57th Governor of Georgia, United States Senator. He is remembered for his public service in the State of Georgia at the turn of the 20th century. As a Democrat, he served as the Attorney General of Georgia from 1892 to 1902, as the Governor of Georgia from 1902 to 1907, then returned to his law practice until he was appointed to the United States Senate on November 17, 1910 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Alexander S. Clay and serving until July 11, 1911. Suffering paralysis from a stroke while in Washington D. C., he was not physicially a candidate for the next senatorial election although he desired the position. After serving as United States Senator, he returned to a law practice in Atlanta until his death from Bright's Disease. He attended local schools, never attended college but studied law under an attorney, and admitted to the bar in 1882. He practiced law in Greenville. From 1884 to 1887, he served in the Georgia State House of Representatives and was a State Senator from 1890 to 1892 before becoming Attorney General of Georgia. Among his accomplishments as governor were the creation of a statewide system of agricultural secondary schools and to make reforms to the Georgia Constitution to give provisions for school funding. He served as governor during the Atlanta Race Riot of 1906. Starting on September 22, 1906 and raging for two days, white citizens raid African-American neighborhoods hanging, stabbing, and shooting from 25 to 100 African-American citizens to death. The number of deaths is different depending on the source. Two white citizens were killed. This event was covered internationally including the French newspaper, “Le Petit Journal” and described the event as a “racial massacre of Negroes.” The riots began after a Atlanta newspaper published stories of four white women being allegedly raped by African-American men, but the main underlying cause was a rapidly-growing city and a poor economy with competition for jobs, housing, and political power. Governor Terrell called the Georgia National Guard to help keep the peace, but the African-American citizens accused the Atlanta Police Department and some of the Guardsmen, who were white, to be perpetrators in the incidents. The United States Liberty Ship Joseph M. Terrell, which was used in World War II, was named in his honor. Terrell Hall on the campus of Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville was also named in his honor.