Home County of William Pinckney McLean

William Pinckney McLean was born in Copiah County, Mississippi, in 1836, grew up in Cass County, Texas, and took both a bachelor's and a law degree at the University of North Carolina. In 1861 he resigned his legislative seat to join the Nineteenth Texas Infantry in Walker's Texas Division, and he rose to adjutant general. He won one term in Congress in 1872. He was elected to the Fifth Judicial District bench in 1884, joined Hogg's first Railroad Commission in 1891, and resigned in 1894 to move to Fort Worth. He died in 1925.

What the plaque says

Home County of William Pinckney McLean (Member of the first Railroad Commission of Texas) A Victoria lawyer. Elected from this county, 1861, to state legislature. In U.S. Congress, 1872-1874. Appointed by Gov. James S. Hogg to newly-formed Commission, created to regulate shipping rates and practices. In his term, 1891-1895, transportation of petroleum became important to Texas railways. Oil and gas regulation, a major responsibility, began in 1917 with jurisdiction over pipelines. The legislature made the Commission responsible in 1919 for oil and gas conservation. Proration began in the 1920's. Complete regulation came in 1930's with 1,700,000-barrel-a-day production in East Texas, and use of martial law to enforce Commission rules. Commission policies were acclaimed when in World War II Texas was able to supply the Allies with great stores of oil necessary for victory. The Commission's goal is to prevent waste and protect oil and gas reserves by orderly regulation of exploration, production and transportation. Such men as Commissioner McLean set high ethical standards that still prevail, causing the Commission to merit the confidence of the people and of the petroleum industry. (See other side for names of all Commission members) (1966) Plaque on reverse: MEMBERS OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF TEXAS *John H. Reagan, 1890 - 1903 Wm. P. McLean, 1891 – 1894 L. L. Foster, 1891 – 1895 *L. J. Storey, 1894 – 1909 N. A. Stedman, 1895 – 1897 *Allison Mayfield, 1897 – 1923 O. B. Colquitt, 1903 – 1911 Wm. D. Williams, 1909 – 1916 John L. Wortham, 1911 – 1913 Earle B. Mayfield, 1913 – 1923 Charles H. Huddleston, 1916 – 1918 *Clarence E. Gilmore, 1919 – 1929 N. A. Nabors, 1923 – 1925 W. M. W. Splawn, 1923 – 1924 *C. V. Terrell, 1924 – 1939 *Lon A. Smith, 1925 – 1941 *Pat M. Neff, 1929 – 1932 *Ernest O. Thompson, 1932 – 1965 Jerry Sadler, 1939 – 1942 *Olin Culberson, 1941 – 1961 *Buford Jester, 1942 – 1947 *Wm. J. Murray, Jr., 1947 – 1963 *Ben Ramsey, 1961 – Jim C. Langdon, 1963 – Byron Tunnell, 1965 – *CHAIRMEN

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• De León Plaza — steps away
  The central plaza of Guadalupe Victoria, the only predominantly Mexican colony in Texas, founded by Martín De León in 1824 and taken from his family after 1836.
• Museum of the Coastal Bend — 1.8 mi
  Victoria College's museum of thirteen thousand years on the middle Texas coast, from Clovis hunters and Karankawa potters to La Salle's lost Fort St. Louis and the first ranches.
• Fannin Battleground State Historic Site — 16 mi
  The open prairie east of Goliad where Fannin's retreating column formed a square short of the Coleto Creek timber on March 19, 1836, and surrendered the next day.
• Fannin Memorial Monument — 25 mi
  The 1938 pink granite memorial over the common grave of Fannin's men, shot on the roads out of Goliad on Palm Sunday 1836, the grave itself found again only in the 1930s.

More markers nearby

• Victoria County Honor Roll — steps away
• Victor M. Rose — steps away
• Victoria County, C.S.A. — steps away
• Victoria County — steps away