Thomas B. Catron

Common card · No. 467668

Thomas Benton Catron (October 6, 1840 – May 15, 1921) was an American politician and lawyer who was influential in the establishment of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and served as one of its first United States Senators. Catron has defenders but enemies have described him as a "greedy land grabber and ruthless politico." Catron was a native of Missouri and a graduate of the University of Missouri. He was a Confederate States Army veteran of the American Civil War. After the war, he moved to New Mexico Territory, where he learned Spanish, studied law, and attained admission to the bar. A Republican even though most Southerners were Democrats, Catron soon made his mark in both law and politics, including serving as a district attorney, territorial attorney general (1869–1872), and United States Attorney for New Mexico (1872–1878). He later served on the New Mexico Territorial Council (1884, 1888, 1889), as the Territorial Delegate to Congress (1895–1897), President of the New Mexico Bar Association...

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