Materials do not circulate, but may be used in the State Archives search room. Materials will be retrieved from and returned to storage areas by staff members.
Most records created by Texas state agencies are not copyrighted and may be freely used in any way. State records also include materials received by, not created by, state agencies. Copyright remains with the creator. The researcher is responsible for complying with U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S.C.).
Letterpress volumes may be too fragile for photocopying.
Pat Morris Neff served as governor of Texas from January 18, 1921 to January 20, 1925. Neff was born near McGregor, Texas on November 26, 1871. He worked on his father's farm and ranch, attended a country school when time would allow, and then went to McGregor High School. Neff graduated from Baylor University in 1894. He taught school in Arkansas for two years and then entered the University of Texas Law School, receiving a degree in 1897. Neff began practicing law at Waco in 1897 while pursuing a Master of Arts degree at Baylor University. He was a McLennan County representative from 1899 to 1905, and was speaker of the house for the 28th Legislature. From 1906 to 1912, Neff was prosecuting attorney of McLennan County. From 1912 to 1919, he practiced law in Waco and worked on civic, religious, and educational projects.
In 1920 and 1922 Neff won the gubernatorial elections. The first day Neff was in office, he abolished the Board of Pardon Advisors. He called for economy in government, lower taxes, and improved education. Although he had problems with the legislature, he worked for sizable appropriations for conservation, helped develop a State Parks Board, and recommended the creation of a State Historical Board. During his administration Neff also helped develop medical facilities, including the American Legion Hospital, and advanced education in rural areas. When Neff completed his service as governor, he resumed his law practice in Waco. President Calvin Coolidge appointed Neff to the United States Board of Mediation (1927-1929). In 1929 Governor Dan Moody asked Neff to serve on the Railroad Commission of Texas, a position he held until June 1932. He became president of Baylor University, serving from 1932 to 1947. Neff married Myrtle Mainer on May 31, 1899 at Lovelady, Texas. They had two children. Pat Neff died on January 19, 1952.
(Sources: Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "Neff, Pat Morris"
Pat Morris Neff served as governor of Texas from January 18, 1921 to January 20, 1925. These records document Governor Neff's two terms in office. Types of records are correspondence, financial records, letterpress books containing messages and telegrams, and index cards, dating from 1920 to 1925. Subjects covered are free textbooks, reforms of the prison system, requests and recommendations for appointment to office and to represent Texas at various conferences, animal quarantines, and military training camps. Index cards abstract information about Neff's incoming correspondence for 1923 and 1924. Messages to the legislature include requests for legislation to be considered during special sessions, state of the state addresses, and issues of concern to the governor.
Most records concerning Neff's terms as governor are located at Baylor University's Texas Collection.
These records are organized into three series by State Archives staff:
(Identify the item and cite the series), Texas Governor Pat M. Neff records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Archives staff, October 1985
Finding aid edited for cataloging by Tonia J. Wood, January 1996
Corrections and further encoding to TARO project standards by Tonia J. Wood, April 2001
Finding aid converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by TARO using the conversion stylesheet v1to02.xsl, July 22, 2003
Finding aid edited for biographical sketch corrections and DACS compliance by Tonia J. Wood, October 2008
Accession number: 1936/002
Three of Neff's letterpress books were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Governor's Office on October 8, 1936. No accession data was located for the remainder of the records.
Correspondence and financial records document some of the issues facing Texas Governor Pat M. Neff. Records are correspondence, accounts, bills, and receipts, dating from 1921 to 1925, bulk 1922-1924, from Governor Neff's terms in office. The accounts, bills, and receipts pertain to the personal and official expenses of the governor, primarily for 1922 and 1923. The correspondence concerns two subjects: the Citizen's Military Training Camp and the work of the Livestock Sanitary Commission. The training camp correspondence includes letters from President Warren G. Harding, Secretary of War John W. Weeks, the Adjutant General's Office in Washington, D.C., and military officers associated with the program. The records of the Livestock Sanitary Commission include correspondence of chairman J.E. Boog-Scott, reports of cattle scabies eradication, tick eradication, and anthrax problems.
Files are divided among financial records, Citizen's Military Training Camp records, and Livestock Sanitary Commission records, and are then in chronological order. One folder of miscellaneous correspondence is at the end. Subject order was probably instituted by creating agency. Chronological order within files may have been imposed by State Archives staff.
(Identify the item), Correspondence and financial records, Texas Governor Pat M. Neff records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
No accession information for these records was located.
Letterpress copybooks duplicate outgoing correspondence from Texas Governor Pat M. Neff's office. Records are letterpress books, containing outgoing correspondence, telegrams, and messages, dating from January 1920 to January 1925. Subjects of letters and telegrams include requests and recommendations for appointments to office, pardons, paroles, and extraditions. Messages relate to free textbooks for public school children, improving the efficiency of state agencies, and legislation. Several volumes also contain correspondence, telegrams, and messages for Governor William P. Hobby.
Arrangement is by type and then chronological as maintained by the creating agency.
(Identify the item), Letterpress books, Texas Governor Pat M. Neff records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession number: 1936/002
Three of Neff's letterpress books were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Governor's Office on October 8, 1936. No accession data was located for the remainder of the records.
Letterpress volumes may be too fragile for photocopying.
Index cards abstract information about Texas Governor Pat M. Neff's incoming correspondence. Records are index cards containing information on incoming correspondence for Neff, dating from 1923 to 1924, although primarily for 1923. Information includes the name and address of the sender, date, and a brief description of the letter. The cards in one chronological run are for letters written after January 5, 1923, and up to September 5, 1923. Cards in a second chronological group are for letters written after September 1923, up to the year 1924. The Texas State Archives does not have the correspondence referred to in the index cards (unless it pertains to the citizen's military training camp or Livestock Sanitary Commission).
Cards are arranged in two chronological groupings by the creating agency, both in alphabetical order by correspondent.
(Identify the item), Index cards, Texas Governor Pat M. Neff records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
No accession information for these records was located.