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Hon. R. C. De Graffenreid |
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R. C. De GRAFFENREID. The late R. C. De Graffenreid, Congressman from the Third Texas district (Gregg, Henderson, Hunt, Rains, Rockwall, Rusk. Smith, Upshur, Van Zandt, and Wood counties), was born in Franklin, Tenn., in 1859; graduated when 19 years of age from the University of Tennessee and the following year from the Lebanon (Tenn.), Law School; practiced law for a short time at Franklin and later for one year at Chattanooga, Tenn.; then came to Texas, where he worked with the construction force that built the Texas & Pacific Railway; was afterwards assistant fuel agent and brakeman on that road; resumed the practice of law at Longview in 1883; was elected county attorney of Gregg county, but resigned the office two months later; was presidential elector on the Democratic ticket in 1888; was elected to the Fifty-fifth Congress in 1896; was elected without opposition to the Fifty-sixth Congress in 1898, and was elected to the Fifty-seventh Congress in 1900. His death occurred suddenly and unexpectedly at Washington, D. C., August 30, 1902. A few months prior to his decease he was defeated for the Democratic nomination for Congress by J. Gordon Russell, who was subsequently elected his successor. The high esteem in which Mr. De Graffenreid was held by his colleagues is evidenced by resolutions of respect to his memory adopted at memorial services held by the national House of Representatives January 25, 1902, and the fact that Messrs. Russell, Henry, Stephens, and. Ball, who were present, delivered addresses containing tributes such as come only from the hearts of loving friends and that no art can successfully counterfeit, and Messrs. Cooper, Burgess, and others who could not be present had special requests preferred and granted permitting them to have remarks printed in the journal. In the course of his remarks Mr. Russell said: “I saw the body of Reese C. De Graffenreid laid to rest in the beautiful cemetery of the little city of Longview. * * * The houses of business were closed, the schools were suspended, and the sable evidences of grief were every displayed. An immense concourse of people, not only from his own place of residence, but from the surrounding counties, drawn from every class and condition of life, were there, bringing tokens of affection in the shape of lovely flowers. His friends and neighbors bore cheerful testimony in the shape of brief public addresses to the esteem in which he was held, and the sincere grief which was everywhere manifested was an indubitable evidence of his universal popularity and of the, strong hold which he had upon the affections of the people. “His disposition was affectionate and his manners gracious without the semblance of being patronizing. * * * He enjoyed a very large. practice, both civil and criminal, and was exceptionally fortunate in securing verdicts. * * * In the management of his cases he was keen, alert, and possessed of rare tact and judgment, and in presenting his side of the issues, either to the court or the jury, he was resourceful, persuasive and eloquent. “As a political debater he was impetuous and forcible, full of ideas, and never halting for the most beautiful language in which to clothe them. Indeed, his graces and gifts of oratory admirably equipped him for the discussion of public questions and rendered him a valuable champion and dangerous antagonist in the arena of forensic contest.” Mr. Kleberg said: “He was patriotic and high-minded. * * * He neither faltered in his convictions nor his friendships * * * true as the needle to the pole. * * * Under his rough exterior there beat a heart full of * * * kindness. * * * He loved and served faithfully the great people who honored him with their suffrages and was always mindful of the public trust with which they clothed him; * * * painstaking and untiring * * * in the discharge of his official duties. In his death the country has lost a faithful servant, his State a noble son, and those who knew him a loyal friend, and, as we deplore the death of our colleague in this solemn hour, let us invoke the blessing and protection of a kind Providence to hover over her who is left alone to mourn the loss of a beloved husband.” Mr. Burgess said: “in life, he was my true and loyal
friend. * * * ‘De,’ as he was familiarly called by his friends, was a
lawyer of fine ability. * * * In politics he was known as a fighter, who
in all matters of principle asked no quarter and gave none; * * * a man of
clear convictions and of that greater trait, the courage of them.* * *
Innately a gentleman, not so much by the outward polish of this world, but
by the gift of God—one whose tenderness toward all mankind suggests the
beautiful lines: The Fifty-seventh Congress made an appropriation of $5000 to be paid Mrs. De Graffenreid.
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