Earl L. Brewer

Earl Leroy Brewer (August 11, 1869 – March 10, 1942) was the Governor of Mississippi from 1912 to 1916. Elected as a Democrat, he was unopposed in the primary and won the governorship without ever making a single public campaign speech.

Biography

Brewer was born in Carroll County, Mississippi, near the town of Vaiden. His father, Ratliff Rodney Brewer, had been a farmer, plantation manager and overseer, and a captain in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. His middle name came from his grandfather, Leroy Jasper Brewer I (1793–1851). His uncle (Ratliff Rodney's brother) was Leroy Jasper Brewer II (1833–1911). The burial location of both his grandfather and his uncle is now a mystery even to the Brewer family.

Brewer attended the University of Mississippi and after less than one year of study, obtained a Bachelor of Law degree in 1892. He immediately began practicing law and then was elected to the Mississippi State Senate in 1895. In 1902 he was appointed district attorney for the 11th District.