Lee Cazort

One of eight children, Cazort was born in Johnson County near Cabin Creek, now Lamar, the son of John Robert Cazort and the former Belle Gardner. His father held interests in land, lumber, cotton, livestock, and mercantile trade. The family-owned Cazort Brothers operated throughout Arkansas and into neighboring states. Cazort attended the public school in Lamar but graduated from high school in Fort Smith, the seat of Sebastian County and traditionally the second-largest city in the state. From 1903 to 1904, Cazort attended Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. In 1907, he enrolled at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. In 1910, he received his legal degree from Washington and Lee University School of Law in Lexington, Virginia. He practiced law in Fort Smith and maintained orchards on Big Danger Mountain in Johnson County.[19]

In 1916, Cazort married the former Rachel Cline of Newton County. Cazort began taking over parts of the family enterprise, which had become well-known regionally. He managed an alfalfa farm and peach orchard in the River Valley, while also producing lumber and railroad ties. Over time, his reputation grew favorably both in Johnson County and statewide.[20]

In 1914, Cazort officially entered politics by running for the Johnson County seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives. With the exception of privately practicing law from 1922-1924, Cazort sought or held political office over the next 23 years. Cazort won the election for the seat previously filled by Heartsill Ragon, who became a powerful United States Congressman. He took the oath of office in January 1915 for the 40th General Assembly.[21] After winning reelection in November 1916, Cazort was elected as the 42nd Speaker of the Arkansas House by his House colleagues for the 41st General Assembly.[22] At twenty-nine, he was in 1917 the youngest ever Arkansas House Speaker.[19] While in the House, he introduced what became the Tick Eradication Act and sponsored legislation which provide taxpayer-funded textbooks for the first eight grades in Arkansas public schools.

Cazort won election to the Arkansas Senate in November 1918, representing the Fourth District (Johnson and Pope counties), a largely agricultural district which also included the growing cities of Clarksville and Russellville. He won reelection in November 1920, and was elected President of the Arkansas Senate for the 43rd General Assembly. At age thirty-three in 1921, he was the youngest ever President of the Arkansas Senate.[19] After his service as state senator ended in 1922, Cazort returned to his law practice in Little Rock. Much of his early practice centered on representing veterans of World War I with insurance claims.

Beginning in 1924, Lee Cazort sought or held statewide office throughout the next 13 years. In 1928, he was described as having good statewide name recognition following a successful tenure in the General Assembly, combined with the name recognition of his families wide-ranging business dealings.[20]

The couple had four children, all now deceased: William L. Cazort, Jr. (died 1999), Bettie Belle Cazort Vaughan Emery Stover (1918–2011), Cornelia Cazort Phillips, and Ronald Cazort. A former resident of Wynne and a one-time employee of the Arkansas Legislative Council, Bettie Stover was the Cross County chairman of the Winthrop Rockefeller gubernatorial campaigns.[27]

• William Lee Cazort at Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture