Combs &c. Families
of Shelby Co, TX

Combs, Jesse Martin, a Representative from Texas; born in Center, Shelby County, Tex., July 7, 1889; attended the public schools; was graduated from Southwest Texas State Teachers' College in 1912; was admitted to the bar in 1918 and commenced practice in Kountze, Tex.; county judge of Hardin County, Tex., in 1919 and 1920; district judge of the seventy-fifth district 1923-1925; associate justice of the ninth court of civil appeals 1933-1943; member and president of the board of trustees of South Park Schools 1926-1940; president of the board of trustees of Lamar College 1940-1944; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-ninth and Eightieth Congresses (January 3, 1945-January 3, 1949). Reelected to the Eighty-first Congress.

Combs, JESSE MARTIN (1889-1953). Jesse Martin Combs, jurist and congressman, son of Frank and Mary (BECK) Combs, was born in Shelby County, Texas, on July 7, 1889. He was orphaned as a small child and raised by his maternal grandparents, Mr & Mrs. Jesse BECK. After graduating from Center High School, (Jesse Martin) Combs attended San Marcos State Teachers College (now Southwest Texas State University) and received his degree in 1912. He taught at several rural schools before becoming the Hardin County agent in 1914. Four years later he was admitted to the bar and elected county judge. He subsequently served as judge for the Seventy-fifth District Court, which served Tyler, Hardin, Liberty, Chambers, and Montgomery counties. He moved to Beaumont and sat on the Ninth Court of Civil Appeals from 1933 to 1943. He was also influential in developing Beaumont's South Park school district, and was president of the Board of Trustees of Lamar Junior College (now Lamar University) from 1940 to 1944.

In May 1944 (Jesse Martin) Combs announced that he would challenge incumbent Martin DIES (qv) for the Second Congressional District seat. Faced with a difficult battle, the controversial DIES decided not to seek re-election. (Jesse Martin) Combs served four terms in Congress as a key associate of fellow Democrat Samuel T. (Sam) RAYBURN. (qv) As a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, (Jesse Martin) Combs was influential in securing federal appropriations for housing, industrial, and water projects, such as ----------- He opposed a large reduction in capital-gains tax and supported President Harry TRUMAN's 1947 loyalty order for government employees. (Jesse Martin)Combs generally backed TRUMAN in Congress, although he broke with the president over the Tidelands Controversy. (qv) Poor health led him not to seek re-election in 1952. He died of lung cancer on August 21 1953, at Beaumont and was buried there in Magnolia Cemetery. He was a Baptist. Two sons and his wife of forty-two years, Katherine (ALFORD), survived the former congressman.