Spencer Myrick
Encyclopedia
Willie Spencer Myrick, known as W. Spencer Myrick (November 23, 1918 – November 24, 1991) was a Democratic
member of both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature
from West Carroll Parish
in northeastern Louisiana
.
Myrick was one of ten children born in Simpson County
in south central Mississippi
, to tenant farmer
s James Martin "Jim" Myrick and his wife, the former Allie Artimissa Parker. Prior to the Great Depression
, the family relocated to West Carroll Parish, where they purchased a 100 acre (0.404686 km²) farm near Oak Grove
. Myrick dropped out of the third grade to help his parents to work the farm. One of his living brothers is Billie E. "Bill" Myrick
, a Country music
figure from Odessa
, Texas
.
Myrick first entered state politics as an elected member of the House of Representatives
, having served from 1956 to 1960 during the final administration of Governor Earl Kemp Long. During the following second administration of Governor Jimmie Davis
, Myrick was an investigator for the former Louisiana Sovereignty Commission, which monitored the activities of civil rights
activists and communist infiltration. The commission was headed by Frank Voelker, who in 1963 ran as a minor gubernatorial candidate. In 1963, Myrick was nominated and then elected without opposition to the Louisiana State Senate
, having served a single term from 1964 to 1968 Myrick did not seek reelection to the Senate in 1967. Instead, he ran unsuccessfully statewide for Louisiana insurance commissioner
against the one-term incumbent
Dudley A. Guglielmo
. Myrick also worked periodically as an aide to Governor Earl Long, a confidant and friend.
Myrick was the fourth great grandson of (Major) Samuel Earle, III, born ca. 1690 in the Cople Parish of Westmoreland County
, Virginia. Earle, an early graduate of William & Mary College, became an attorney. He was elected the first member of the Virginia House of Burgesses from Frederick County
, having held the seat that would later be occupied by first U.S. President George Washington
. Earle owned land adjoining that of George Washingtgon's father, Augustine Washington
. Earle's plantation housed the Yeocomico Episcopal Church
, which the Washington and Ball families attended. (Major) Samuel Earle, III's first wife was Anna Sorrell with whom he had several children including his first son to be named Samuel Earle, IV who was born in 1727 and died abt. 1752 and, after the death of Anna Sorrell, married second wife Elizabeth Holbrook, over thirty years his junior, with whom he had several children including his second son to be named Samuel Earle, IV, (RS,) born: 1760 at Town Run Estates, Fauquier County, Virginia, died: 1845 in Mobile, Alabama, who fought in the Revolutionary War as did a nephew of the same name also born in 1760. The second Samuel Earle, IV, (RS,) was the third great grandfather of W. Spencer Myrick and his siblings. The Earle lineage is descended from the Earle/de Erleigh/Earleigh men known as "The White Knights" including Sir John Erleigh/de Earleigh who was closely associated with William Marshall and Sir John de Erleigh's wife Margaret de Bryan/Brienne, daughter of Sir Guy de Bryan/Brienne, K.G. - Knight of the Garter, also direct ancestral grandparents of Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales. Sir John Earle, I/Sr., born: abt. 1614 at Somerton Estate, Nye, Winscomb, Somerton, Somersetshire, England, and his first wife Mary Symons, born: abt. 1618 in Gloucestershire, England, were the seventh great grandparents of W. Spencer Myrick and the first immigrants to America in this lineage. Sir John Earle, I/Sr. arrived in St. Mary's County, Maryland in 1649 immediately moving into Northumberland County, Virginia where he settled Yeocomico/Yeocomoco Plantation after acquiring it from the Yeocomico Indians. There he built the family estate "Spring Neck" on Earle's Creek as the first of several family plantations.
Myrick was descended from numerous ancestral grandfathers from England
who arrived early in the Virginia colony. His ancestors were of royal and noble bloodlines, including the Tudors, whose descendants would be part of the major plantation-owning citizens of Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia
and later into Alabama
, Mississippi
, and Louisiana. Many of them lost their land and fortunes during the American Civil War
, and many became tenant farmers-- as did Myrick's parents, who purchased their land and sat about restoration for their families.
After his legislative years, Myrick and his wife, the former Marie Gammill (May 13, 1918–June 19, 1998) resided in Baton Rouge
, where Myrick died. Mrs. Myrick died in Monroe
in northeastern Louisiana, where she was then residing. The couple is survived by two sons, Jimmy Love Myrick and Ronnie Myrick, grandchildren, Nancy Love Myrick, Leigh Anna Myrick, and Michael Myrick, and great grandchildren Laine Eckles, Carly Love Herrin, and John Sinclair Myrick.
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
member of both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
from West Carroll Parish
West Carroll Parish, Louisiana
West Carroll Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Oak Grove and as of 2000, the population was 12,314.-History:...
in northeastern Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
.
Myrick was one of ten children born in Simpson County
Simpson County, Mississippi
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 27,639 people, 10,076 households, and 7,385 families residing in the county. The population density was 47 people per square mile . There were 11,307 housing units at an average density of 19 per square mile...
in south central Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, to tenant farmer
Tenant farmer
A tenant farmer is one who resides on and farms land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management; while tenant farmers contribute their labor along with at times varying...
s James Martin "Jim" Myrick and his wife, the former Allie Artimissa Parker. Prior to the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, the family relocated to West Carroll Parish, where they purchased a 100 acre (0.404686 km²) farm near Oak Grove
Oak Grove, Louisiana
Oak Grove is a town in, and the parish seat of, West Carroll Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 2,174 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Oak Grove is located at ....
. Myrick dropped out of the third grade to help his parents to work the farm. One of his living brothers is Billie E. "Bill" Myrick
Bill Myrick
Billie E. Myrick, known as Bill Myrick , is an American Country musician, originally from Simpson County in south central Mississippi but a long-time resident of Odessa in West Texas.-Family:...
, a Country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
figure from Odessa
Odessa, Texas
Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small portion of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 99,940 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Odessa, Texas Metropolitan...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
Myrick first entered state politics as an elected member of the House of Representatives
Louisiana House of Representatives
The Louisiana House of Representatives is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Louisiana. The House is composed of 105 Representatives, each of whom represents approximately 42,500 people . Members serve four-year terms with a term limit of...
, having served from 1956 to 1960 during the final administration of Governor Earl Kemp Long. During the following second administration of Governor Jimmie Davis
Jimmie Davis
James Houston Davis , better known as Jimmie Davis, was a noted singer of both sacred and popular songs who served two nonconsecutive terms as the 47th Governor of Louisiana...
, Myrick was an investigator for the former Louisiana Sovereignty Commission, which monitored the activities of civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
activists and communist infiltration. The commission was headed by Frank Voelker, who in 1963 ran as a minor gubernatorial candidate. In 1963, Myrick was nominated and then elected without opposition to the Louisiana State Senate
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
, having served a single term from 1964 to 1968 Myrick did not seek reelection to the Senate in 1967. Instead, he ran unsuccessfully statewide for Louisiana insurance commissioner
Insurance commissioner
Insurance commissioner is an executive office in many U.S. states, some in the state cabinet. The office differs state by state:...
against the one-term incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
Dudley A. Guglielmo
Dudley A. Guglielmo
Dudley Anthony Guglielmo, Sr. , was the Louisiana insurance commissioner from 1964 to 1972. He served two terms until he was denied renomination in the 1971 Democratic primary by Sherman A. Bernard, a house mover from Westwego in Jefferson Parish...
. Myrick also worked periodically as an aide to Governor Earl Long, a confidant and friend.
Myrick was the fourth great grandson of (Major) Samuel Earle, III, born ca. 1690 in the Cople Parish of Westmoreland County
Westmoreland County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 16,718 people, 6,846 households, and 4,689 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 9,286 housing units at an average density of...
, Virginia. Earle, an early graduate of William & Mary College, became an attorney. He was elected the first member of the Virginia House of Burgesses from Frederick County
Frederick County, Virginia
Frederick County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is included in the Winchester, Virginia-West Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was formed in 1743 by the splitting of Orange County. For ten years it was the home of George Washington. As of 2010, the population was...
, having held the seat that would later be occupied by first U.S. President George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
. Earle owned land adjoining that of George Washingtgon's father, Augustine Washington
Augustine Washington
Augustine Washington was the father of general and president George Washington. He belonged to the Colony of Virginia's landed gentry and was a planter and slaveholder.-Family:...
. Earle's plantation housed the Yeocomico Episcopal Church
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
, which the Washington and Ball families attended. (Major) Samuel Earle, III's first wife was Anna Sorrell with whom he had several children including his first son to be named Samuel Earle, IV who was born in 1727 and died abt. 1752 and, after the death of Anna Sorrell, married second wife Elizabeth Holbrook, over thirty years his junior, with whom he had several children including his second son to be named Samuel Earle, IV, (RS,) born: 1760 at Town Run Estates, Fauquier County, Virginia, died: 1845 in Mobile, Alabama, who fought in the Revolutionary War as did a nephew of the same name also born in 1760. The second Samuel Earle, IV, (RS,) was the third great grandfather of W. Spencer Myrick and his siblings. The Earle lineage is descended from the Earle/de Erleigh/Earleigh men known as "The White Knights" including Sir John Erleigh/de Earleigh who was closely associated with William Marshall and Sir John de Erleigh's wife Margaret de Bryan/Brienne, daughter of Sir Guy de Bryan/Brienne, K.G. - Knight of the Garter, also direct ancestral grandparents of Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales. Sir John Earle, I/Sr., born: abt. 1614 at Somerton Estate, Nye, Winscomb, Somerton, Somersetshire, England, and his first wife Mary Symons, born: abt. 1618 in Gloucestershire, England, were the seventh great grandparents of W. Spencer Myrick and the first immigrants to America in this lineage. Sir John Earle, I/Sr. arrived in St. Mary's County, Maryland in 1649 immediately moving into Northumberland County, Virginia where he settled Yeocomico/Yeocomoco Plantation after acquiring it from the Yeocomico Indians. There he built the family estate "Spring Neck" on Earle's Creek as the first of several family plantations.
Myrick was descended from numerous ancestral grandfathers from England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
who arrived early in the Virginia colony. His ancestors were of royal and noble bloodlines, including the Tudors, whose descendants would be part of the major plantation-owning citizens of Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
and later into Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, and Louisiana. Many of them lost their land and fortunes during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, and many became tenant farmers-- as did Myrick's parents, who purchased their land and sat about restoration for their families.
After his legislative years, Myrick and his wife, the former Marie Gammill (May 13, 1918–June 19, 1998) resided in Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
, where Myrick died. Mrs. Myrick died in Monroe
Monroe, Louisiana
Monroe is a city in and the parish seat of Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 53,107, making it the eighth largest city in Louisiana. A July 1, 2007, United States Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 51,208, but 51,636...
in northeastern Louisiana, where she was then residing. The couple is survived by two sons, Jimmy Love Myrick and Ronnie Myrick, grandchildren, Nancy Love Myrick, Leigh Anna Myrick, and Michael Myrick, and great grandchildren Laine Eckles, Carly Love Herrin, and John Sinclair Myrick.
Further reading
- Michael L. Kurtz and Morgan D. Peoples, Earl K. Long: The Saga of Uncle Earl and Louisiana Politics. Louisiana State University Press, 1992. (ISBN 0-8071-1765-X, ISBN 978-0-8071-1765-1)