Background
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.
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.
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. In 1907 he resigned his position as district attorney in order to run for governor.
As governor, Brewer promoted progressive reforms in several areas.
The constitution was changed to create an elective judiciary. Banking laws were established to limit interest rates.
And a Bureau of Vital Statistics was created. During his term there was a severe epidemic of pellagra in the state and other portions of the South.
When the federal government sent Joseph Goldberger to study the disease and find a cure, Brewer offered full pardons to convicts who would participate in Goldberger"s experiments.
As a result of these studies, it was determined that pellagra was caused by a vitamin deficiency. After his term was over, Brewer assisted in the defense of three Black defendants accused of murder who had been convicted on the basis of coerced confessions. Mississippi. Brewer later ran unsuccessfully for United States. Senate in 1924.
Brewer died in Jackson and is buried at Oakridge Cemetery in Clarksdale.