Tyler McLain Born: 1885 Died: 1938

 

Tyler McLain was mayor of Memphis for less than a day.  For details see "Four Mayors in One Day".  He was one of the original and staunchest allies of E. H. Crump.  Indeed it has been said that he along with R. A. Utley, Joe Boyle and Frank Rice formed the very heart of the Crump machine.  William D. Miller described him as a "huge and colorful" man.  During his tenure as Police Commissioner an ouster suit was brought claiming that he selectively enforced the laws against liquor and vice.  When then mayor Ashcroft testified to McLain's detriment it was a signal for Crump to run Ashcroft out of office.

At the time of his death McLain was serving very effectively in the role of Attorney General of Shelby County.

What follows is from the book "Tennessee, The Volunteer State, 1769-1923, Vol. 3":

Hon. William T. McLain, a representative of a family which has long figured prominently in legislative and judicial affairs, has been continuously identified with the legal fraternity of Memphis since 1909 and in the intervening period he has been chosen to fill important public offices in the line of his profession, being the incumbent in the position of county attorney of Shelby county. He was born in Amite county, Mississippi, June 4, 1885, a son of Judge Frank A. and Fannie (Tyler) McLain, both of whom are deceased. The father, also a native of that county, was born in 1852 and on starting out in life he chose a professional career, taking up the study of law. He engaged in practice at Gloster, Mississippi, afterward becoming a judge of the supreme court of the state, and in 1898 he was elected congressman from his district. He was retained in the latter office for six successive terms, or until 1910, making a splendid political record, and he was numbered among the foremost men in the state. His demise occurred in 1920 and the mother passed away in 1900. Of the children born to their union three are living: William Tyler; Enoch B., who is residing in Louisiana; and Mrs. J. H. Hines of Memphis.

In the public schools of his native state William Tyler McLain acquired his early education and he afterward entered Vanderbilt University, from which he won the B. S. degree in 1907, while two years later that institution conferred upon him the LL. B. degree. Of a family conspicuous for strong intelligence, he began his professional career in Memphis and is now numbered among the most successful attorneys of the city. A well established reputation for ability in his chosen field naturally led to his selection for public office and he was made assistant attorney general of Shelby county under Samuel O. Bates, resigning at the end of a year to become county attorney of Shelby county, and since 1920 he has capably discharged the duties of this position.

Mr. McClain enlisted for service in the World war but was not sent overseas, serving as a lieutenant in the Quartermaster Corps. He is a stanch democrat in his political views and has taken an active and prominent part in legislative and municipal affairs. In 1915 he represented his district in the Tennessee state legislature and in November of that year he was appointed a member of the Memphis city commission, with which he was identified for three and a half years, or until October, 1918, serving under the administration of three mayors. He has devoted much of his life to public service and has cooperated in many plans and projects for the general good. He finds needed relaxation from his professional duties in golf and is also fond of fishing and hunting. He is a Methodist in religious faith and in Masonry he has taken the thirty-second degree, while he is also a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. His professional relations are with the Memphis, Shelby County and Tennessee State Bar Associations and he is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the University Club. Possessing all the requisites of an able lawyer, Mr. McLain has established his position among the foremost members of the Memphis bar, and in political as well as professional circles his opinions carry weight, for he is recognized as a man of sound and well balanced judgment, who never looks at a question in a superficial way but delves to the root of a matter, and has the faculty of separating and eliminating the non-essential from the important elements of a case.