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Created page with "{{Infobox person |nam=Leon Crow Bramlett, Jr. (Mississippi athlete, businessman and former gubernatorial candidate) | birth_date=September 17, 1923 |birth_place= | death_date..."
{{Infobox person
|nam=Leon Crow Bramlett, Jr.
(Mississippi athlete, businessman and former gubernatorial candidate)
| birth_date=September 17, 1923
|birth_place=
| death_date =October 19, 2015 (aged 92)
| death_place=Clarksdale, [[Mississippi]], USA<br>
'''Resting place''':<br>
Oakridge Cemetery in Clarksdale
| party=[[Republican Party|Republican]] nominee for [[Governor]] of Mississippi (1983)
| religion=[[Presbyterian]] Church of America
| spouse=Virginia McGehee "Skeeter" Bramlett (married 1947-2012 , her death)<br>
'''Children''':<br>
| children=Sallie Key Bramlett Russell. (deceased)
Leon Crow Bramlett, III<br>
Virginia Hartridge Bramlett<br>
'''Parents''':<b>
Leon, Sr., and Elizabeth Jones Bramlett
'''Alma mater''':<br>
[[University of Mississippi]]
[[University of Alabama]]
[[United States Naval Academy]]}}
'''Leon Crow Bramlett, Jr.''', sometimes known as '''Lee Bramlett''' (September 17, 1923<ref name=sportshof>{{cite web|url=http://msfame.com/hall-of-fame/inductees/leon-c-lee-bramlett/|title=Leon C. "Lee" Bramlett|publisher=msfame.com|accessdate=May 6, 2014}}</ref> dash; October 19, 2015) was a [[farmer]] and [[business]]man from Clarksdale, [[Mississippi]], who was a 1944–1945 All-American [[football]] player at the [[United States Naval Academy]] and the 1983 [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[Governor|gubernatorial]] nominee.
==Sports and military background==
Bramlett was the son of Leon Bramlett, Sr. (1899–1957), a native of Lyon near Clarksdale in Coahoma County in northwestern Mississippi and the former Elizabeth Jones (1900-1980). He attended the [[University of Mississippi]] at Oxford in 1941 and the [[University of Alabama]] at [[Tuscaloosa, Alabama|Tuscaloosa]] in 1942. He graduated in 1947 from the [[United States Naval Academy]] in [[Annapolis]], [[Maryland]]. He played football at all three institutions. In 1944 and 1945, he was an All American player for the Navy Midshipmen. He also lettered in [[boxing]] and was a heavyweight champion in 1944 and 1945. In 1944, he led the Midshipmen in pass receptions with 10 catches for 145 yards. Forty-four years later in 1988, Bramlett was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. Bramlett played in 1945 against another future Mississippi Sports Hall of Famer, Felix Anthony "Doc" Blanchard (1924-2009), a member of the team at the [[United States Military Academy]] at West Point, [[New York]], and a native of [[South Carolina]]. Army defeated Navy 32–13 in the game. From 1948 to 1949, Bramlett coached the Naval Academy football team.<ref name=sportshof/>
After graduation from the Naval Academy, Bramlett served as an officer in the [[United States Marine Corps]].<ref name=campaigns/>
==Political interests==
In 1979, Bramlett, a former [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], sought the Republican nomination for governor but lost in the low-turnout [[primary]] election to [[Gil Carmichael]], a businessman from Meridian, 17,216 votes (53 percent) to 15,236 (47 percent).<ref name=campaigns>{{cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=8571|title=Leon Bramlett|publisher=ourcampaigns.com|accessdate=September 3, 2020}}</ref> Carmichael had been the 1975 nominee against Democrat Charles Clifton "Cliff" Finch (1927-1986) and had also carried the [[Republican Party|GOP]] banner against [[U.S. Senator]] [[James Eastland]] in 1972 and the Republican-turned-[[Independent voter|Independent]] Prentiss Lafayette Walker (1917-1998), a one-term member of the [[United States House of Representatives]] from 1965 to 1967.
In 1983, Bramlett won the gubernatorial primary and faced the Democrat William Alexander "Bill" Allain (1928-2013), a popular state attorney general known for his fight against utility rate hikes and his opposition to the storage of nuclear waste in Mississippi. In the campaign, the private detective Rex Armistead (1930-2013), formerly with the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, helped to spread rumors that Allain had [[sexual intercourse]] with two [[African-American]] male [[transvestite]]s.<ref name="Howard2">John Howard, ''Men Like That: A Southern Queer History,'' ( Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1999), pp. 281–297</ref><ref name="Time">{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,926319-3,00.html|title=Elections '83; A Winning Round"|publisher=''[[Time magazine]]''|accessdate=May 6, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-lZ903C-dkMC&pg=PA156&lpg=PA156&dq=%22william+allain%22+gay&source=bl&ots=ISXBGprjeF&sig=nE1rqGnui1yUI7p_V-6Yb_4RolY&hl=en&ei=U42US7mzL4uWtgeCt9HUCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CB8Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=&f=false|title=Outing: Shattering the Conspiracy of Silence|author=Warren Johansson and William A. Percy|publisher=Routledge|date=1994, page=156}}</ref>
Allain denied the claims,<ref name="Time"/> the tranvestites went on the record with a [[lie detector]] but in 1984, after the gubernatorial election had been held, they claimed that they had never met Allain and had not been paid for their testimony.<ref name="Howard2"/><ref name="rockhill">{{citation |periodical=''TheRock Hill Herald''|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3S0tAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Gb0EAAAAIBAJ&pg=2384,1323234&dq=bill-allain&hl=en |title=Transvestites withdraw allegations}}</ref>
Bramlett lost the [[general election]], 288,764 (38.9 percent) to Allain's 409,209 (55.1 percent). James Charles Evers (1922-2020), the African American [[civil rights]] activist from Fayette and the brother of slain [[Medgar Evers]], ran as an Independent and polled 30,593 (votes 4.1 percent).<ref name=campaigns/> Carmichael ran in 1983 for lieutenant governor against the incumbent Democrat Bradford Johnson "Brad" Dye, Jr. (1933-2018), who prevailed with 464,080 votes (64.3 percent) to Carmichael's 257,623 (35.7 percent). Bramlett hence outpolled Carmichael by just over 31,000 votes when both were on the ballot as ticket mates.<ref name=campaigns/>
Bramlett also served as the in-state representative for the late Republican [[U.S. Senator]] [[Thad Cochran]], first elected to the U.S. House in 1972 and the Senate in 1978.<ref name=campaigns/>
==Family life==
In 1947, Bramlett married the former Virginia McGehee, known as Skeeter Bramlett (1923–2012), a native of Greenville in western Mississippi, and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Thomas McGehee. Virginia attended elementary school in Grenada, Mississippi, and returned to Greenville to graduate there from Greenville High School. She subsequently received a degree from Randolph Macon Women's College in [[Lynchburg, Virginia|Lynchburg]], [[Virginia]] where she was a member of Chi Omega [[sorority]] and the president of the Student Government Association. She was named "Miss Greenville" by the [[Chamber of Commerce]]. When the Bramletts married, he was serving in the Marine Corps, and the young couple lived for a time in [[Quantico]], Virginia, and [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref name=vabobit/> They then returned to Clarksdale, where Bramlett had farming interests. He owned Bramlett Farms and Bramlett Gin & Delint in Clarksdale.<ref name=campaigns/> They were active in the First [[Presbyterian]] Church, allied with the [[conservative]] Presbyterian Church of America congregation in Clarksdale.<ref name=vabobit>{{cite web|url=http://meredith-nowellfuneralhome.com/book-of-memories/1427270/Bramlett-Virginia/obituary.php|title=Obituary for Virginia Bramlett|publisher=''Memphis ([[Tennessee]]) Commercial Appeal''|date=December 3, 2012|accessdate=May 6, 2014}}</ref>
Three children were born to the union of Leon and Virginia Bramlett: Sallie Key Bramlett Russell (1948–1984),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=102282198|title=Sallie Key Bramlett Russell|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=September 3, 2020}}</ref> Leon Bramlett, III, of [[Dallas]], [[Texas]], and Virginia Hartridge Bramlett of Bowie in Montague County near [[Wichita Falls]], Texas. Leon and Virginia Bramlett are interred at Oakridge Cemetery in Clarksdale, along with their daughter, Sallie Russell.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/154027931/leon-crow-bramlett|title=Leon Crow Bramlett, Jr.|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=September 3, 2020}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bramlett, Leon}}
[[Category:Mississippi]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Farmers]]
[[Category:Football]]
[[Category:Athletes]]
[[Category:Boxers]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Former Democrats]]
[[Category:Presbyterians]]
[[Category:United States Marine Corps]]
|nam=Leon Crow Bramlett, Jr.
(Mississippi athlete, businessman and former gubernatorial candidate)
| birth_date=September 17, 1923
|birth_place=
| death_date =October 19, 2015 (aged 92)
| death_place=Clarksdale, [[Mississippi]], USA<br>
'''Resting place''':<br>
Oakridge Cemetery in Clarksdale
| party=[[Republican Party|Republican]] nominee for [[Governor]] of Mississippi (1983)
| religion=[[Presbyterian]] Church of America
| spouse=Virginia McGehee "Skeeter" Bramlett (married 1947-2012 , her death)<br>
'''Children''':<br>
| children=Sallie Key Bramlett Russell. (deceased)
Leon Crow Bramlett, III<br>
Virginia Hartridge Bramlett<br>
'''Parents''':<b>
Leon, Sr., and Elizabeth Jones Bramlett
'''Alma mater''':<br>
[[University of Mississippi]]
[[University of Alabama]]
[[United States Naval Academy]]}}
'''Leon Crow Bramlett, Jr.''', sometimes known as '''Lee Bramlett''' (September 17, 1923<ref name=sportshof>{{cite web|url=http://msfame.com/hall-of-fame/inductees/leon-c-lee-bramlett/|title=Leon C. "Lee" Bramlett|publisher=msfame.com|accessdate=May 6, 2014}}</ref> dash; October 19, 2015) was a [[farmer]] and [[business]]man from Clarksdale, [[Mississippi]], who was a 1944–1945 All-American [[football]] player at the [[United States Naval Academy]] and the 1983 [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[Governor|gubernatorial]] nominee.
==Sports and military background==
Bramlett was the son of Leon Bramlett, Sr. (1899–1957), a native of Lyon near Clarksdale in Coahoma County in northwestern Mississippi and the former Elizabeth Jones (1900-1980). He attended the [[University of Mississippi]] at Oxford in 1941 and the [[University of Alabama]] at [[Tuscaloosa, Alabama|Tuscaloosa]] in 1942. He graduated in 1947 from the [[United States Naval Academy]] in [[Annapolis]], [[Maryland]]. He played football at all three institutions. In 1944 and 1945, he was an All American player for the Navy Midshipmen. He also lettered in [[boxing]] and was a heavyweight champion in 1944 and 1945. In 1944, he led the Midshipmen in pass receptions with 10 catches for 145 yards. Forty-four years later in 1988, Bramlett was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. Bramlett played in 1945 against another future Mississippi Sports Hall of Famer, Felix Anthony "Doc" Blanchard (1924-2009), a member of the team at the [[United States Military Academy]] at West Point, [[New York]], and a native of [[South Carolina]]. Army defeated Navy 32–13 in the game. From 1948 to 1949, Bramlett coached the Naval Academy football team.<ref name=sportshof/>
After graduation from the Naval Academy, Bramlett served as an officer in the [[United States Marine Corps]].<ref name=campaigns/>
==Political interests==
In 1979, Bramlett, a former [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], sought the Republican nomination for governor but lost in the low-turnout [[primary]] election to [[Gil Carmichael]], a businessman from Meridian, 17,216 votes (53 percent) to 15,236 (47 percent).<ref name=campaigns>{{cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=8571|title=Leon Bramlett|publisher=ourcampaigns.com|accessdate=September 3, 2020}}</ref> Carmichael had been the 1975 nominee against Democrat Charles Clifton "Cliff" Finch (1927-1986) and had also carried the [[Republican Party|GOP]] banner against [[U.S. Senator]] [[James Eastland]] in 1972 and the Republican-turned-[[Independent voter|Independent]] Prentiss Lafayette Walker (1917-1998), a one-term member of the [[United States House of Representatives]] from 1965 to 1967.
In 1983, Bramlett won the gubernatorial primary and faced the Democrat William Alexander "Bill" Allain (1928-2013), a popular state attorney general known for his fight against utility rate hikes and his opposition to the storage of nuclear waste in Mississippi. In the campaign, the private detective Rex Armistead (1930-2013), formerly with the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, helped to spread rumors that Allain had [[sexual intercourse]] with two [[African-American]] male [[transvestite]]s.<ref name="Howard2">John Howard, ''Men Like That: A Southern Queer History,'' ( Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1999), pp. 281–297</ref><ref name="Time">{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,926319-3,00.html|title=Elections '83; A Winning Round"|publisher=''[[Time magazine]]''|accessdate=May 6, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-lZ903C-dkMC&pg=PA156&lpg=PA156&dq=%22william+allain%22+gay&source=bl&ots=ISXBGprjeF&sig=nE1rqGnui1yUI7p_V-6Yb_4RolY&hl=en&ei=U42US7mzL4uWtgeCt9HUCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CB8Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=&f=false|title=Outing: Shattering the Conspiracy of Silence|author=Warren Johansson and William A. Percy|publisher=Routledge|date=1994, page=156}}</ref>
Allain denied the claims,<ref name="Time"/> the tranvestites went on the record with a [[lie detector]] but in 1984, after the gubernatorial election had been held, they claimed that they had never met Allain and had not been paid for their testimony.<ref name="Howard2"/><ref name="rockhill">{{citation |periodical=''TheRock Hill Herald''|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3S0tAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Gb0EAAAAIBAJ&pg=2384,1323234&dq=bill-allain&hl=en |title=Transvestites withdraw allegations}}</ref>
Bramlett lost the [[general election]], 288,764 (38.9 percent) to Allain's 409,209 (55.1 percent). James Charles Evers (1922-2020), the African American [[civil rights]] activist from Fayette and the brother of slain [[Medgar Evers]], ran as an Independent and polled 30,593 (votes 4.1 percent).<ref name=campaigns/> Carmichael ran in 1983 for lieutenant governor against the incumbent Democrat Bradford Johnson "Brad" Dye, Jr. (1933-2018), who prevailed with 464,080 votes (64.3 percent) to Carmichael's 257,623 (35.7 percent). Bramlett hence outpolled Carmichael by just over 31,000 votes when both were on the ballot as ticket mates.<ref name=campaigns/>
Bramlett also served as the in-state representative for the late Republican [[U.S. Senator]] [[Thad Cochran]], first elected to the U.S. House in 1972 and the Senate in 1978.<ref name=campaigns/>
==Family life==
In 1947, Bramlett married the former Virginia McGehee, known as Skeeter Bramlett (1923–2012), a native of Greenville in western Mississippi, and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Thomas McGehee. Virginia attended elementary school in Grenada, Mississippi, and returned to Greenville to graduate there from Greenville High School. She subsequently received a degree from Randolph Macon Women's College in [[Lynchburg, Virginia|Lynchburg]], [[Virginia]] where she was a member of Chi Omega [[sorority]] and the president of the Student Government Association. She was named "Miss Greenville" by the [[Chamber of Commerce]]. When the Bramletts married, he was serving in the Marine Corps, and the young couple lived for a time in [[Quantico]], Virginia, and [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref name=vabobit/> They then returned to Clarksdale, where Bramlett had farming interests. He owned Bramlett Farms and Bramlett Gin & Delint in Clarksdale.<ref name=campaigns/> They were active in the First [[Presbyterian]] Church, allied with the [[conservative]] Presbyterian Church of America congregation in Clarksdale.<ref name=vabobit>{{cite web|url=http://meredith-nowellfuneralhome.com/book-of-memories/1427270/Bramlett-Virginia/obituary.php|title=Obituary for Virginia Bramlett|publisher=''Memphis ([[Tennessee]]) Commercial Appeal''|date=December 3, 2012|accessdate=May 6, 2014}}</ref>
Three children were born to the union of Leon and Virginia Bramlett: Sallie Key Bramlett Russell (1948–1984),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=102282198|title=Sallie Key Bramlett Russell|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=September 3, 2020}}</ref> Leon Bramlett, III, of [[Dallas]], [[Texas]], and Virginia Hartridge Bramlett of Bowie in Montague County near [[Wichita Falls]], Texas. Leon and Virginia Bramlett are interred at Oakridge Cemetery in Clarksdale, along with their daughter, Sallie Russell.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/154027931/leon-crow-bramlett|title=Leon Crow Bramlett, Jr.|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=September 3, 2020}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bramlett, Leon}}
[[Category:Mississippi]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Farmers]]
[[Category:Football]]
[[Category:Athletes]]
[[Category:Boxers]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Former Democrats]]
[[Category:Presbyterians]]
[[Category:United States Marine Corps]]