Quick Facts
Biography
J. Waddy Tate (February 21, 1870 – January 11, 1938) was the mayor of Dallas, Texas from 1929 to 1931.
Biography
John Waddy Tate was born February 21, 1870 in Columbus, Colorado, Texas to Phocian Tate and Bettie Branch Carter. His father died when he was young and his mother moved the family to Houston, Texas. He married Blanche Kennedy on 28 May 1901 in Laredo, Webb County, Texas.
As a young man, he worked as a printer and in a sawmill. He joined the Cotton Belt Line in Houston and later the Chicago Great Western Line in Dallas. He retired from the railroad lines in 1919, but by 1920 he was in the oil drilling business.
In a brief obituary note, Time noted: "In the 1927 mayoralty campaign, Tate wore blue overalls, carried a fishing rod, lost; but two years later he spent only $218 campaigning, bought frankfurters for 10,000 voters, won hands down." [1]
He died January 11, 1938 in Dallas, Texas and was interred in Glenwood Cemetery, Houston, Texas.