Cratus Cedra Magers (1903-1960)

From the 1959 edition of the Hinds College Eagle.

   Cratus Cedra Magers was a member of the Mississippi State House of Representatives for two terms in the 1930s and while a man of distinction in Mississippi (serving at various times as a state representative, college administrator, and educator), little information has come to light on his life. A lifelong resident of Mississippi, Cratus C. Magers was born on September 17, 1903, and attended schools native to the town of Baldwyn. He continued his education at the Mississippi Southern College, where he received his bachelor's and master's degrees. Magers later married Earline Vandiver (1907-2000) and had two sons, William Perry (1938-2009) and T. Van. 

   For a good majority of his short life, Cratus Magers was involved in education in Mississippi, serving as a school principal for the town of South Prentiss in 1927. He would go on to hold the position of school superintendent in several other Mississippi schools, including those in the towns of Oak Grove and Purvis in Lamar County, as well as a school in the city of Morton. In addition to his service as a school superintendent, Magers was a two-term representative in the Mississippi State House of Representatives from Lamar County, serving from 1932-1936. He is recorded by a November 21, 1931 edition of the Hattiesburg American as a newly elected representative, and this same paper also notes that he was one of several representatives-elect to attend a dinner and social function at the Mississippi State Teachers College.

  Following his service in the legislature, Magers served as a Colonel on the staff of Mississippi Governor Fielding Lewis Wright and in 1956 became the Dean of Men at the Hinds Junior College in Raymond, Mississippi. He served in this capacity for four years and while he occupied this post, his wife Earline served as the Hinds College librarian, retiring in 1974. Sources of the time also note that Magers was a prominent member of the Morton Masonic Lodge and was a parishioner at the Baptist Church in Raymond.

From the 1960 edition of the Hinds Junior College "Eagle".

  Cratus C. Magers was still serving as Dean when he died on January 11, 1960, at the University Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi. He was survived by his wife Earline, sons William and Van, and eight of his siblings. Magers was later interred at the Baldwyn Masonic Cemetery in Baldwyn, Mississippi. Following her death in 2000 at age 92, Earline Vandiver Magers was interred at the same cemetery as her husband.

From the January 12, 1960 edition of the Hattiesburg American.