Grady Hazlewood

Grady Hazlewood​

* * *

Texas State Senator for
District 31 (Panhandle)​

In office
1941​ - 1971​
Preceded by  |  Clint C. Small​
Succeeded by  |  Max Sherman​

* * *

Texas State Senate
President Pro Tempore​

In office
1949​ - 1949​
Preceded by  |  George C. Morris​
Succeeded by  |  Wardlow W. Lane ​

* * *

Born  |  August 18, 1902​
Old Fort Chadbourne
Coke County, Texas, USA​
Died  |  April 1, 1989​
Austin, Texas​
Nationality  |  American​
Political party  |  Democrat ​
Spouse(s)  |  Audrine Smith Hazlewood (married 1927-1989, his death)​​
Residence  |  Amarillo, Texas​
Alma mater |  West Texas A&M University (Canyon, Texas)​

University of Texas Law School

Occupation  |  Attorney​

Dairy farmer
​ Real estate businessman
​ Horse breeder​

Note:

* Hazlewood is the father of the farm-to-market road system in Texas, which converted rural dirt roads to asphalt.​

Grady Hazlewood (August 18, 1902 - April 1, 1989) was a Democratic state senator from 1941 to 1971, having represented the District 31 seat, anchored in Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle. He was sometimes called "the old gray fox"[1] for his ability as an "aw shucks" country lawyer to procure passage of his favored bills.[2]

## Biography[edit]

​ Hazlewood was born at Old Fort Chadbourne (established 1852) near Bronte in Coke County, Texas, located northeast of San Angelo. Chadbourne is now a ghost town accessible to the south of Sweetwater in Nolan County. As a boy, Hazlewood relocated with his parents and four brothers to a farm near Canyon in Randall County, south of Amarillo. He graduated from West Texas A&M University (then West Texas State Teachers College) in Canyon. In 1926, he procured his legal degree through the University of Texas Law School in Austin. In 1927, he married the former Audrine Smith (1902-1991). He returned to Amarillo to practice law and was elected district attorney during the 1930s.[2]​

Having first been elected to the state Senate in 1940, he was undefeated and mostly unopposed until his retirement in 1971. He was succeeded by his fellow Democrat Max Sherman, also an Amarillo lawyer. In the 1970 general election, Sherman defeated the Republican nominee Malouf Abraham, Sr., an oilman and two-term state representative from Canadian in Hemphill County, also in the Panhandle. In addition to his legal duties, Hazlewood operated a dairy farm and maintained real estate interests in Austin. He was a breeder and trainer of Tennessee walking horses.[2]

Senator Hazlewood worked for passage of legislation establishing the first loan program in any state that permitted tuition-free education at Texas colleges and universities for returning veterans of World War II. Later, he co-sponsored the Hinson-Hazlewood program, the first plan in any state to offer low-interest state loans to Texas college students. He authored the legislation that elevated his alma mater to the full-fledged WTAMU. He was subsequently appointed by Democratic Governor Preston Smith to the WTAMU board of regents.[2]​

Hazlewood created the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority, which led to the building of Lake Meredith, a major water source for the northern Texas Panhandle. In the late 1940s, he co-sponsored the original farm-to-market road program, which in time paved in asphalt the previous rural dirt roads.[2] In 1963, Hazlewood was chairman of the influential Senate Finance Committee during the tenure of Governor John Connally. Among his interests was obtaining state appropriations for the transportation of tuberculosis patients to and from state hospitals.[3]​

Hazlewood obtained state support for the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon and even helped to maintain the museum for a time with his own financial backing. He left his papers to the museum and contributed $20,000 toward the construction of the museum archives. The Hazlewood papers are hence available to researchers through WTAMU. Hazlewood sponsored the creation of Texas' first municipal hospital supported by property taxes. The hospital, located in Amarillo, became subsequently a model for other cities. Through a gift from his estate to the Amarillo Area Foundation, several scholarships for Panhandle students are still offered in Hazlewood's name.[2]​

Hazlewood's former Senate seat was later held by Kelton Gray "Kel" Seliger (born 1953), a Moderate Republican and a former mayor of Amarillo. When Seliger did not seek reelection in 2022, the post went to another Republican, Kevin Sparks.

## References[edit]

1. ↑ Grady Hazlewood. Texas Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved on January 23, 2020.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Robyn Followwill-Line (May 19, 2000). Grady Hazlewood. Amarillo Globe-News. Retrieved on April 17, 2010; no longer on-line.
3. ↑ Letter from Texas Attorney General Waggoner Carr to Senator Hazlewood. oag.state.tx.us (March 18, 1963). Retrieved on April 17, 2010; no longer accessible on-line.

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