Newton Crain Blanchard (January 29, 1849 – June 22, 1922) was a United States representative, U.S. senator, and the 33rd governor of Louisiana.
Newton Crain Blanchard | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 33rd Governor of Louisiana | |
| In office May 10, 1904 – May 12, 1908 | |
| Lieutenant | Jared Y. Sanders, Sr. |
| Preceded by | William Wright Heard |
| Succeeded by | Jared Y. Sanders, Sr. |
| Louisiana Supreme Court Associate Justice | |
| In office 1897–1903 | |
| Succeeded by | Alfred D. Land |
| United States Senator from Louisiana | |
| In office March 12, 1894 – March 3, 1897 | |
| Preceded by | Edward D. White |
| Succeeded by | Samuel D. McEnery |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 4th district | |
| In office March 4, 1881 – March 12, 1894 | |
| Preceded by | Joseph B. Elam |
| Succeeded by | Henry W. Ogden |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 29, 1849 Rapides Parish Louisiana, USA |
| Died | June 22, 1922 (aged 73) Shreveport Caddo Parish, Louisiana |
| Resting place | Greenwood Cemetery in Shreveport |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | Tulane University Law School |
| Occupation | Attorney |
| Signature |  |
Personal life
editBorn in Rapides Parish in Central Louisiana, he completed academic studies, studied law in Alexandria in 1868, and graduated from the Tulane University Law School in 1870 (then named the University of Louisiana). He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Shreveport in 1871; in 1879 he was a delegate to the State constitutional convention.
In 1873 he married Mary Emma Barrett, the daughter of Capt. William W. Barrett, an officer in the Confederate army. Their daughter, Mary Ethel Blanchard, married Leonard Rutherford Smith.
Political career
editBlanchard was elected as a Democrat to the 47th and to the six succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1881, until his resignation, effective March 12, 1894. While in the House of Representatives, he was chairman of the Committee on Rivers and Harbors (50th through 53rd Congresses). He was appointed and subsequently elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Edward Douglass White, who was appointed to the United States Supreme Court. Blanchard served in the Senate from March 12, 1894, to March 3, 1897; he was not a candidate for a full term in 1896. While in the Senate, Blanchard was chairman of the Committee on Improvement of the Mississippi River and its Tributaries (Fifty-third Congress).
Elected associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, Blanchard served from 1897 to 1903, when he resigned. Blanchard became the Democratic nominee for governor in 1904. He was elected and was governor from 1904 to 1908, and thereafter resumed the practice of law in Shreveport.
As governor, he appointed Sheriff David Theophilus Stafford of Rapides Parish, a son of Leroy Augustus Stafford, a Confederate brigadier general mortally wounded in the American Civil War, as the Louisiana adjutant general.[1] Vraious reforms were also introduced including a minimum wage law.[2]
In 1913, Blanchard was again a member of the State constitutional convention, this time serving as president. He died in Shreveport in 1922 and was interred at Greenwood Cemetery.
References
edit- ^ "David Theophilus Stafford". Louisiana Historical Association. Archived from the original on July 16, 2016. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
- ^ Earl K. Long The Saga of Uncle Earl and Louisiana Politics By Michael L. Kurtz, Morgan D. Peoples, 1991
- United States Congress. "Newton C. Blanchard (id: B000541)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
External links
edit
- State of Louisiana - Biography Archived February 21, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- Cemetery Memorial by La-Cemeteries