced and moved to a new location in the cemetery 5-24-2010. These clues reflect the new location**

Samuel Willis Tucker Lanham was the 23rd Governor of Texas, serving from 1903 to 1907. He was born on the fourth of July, 1846 in South Carolina. When the Civil War began, Lanham volunteered for the Confederate States Army despite the fact that he was only fifteen years old. He was wounded at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court house, and after hostilities ended he married. He and his wife settled in Weatherford, Texas, where he worked and studied law. Shortly after he was admitted to the bar in 1869, Lanham was appointed district attorney. His most famous case was the prosecution of Santana and Big Tree, Kiowa chiefs who had led the Warren Wagon Train Raid in 1871. Despite the fact that I have placed a governor letterbox in Bastrop called The Last Reb, which was for Joseph Draper Sayers, my information on Sayers has been proven wrong, since S. W. T. Lanham succeeded him as governor and was, obviously, the last Confederate veteran to serve as governor of Texas. My apologies. Lanham took the lead in tax reform in 1905. Under the existing Texas system, the bulk of the state's income came from a general property tax. This did not provide the amount of revenue the state wanted to spend, and, at Lanham's request, the legislature began taxing the gross receipts of express companies and pipelines. The legislature also raised taxes on intangible assets of the railroads and other industries. Near the end of his second term, a large political scandal erupted, Before he took office, the state had filed a lawsuit against Standard Oil Company and their Texas subsidiary, the Waters-Pierce Oil Company. Waters-Pierce's license to operate was revoked, an action upheld by the U. S. Supreme Court in 1900. Partially at the urging of Senator Bailey, Waters-Pierce received a new license to operate under Governor Joseph D. Sayers. Although they claimed to have severed all ties with Standard Oil, Texas filed suit again in 1905 on the discovery that Standard Oil still owned most of the stock in the other company. In the trial, Bailey's influence was revealed, as well as the fact that Bailey had been on the Waters-Pierce payroll at the time. Although Lanham and his administration was not accused of any wrongdoing, the controversy over Bailey's ethics was extremely large. Lanham did not enjoy his time as governor, often wishing that he had remained in Congress. He said that "'office seekers, pardon seekers, and concession seekers overwhelmed me. They broke my health'". He was not a proponent of excessive election spending: during the campaign for his second term, his total expenditure was $20.
Directions:
The box is located at the governor’s grave in Greenwood Cemetery in Weatherford, Parker County, Texas. From the courthouse in Weatherford, go east on Highway 180 until you cross the railroad bridge. Turn left at the first street past the bridge, which is Hogle Street. Turn left at Jameson Street, then right on Mill Street. The cemetery will be on your left, but continue to Front Street and turn left.
To the box:
Find the main gate into the cemetery on your left and drive in. Immediately turn left and find the historical marker for Oliver Loving on the left (there might be a letterbox close by. Walk to the marker and look past it, a little to your right, and you’ll see another historical marker beyond. Walk to it and read about Governor Lanham. Look over your right shoulder @200 degrees, 35 steps away you will see a cedar tree. There are many in this cemetery, but this is the one closest to the grave of Lt. James Wilson Hale of the CSA. Here, you’ll find The Frugal Man, who also happens to be the last Confederate governor of Texas.