AMELIA ANN WHITE MCRAE
Wife of Thomas Chipman McRae, 26th Governor (1921-1925)

Born: October 6, 1855
Died: December 4, 1947
Children: six
Original Home: in Decatur, Alabama; moved to Arkansas at age three

Amelia Ann White was born in Decatur, Alabama, but grew up in Falcon, Arkansas. She met her future husband while attending school in Falcon. A few years after Amelia married Thomas Chipman McRae they moved to Prescott, Arkansas, and built the family home named The Oaks.

In 1884 Tom McRae was elected to Congress. He was a member of Congress for eighteen years and the family divided its time between Washington, D.C. and Prescott. The six children grew up exposed to both the big city and the small town.

By the time Tom McRae decided to run for Governor, his wife was sixty-five and suffered from arthritis. She was often confined to a rocking chair or wheelchair and required assistance in getting in and out of bed. Because of her condition, Mrs. McRae would often sit nearby while her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Thomas C. McRae Jr., would stand in as hostess. While in office the McRae's celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary.