R. Ewing Thomason

Who was R. Ewing Thomason?

Robert Ewing Thomason was a Texas politician, a member and Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, the mayor of El Paso, a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, and a judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Born in Shelbyville, Bedford County, Tennessee, Thomason moved to Gainesville, Texas with his parents in 1880. He attended public schools, and graduated from Southwestern University in Georgetown in 1898. Thomason graduated from the law department of the University of Texas in 1900, was admitted to the bar in 1901, and commenced practice in Gainesville. Thomason was the prosecuting attorney of Cooke County, Texas from 1902 – 1906.

Thomason continued to practice law upon his moving to El Paso, Texas, in a law firm with Thomas Calloway Lea, Jr., and later J. G. McGrady and Eugene T. Edwards. He was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1917 to 1921, serving as speaker in 1920 and 1921. Thomason served as the Mayor of El Paso from 1927 – 1930, and was elected to the 72nd United States Congress as a Democrat in 1930. Thomason served from March 4, 1931 until his resignation on July 31, 1947, having been appointed United States District Judge for the Western District of Texas. When Thomason retired as a senior judge, he resided in El Paso until his death there on November 8, 1973. He was interred in Restlawn Cemetery.