J. Mark Wilcox

J. Mark Wilcox

James Mark Wilcox (May 21, 1890 – February 3, 1956) was a U.S. Representative from Florida.

Wilcox is remembered as the author of the Wilcox Municipal Bankruptcy Act, which became law in 1934, a bill which initially allowed a city in his district, West Palm Beach, to adjust its bonded indebtedness and avoid bankruptcy. It was later invoked to help New York City avoid bankruptcy in 1972.

Biography

Early years

James Mark Wilcox, commonly known by his middle name, was born May 21, 1890 in Willacoochee, Georgia, the second son of Dr. Jefferson Taylor Wilcox and his wife Marian Henson Wilcox.^[1] He attended public schools and Emory University.^[1] After graduation from Emory, he worked as a teacher before attending law school at Mercer University.^[1] He graduated from Mercer in 1910 and was admitted to the bar the same year; he commenced practice in Hazlehurst, Georgia.^[1]

Wilcox married the former Lyde Christine Helm (1892-1973) of Birmingham, Alabama on November 27, 1910.^[1] The couple would have two sons, James Mark Wilcox, Jr. (1915-1995) and Joel C. Wilcox, Sr. (1918-2009).^[1]

Wilcox served as the solicitor of Jeff Davis County, Georgia from 1911 until 1918.^[1] The following year he moved to Brunswick, Georgia, then in 1925 to West Palm Beach, Florida, where he continued to practice law.^[1] He served as city attorney of West Palm Beach from 1928 until 1933 and as a member of the taxation committee of President Herbert Hoover's Conference on Home Ownership in 1931.^[1]

Political career

Wilcox was elected to Congress in 1932, defeating two term Congressional representative Ruth Bryan Owen in the June Democratic primary. Wilcox was elected to the Seventy-third, Seventy-fourth, and Seventy-fifth Congresses and served from March 4, 1933 to January 3, 1939.^[1]

In Congress authored HR Bill 3151 in 1937 which recommended separating the Air Corps from the Army and making it an independent service. He also authored the Wilcox Municipal Bankruptcy Act which became law in 1934; it allowed West Palm Beach to adjust its bonded indebtedness and avoid bankruptcy. It was later invoked to help New York City avoid bankruptcy in 1972.

He was not a candidate for Congress in 1938, instead choosing to make a run for the Democratic nomination for United States Senator, a campaign which was ultimately unsuccessful.^[1]

Later years, death, and legacy

Following his 1938 electoral defeat Wilcox resumed the practice of law in Miami, Florida.^[1] Later, he served as Attorney General for the Dade County Port Authority/Greater Miami Traffic Association from 1945 until his death at his farm, ChrisMar, in White Springs, Florida on February 3, 1956.^[1] Wilcox's body was interred in Woodlawn Park Cemetery, Miami, Florida.^[1]

Wilcox is the namesake of Miami International Airport, the official name of which is J. Mark Wilcox Field.

Footnotes

1. "James Mark Wilcox (1890-1956)," Biographical Dictionary of the United States Congress, 1774-Present. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. (Public domain source).