Elliott Woolfolk Major (D)

Overview

At a Glance

• Supported the Orr Insurance Law
• Lengthened rural school year
• Increased state assistance for teacher training programs
• Established the Public Service Commission
• Established the State Commission for the Blind
• Established the State Highway Department
• Established the State Insurance Bureau

Personal History

Elliott Woolfolk Major, was born in Lincoln County, Missouri to James Reed and Sarah Ann Taylor Woolfolk Major. Major attended public school in Pike County, Missouri, and the Watson Seminary in Ashley, Missouri.

Major started his professional career as a teacher, but soon turned his attention to the study of law. He began his law career working for Missouri politician James Beauchamp "Champ" Clark in Bowling Green, Missouri, and gained admission to the Missouri Bar in 1885. Major served as Clark's clerk in the Missouri legislature in 1889, and for a brief time became Clark's law partner.

After leaving public office in 1917, Major resumed his private law practice in St. Louis. He continued an active legal career until his retirement in 1945.

Major received an honorary B.S. degree from Central Wesleyan College in Warrenton, Missouri. He was a member of the American, Missouri and St. Louis Bar Associations, and belonged to numerous fraternal orders including the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Elks, the Moose, and the Masons. He attended the Methodist Episcopal Church. On June 14, 1997, Major married Elizabeth Terrill in Bowling Green, Missouri, and they had three children. He was buried in the City Cemetery in Bowling Green, Missouri.

Political History

Major established a successful career as a trial lawyer and began an active interest in politics. He was elected in 1896 to the State of Missouri Senate from the Eleventh District (composed of Pike, Lincoln, and Audrain Counties). Major served during the 1897 and 1899 legislature sessions. His recognized abilities as a legal scholar contributed to Major being selected as editor of the Revised Statutes of Missouri in 1899.

In 1908, Major was elected to the office of Missouri Attorney General on the Democratic Party ticket. As attorney general, he argued a number of cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including the constitutionality of Missouri's two-cent passenger fare and maximum freight-rate laws, and the State of Missouri’s suit against Standard Oil for antitrust violations. Major also brought to successful conclusion several suits began by his predecessor, Gov. Herbert Hadley, against the lumber, beef and harvester industries. Under Major's direction, the attorney general's office compiled a vigorous record of law enforcement, arguing more than one thousand cases before the Missouri Supreme Court and writing nearly 1,200 opinions concerning Missouri statutes.

Upon completion of his term as attorney general in 1912, Major won election as governor on the Democratic ticket, defeating Republican John C. McKinley, and Progressive Albert D. Nortoni. During Major’s run for office, he campaigned for the creation of a state public service commission, the passage of a workmen's compensation law, simplified court procedures, and municipal and presidential primaries.

With Gov. Major’s endorsement, the democratically-controlled legislature passed a law granting married women equal legal rights with their husbands in cases involving the care of underage children. He also supported the Orr Insurance Law, which prohibited insurance companies from quoting noncompetitive fire insurance rates. The law was aimed at curtailing what amounted to rate fixing. Rather than comply with the law, several companies stopped doing business in Missouri. Leading business organizations demanded that he call a special session of the legislature to confront the problem. Major refused and continued to support the law. When the state supreme court upheld the Orr Law, companies returned to the state.

Major was also instrumental in promoting the construction of the new state capitol building, authorizing cities to adopt the commission form of government, overseeing compliance with the Federal Reserve Banking Act of 1913, and in passing an absentee voting law. He also played a key role in establishing Missouri's Public Service Commission, Highway Department, Board of Pardons and Paroles, Commission for the Blind, and the Insurance Bureau, and resisted the imposition of new state taxes.

Major also actively supported education. During his administration, the rural school year was lengthened, rural secondary schools were established, teachers training programs were created, state assistance was increased, and agricultural schools were encouraged to take advantage of the Smith Lever Act that provided federal funding for farm demonstration agents.

Major was an advocate of the good-roads movement. To promote road improvements in Missouri, he proclaimed August 20-21, 1913, as public holidays to be known as "Good Roads Days." This public-spirited, volunteer effort resulted in the construction of hundreds of miles of new or improved roads. Major pursued this interest at the federal level, and provided testimony at federal hearings in which he advocated using federal funds to support state highway maintenance.

The Democratic State Convention endorsed Major as a vice presidential candidate with Woodrow Wilson in 1916, with the national convention selecting Thomas R. Marshall instead.

Historical Significance

Standard Oil's banishment from operating in Missouri was the only the beginning of the state's reputation as hostile to outside corporations. The Orr Insurance Law, which prevented fire insurance companies from price-fixing, resulted in companies ceasing to write new fire insurance policies within the state. Gov. Major refused to capitulate to pressure from business interests to call a special session and repeal the law which the Missouri Supreme Court ultimately upheld.

Gov. Major's success in creating the Public Service Commission and the Highway Department are lasting contributions to the State of Missouri. Today, the Missouri Public Service Commission regulates investor-owned electric, steam, natural gas, water and sewer and telephone companies. The Missouri Highway Department was created in 1913. In 1979, the department was merged with the Transportation Department to form the Highway and Transportation Department, renamed the Missouri Department of Transportation in 1996.