Lawrence Russell Ellzey

Lawrence Russell Ellzey (March 20, 1891 – December 7, 1977) was an American educator, college president, and Democratic U.S. Representative from Mississippi. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1932 to 1935, during a significant period in American history marked by the Great Depression and the early New Deal era. Over the course of two terms in Congress, he participated in the legislative process and represented the interests of his Mississippi constituents.

Ellzey was born on a farm near Wesson, Copiah County, Mississippi, on March 20, 1891. He was raised in a rural environment and attended the local rural schools, experiences that would later inform his long career in education and public service. His early life in an agricultural community provided him with firsthand understanding of the challenges facing farmers and small-town residents in the South in the early twentieth century.

Pursuing higher education, Ellzey enrolled at Mississippi College in Clinton, Mississippi, where he received an A.B. degree in 1912. After his initial college training, he began a career in education, teaching in the consolidated county schools of Mississippi from 1912 to 1917. Seeking further professional development, he later attended the University of Chicago in 1927, broadening his academic background and strengthening his credentials as an educator and administrator.

With the United States’ entry into World War I, Ellzey volunteered for military service. He enlisted as a private in the Quartermaster Corps on December 13, 1917. During his service he was deployed overseas for nine months, contributing to the logistical support of American forces. Over the course of his military tenure he rose in rank and was discharged as a first lieutenant on February 20, 1919. His wartime experience added a dimension of national service to his already developing record of public commitment.

After returning to Mississippi, Ellzey resumed his work in education and quickly moved into leadership roles. He served as superintendent of education for Lincoln County, Mississippi, from 1920 to 1922, overseeing public schools and local educational policy. From 1922 to 1928 he taught at the agricultural high school in Wesson, reflecting his continued engagement with rural and agricultural communities. He then became president of Copiah-Lincoln Junior College in Wesson, serving from 1928 to 1932. In that capacity he helped guide the institution during its formative years, advancing opportunities for higher education in southwest Mississippi.

Ellzey entered national politics as a member of the Democratic Party. He was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-second Congress by special election on March 15, 1932, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Representative Percy Quin. He was subsequently reelected to the Seventy-third Congress, serving from March 15, 1932, until January 3, 1935. During these two terms in office, he took part in the work of the House of Representatives at a time when Congress was addressing the economic crisis of the Great Depression and shaping early New Deal legislation. Although he contributed to the legislative process and represented his district’s interests, he was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1934 to the Seventy-fourth Congress, bringing his congressional career to a close at the beginning of 1935.

Following his departure from Congress, Ellzey returned to private life and engaged in business and public service activities. He was employed in the life insurance industry, applying his administrative and interpersonal skills in the private sector. During World War II, he again took on a role in support of national efforts, serving as executive secretary for the Mississippi Salvage Campaign from 1942 to 1943, a statewide initiative to collect materials vital to the war effort.

Lawrence Russell Ellzey spent his later years in Mississippi. He died in Jackson, Mississippi, on December 7, 1977, at the age of 86. He was interred in Wesson Cemetery in Wesson, Mississippi, returning in death to the community where he had been born, educated, and where he had devoted much of his career to the advancement of education and public service.