Dan Moody, born in Taylor in Williamson County to Daniel and Nancy Elizabeth Robertson Moody, became a crusader for integrity in public office. He entered the University of Texas at 16 and completed law school there. After service in World War I, he won election as county attorney and was then appointed by Governor Pat Neff as district attorney for Travis and Williamson counties. He gained statewide notice for prosecuting Ku Klux Klansmen in notorious flogging cases, and friends urged him to run for Attorney General of Texas. He won that office and served from 1925 to 1927 during an era of alleged corruption. Seeking to halt kickbacks on highway contracts, he recovered hundreds of thousands of dollars for Texas. In 1926 he ran for governor on his record as attorney general and was elected. Inaugurated at age 33, he was the youngest man ever to take the oath of that office. During his terms from 1927 to 1931, Texans’ faith in their state government was restored, and major reforms were made in the State Highway Department and the state penitentiary system. After retiring as governor, he practiced law and was appointed by the President of the United States to prosecute tax evaders. He married Mildred Paxton, and they had two children.