Horace Stansel

Horace Sylvan Stansel (November 5, 1888 – April 4, 1936)[1][2] was an American civil engineer and politician, remembered chiefly as the original architect of Mississippi's highway system.[1]

Horace Stansel
Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives
In office
January 7, 1936 – April 4, 1936
Preceded byThomas L. Bailey
Succeeded byFielding Wright
Member of the
Mississippi House of Representatives
from Sunflower County
In office
January 1924 – April 4, 1936
Preceded byArthur Clark
Succeeded byPearl Stansel
Personal details
Born
Horace Sylvan Stansel

(1888-11-05)November 5, 1888
Ruleville, Mississippi, U.S.
DiedApril 4, 1936(1936-04-04) (aged 47)
Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Dovie Pearl High
EducationMississippi A&M College

Biography

Horace Stansel was born in 1888 in Ruleville, Sunflower County, in the Mississippi Delta. He attended Franklin Academy in Columbus as a child. While working as a laborer to help construct Mississippi A&M (now Mississippi State University), he supposedly overheard from a co-worker that labor could be used to earn a man's way through college. According to his later statements, he immediately presented himself to the office of the university president for admission. Stansel earned a degree in civil engineering after studying from 1911–1915.

Stansel was first elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives in 1923. In 1928, Stansel was appointed by then-Governor Theodore G. Bilbo as the head of a committee to investigate the state's highway needs.[3] The committee's conclusions resulted in Stansel authoring the Stansel Act of 1930, which established Mississippi's system of paved highways.[4] Stansel placed his own touch on the system: the intersection of the state highways in Ruleville is at the site of his family home.

Stansel's success in Jackson led him to run, and win, election in the Mississippi House of Representatives. He progressed rapidly in prestige during the Great Depression and was elected Speaker of the House in 1936, shortly before his death from a heart attack. His widow, Pearl Stansel, took his seat and was later elected in her own right, serving from 1936 to 1944.[1]

Horace Stansel Memorial Library in Ruleville was named in his honor in 1938.[5][6]

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gollark: Wait, how do you make that work? Do they just not implement the handle interface the same way?
gollark: I use it in PotatOS to add programs to the ROM.
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gollark: Do they get automatically whatevered or do you have to write a new driver for each type?

References
  1. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2014-10-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Horace Stansel (1888 - 1936) - Find A Grave Memorial". Findagrave.com. Retrieved 2017-08-19.
  3. "The Evolution of Mississippi Highways - Back in Time - General Highway History - Highway History - Federal Highway Administration". Fhwa.dot.gov. Retrieved 2017-08-19.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-10-12. Retrieved 2014-10-08.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Sunflower County Library Directory". Sunflower.lib.ms.us. Retrieved 2017-08-19.
  6. "Sunflower County Library". Sunflower.lib.ms.us. Retrieved 2017-08-19.



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