Attorney E. A. Camp - "The man upstair"s

They still remember ‘the man upstairs’

By MIKE BROWN

Reporter Editor

Rockdale Reporter - 02-17-2011

E. A. Camp law office building gets new business

But this is a place where it’s hard not to think about “the man upstairs.”

The man upstairs in this case hasn’t been around in 50 years but the memory of Emory A.

Camp is still strong at 217 North Main.

A new business, 217 Main, is opening this spring downstairs from Judge Camp’s old law

office where he practiced law for 58 years.

Business owners Wendie Upson, Janet Leininger and Leanna Applegate, plan to open in the

spring after the extensive renovation is completed, and promise “a little bit of

everything.”

Judge Camp would have liked that. He was a lot of everything to Rockdale in the first

part of the 20th Century.

‘MR. ROCKDALE - He served as the town’s mayor, as a state representative, was city

attorney for 30 years, a member of the draft board, chairman of the Rockdale State Bank

board of directors and vice-president of the Rockdale Sandow & Southern Railroad.

But when 1,100 people overflowed Phillips & Luckey Funeral Home for his funeral

services in 1961, he was remembered simply, but profoundly, for being Judge Camp.

Remembered as the man with the bat-wing collar and the fresh carnation in his lapel who

could turn a trip to the post office into the highlight of the day for anyone fortunate

enough to encounter him holding court before an open postal box.

His Reporter obituary bore the title “Mr. Rockdale.”

NOT OLD ENOUGH - Camp came to Texas in 1887 at age six with the family settling in San

Gabriel.

He worked his way through the University of Texas where his graduation from law school

proved to be the first of many memorable Camp Stories.

He was in line to receive his law degree when the presiding judge reminded graduates

the state bar required them to be qualified voters.

Camp quietly stepped out of line. He was 20, not yet eligible to vote. He had finished

law school early.

The bar granted him a law license conditional upon his registering to vote on his 21st

birthday.

SUPREME COURT - He moved into the law office at 217 North Main in 1903 and practiced

there until his death.

It would be a stretch to say Camp “invented” Rockdale but only a bit. He was involved

in every facet of the town’s life for 50 years.

He obtained the political support to get the area’s first paved roads in 1916.

Rockdale tried to build a new high school in 1921 but bonds were tied up in an

unbelievable legal tangle.

Camp argued the case all the way to the Texas Supreme Court. He won. The school was

built. He was known as the father of the Texas Burial Association law and was co-author

of the Robinson Insurance Law which laid the foundation for the Texas insurance

industry.

He was a leading figure in the development of the lignite mining venture which

eventually led to the establishment of Alcoa’s Rockdale Operations.

21 STEPS - But those were the big things. Those 1,000 people came to Judge Camp’s

funeral as much for the little things.

How many people climbed those famous 21 steps to his office door through two world wars

and the depression?

Probably tens of thousands.

Sometimes those clients needed legal advice and sometimes just advice. They got it.

And there was never a color barrier at Judge Camp’s office door.

UNANIMOUS - How much respected was E. A. Camp in Rockdale?

Not many towns have a political story like this one.

On July 29, 1929, Rockdale held a special election to fill the vacant mayor’s post.

Camp did not seek the position. He was nominated by his friends, without his knowledge.

There were 131 votes cast in the election.

All were for Camp.

All articles from the Rockdale Reporter are published with permission.
All credit for this article goes to
Mike Brown and
the Rockdale Reporter

Judge E. A. Camp 1881-1961

.