Emmet Nicholson Thomas (June 10, 1855 - September 15, 1932) was an American politician. He was the speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1904 to 1908.

Emmet Thomas
1904
Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives
In office
January 5, 1904 – January 1908
Preceded byA. J. Russell
Succeeded byHugh M. Street
Member of the Mississippi House of Representatives
from the Washington County district
In office
January 1890 – January 1908
Preceded byR. B. Campbell
John T. Casey
W. H. Harris
Personal details
Born
Emmet Nicholson Thomas

(1855-06-10)June 10, 1855
Gonzales, Texas
DiedSeptember 15, 1932(1932-09-15) (aged 77)
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Martha H. Shackleford
(m. 1884)
Children3

Early life and career

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Emmet Nicholson Thomas was born on June 10, 1855, in Gonzales, Texas.[1][2][3] He was the son of William Thomas, a probate judge in Texas during the Civil War, and his wife Ann (Rogers) Thomas; both of whom were of Scottish descent.[1][2] Thomas attended public schools, and he graduated from Mississippi College with a B. A. degree in 1876.[1][2] Thomas then read law and was admitted to the bar in 1880.[1][2] He then began practicing law in Washington County, Mississippi.[2]

Political career

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Thomas was elected to represent Washington County as a Democrat in the Mississippi House of Representatives in 1889.[1][2][4] He was re-elected in 1895, 1899, and 1903.[1][2] On June 3, 1903, he officiated at the laying of the cornerstone of Mississippi's new State Capitol.[1] On January 5, 1904, Thomas was elected by the other representatives to be the office of the Speaker of the House.[1][2]

Later life

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Thomas died on September 15, 1932.[3]

Personal life

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Thomas was a Presbyterian.[1][2] He was a Grand Master of the Masonic Grand Lodge of Mississippi.[1][2][3] In 1884, he married Martha H. Shackleford; they had three children together.[1][2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Mississippi Official and Statistical Register. 1904. p. 568.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rowland, Dunbar (1907). Mississippi: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form. Southern Historical Publishing Association. p. 803. ISBN 978-0-87152-223-8.
  3. ^ a b c Commandery (Mich.), Knights Templar (Masonic order) Grand (1933). Annual Conclave. Grand Commandery. p. 77.
  4. ^ Lowry, Robert; McCardle, William H. (1891). A History of Mississippi: From the Discovery of the Great River by Hernando DeSoto, Including the Earliest Settlement Made by the French Under Iberville, to the Death of Jefferson Davis. AMS Press. p. 601. ISBN 978-0-404-04610-1.