James Stephen Hogg, a Texas statesman whose nationally acclaimed public career began at this site, was the third son of Gen. Joseph L. and Lucanda (McMath) Hogg and was born near Rusk. Orphaned during the troubled Civil War era, he began at age 14 to earn his own way as a farmhand, clerk, printer's devil, typesetter, and country editor. At 22, he was elected Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1, and headed Commissioners Court of Wood County in 1874-75. He was admitted to the bar in 1875 and soon held higher offices as county attorney from 1879-81, district attorney from 1881-85, and Texas Attorney General from 1887-90. Inaugurated on Jan. 20, 1891, he was the first native Texan to become Governor of the state. He championed the common people. An intellectual and physical giant, personally fearless, he saw Texas as a victim of Wall Street greed and corrected many injustices. To equalize business opportunities among great and small, he led in creating the Texas Railroad Commission, hailed as a model throughout the world. Public office left him financially insecure. Later came wealth, which his heirs invested in Texas mental health and culture. His wife was Sallie Stinson of Wood County, and their children, Will, Ima, Mike, and Tom, were all philanthropists.