Anselm Joseph McLaurin was the eldest of the eight sons born to Lauchlin and Ellen Caroline (Tullus) McLaurin. His father, a native of South Carolina, of Scotch descent, was a man of local prominence and represented his county in the legislature of Mississippi four times between 1841 and 1875. His wife was a native Mississippian. Though Anselm was born at Brandon, Mississippi, the family soon moved to a farm in Smith County.
After some training at the hands of local school-masters, McLaurin entered Summerville Institute. In August 1864, he became a private in Company K, 3rd Mississippi Cavalry, and served through the remainder of the Civil War. He then returned to Summerville Institute and completed the work of the junior class in 1867. The following year he was admitted to the Mississippi bar, having read law at night.
After serving as prosecuting attorney of the fifth judicial district from 1871 to 1875, Anselm Joseph returned the following year from Smith County to his birth place, Brandon. In his legal career he was chiefly notable in criminal cases. In 1879 he was elected to the state legislature. He took part in framing the Mississippi constitution of 1890, and on February 7, 1894, he was elected to the United States Senate to fill the unexpired term of Edward C. Walthall, who had resigned. McLaurin was elected governor of Mississippi in 1895, having defeated Frank Burkitt, Populist candidate, by a vote of three to one. His administration extended from January 21, 1896, to January 16, 1900, a period which included three mild yellow-fever epidemics, the Spanish-American War, and the decline of the Populist movement within the state. The condition of the state treasury was greatly improved during this term. In 1900 he was again elected to the Senate, defeating Congressman "Private" John Allen. He served from 1901 until his death in 1909, having been reelected for the term extending from 1907 to 1913. He was a member of a number of important senatorial committees, including those on civil service and retrenchment, immigration, and interstate commerce. On February 25, 1908, he was appointed a member of the United States Immigration Commission. His death precipitated a bitter fight in Mississippi over the choice of a successor to his seat in the Senate.
McLaurin was the first Governor of Mississippi to be elected under the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, which disenfranchised most blacks by raising barriers to voter registration. These changes essentially ended the competitiveness of the Republican Party in the state, as well as severely weakening the Populist Party. The last Confederate veteran elected as governor, McLaurin won the 1895 election, defeating Populist Frank Burkitt. He served from 1896 to 1900.
McLaurin was a diligent member of numerous Democratic executive committees.
Quotations: "There is always some basic principle that will ultimately get the Republican party together. If my observations are worth anything, that basic principle is the cohesive power of public plunder. "
McLaurin was a man of sanity, wisdom, and genial humor. A close associate, Senator Money, stated that he never knew a man more disinclined to speak ill of others. Nevertheless, he was a shrewd politician. He did not hesitate to advocate the disfranchisement of wife beaters, a minimum pension of seventy-five dollars a year to disabled Confederate veterans, and the popular election of the judiciary of Mississippi as matters proper for incorporation in the Mississippi constitution of 1890.
On February 22, 1870, at Trenton, Mississippi, McLaurin was married to Laura Elvira Victoria Rauch, and there were ten children born of this marriage.
28 March 1815 - 9 July 1890
14 January 1828 - 29 May 1883
16 February 1853 - 12 October 1909
14 March 1855 - 22 August 1907
28 December 1859 - 21 January 1899
7 February 1862 - 9 October 1907
30 May 1850 - 30 January 1927
1873 - 1935
21 June 1875 - 31 July 1950
15 May 1871 - 6 June 1958
27 May 1879 - 20 March 1896
2 February 1883 - 17 November 1938
