B. B. Comer
| B. B. Comer | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 33rd Governor of Alabama | |
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In office January 14, 1907 – January 17, 1911 |
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| Lieutenant | Henry B. Gray |
| Preceded by | William D. Jelks |
| Succeeded by | Emmet O'Neal |
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United States Senator from Alabama |
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In office March 5, 1920 – November 2, 1920 |
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| Appointed by | Thomas Kilby |
| Preceded by | John H. Bankhead |
| Succeeded by | J. Thomas Heflin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 7, 1848 Barbour County, Alabama |
| Died | August 15, 1927 (aged 78) Birmingham, Alabama |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Eva Jane Comer |
| Children | Sally Bailey Comer John Fletcher Comer James McDonald Comer Eva Mignon Comer Catherine Comer Braxton Bevelle Comer Eva Comer Braxton Bragg Comer, Jr. Hugh M. Comer |
| Alma mater |
University of Alabama University of Georgia Emory and Henry College |
Braxton Bragg Comer (November 7, 1848 – August 15, 1927) was a planter, businessman, slave owner, and an American Democratic politician who was the 33rd Governor of Alabama from 1907 to 1911, and a United States Senator in 1920. As governor, he achieved railroad reform, lowering rates for businesses in Alabama to make them more competitive with other states. He increased funding for the public school system, resulting in more rural schools and high schools in each county for white students, and eventually a rise in the state's literacy rate.
In addition to interests in the Comer family's 30,000-acre (120 km2) plantation, devoted to corn and cotton production, he had an interest in the Comer mines near Birmingham known as the Eureka Mines. In 1897 he invested $10,000 with the Trainer family, who intended to develop textile mills in the state, and he was appointed president of Avondale Mills, which he developed in Birmingham, serving in that role until his death in 1927.
Comer was born in 1848 at old Spring Hill, Barbour County, Alabama, the fourth son of John Fletcher and Catherine (Drewry) Comer. As planters, Comer's parents had built their wealth based on slave labor for their cotton plantation. B.B. Comer began his education at the age of ten under the tutelage of E.N. Brown.
In 1864 Comer went to the University of Alabama, but in April 1865 was forced to leave when General John T. Croxton's troops burned the university. He enrolled at the University of Georgia in Athens, where he joined the Phi Kappa Literary Society. He transferred to Emory and Henry College in Virginia, where he graduated in 1869 with AB and AM degrees.
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