MS 140 R. E. Thomason Papers
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BiographyRobert Ewing Thomason was a lawyer and former Mayor of El Paso. He also served in the Texas House of Representatives, the United States Congress, and as Federal Judge of the Western District of Texas. Born in Rover, Bedford County, Tennessee in 1879, Thomason moved to Era, Texas (15 miles southwest of Gainesville) with his parents when he was little over a year old. Thomason’s mother, Susan Olivia (Hoover) Thomason, died in 1886 when R.E. was 6, and his father, Benjamin Richard, wed Mary Maupin in 1887. From this marriage R.E. gained four siblings, Beth, Ben, Margaret and Milton. Thomason’s father was a medical doctor by profession.
Thomason attended Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, and received a law degree from U. T. Austin. He had his first law practice in Gainesville, Texas, where he ran for and won the office of County and District Attorney in 1902, which he held for two terms. Thomason married Belle Davis in 1905, and entered into a law partnership with his father-in-law, W.O. Davis, in 1906.
In 1911 Thomason fell ill with malarial fever and spent some months in an El Paso sanitarium, after which he and Belle permanently relocated to El Paso for the drier climate. Their son William Ewing was born in 1913, followed by daughter Isabelle in 1916.
Thomason established a law firm with partners Tom Lea, J.G. McGrady, and Eugene T. Edwards. He was elected to the Texas Legislature in 1917, and was voted House Speaker in 1919. In 1920 Thomason made an unsuccessful bid for Governor, and after his defeat returned to El Paso to rejoin his law firm. Thomason’s wife Belle died in 1921.
In 1927 Thomason was elected Mayor of El Paso, and won a second term in 1929. Many civic improvements were undertaken during his tenure as Mayor, particularly the establishment of the El Paso Municipal Airport. He married Abbie Mann Long in 1927.
Thomason served as United States Congressman from the 16th district of Texas from 1931-1947, distinguishing himself in the Committee on Military Affairs, to which he eventually rose to Vice Chairman. While on the committee Thomason was able to effect an enormous expansion of Ft. Bliss, construction of Biggs Air Field, and the enlargement of William Beaumont General Hospital. Prior to WWII Thomason pushed hard for military preparedness and played a crucial role in the adoption of a selective service. Under his stewardship the committee secured funds for the development of the atomic bomb, and after the war Thomason was appointed ranking member on the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy. In 1945 Thomason was part of an inspection team composed of members from the House and Senate and American newspapermen sent to investigate war atrocities in Nazi death camps. He authored the bill establishing Big Bend National Park.
Thomason left Congress in 1947 when he was appointed Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, a position he held until 1963, when he assumed senior status at the age of 84. He died in 1973.