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Earl L. Brewer (August 11, 1869 - March 10, 1942) was the Governor of Mississippi from 1912 to 1916. Elected as a Democrat, he was unopposed in the primary and won the governorship without ever making a single public campaign speech.

Brewer was born in Carroll County, Mississippi. His father, Radcliff Rodney Brewer, had been a farmer, plantation manager and overseer, and a captain in the Confederate Army during the Civil War.

Brewer attended the University of Mississippi and after less than one year of study, obtained a Bachelor of Law degree in 1892. He immediately began practicing law and then was elected to the Mississippi Senate in 1895. In 1902 he was appointed district attorney for the 11th District.

In 1907 he resigned his position as district attorney to run for governor. Brewer was narrowly defeated in his first attempt but won handily in the next campaign. As governor, Brewer promoted progressive reforms in several areas. The constitution was changed to create an elective judiciary; banking laws were established to limit interest rates; and a Bureau of Vital Statistics was created.

During his term there was a severe epidemic of pellagra in the state and other portions of the South. When the federal government sent Joseph Goldberger to study the disease and find a cure, Brewer offered full pardons to convicts who would participate in Goldberger's experiments. As a result of these studies, it was determined that pellagra was caused by a vitamin deficiency.

After his term was over, Brewer assisted in the defense of three African-American defendants accused of murder who had been convicted on the basis of coerced confessions. Brewer argued and won their appeal to the United States Supreme Court in Brown v. Mississippi.

• Sansing, David G. Earl Leroy Brewer Thirty-eighth Governor of Mississippi: 1912-1916 Mississippi History Now. Mississippi Historical Society.
• State Mourns Ex-Gov. Brewer Jackson Daily News, March 11, 1942. Accessed February 5, 2007.

Governors of Mississippi

Holmes • Poindexter • Leake • Brandon • Holmes • Brandon • Scott • Lynch • Runnels • Quitman • Lynch • McNutt • Tucker • Brown • Matthews • Quitman • Guion • J. Whitfield • Foote • Pettus • McRae • McWillie • Pettus • Clark • Sharkey • Humphreys • Ames • Alcorn • Powers • Ames • Stone • Lowry • Stone • McLaurin • Longino • Vardaman • Noel • Brewer • Bilbo • Russell • H. Whitfield • Murphree • Bilbo • Conner • White • Johnson • Murphree • Bailey • Wright • White • Coleman • Barnett • Johnson Jr. • Williams • Waller • Finch • Winter • Allain • Mabus • Fordice • Musgrove • Barbour

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