T. Jeff Busby

Thomas Jefferson Busby (July 26, 1884 – October 18, 1964) was a U.S. Representative from Mississippi.

Born near Short, Mississippi, Busby attended the common schools of his native city, Oakland College, Yale, Mississippi, and Iuka Normal Institute at Iuka, Mississippi, then taught in the public schools of Tishomingo, Alcorn, and Chickasaw counties in Mississippi from 1903 to 1908.

He was graduated from the Georgie Robertson Christian College in Henderson, Tennessee, in 1905 and from the law department of the University of Mississippi at Oxford in 1909. He was admitted to the bar in 1909 and commenced practice of law at Houston, Mississippi. He served as prosecuting attorney of Chickasaw County 1912-1920.

Busby was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-eighth and to the five succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1923 – January 3, 1935). He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1934. He resumed the practice of law in Houston, Mississippi, until his death there on October 18, 1964. He was interred in Houston Cemetery.

Works

Natchez Trace Parkway

During his time as a Mississippi congressman, T.Jeff Busby pitched the idea of the Natchez Trace Parkway. His motivation was to create jobs for locals who were suffering from poverty during the Great Depression until other work became available. He also believed that the project would be of interest to the people surrounding the Natchez Trace, and would impact multiple counties along the proposed 450 mile roadway. After its run through Congress and President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the project was given $50,000 to survey the Natchez Trace Trail and evaluate the possibility of Busby's Natchez Trace Parkway.