Attorney and Colonel Edgar Browne Hager (1868-1935) was a criminal defense lawyer known for his oratory skills, mayor of Ashland, Kentucky, and president of the Kentucky Municipal League.
Video Edgar Hager
Early life
Hager's father was Samuel Patton Hager, who worked as a lawyer in Ohio, and later moved to Charleston, West Virginia to run a coal corporation. Hager came to Ashland with his parents in April 1881, becoming a student at Beech Grove Academy in 1884.
Hager went on to graduate with an AB from Kentucky Wesleyan College in June 1888 as a Phi Delta Phi. In June 1891, he graduated simultaneously with an LLB from Boston University School of Law and an AM degree from Wesleyan. In August 1891 he was admitted to the Kentucky bar.
Maps Edgar Hager
Legal and political career
Hager became a prominent criminal lawyer in Ashland, Kentucky and in Chattanooga, Tennessee, working across several other state boundaries. As a lawyer, he was noted for his oratory abilities. In 1907, he was appointed state auditor's agent by his cousin, state auditor Wilber S. Hager.
Hager ran in the Democratic primary for the House of Representatives in Kentucky's 9th congressional district three times, in 1906, 1908, and 1910. In the second, he was defeated by James N. Kehoe. In the third, Hager was beaten by William J. Fields, who went on to become Governor of Kentucky. In 1918, during the final days of WWI and its immediate aftermath, Hager travelled to France with the YMCA. In 1929, he was designated special judge in a case in the Floyd Circuit Court between J. H. Nunnery and the Pike Floyd Coal Company when the regular judge, C. B. Wheeler, was disqualified.
At the age of 64, Hager was elected mayor of Ashland, Kentucky. Immediately after becoming Mayor of Ashland he reached out to neighboring cities across state lines, such as Portsmouth, Ohio, to forge closer relationships. Hager engaged in the purchase of a police radio system, funded the Ashland's merchants. In 1933, he was elected president of the Kentucky Municipal League, succeeding Paul Morton of Lexington. Hager served as Mayor of Ashland until his death in office in December 1935.
Family, death and legacy
Hager was cousins with Louisville politician and state auditor Wilbur S. Hager, father of journalist Lawrence W. Hager.
Hager died December 19, 1935 and was survived by his wife and one son. He was buried at Ashland Cemetery.
Published in 1912, A History of Kentucky and Kentuckians describes Hager as "one of the most accomplished and cultured men ever to grace the Kentucky bar" in a detailed biography of the lawyer/politician. A Hager Street and Hager Elementary School (on Hager Street) in Ashland were named after the late Mayor.
References
External links
Hager, Edgar Browne at U.S. Biographies Project
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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