b. 1851 – Rush, Texas
Governor: 1891–1895
Hogg was the first native born Texas governor. He worked for Rusk and Tyler newspapers, ran his own papers in Longview and Quitman, and studied law. He served as Wood County attorney and district attorney.
As attorney general, he encouraged new legislation to protect the public domain that was set aside for school and institutional funds and filed suits that returned more than a million and a half acres to the state. He sought to enforce laws regulating railroads and land corporations, attacked the insurance industry, and helped write the second antitrust law in the country.
Hogg was elected governor in 1890 on a platform to establish the Railroad Commission to protect the public interest against powerful railroad interests. He defended the Texas claim to Greer County against Oklahoma, strengthened public respect for law enforcement, championed education, and secured funding for a division of state archives.