Background
She was born in Bell County, Texas, the daughter of Joseph Lapsley Wallace and Eliza Garrison. Her father, one of the landed gentry of Bell County, prospered in the land and cattle business.
She was born in Bell County, Texas, the daughter of Joseph Lapsley Wallace and Eliza Garrison. Her father, one of the landed gentry of Bell County, prospered in the land and cattle business.
After early education by a tutor, Miriam attended Salado College and Baylor Female College.
After her husband failed to have this restriction lifted, Miriam Ferguson entered the political arena. Although neither Ferguson had fought for women's suffrage, Miriam entered the 1924 race for governor of Texas, primarily to see her husband vindicated. It was generally believed that he would be the real governor if she was elected.
Yet contemporary writers, although depicting Miriam as an unassuming individual, a "quiet sort of woman, " noted that she had a mind of her own and generally accomplished what she set out to do.
During the campaign James Ferguson filled most of the speaking engagements, but they frequently campaigned together.
Miriam Ferguson traveled the length and breadth of Texas, making a special appeal to "the mothers, sisters, and wives of Texas to help clear her family's name. " A newspaper man--for brevity--originated the nickname "Ma, " substituting initials for Miriam Amanda.
The campaign quickly produced such catchy slogans as "Me for Ma" and "Two Governors for the Price of One. " By using folksy tactics the Fergusons won strong support in rural areas and in small towns. The Ferguson campaign centered, in addition to the call to vindicate Jim's name, on promises to reduce state spending and an all-out attack on the Ku Klux Klan, which both Fergusons opposed.
Many voters saw in the campaign a chance to break the Klan's grip in Texas, and the Texas Klan suffered a crushing defeat. In the Democratic primary Ferguson came in second to Judge Felix D. Robertson, the Klan-supported candidate, but she defeated him by 100, 000 votes in the runoff. Although the Klan switched its support to the Republican candidate, she easily won the general election.
As a first-term governor Ferguson was unable to meet her campaign promises to reduce government spending, and failed in efforts to enact gasoline and tobacco taxes to build highways and aid education.
Critics were scandalized, claiming pardons were for sale, but the governor justified her actions on humanitarian grounds, pointing to injustices in the legal system. Critics also charged that there was graft in the State Highway Commission, claiming that contracts were given without competitive bidding to friends of commissioners. Jim Ferguson was one of the three appointed by his wife to the commission.
Governor Ferguson ordered an investigation, but the Highway Commission episode brought much bad publicity. Ferguson sought renomination as governor in 1926 and in 1930, but in each instance was defeated in the primary. She was reelected in 1932, in the depths of the Great Depression.
The state was on the verge of bankruptcy, but one observer stated that the Fergusons "met the challenges of the depression in a progressive manner. " Ferguson proclaimed a Texas bank holiday on March 3, 1933, anticipating by two days President Franklin D. Roosevelt's national bank holiday. She strongly supported Roosevelt's New Deal legislation and took advantage of federal programs.
She also approved a "bread bond" issue of $20 million to purchase food and clothing for the poor. To deal with overproduction in the oil industry, Ferguson pushed a severance tax of two cents per barrel of oil through the Texas legislature, but failed to secure a sales tax or a corporate income tax. She also resumed her controversial policy of pardoning large numbers of convicts.
After her husband's death in 1944, she retired to Austin, Texas, where she died.
She was successful in securing a law prohibiting the wearing of masks in public (directed at the Ku Klux Klan) and an "amnesty bill" restoring Jim Ferguson's civil and political rights (later declared unconstitutional by the Texas Supreme Court). In line with other campaign promises, Ferguson made liberal use of the pardoning power, granting an average of 100 pardons a month.
Although the Klan switched its support to the Republican candidate, she easily won the general election.
Governor Ferguson ordered an investigation, but the Highway Commission episode brought much bad publicity.
After her victory in the Democratic primary, she defeated George C. Butte, a prominent lawyer and University of Texas dean who emerged as the strongest Republican gubernatorial nominee in Texas since Reconstruction in 1869. Ferguson received 422, 563 votes (58. 9 percent) to Butte's 294, 920 (41. 1 percent).
In 1940 Ferguson again ran for governor, this time on a platform calling for, among other items, pensions to citizens over age sixty-five and state and federal aid to tenant farmers. But she finished fourth in the Democratic primary.
The key to the success of the Fergusons was their identification with common people. The masses believed that "Ma" and "Pa" Ferguson were for them. Indeed as governor, Miriam Ferguson consistently made herself available to the public, seeing anyone who came to her office. Believed by many to be merely a stand-in for her disbarred husband, Miriam Ferguson nevertheless had the strength of character to make her imprint on Texas politics.
Quotes from others about the person
Her daughter Ouida later wrote that her mother was "the most positive and strongest minded woman I have ever known. "
On December 31, 1899, she married James Edward Ferguson; they had two daughters. James Ferguson subsequently became a prosperous lawyer, farmer, and banker. While they were living in Temple, Texas, he became active in civil affairs; Miriam devoted herself to home and family.
In 1914 he was elected governor of Texas, and was reelected in 1916. A controversy developed over his handling of finances during his second term, and in 1917 he was impeached, convicted of misusing state funds and other irregularities, and removed from office. He was also barred by law from holding office in the future.
