b. 1861 – Georgia
Governor: 1911–1915
Colquitt attended the Daingerfield Academy before serving as an apprentice newspaperman in Pittsburg and Terrell. As a Texas Senator he authored delinquent tax laws that garnered him statewide recognition. He was a corporate lobbyist before succeeding John H. Reagan on the Railroad Commission from 1903 to 1911.
A self-made man and anti-prohibitionist, he was defeated in his run for governor in 1906, but was elected in 1910. While not a polished orator, Colquitt was a convincing speaker. Despite hostilities of two legislatures resulting from hostilities engendered by the prohibition question, he reformed the prison system, improved the governing, management and physical plants of charitable organizations, and improved the lot of laborers. After a defeat in a run-off for a U. S. Senate seat, he became president of a Dallas oil firm.