Disability History Fact: Joseph Jefferson Mansfield
Office of the Governor Texas sent this bulletin at 10/14/2013 08:00 AM CDTCommittee on People with Disabilities
Joseph Jefferson Mansfield (1861 – 1947), for whom Mansfield Dam at Lake Travis is named, moved to Texas as a young man. After working on a farm, in a nursery, and on the railroad, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1886. He began practice in Eagle Lake, where he was city attorney, mayor, editor of the first newspaper, and county attorney of Colorado County until 1896. He then served as county judge until 1916, when he was elected to represent the Ninth Texas Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1921, Mansfield became very ill with an unspecified illness which left him paralyzed. He used a wheelchair and continued to serve in Congress until 1947. In the early 1930s, Mansfield became chair of the House’s Rivers and Harbors Committee and worked closely with the people who created and managed the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA). He was a strong advocate for funding for the Colorado River dam which was originally called Marshall Ford Dam. In 1941, the dam was re-named Mansfield Dam in his honor.
Adapted from:
W. A. Flachmeier, "MANSFIELD, JOSEPH JEFFERSON," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fma37), accessed September 27, 2013. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
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