Representative Jesse Martin Combs

Jesse Martin Combs (July 7, 1889 – August 21, 1953) was an American lawyer, jurist, educator, and Democratic politician who served four terms as a U.S. Representative from Texas from 1945 to 1953. His congressional service spanned the closing months of World War II and the early years of the Cold War, during which he participated in the legislative process and represented the interests of his Texas constituents in the House of Representatives.

Combs was born in Center, Shelby County, Texas, on July 7, 1889. He attended the public schools of his hometown and pursued higher education at Southwest Texas State Teachers College (now Texas State University) in San Marcos. He graduated from that institution in 1912, preparing for a professional career that would combine law, public service, and educational leadership.

After completing his college education, Combs studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1918. He commenced the practice of law in Kountze, Hardin County, Texas. His legal training and growing reputation in the community led him quickly into public office. From 1919 to 1920, he served as county judge of Hardin County, Texas, marking his entry into judicial and administrative responsibilities at the local level.

Combs’s judicial career advanced rapidly. He served as district judge of the Seventy-fifth Judicial District of Texas from 1923 to 1925, presiding over a broad range of civil and criminal matters. He later became associate justice of the Ninth Court of Civil Appeals of Texas, serving in that appellate capacity from 1933 to 1943. In these roles he developed a reputation as an experienced jurist, contributing to the interpretation and application of Texas civil law over a period of two decades.

In addition to his legal and judicial work, Combs was deeply involved in educational governance. He served as a member and president of the board of trustees of the South Park Schools in Beaumont, Texas, from 1926 to 1940, helping oversee the administration and development of the local public school system. He further extended his influence in higher education as president of the board of trustees of Lamar College (later Lamar University) from 1940 to 1944, playing a role in guiding the institution during a period of growth and transition.

Combs was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-ninth Congress and was reelected to the three succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1945, to January 3, 1953. During his four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, he took part in the democratic process at the national level, contributing to legislation in the immediate postwar era as the United States addressed issues of economic reconversion, veterans’ affairs, and emerging international tensions. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented his Texas district throughout this significant period in American history. He chose not to be a candidate for renomination in 1952, and his service concluded at the end of his fourth term; he was succeeded in Congress by Jack Brooks.

After leaving Congress in 1953, Combs returned to Beaumont, Texas. He resumed life in the community where he had long been active in legal, judicial, and educational affairs. He died in Beaumont on August 21, 1953, and was interred in Magnolia Cemetery.