City: St. Louis, Missouri
FOLK, Joseph Wingate, lawyer, statesman, ex-governor; born Brownsville, Tenn., Oct. 28, 1869; German-Italian descent; son of Henry Bate and Martha (Estes) FOLK, and brother of Dr. E. E. FOLK, editor of “The Baptist and Reflector,” and Reau E. FOLK, ex-treasurer of the State of Tennessee; his mother came from a Virginia family, and his father moved from North Carolina to Tennessee in 1848; he was educated in the Brownsville schools and at Vanderbilt University, where in 1880 he graduated in the law department with degree of LL.B.; he practiced law at Brownsville, Tenn., for a few years; after removal to St. Louis he took the stump for the Democratic ticket in 1896; he achieved his first distinction in 1900 as attorney for the street railway employees Union who had gone on a strike, he quickly adjusted the differences, and settled the difficulty; in the same year he was elected circuit attorney on the Democratic ticket, representing the Bryan wing of the party, but he achieved his greatest prominence when he succeeded in ridding the city of St. Louis of official corruption; he began with an investigation of election frauds, and indicted a number of Democratic ward-heelers; when remonstrated with for prosecuting men who had voted for him he replied: “One who violates the law is not a Democrat, he is not a Republican, he is a criminal;” his work in combating and destroying organized corruption in the city of St. Louis brought him into such favor that he was elected Governor of the State of Missouri in 1904; he was nominated by the Democrats, but was supported by a large number of Republicans, and though Roosevelt received the vote of Missouri, he carried the state by a majority of over 30,000; married Gertrude GLASS of Brownsville, Tenn., Nov. 10, 1896; he is a member of the St. Louis and Mercantile clubs; Masons, and Knights of Pythias; member of the Baptist church; Democrat; he at present is devoting a great deal of his time to the lecture platform, discussing Civic and Economic questions.
Source: Who’s Who in Tennessee: A Biographical Reference Book of Notable Tennesseans of To-Day. Memphis: Paul & Douglas Co, 1911.
