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JACK, George Whitefield, jurist. Born, November 1, 1875; son of William Houston Jack and Mary Catherine Whitfield. Education: Louisiana Normal School (now Northwestern State University), graduated, 1893; Tulane Law School, 1898. Began law practice in Shreveport. Member, board of administrators of Louisiana Normal School, 1908-1912; Shreveport city attorney, 1910-1913; U. S. attorney, Western District of Louisiana, 1913-1917; United States district judge, Western District of Louisiana, 1917-1924. Married Roberta Pegues on May 10, 1900, daughter of Sheriff William T. Pegues of De Soto Parish. Children: Whitfield, Welborn, and Stuart. Died, Shreveport, March 15, 1924. D.M.K. Source: National Cyclopedia of American Biography (1900).
JACK, William Houston, attorney and politician. Born in Wilkes County, Ga., June 4, 1836; son of Prof. William Cummins Jack and Catharine Clara Abernethie Wellborn. Married (1) Mary C. Whitfield (d. 1882) of Natchitoches, December 20, 1860; (2) Ella G. McIntyre (d. 1891) of Minden; (3) Mrs. Mattie Ector Ashley of Alexandria, July 6, 1892. Children included United States District Judge George Whitfield Jack; grandchildren included writer Ada Jack Carver. At the oubreak of the Civil War, Jack raised a cavalry company in Columbia County, Ark., where he lived at the time. The company entered the Confederate service, but the Arkansas governor refused to commission Jack because the Georgia native had a wooden leg. Moved to Natchitoches, La., where he practiced law with Judge David Pierson. Elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives from Natchitoches Parish, 1863. Subsequently chaired the House Judiciary Committee. Elected district judge, Natchitoches Parish, 1874, but the election was vacated by the Republican returning board. During Reconstruction, twice arrested and tried in federal court for his role in the Natchitoches revolt against Gov. William Pitt Kellogg (q.v.). Served as a presidential elector for the Democratic party, 1880 and 1884. President of the Louisiana Baptist Convention, 1880-1891. State Superintendent of Education, 1890-1893. Organizing president of the Louisiana Society, Sons of the American Revolution, May 15, 1890. Died at Natchitoches, June 8, 1912; interred American Cemetery, Natchitoches. A.Y.B. Sources: Edward Overton Cailleteau, “William Houston Jack,” in “A History of the Louisiana Society, Sons of the American Revolution,” pp. 24-25.
JACKSON, Andrew, soldier, president of the United States. Born, Waxhaw, S. C., March 15, 1767; son of Andrew Jackson and Elizabeth Hutchinson. Educated: back country schools, read law, passed North Carolina bar, 1787. Removed to Tennessee: engaged in variety of economic pursuits, 1788-1790s. Early political career: elected member Tennessee state constitutional convention, 1796; elected, U. S. House of Representatives, 1796; elected, U. S. Senate, 1797, but resigned; served on Tennessee supreme court, 1797-1804; elected, 1802, major general, Tennessee militia. War of 1812 service: commissioned by federal government as major general of volunteers, 1812; led militia as well as army regulars in campaign against Creek Indians (British allies), winning victories at Talladega, Ala., November 8, 1813, and Horseshoe Bend, Ala., March 27, 1814; appointed major general, U. S. Regular Army, May 28, 1814; negotiated Treaty of Fort Jackson, Ala., with Creek Indians, August 9, 1814; defended Mobile, Ala., against British threat and captured Pensacola in Spanish Florida, September-November 1814; marched with his soldiers to New Orleans (arrived December 2, 1814) to prepare defenses against British invasion. In addition to regular troops, gathered militia from Tennessee, Kentucky, and Mississippi, as well as free blacks and other volunteers from Louisiana; made special arrangements to add pirates of Jean Lafitte (q.v.) to his army. Temporarily suspended civil law and instituted martial law in New Orleans until the British invasion had ended (British landed soldiers on December 13, near Lake Borgne); coordinated skirmishes, night attacks, and raids against British forces from December 13, 1814, to January 1, 1815, and prepared strong defensive works at Rodriquez Canal near Chalmette plantation along the Mississippi River south of New Orleans. Commanded his army in repelling an assault by 5,400 British troops led by Lt. Gen. Sir Edward Pakenham (q.v.), inflicting more than 2,000 casualties (killed, wounded, and captured) on the British, while Americans suffered only 13 casualties of 4,000 defenders. The War of 1812 had very few American military victories, thus the victory at New Orleans made Jackson a national hero and left the incorrect impression on the public that America had won the war. Earlier given nickname “Old Hickory” by soldiers because of his toughness; new nickname stayed with him for life—”Old Hero” of the Battle of New Orleans; personified the cult of the volunteer soldier in America, and later (during his presidency) cast doubts on the need for maintaining professional officer training at U. S. Military Academy at West Point, N. Y. Later military career: as major general, commanded soldiers in southern states and territories, 1815-1821; led an invasion of Spanish Florida in the First Seminole War, capturing Pensacola, May 24, 1818, and almost bringing America and Spain to the point of war (instead Spain sold Florida to the U. S., 1819; appointed governor of Florida Territory, March 1821, and resigned from army. Later political career: elected, U. S. Senate, 1823; ran for president, 1824, losing to John Quincy Adams; attended celebration, January 1828, in Louisiana honoring victory in Battle of New Orleans; elected president, November 1828; inaugurated, March 4, 1829; used “Kitchen Cabinet” to obtain advice in addition to his regular cabinet; vetoed, July 1832, the congresÂsional recharter of the Bank of the United States, precipitating the decline of that institution, starting the so-called “Bank War,” raising a major issue in the presidential election of 1832, and indicating a broad use of executive power marked by presidential vetoes. Instituted policy of Indian removals that resulted in the forced relocation of many Creek, Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole from the South to the Indian Territory (Oklahoma), 1832-1835; grew estranged from his vice-president, John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, a strong states’ rights advocate; during the “Nullification Crisis,” put army on alert and promised to lead it himself, if necessary, to enforce national laws within South Carolina after a special convention there voted to “nullify” the federal tariff law, November 1832, and threatened to secede from the Union. Reelected president, November 1832; signed compromise tariff, March 1833, easing the Nullification Crisis; took steps, through secretary of treasury, to remove federal deposits from the Bank of the United States, thus continuing the “Bank War”, 1832-1836; signed “specie circular,” July 1836, requiring that Federal lands must be bought with coin money, contributing to a reduction in public land sales and a slowdown in the national economy. Nominated Alcée La Branche (q.v.) of Louisiana as chargé d’affaires to Texas, giving formal diplomatic recognition to the new republic, March 3, 1837. Presidential decisions and personality and strengthening of the Democratic party prompted opponents to form rival political organization, the Whig Party. Retirement: left public life, March 4, 1837, and lived at his plantation, “The Hermitage,” near Nashville, Tenn. Married, August 1791, Rachel Donelson Robards of Nashville, Tenn.; first wedding technically invalid due to legal complications of Rachel Robards’ divorce; remarried, January 18, 1794. Two children, both by adoption: Andrew Jackson Donelson, christened Andrew Jackson, Jr., 1809; Lyncoya, a Creek Indian, 1813. Member: Masonic Order. Jackson Square (in New Orleans’ French Quarter), town of Jackson (in East Feliciana Parish), Jackson Parish, named for subject. Died, “The Hermitage,” near Nashville, Tenn., June 8, 1845; interred there. J.G.D. Sources: Harry L. Coles, The War of 1812 (1965); Jane L. DeGrummond, The Baratarians and the Battle of New Orleans (1961); Marquis James, Andrew Jackson, The Border Captain (1933); John K. Mahon, The War of 1812 (1972); Robin Reilly, The British at the Gates: New Orleans Campaign in the War of 1812 (1974); Robert V. Remini, Andrew Jackson, 3 vols. (1966); Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., The Age of Jackson (1946); John W. Ward, Andrew Jackson: Symbol for an Age (1955).
JACKSON, Anthony “Tony,” vaudeville, ragtime, and blues pianist, composer. Born (a surviving twin) in New Orleans, La., June 5, 1976. Parents: Antonio Jackson and Rachel Dennis Jackson. Educated at New Orleans College. Career began c. 1892 as a cornetist, soon to be pianist with Adam Olivier’s band. Until 1904 Jackson was popular in New Orleans cafes and in the Storyville establishments of Gypsy Shaeffer, Antonio Gonzalez, and Countess Piazza. At the turn of the twentieth century, he was known locally as the “world’s greatest single-handed entertainer.” He skillfully accompanied his own vocals of all styles, ranging from rags to operatic arias. Contemporary Storyville pianists Ferdinand J. “Jelly Roll” Morton (q.v.) and Clarence Williams (q.v) revered and copied Jackson, who used a rolling or walking, barrelhouse broken-octaves bass that has since been associated with boogie-woogie basics. Jackson’s extraordinary vocal range featured a controlled falsetto which he used only for comedy. His original improvisations, never the same twice, were praised alike by fellow players and clientele. During a 1904 tour with the Whitman Sisters’ New Orleans Troubadors, Jackson met at Louisville, Ky., pianists Glover Compton and “Piano Price” Davis. Compton and Davis were influential in the development of his musical style and talents. In 1905, Jackson settled temporarily in Chicago; he returned to New Orleans to perform as the top pianist at Frank Early’s café, 1910-12. From 1912 he resided in Chicago, playing at the best cafés and theaters, including the Elite I and II, Monogram, Grand, Perkins, etc., where he performed with the likes of Alberta Hunter, the Panama Trio, and George Mitchell. Jackson drew such crowds at Chicago’s 35th Street and State Street bars that movement of the trolleys was impeded. Police were often assigned to crowd control on his opening nights. As a prolific composer Jackson’s published songs were few, for he refused to sell the bulk of them at the current rate of five to ten dollars each. His “Pretty Baby,” popularized by Fannie Brice in Broadway’s Passing Show of 1916, originally sold for fifty dollars but became a million dollar hit within a year. Other well-known songs by Jackson include “Naked Dance,” “Miss Samantha Johnson’s Wedding Day,” “Why Keep Me Waiting So Long,” “Sympathizing Man,” “When Your Troubles Will All Be Mine,” “Some Sweet Day,” and “I’ve Got Elgin Movements in My Hips with Twenty Years Guarantee.” In Chicago, the unmarried Jackson lived with his sisters. Contemporaries described him as being very dark, thin, effeminate, homely, in frail health from alcoholism, and congenial to his patrons. A few of his protégés included Milton Hinton, Eddie South, and Darnell Howard. Jackson died in Chicago, April 20, 1921, of chronic hepatic cirrhosis, complicated by gastroenteritis. He was buried in Chicago’s Oakwood Cemetery. A. K. S. Sources: Eileen Southern, Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians (1982); Rudi Blesh and Harriet Janis, They All Played Ragtime (1950); Bill Russell, New Orleans Style (1994); Dave Dexter, The Jazz Story from the ’90s to the ’60s (1964); Nat Hentoff, Hear Me Talkin’ To Ya (1955); Peter Gammond, ed., The Oxford Companion to Popular Music (1991); death certificate from Division of Vital Statistics, State of Illinois.
JACKSON, Antonio, Jr., “Tony,” pianist, composer. Born, New Orleans, June 5, 1876; son of Antonio Jackson, Sr. Learned piano at an early age. By 15, was the undisputed master of the piano among musicians who played in the higher priced brothels of New Orleans. Could play or sing any type of music: jazz, opera, gospel, popular, classical, blues, or folk. Composed many songs which he sold for five or ten dollars to people who would then publish them under their names. Managed to retain copyright on “Pretty Baby,” his most successful tune. Had epilepsy. Died, Chicago, April 20, 1921. P.D.A. Sources: Al Rose and Edmund Souchon, New Orleans Jazz, A Family Album, 3rd ed. (1984); Al Rose, Storyville, New Orleans (1974).
JACKSON, Hezekiah, academic. Born, New Orleans, February 8, 1917; son of Harvey and Dicy Jackson. Education: local schools; Southern University, Baton Rouge. From 1941-1946 served in World War II. After separation from army, resumed education at Michigan State University where he earned both M. S. and Ph. D. degrees. In 1947, hired at Southern University (Baton Rouge) as an agriculture instructor; and from 1959 to 1979, served as dean of College of Agriculture. Married, Adele Martin of Charleston, W. Va. Children: Reginald (b. 1953), Raymond (b. 1955), and Ronald (b. 1959). He received millions of dollars to conduct research in southern farm operations, rural community needs and problems, as well as farm animals. Additionally, he received assistance in the development of agricultural programs serving six million people in the Cameroons (Africa). Member of Wesley United Methodist Church; and chairman of Pastor-Parish Relations Board of Louisiana. Scholarship fund in his name to assist potential agriculture majors at Southern University. Died, Baton Rouge, August 16, 1979; interred Southern Memorial Gardens. N.R.S. Sources: Charles Vincent, A Centennial History of Southern University and A & M College, 1880-1980 (1981); Jackson family papers.
JACKSON, John Long, sixth Episcopal bishop of Louisiana. Born, Baltimore, Md., March 28, 1884; son of Edward Thornton Jackson and Mary Helen Long. His father, a captain in the Confederate Army, was a commission merchant. Education: Episcopal High School, Alexandria, Va.; Johns Hopkins University, A. B., 1905; Virginia Theological Seminary, Alexandria, Va., 1905-1908. Ordained: deacon, June, 1908; priest, June, 1909. Assistant rector, Trinity Church, Towson, Md., 1908; assistant rector, St. Paul’s Church, Baltimore, Md., 1909. Rector, Emanuel Church, Harrisonburg, Va., 1910-1914; rector, St. Martin’s Church, Charlotte, N. C., 1914-1940. Elected bishop of Louisiana, Christ Church, New Orleans, January 23, 1940; consecrated Christ Church, May 1, 1940. Supported a strong program of ministry to blacks, to service men during World War II, and to young people, and carried through a revision of the canon law of the diocese. Succeeded in the removal of all indebtedness of parish property. At the end of World War II, the diocese raised $261,000 for the expansion of college and youth work. Camp Hardtner, youth camp and diocesan conference center, opened June 1948. Married: June 18, 1913, Elizabeth Eleanor Crawford, Winchester, Va., daughter of Clarence Grattan Crawford, a planter. One child: Eleanor Pendleton Burleson. Died: Winchester, Va., September 2, 1948. P.C.L. Sources: “Journal of the Proceedings of the Special Council for the Election of a Bishop of Louisiana, January 23, 1940,” in Journal of the One Hundred and Second Annual Convention of the Diocese of Louisiana (1940); Journal of the Special Session of the One Hundred and Tenth Annual Convention of the Diocese of Louisiana (1948); Journal of the One Hundred and Eleventh Annual Session of the Convention of the Diocese of Louisiana (1949); The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, XXXVII (1951); Hodding Carter and Betty Werlein Carter, So Great a Good: A History of the Episcopal Church in Louisiana and of Christ Church Cathedral, 1805-1955 (1955).
JACKSON, Mahalia, gospel singer. Born, New Orleans, October 26, 1912; daughter of John Andrew Jackson and Charity Clark. Began singing as a child at her father’s church services. Dedicated to the Lord and staunchly refused to sing any form of music other than religious. Could not be persuaded to sing blues or jazz. Also wrote some gospel songs and appeared in a few films. Often appeared with other artists such as Dinah Shore, Bing Crosby, Duke Ellington, and Harry Belafonte, but always as a gospel singer. She sang for presidents, royalty, and packed concert halls around the world. Her death was hastened by high blood pressure, heart disease, overweight, and overwork. She drew tributes from fellow entertainers as well as world leaders. Married, Isaac Hackenhull, 1936 (?). Died, Evergreen, Ill., January 27, 1972; interred Providence Memorial Park, New Orleans. P.D.A. Sources: Laurraine Goreau, Just Mahalia, Baby (1975); Mel Leavitt, Great Characters of New Orleans (1984); Who’s Who in America, vol. 35 (1968-1969)
JACKSON, Joy Juanita, journalist, educator, historian, author. Born in New Orleans, October 8, 1928; daughter of Oliver Jackson and Oneida Drouant Jackson. Received a B. A. degree in Journalism (1951), a M. A. degree in History (1958), and a Ph. D. in History (1961) from Tulane University. Jackson was one of the first women to receive a doctorate from Tulane. Was a reporter for the New Orleans Times-Picayune before becoming a teaching assistant at Sophie Newcomb College, 1958-1960. Served as an instructor and assistant professor of History at Nicholls State College, 1961-1966. Became assistant professor of History at Southeastern Louisiana University in 1966. Subsequently rose to the rank of professor. Served as director of the Center for Regional Studies, Southeastern Louisiana University, 1980-1996. Editor of Southeast Louisiana Historical Association Papers (1976-1996) and Regional Dimensions (1983-1996). Jackson’s book-length publications include Where the River Runs Deep: The Story of a Mississippi River Pilot and New Orleans in the Gilded Age: Politics and Urban Progress, 1880-1896. Served as the first female president of the Louisiana Historical Association (1977-78). Named a fellow of the Louisiana Historical Association in 1994. Died at New Orleans, June 6, 1996; interred in Hope Mausoleum, New Orleans. R.F.L. Sources: New Orleans Times-Picayune, June 10, 1996; Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, June 8, 1996; New Orleans States-Item, March 13, 1970; “LHA Fellow, Joy J. Jackson,” Louisiana History, 35 (1994): 50; Louisiana State Library vertical files.
JACKSON, Mahalia, gospel singer. Born in New Orleans, October 26, 1911; daughter of Johnny Jackson, Jr., and Charity Clark. Married Minters Sigmund Galloway, 1964; divorced 1967. The world’s greatest gospel singer was raised in a devout New Orleans Baptist family. She sang in church from the age of four onward. Her musical style resulted from a melange of vocal influences, including Baptist and Sanctified (or Holiness) Church styles, as well as the blues records of Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey that her parents had forbidden her to hear. In 1927, she left New Orleans for Chicago, where she continued to sing in church. In the 1930s, she became a song demonstrator for gospel composer Thomas A. Dorsey. She toured nationally as a soloist, while continuing to work outside music. Although she made her first recordings in 1937, Jackson did not become a gospel superstar until the 1947 release of “Move on Up a Little Higher.” Her achievements include serving as the official soloist of the national Baptist convention, hosting her own weekly radio show for CBS (1954), aiding Aretha Franklin in the early years of her career, singing at John F. Kennedy’s inauguration party (1961), and touring internationally. She performed at civil rights events with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., including the 1963 March on Washington. She performed at King’s 1968 funeral, at which she sang “Precious Lord, Take My Hand.” Some of her most important recordings include “Just Over the Hill,” “These Are They,” and “In the Upper Room.” Appeared in two motion pictures: Jazz on a Summer’s Day (1958) and Imitation of Life (1959). The quintessential gospel diva, Mahalia’s vocal style always bespoke her New Orleans roots. Her great influence popularized gospel music to a mass audience. Died in Chicago, January 27, 1972; interred in Providence Memorial Park, Metairie, La. M.S.F. Sources: Horace Boyer, How Sweet the Sound: The Golden Age of Gospel (1995); Laurraine Goreau, Just Mahalia, Baby (1975); Jess Jackson, Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord: The Life of Mahalia Jackson, Queen of Gospel Singers (1974); Mahalia Jackson and Evan McLeod Wylie, Movin’ On Up (1966).
JACKSON, Moses, Baptist deacon and an assistant to Rev. Asa C. Goldsbury (q.v.), pastor of the “First African Church of New Orleans.” Like Goldsbury, Jackson was a pioneer of one of the city’s earliest all-black religious communities. T.F.R. Source: Timothy F. Reilly, “Religious Leaders and Social Criticism in New Orleans, 1800-1861” (Ph. D. dissertation, University of Missouri at Columbia, 1972).
JACKSON, Robert Burns, politician, businessman. Born 1894. Married Mary Lee Jackson. Children: George D., Keith V., Mary Pearl, Roberta. Veteran World War I; member of Masonic Lodge of Many, La. Stockholder and on board of directors Sabine State Bank of Many; member, First Methodist Church. Parish tax assessor, 1920, an office held thirty-six years; retired 1956. Died, May 26, 1959; interred in Many Cemetery. J.H.P. Source: Sabine Index, May 28, 1959.
JACOBS, Benjamin, banker. With his brother, Edward, Jacobs (q.v.), formed the mercantile business of E. & B. Jacobs. Established the private bank known as E & B Jacobs Bank in 1877. It later became the First National Bank of Shreveport. Established several branches of the business throughout the area under the name Ben Jacobs & Son. In 1872, served as a director of the Shreveport Coast Navigation Co., operating between Shreveport and New Orleans. In 1878, treasurer of the cotton exchange. Married, May 1854, Amazon A. Cole, of Blanchard. Nine children, only two of whom survived to adulthood, Rosa and Gay. Died, 1886. P.L.M. Source: Benjamin Jacobs Papers, LSU-S Archives.
JACOBS, Edward, banker. Born, Pomerania, Prussia, April 9, 1822. Immigrated to U. S. in 1842 and to Shreveport in 1844. His brother, Benjamin (q.v.), later joined him. They established a mercantile business, E & B Jacobs, which later became the First National Bank of Shreveport. He had considerable land holdings including a large cotton plantation outside Shreveport. Married, May 23, 1850, Palestine L. Cole of Blanchard; 12 children, 7 sons and 5 daughters. Died, January 12, 1896. His son, Walter B. (q.v.), took over the bank after his death. P.L.M. Source: Lilla McLure and J. Ed Howe, History of Shreveport and Shreveport Builders (1937).
JACOBS, Walter B., banker. Born, Hunt County Tex., September 7, 1855; son of Edward Jacobs (q.v.) and Palestine L. Cole. Education: University of Berlin and Washington and Lee University. Spent four years with his father in the mercantile business. In 1877, with his father and uncle Benjamin (q.v.) founded the E & B Jacobs Bank, which later became First National Bank of Shreveport. Walter Jacobs was the bank’s first cashier. Became president at his father’s death. Served as president of First National Bank, the Shreveport Traction Company, the Opera House Company, the Progressive League, as vice-president of Shreveport Electric Light and Power Co., and built and operated cotton presses. Married, February 3, 1882, Frances Abrams. Five children. Died, March 3, 1904. P.L.M. Sources: J. Fair Hardin, Northwestern Louisiana (1939); Maude Hearn O’Pry, Chronicles of Shreveport; Shreveport Men and Women Builders (1928).
JAENKE, Martha Dorothy “Dora” Coffin, civic leader. Born, Bangor, Iowa, June 17, 1863; daughter of Elihu James Coffin and Elizabeth Stewart Carter. Married Frank R. Jaenke in Bangor, Iowa, August 14, 1885; children: Maude (1892-1951), who married Walter C. Peters, and Herman Clair. Settled in Jennings, La., 1888. Active in the Quaker church and later the Evangelical Brethren, for whom she served as trustee and Sunday School teacher for sixty years; two-term president of the Women’s Literary Club. Member: Library Board, the Women’s Literary Club, Civic League, Library Club; Library Board, and Order of the Eastern Star, being first worthy matron of the Ruth Chapter No. 9. Spearheaded the founding of the Jennings Public Library; obtained a grant from Andrew Carnegie to build a permanent library facility. Erected one of Jennings’ finest residences in 1901. Died, Jennings, August 28, 1950; interred Greenwood Cemetery, Jennings, La. A.B.R. Sources: Jennings Carnegie Library Historical file; Jennings Daily News; letter from Mrs. Peter Francis Brooke, Mrs. Jaenke’s great-granddaughter.
JAMES, John Carlton, educator, civil rights activist. Born, Lafayette, Louisiana, October 30, 1911; son of Joseph James and Nellie Jeffrey. Married Bernice Mouton; three children: Johnetla, Camela, and Carletta. Education: St. Paul’s High School, Lafayette; B. S. and Master of Education degrees, Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, Ala. Served as teacher and later principal of Ridge Elementary and Long Plantation schools before entering the military service during World War II. Awarded three battle stars. Assistant principal, Paul Breaux High School, 1956-1959. Principal, Paul Breaux High School, 1959-1963. First African American to serve on the National Catholic War Veterans Board. President, Lafayette Council on Human Relations; board member, Louisiana Council on Human Relations. Received the Omega Black Citizens Award, 1964. Co-chairman, Lafayette Parish advisory board for anti-poverty. Vice president, Benevolent Society, an organization that provided medical care for the indigent in Lafayette. Served on the Lafayette Parish Council on Aging. Received the 1982 Martin Luther King, Jr., Service Award Medal for contributions toward human rights. Died, April 19, 1993, Lafayette; interred in St. John the Evangelist Cemetery, Lafayette. J.D.W. Sources: Lafayette Daily Advertiser, May 23, 1974; Southwest Louisiana Register, September 16, 1965; Morning Star, January 27, 1982; Mark De Wolf, “John Carlton James,” Louisiana History, 37, (1996).
JAMES, Samuel Lawrence, civil engineer, planter. Born, Clarksville, Tenn., 1834. Educated locally and achieved degree of civil engineer. Removed to New Orleans, 1854. Married, 1859, Emma D. Hart, daughter of Henry Hart. Children: Samuel Lawrence, and two daughters who later became Mrs. Will T. Howard of St. Paul, Miss., and Mrs. George E. Ivy of New Orleans. Helped construct the United States Customs House at New Orleans and the city’s first streetcar line. In Civil War, raised the Irish Brigade in New Orleans; became captain, and later major in the Sixth Louisiana Infantry. Served at First Manassas; although reputed at time of death to have served until end of war, official records show he resigned his commission in December, 1861. After war bought cotton plantation, Angola, in West Feliciana Parish. Purchased the state convict lease from John M. Huger and Col. Charles Jones in 1869. James’ leasing is remembered as one of the most brutal periods in Louisiana’s penal history, wherein convicts were worked in slave-like circumstances for the profit of James without plan of rehabilitation. Helped to found New Orleans Pickwick Club, president, 1893. Died, Angola, July 27, 1894; interred New Orelans. C.C.C. Sources: Mark T. Carleton, Politics and Punishment: A History of the Louisiana State Penal System (1971); Andrew B. Booth, Records of Louisiana Confederate Soldiers and Commands (1920); New Orleans Daily Picayune, obituary, July 28, 1894; New Orleans Times-Democrat, obituary, July 28, 1894.
JAMES, Thomas Lewis, businessman. Born, Ohio, March 12, 1879. Moved South with his family at an early age. Owned and operated a large lumber mill at Dubach before moving to Ruston where he established T. L. James & Company, Inc., in 1926, soon becoming one of the largest highway contractors in the South. Was a charter inductee in the Louisiana Highways Hall of Honor in 1974. Married Maggie Hodges of Cotton Valley. Children: T. L., Jr. (b. 1904); Floyd (b. 1907); G. William (b. 1909); Helen J. Love (b. 1913); Mary J. Bretz (b. 1915); Frances J. Folk (b. 1919). Active in Methodist church affairs including board chairman, Louisiana Methodist Children’s Home; board chairman, Centenary College of Louisiana. First president of the Ouachita Valley Council Boy Scouts of America. Was awarded an honorary law degree by Centenary College in 1939 and awarded The American Legion Lincoln Parish Citizenship Trophy in 1930. Keenly interested in education, helping many young people get a college education, including all six of his children. Widely known for his philanthropy. Died, Ruston, July 28, 1944. F.B.J. Source: Author’s research.
JAMISON, Cecilia Viets, author. Born, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, 1837; daughter of Viets and Elizabeth Bruce Dakin. Educated in private schools in Canada, New York, Boston, and Paris. Married George Hamilton, 1860. Soon thereafter went to Rome to study art for three years. Her third book, Woven of Many Threads (1872), was published with the encouragement and assistance of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, whom she met in Rome. Her most productive years as a writer and painter came after her second marriage in 1878 to a New Orleans lawyer, Samuel Jamison. Writing for such magazines as Scribner’s, Harper’s, Appleton’s Journal, St. Nicholas, and the Journal of American Folklore, she became known as a local-color writer of short stories and novels, using the South as the setting for many of her works. Her most popular single work Lady Jane (1891), reprinted thirty-five times by 1938 and most recently in 1969, is the story of an orphan girl in New Orleans and a variety of other people. A friend of such New Orleans writers as George Washington Cable (q.v.), Lafcadio Hearn (q.v.) and Mollie Moore Davis (q.v.). Works: Something to Do: A Novel (1871); A Crown from the Spear (1872); Woven of Many Threads (1872); Ropes of Sand, and Other Stories (1873); My Bonnie Lass (1877); The Lily of San Miniato: A Story of Florence (1878); The Story of an Enthusiast (1888); Lady Jane (1891); Toinette’s Philip (1894); Seraph, the Little Violiniste (1896); Thistledown (1903); The Peehallow Family (1905). Returned to Massachusetts after her husband’s death in 1902. Died, Roxbury, Mass., April 11, 1909. D.H.B. Sources: American Authors, Dictionary of American Biography, Vol. I; American Women Writers, 4 vols. (1979-1982); Boston Transcript, April 13, 1909; New Orleans Daily Picayune, April 13, 1909.
JAN, Ange Marie Félix, clergyman. Born, Pontivy, France, April 11, 1802. Orphaned at an early age and placed under the care of his godfather, Ange Marie Chassin. Attended Jesuit College of Ste. Anne d’Auray and the Sulpitian College of Paris where he studied philosophy and theology. Ordained by Archbishop de Quelan at Notre Dame on May 26, 1826. Served as curate of the Cathedral of Vannes; was instrumental in establishing a community of Visitation nuns at Nantes; later appointed chaplain at Hotel Dieu. Placed in charge of the Young Workmen at Rouen in 1838; began work with the Trappists in 1842. Sent, in 1848, as a missionary to Haiti until May 1849. Removed to St. Martinville in 1851 at the invitation of Bishop Antoine Blanc. His dedication was legendary; he was reputed never to have left his post even for a day. Established and served as president of the Attakapas College which was given, by legislative act of February 19, 1878, the power to confer degrees of B.A., B. S., M. A., M. S. and Master of Accounts. Worked diligently to bring the Sisters of Mercy to St. Martinville and donated both property and a house for the convent upon their arrival in March 1881. Died, August 15, 1887; interred under the main altar of the church. Statue erected to his memory directly in front of St. Martin de Tours Church. M.B. Sources: American Catholic Quarterly Review, XIV (July 1889); Roger Baudier, Catholic Church in Louisiana (1939); St. Martin Parish Library Files.
JANSSENS, Francis August Anthony Joseph, clergyman, prelate. Born, Tilburg, North Brabant, Holland, October, 17, 1843; son of Cornelius John Janssens and Josephine Anne Dams. Educated at Catholic Seminary at Bois-le-Duc, Holland, and American College, Louvain, Belgium. Ordained to priesthood at Ghent, Belgium, December 21, 1867. Pastoral work and administration in Diocese of Richmond, Va, 1868-1881. Consecrated bishop of Natchez, Miss., May 1, 1881. Appointed archbishop of New Orleans, August 7, 1888; installed, September 16, 1888. Convened Fifth Archdiocesan Synod, May 3, 1889; fostered foundation of more than twenty-five new parochial schools; made frequent pastoral and confirmation visits throughout South Louisiana; dedicated new preparatory seminary in Gessen, La., September 3, 1891; established Catholic Institute for Deaf and Dumb in Chinchuba, 1890; approved, 1889, foundation of St. Margaret’s Daughters to assist poor and needy; significantly reduced archdiocesan debt incurred by Archbishop Napoléon Perche (q.v.); legally and administratively reorganized archdiocese, incorporating all Catholic parishes. Appointed first resident pastors for many Catholic communities, including Cameron (1890), Chackbay (1892), Jennings (1892), Iota [Pointe-aux-Loups] (1892), Maurice (1893), Grosse Tête (1894), Pierre Part (1895), Delcambre [Meadows] (1896), Kaplan [Cossinade] (1896), Bancker (1897), Crowley (1897), White Castle (1897); also new parishes in New Orleans and Donaldsonville. Established St. Katherine Parish in New Orleans (1895) to better serve black Catholics. Brought Missionary Sisters of Sacred Heart and Scalabrini Fathers to New Orleans to serve Italian community. Kept Diary of the Diocese of New Orleans, 1888-1897, detailed administrative journal of years as archbishop of New Orleans. Died on steamer Creole, June 10, 1897; interred St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans. C.E.N. Sources: Roger Baudier, The Catholic Church in Louisiana (1939); Joseph Code, Dictionary of the American Hierarchy, 1789-1964 (1964); Richard O. Gerow, Catholicity in Mississippi (1939); Francis Janssens Papers, especially Diary of the Diocese of New Orleans, 1888-1897, in Archives of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
JANVIER, Charles, businessman, civic leader. Born, New Orleans, September 8, 1857; son of Charles Albert Janvier and Marie Zelime Coiron. Educated, Jesuit College. Participant, Battle of Liberty Place, September 14, 1874. Business activities: owner, “Insurance Vindicator”; founder, Southern Insurance Directory; secretary, 1890-1894, president, 1894-1904, Sun Mutual Insurance Company; president, 1904-1905 Canal Bank and Trust Company; vice president, 1905-1912, president, 1912-1914, Canal-Louisiana Bank and Trust Company; president, 1914-1927, Janvier and Company, Ltd. Married (1), October 3, 1883, Josephine Celeste Bush of New Orleans (d. 1899). Children: John (b. 1884), George (b. 1887), Celeste (b. 1884), Lois (b. 1889), Carmelite (b. 1890), Josephine (b. 1891), Catherine (b. 1893), Regina (b. 1896). Married (2), May 24, 1919, Louise Williams Bush of New Orleans. Recipient, Daily Picayune Loving Cup, 1905. Active in Democratic party; president, Citizens’ League, 1895-1897; state senator, 1904-1905; postmaster, New Orleans, 1916-1925. Member: Elks, Pickwick Club, Boston Club, Chess, Checkers and Whist Club, Rex carnival krewe (king, 1896), Knights of Columbus, Association of Commerce. Died, New Orleans, January 21, 1927; interred Greenwood Cemetery. E.F.H. Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, obituary, January 22, 1927; Alcée Fortier, Louisiana (1914).
JARVIS, John Wesley, portraitist, engraver, sculptor, and silhouettist. Born in England, 1780; son of John Jarvis and Ann Lambert who was a grandniece of John Wesley, founder of the Methodist church. Family immigrated to America ca. 1785 and settled in Philadelphia in 1789. Educated in Philadelphia. Apprenticed as an engraver to Edward Savage, 1796-1801. Removed to New York City, ca. 1801, where, after first working as an engraver, 1802-1806, he went into partnership with Joseph Wood painting portraits and miniatures, 1804-1810. Married (1), 1808 or 1809, Betsy Burtis, of Oyster Bay, Long Island (d. 1813). Children: John Wesley, Jr. (1810-1869), Charles Wesley (1812-1867). Removed to Baltimore, ca. 1810. Returned to New York City, 1813, where he continued work as portrait painter. Henry Inman became his assistant. Married (2), February 7, 1819, Lydia Sheldon Liscome, daughter of Otis Liscome, a sea captain and Revolutionary War veteran. Two children: Mary Liscome (b. 1820), Cora Wooster Fehrman (b. 1821). Separated 1824. Maintaining New York City residence, painted portraits and miniatures in New Orleans during most winters, 1820-1834. Paralyzed in 1834. Spent remaining years in New York City. Died, New York City, January 12, 1840. L.D.A. Sources: The Historic New Orleans Collection, Encyclopædia of New Orleans Artists, 1718-1918 (1987); Harold E. Dickson, John Wesley Jarvis, American Painter, 1780-1840 (1949).
JASTREMSKI, John Vincent, pharmacist, administrator. Born in France, August 15, 1839, son of Vincent Jastremski (q.v.). In 1843, as a child, immigrated to the United States with parents and younger brother Leon I (q.v.). Studied pharmacy at the University of Nashville, graduated in 1872. Conducted a pharmacy at Baton Rouge till 1880 when he joined the staff of the State Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb of which institution he soon became superintendent, post held about ten years. Married Leontine N. Keays, a Louisianian, in 1859. Children: Ernestine Marie, Rosa Henrietta, Leon Henry (q.v.), and Vincent II. A Roman Catholic and a Democrat. Died, July 5, 1904. L.S. Source: Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Louisiana, vol. I (1892; reprint ed., 1975).
JASTREMSKI, Leon, politician, publisher, administrator, soldier. Born, Soulan, France, July 17, 1843; son of Vincent Jastremski I, Polish exile residing in Soulan, France. Arrived Vermilionville (now Lafayette), 1849; family removed to Abbeville, 1853. Civil War service: enlisted, private, Tenth Louisiana Infantry, promoted to rank of captain before age 19, fought in Virginia from Yorktown to Spotsylvania, where he was captured for third time; prisoner of war at Fort Delaware, Del., for five months. After war settled in Baton Rouge. Married (1), July 1, 1867, Adelaide Rose Larguier, daughter of Joseph Larguier and Elisa La Noue. Children: Eugene Joseph (1868), John Henry (1869), Estelle Marie (1871). Elected mayor of Baton Rouge, April 1876, re-elected twice; during term of office brought state government back to Baton Rouge. In 1879 started weekly newspaper, Louisiana Capitolian, later merged with Daily Advocate, 1882. Member constitutional convention, 1879. Promoted to rank of brigadier general in 1880 by Gov. Louis A. Wiltz (q.v.) and commanded Third Military District of Louisiana. Wife “Rosa” died, 1873; remained widower until October 12, 1881, when he married (2) widow Sallie Land Ashton. No children. Appointed state printer, 1882-1888. State chairman of Grover Cleveland’s successful presidential campaign, 1884. One of founders of National Press Association, 1885, and elected first vice-president, 1886; also served as president of Louisiana Press Association. Initiated movement to form United Confederate Veterans, 1888. U. S. Consul at Callao, Peru, 1894-1897. Served as commissioner of Louisiana State Board of Agriculture and Immigration, 1879-1900. Removed to Shreveport and founded newspaper, Shreveport Outlook, but returned to Baton Rouge as private secretary to Gov. William W. Heard (q.v.). Entered gubernatorial campaign as independent candidate; defeated in election, January 19, 1904. Established another weekly newspaper, The People, 1904. Became candidate again for governor in 1907, but was hampered by poor health. Died, Baton Rouge, November 29, 1907; interred Old Catholic Cemetery. F.C.K. Sources: Edward Pinkowski, Pills, Pen & Politics: The Story of General Leon Jastremski (1974); Book review of Pills, Pen & Politics by Francis C. Kajencki, Louisiana History, XVII (1976).
JASTREMSKI, Leon Henry, physician, businessman. Born, Baton Rouge, October 2, 1864; son of John Vincent Jastremski (q.v.) and Leontine N. Keays. After graduation from United States Naval Academy, 1884, was business manager for two years of the Baton Rouge Capitolian-Advocate published by his uncle, Gen. Leon Jastremski (q.v.), state printer. Then studied medicine at Tulane University, graduated, 1888. Worked in the quarantine department at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Moved permanently to Houma, 1889, where he practiced medicine in partnership with Dr. C. A. Duval, whose daughter Gwinette he married in 1893. Children: Leon II, John, Stanwood, Julia (Mrs. Pat W. Higgins) and Gwinette (Mrs. Carl Lewis). Quit medical practice in 1906 and organized the Pelican Lake Oyster and Packing Co., of which he became president and eventually bought out most of the stockholders. His cannery specialized in seafoods but also packed many vegetables and blackberries. President, Louisiana Bankers Association; president, Louisiana Ice Manufacturers Association; a founder of American Canners Association; owner of Fraisse Drug Store, Houma; opened a dairy, Houma, 1930. Developed the first processing of dehydrated shrimp meal for use as stock feed and fertilizer. Built the first ice factory in Houma, and with business associate, Henry O. Wilson, introduced the first electrical lighting. Member, Catholic church, Elks. Died, March, 1931. L.S. Sources: Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Louisiana, vol. I (1892; reprint ed., 1975); Helen E. Wurzlow, I Dug Up Houma, Terrebonne (1894); New Orleans Times-Picayune, March 19, 1931.
JASTREMSKI, Vincent, physician. Born, Szczerbowiec, Karnieniec Podolski (Russian occupied), Poland, November 1, 1806; son of Blase Jastrzembski. Took part in the unsuccessful Polish uprising against Russia, 1830-1831. About 1830 married (1) Thérèse (d. ca. 1838). One son. After uprising of 1830, fled to France. Received his medical diploma, 1836, from University of Montpellier. Honored by King Louis Philippe for work in cholera epidemic. Married (2) Ernestine Marguerite de Pointes, 1838. Children: John Vincent (q.v.), superintendent of State Institute for Deaf & Dumb, Baton Rouge, and Leon J. (q.v.), three-term mayor of Baton Rouge. Emigrated to Louisiana, settled in Vermilionville (present-day Lafayette), 1845. Removed with family, April, 1854, to Abbeville, La. Died, Abbeville, September 29, 1856. L.S. Sources: Edward Pinkowski, Pills, Pen and Politics: The Story of General Leon Jastremski (1974); Ernest Gueymard, “Gen. Jastremski to Be Cited,” Baton Rouge State-Times, May 28, 1974.
JATOWT, Maksymilian, see GORDON, Jacob
JAUBERT, Fortuné, businessman. Born, New Orleans, August 23, 1875; son of Fortuné Augustus Jaubert, a native of Barcelona, Spain, and Batistine Geblin. Married, April 27, 1897, Fannie Ernestine Gayle (1878-1962). Children: Gussie (b. 1899), Cassie Winfred (b. 1902), Fannie Gayle (b. 1904), Fortuné Augustus III (b. 1906), Lillian Mary (b. 1908), Paul Virgil (b. 1910), Richard Joseph (b. 1912), Lawrence Joseph (b. 1914), James Joseph (b. 1915), Lucille Marie (b. 1917). Took over his father’s wholesale drygoods firm as a young man and developed it into a major enterprise in New Orleans and in the Acadian parishes. A strong force in the business and Catholic church communities, and a devoted family man. Died, New Orleans, July 31, 1956. G.D. Source: Author’s research.
JEANES, Anna T., philanthropist. Born, Fox Chase (then a Philadelphia suburb), Pa., April 7, 1822; youngest child of merchant Isaac Jeanes and his wife Anna. Author of The Sacrificer and the Non-Sacrificer (1886), in which she concluded that “Faith in the Goodness of God, and obedience to His law in the heart, is the natural religion of the soul.” A liberal Quaker, she inherited her family’s wealth and used it for humanitarian purposes. Designed and built the Friends Boarding Home in Germantown, Pa. In 1905, Jeanes donated $200,000 to the General Education Board for what became the Anna T. Jeanes Fund for the Assistance of Negro Rural Schools in the South, more commonly known as the Negro Rural School Fund. In 1907, shortly before her death, Jeanes contributed $1,000,000 to extend the program. Thanked for her gift by Booker T. Washington, George F. Peabody, and others, she replied” “Thee does not need to thank me. It is I who needs to thank thee, . . . and I didn’t do it to save my soul from Hell, either!” The fund, augmented by donations by the John F. Slater Fund, paid for industrial education teachers and extension people to improve rural homes and schools. Louisiana’s African American schools first benefited from the Fund in 1908, when Jeanes teacher Mrs. M. E. Sorrell was employed in Iberville Parish. Jeanes funds also helped to lengthen the school term by two months in East Feliciana, West Feliciana, and East Carroll parishes. Jeanes teachers promoted hygiene, encouraged community support for educational improvements, and staffed teachers’ institutes and summer normals. By 1938, all Jeanes teachers in Louisiana had college degrees and directed their efforts at improving classroom instruction by providing expert assistance to rural teachers, especially regarding community outreach and teaching materials. Died, Germantown, Pa., September 24, 1907. M.G.W. Sources: John Hope Franklin, From Slavery to Freedom (1994); Dictionary of American Biography (1933), 10:13-14; Betty Porter, “The History of Negro Education in Louisiana” (M. A. thesis, Louisiana State University, 1938).
JEANMARD, Jules Benjamin, clergyman, first bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette. Born, Breaux Bridge, La., August 15, 1879; son of Jules Jeanmard, Sr., and Mary Blanche Brown. Education: St. Bernard parochial school, Breaux Bridge; preparatory seminary, Gessen, Louisiana, and Holy Cross College, New Orleans; Kendrick Seminary, St. Louis; and St. Louis Diocesan Seminary, New Orleans. Ordained June 10, 1903, St. Stephen’s Church, New Orleans; assigned to St. Louis Cathedral under Father J. M. Laval, where he served through the yellow-fever epidemic of 1905. Appointed chancellor of the archdiocese, 1914 (first native Louisianian to occupy this post); served as vicar general for spiritual affairs of the archdiocese; appointed administrator of the archdiocese which extended from Pearl River to the Sabine River and from Alexandria to the Gulf of Mexico; appointed, 1918, bishop of the new Diocese of Lafayette; appointed in 1943 by Pope Pius XII as an assistant at the Pontifical Throne. Erected during his tenure: Immaculata Seminary, St. Mary’s Orphan Home, Our Lady of the Oaks Retreat House, Catholic Student Center (University of Southwestern Louisiana), retreat wing of the Most Holy Sacrament Convent, Carmelite Monastery, numerous schools and churches. Appointed a fulltime superintendent of Catholic schools; welcomed the first black priests into the diocese; encouraged the establishment of black schools; sent priests for advanced studies in canon law; had a diocese newspaper locally edited and controlled; encouraged a weekly radio program in French “La Petite Heure de la Sainte Vièrge”; hosted the National Rural Life Convention in 1947; financially aided the retreat movement. Awards: honorary degree of doctor of laws from Duquesne University; Silver Beaver Award by the Evangeline Area Council, Boy Scouts of America; Legion of Honor decoration by the government of France. Died, February 23, 1957; interred St. John Cathedral, Lafayette, La. D.S. Sources: Catholic Action of the South, Diocese of Lafayette Silver Jubilee Supplement, Vol. XII, No. 1 (December 9, 1943); Golden Sacredotal Jubilee Supplement, Vol. XXI, No. 19, (April 8, 1953); St. Martinville Teche News, February 28, 1957, p. 9; December 6, 1978, p. 6.
JEFFERSON, Joseph, III, actor. Born, Philadelphia, Pa., February 20, 1829; son of Joseph Jefferson II (1804-1842) and Cornelia Frances Thomas (1796-1849). The most famous member of a distinguished family of actors and writers, including his great-grandfather Thomas (1732-1807), who acted with Garrick at Drury Lane, London; his grandfather Joseph I (1774-1832), who immigrated to American in 1795 and was an outstanding performer in Boston, Philadelphia and New York; his father, an actor and scene painter; and his mother, a talented actress and singer. Professional stage debut at age four in Washington, D. C., with Thomas D. Rice in “Jump Jim Crow” number. Probably the greatest comic character actor of the nineteenth-century American stage, toured the entire United States, Europe, and Australia in such roles as Asa Trenchard in Our American Cousin, Salem Scudder in The Octoroon, Bob Acres in The Rivals, and most notably the title role in Rip Van Winkle, which he played in various versions from 1859-1880. Succeeded Edwin Booth as president of the Players’ Club, thus becoming the recognized head of his profession, 1893. Appeared often in New Orleans, and purchased a plantation in South Louisiana which served as his winter home for over 30 years and is now known as Jefferson Island. His entertaining Autobiography (1890) contains a delightful chapter entitled “In Louisiana.” Retired from the stage, 1904. Died, Palm Beach, Fla., April 23, 1905. L.I.W. Sources: Phyllis Hartnoll, The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre, 3rd ed. (1972); Barnard W. Hewitt, Theatre U.S.A., 1665-1957 (1959); John S. Kendall, The Golden Age of the New Orleans Theatre (1952); William C. Young, Famous Actors and Actresses on the American Stage (1975).
JENKINS, Emma Dee, academic. Born, Shubuta, Miss., November 21, 1912. Education: Jackson State University, B. S. degree; Tuskegee Institute, M.S. degree. Principal of Issabelle Elementary Schoool, Jackson, Miss.; professor of Mathematics, Southern University; president of National Association of University Women, Baton Rouge: Basileus of Gamma Eta Omega Chapter, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Died, December 14, 1983. B.B.W. Sources: Scrapbook of National Association of University Women; obituary.
JENKINS, Mary Lou, missionary. Born, Mansfield, La., August 22, 1873; daughter of Susan Harriet Roberts and Walter Johnson. Education: local elementary school; preparatory school and two years advanced study, Keachi College, Keachi, La. Married Charles Edward Jenkins, February 5, 1893. Child: Ned Jenkins (1895-1971). Taught Sunday school and was active in Women’s Missionary Union; began full time work in mission field after husband’s death in 1921; assisted in beginning vacation bible schools in area Negro churches in 1940s; special cause was French missions in South Louisiana; gave financial aid to young French preachers; gave liberally of her time and money during establishment of Acadia Baptist Academy (now Acadia Baptist Center) near Eunice, La.; chapel there named for her; took motion pictures and slides of the work in the mission fields and exhibited them during talks in the North Louisiana churches, hoping to raise interest and funds; was, in 1932, dean of women at Baptist Institute (now New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary); Jenkins Memorial Baptist Church, St. Martinville, La., dedicated in her honor. Died, March 10, 1957; interred Mansfield. P.K.B. & J.B.C. Sources: Oral history records, Louisiana Baptist Convention, Alexandria, La.; biographical sketch by George A. Ritchey in Baptist Builders in Louisiana (1934).
JIM, Negro slave. Born, Fauquier County, Va., ca. 1818. Owned by George Duff. 1836 sold to slave trader J. M. Saunders, also of Fauquier County for $700. Described at time of sale as 5′ 10″ and “stoutly formed,” “a well looking field hand.” Sold to Louisiana slave traders Humphrey Taylor and J. W. Taylor, February 1837. Brought in a coffle to Louisiana, walked twenty-five miles per day. Sold to Archibald D. Palmer of West Feliciana Parish, March 1838, for $1,000. Soon “considered a great rascal in the neighborhood and was once or twice punished for stealing pigs and fowls.” Became ill soon after sale, died August 1838. Palmer sued the Taylors, claiming Jim had been ill at time of sale and illness concealed by the Taylors. The slave traders claimed Jim was sound at time of sale and that he died from the “. . . neglect, ill treatment, exposure and cruelty” of Palmer. Palmer’s overseer testified that Jim had been whipped to try to make him work, “but not severely”; felt he was malingering to avoid work. An autopsy revealed Jim had chronic “gastro enteritis … chronic inflammation of the stomach and bowels.” The case was fought to the Louisiana Supreme Court, which affirmed the decision of the Third District Court of West Feliciana Parish. The court ruled that even if the disease existed at the time of sale, Palmer had cruelly neglected to care for Jim. A physician was not called until a few days before Jim’s death and Jim died in the field at work. J.K.S. Source: Palmer v. Taylor, 1 Rob. (La.) 412 #4755, New Orleans, March, 1842.
JINNINGS (JENNINGS), Thomas, physician, businessman. As a large property owner, he became increasingly frustrated by growing racial repression before Civil War. In the late 1850s, Jinnings served as chief vestryman and economic pillar of New Orleans’ St. Thomas Episcopal Church which included twenty well-to-do free colored families. The congregation was led by a white minister of English descent, the Reverend Charles Williamson (q.v.). In 1860, Jinnings was charged with violating Louisiana’s Black Code when he spoke out against racial discrimination. Again during the following year, he was arrested—then freed—for defying segregationist law in the company of his wife. Jinnings was one of the New Orleans’ earliest civil rights’ protesters to represent the slowly emerging free black community. T.F.R. Sources: Roger A. Fischer, “Racial Segregation in Ante Bellum New Orleans,” American Historical Review, LXXIV, No. 3 (February, 1969); Timothy F. Reilly, “Genteel Reform Versus Southern Allegiance: Episcopalian Dilemma in Old New Orleans,” Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church, XLIV (1975).
JOHN, John N., farmer, politician, businessman. Born, Crowley, La., February 17, 1929; son of Helen Guidry and John N. John, Jr. Education: St. Michael’s High School; attended the University of Southwestern Louisiana. Engaged in farming and operated a trucking firm. Married Rose Marie Olinger of Rayne, La. Member, Louisiana National Guard, 1948-1955; Louisiana Board of Commerce and Industry, 1954-1972; charter member, Crowley Industrial Development Corporation and Evangeline Economic Development District; board member, Louisiana Bank and Trust Company, Notre Dame High School, Acadia Parish Council on Aging, and Ducks Unlimited; trustee of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church; member, Knights of Columbus, Kiwanis Club, Retarded Children Association, and Louisiana Adult Education Association; Acadiana delegate on Southwestern Regional Energy Council. Elected to the state house of representatives from District 42 in 1972; member, Ways and Means subcommittees; Appropriation, Budget, and National Resources Committee, vice-chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee. Children: John N. John IV, Joseph A., William, Christopher, Michelle Raasmussen, and Katherine. Died in an automobile accident near Crowley, May 11, 1983; interred Woodlawn Mausoleum. J.B.C. Source: Lafayette Daily Advertiser, obituary, May 12, 1983.
JOHNS, Emile (born Paul Emile), composer, musician, merchant, printer. Born, Cracow, Poland, ca. 1798; son of Frederic Johns and Barbara Tcheszka. Probably educated in Vienna, Austria. Married (1) Anna Zoe Fauri (1801-1833) of Baltimore, February 20, 1820; (2) Jeanne Emma Favre D’Aunoy (1819-1851), January 11, 1836; (3) Marie Celeste Rose D’Anoy, May 1, 1852. Children: Paul Edouard (b. 1823), adopted by Johns (1823); Albert F., Sidonée; Marie Elizabeth Léontine (b. 1837); Marie Célestine Coralie Georgina (1839-1840); Luia Baselice (b. 1847); Mathilde; Marie Filomène Alice (b. 1853). Arrived in New Orleans by early 1819 to pursue career as pianist and composer but abandoned these occupations ca. 1828. Only surviving compositions: eight works published in Album Louisianais (Paris, ca. 1833). Began selling sheet music in 1826 and in 1830 established E. Johns & Co., music sellers and stationers; ca. 1834 began printing business as well, specializing in law books; in 1846 sold firm to W. T. Mayo and became a cotton merchant; consul of Russia, 1842-1860. Died Paris, August 10, 1860; interred, Père Lachaise Cemetery. F.M.J. Sources: John H. Baron, “Paul Emile Johns of New Orleans: Tycoon, Musician, and Friend of Chopin,” in Report of the Eleventh Congress, International Musicological Society (1972); Louisiana Courier, December 14, 1830; New Orleans Bee, January 24, 1851; New Orleans Daily Picayune , September 1, 1860; New Orleans Times-Picayune, June 22, 1952; New Orleans city directories, 1822-1860.
JOHNSON, Benjamin May, banker. Born, Beaufort, S. C., April 19, 1812. Removed to Shreveport in late 1830s. Became a factor in the cotton brokerage business. First man to engage in banking in Shreveport. Set up a private bank in 1852, which later became Commercial National Bank, the second national bank to be chartered in the state. He financed early activity of the Confederate government in Shreveport and furnished the money to build the first railroad line from Shreveport to Swanson’s Landing. Helped build city’s first gas light plant, first electric light and power plant and first street railway. Married, March 24, 1829, Susan M. Marye(?). Died, September 28, 1879. P.L.M. Sources: J. Fair Hardin, Northwestern Louisiana (1939); Lilla McLure and J. Ed Howe, History of Shreveport and Shreveport Builders (1937).
JOHNSON, Emmet Elsworth, county agent, Cooperative Extension Service, Catahoula Parish. Born, Harrisonburg, La., September 25, 1910; third of eight sons of Walter H. Johnson and Mary Catherine Stutson. Education: local public schools; Louisiana State University, B. S., 1932. Married: (1) Era Mae Hackney (1910-1934), ca. January, 1932; married (2) Daisy Dorothy McBride (b. 1910), November 11, 1937. Children: Patsy Kay (b. 1934), Dorothy Sue (b. 1938), Emmilee (b. 1941). Member: Harrisonburg Methodist Church, Masonic Lodge (32nd Degree Mason), Shriners, Eastern Star, Rotary Club, Alpha Alpha Chapter Epsilon Sigma Phi, Catahoula Parish Resource and Development Committee (chairman), Parish Fair Executive Board, Parish Hospital Board, Louisiana and National County Agents Associations. Guided parish agricultural economy from $1 million to $17 million during career; crop land increased from 60,000 to 200,000 acres; helped organize three federal farm agencies (ASCS, SCS, and FHA) and Federal Protection Credit Association; pioneered soybeans as a cash crop and organized annual State Soybean Festival; cotton acreage tripled; regional leader in flood protection. Recipient: National County Agents Association, Distinguished Service Award, 1957; Dow Chemical Tour Study Scholarship, 1959. Died, February 26, 1974; interred Harrisonburg Cemetery. J.L.G. Sources: Jonesville Catahoula News-Booster, July 30, 1970; February 28, 1974; Frederick W. Williamson, Origin and Growth of Agricultural Extension in Louisiana, 1860-1948 (1951); Johnson family papers.
JOHNSON, Fidelia Olin Adams “Mama Fie,” educator. Born, Brusly, la., April 17, 1905; oldest of six children born to Charles P. Adams (q.v.) (founder of Grambling State University), and Martha Norman Adams (q.v.) (the first Home Economics Department head at Grambling State University). Educated in local school at Grambling, La.; completed high school and undergraduate education at Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, Ala., 1922-1929; lettered four years in basketball; B.S. degree, Tuskegee Institute, 1929; M.S. degree, University of Iowa, 1945; further study at New York University, Antioch College, and Michigan State University. Married Ozias A. Johnson, teacher. Career: Following graduation from Tuskegee institute, became a faculty member at Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute (now Grambling State University); served as home economics teacher, women’s basketball coach for nearly twenty years; director, Food Services; dean of women and the second head of the Department of Home Economics; developed four-year degree programs in home economics education, early childhood education (the first program of this kind in Louisiana), and institutional management; one of the first directors of Head Start staff training programs; played a pivotal role in the establishment of Grambling State University’s Field Service Program. This internationally recognized program serviced eight parishes, helping to improve community life for hundreds of individuals. Affiliated with several organizations, including American Home Economics Association, Louisiana Home Economics Association, American Vocational Association, Louisiana Vocational Association, National Association of Home Economics Administrators, Louisiana Retired Teachers Association, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Church Women United, Grambling State University Foundation. Received many honors and awards, including Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Service Award (1978), Grambling State University’s Distinguished and Loyal Service Award (1970), and the Diocesan Award for Outstanding Service from St. Benedict Catholic Church (1978). Radcliffe College selected her as one of the “Women of Courage. Inducted into Tuskegee Institute’s Athletic Hall of Fame (1974) and Grambling State University’s Hall of Fame (1982). Named professor emeritus of Home Economics following her retirement in August 1970. Died, May 14, 1996; interred Grambling Memorial Garden. D.D.C. Sources: Doris Dorcas Carter, “Charles P. Adams and Grambling College” (1971); the Gramblinite, September 23, 1993, May 9, 1996, May 17, 1996; Shreveport Sun, April, 1995; obituary, May 18, 1996.
JOHNSON, Henry, attorney, planter, politician, governor. Born in Virginia, September 14, 1783. Received a limited education, studied law and admitted to bar. Removed to the Territory of Orleans, 1809. Appointed by Gov. William C. C. Claiborne (q.v.) clerk for the Second Superior Court, 1809-1811, appointed by Claiborne judge of St. Mary Parish, La.; elected member of 1812 constitutional convention, defeated for Congress, 1812. Chosen by legislature to fill seat in United States Senate made vacant by death of Claiborne, and later re-elected, 1818-1824, elected governor, 1824 for term ending 1828. Active in Whig politics; defeated in 1829 for U. S. Senate, served in U. S. House, 1835-1839; defeated by Alexandre Mouton (q.v.) for governor, 1842; served in U. S. Senate, 1844-1848, filling seat made vacant by death of Alexander Porter (q.v.). Strong supporter of Texas annexation, opposed to Walker Tariff of 1846, supporter of a rigorous naturalization law while U. S. Senator in 1844. Defeated for U. S. House in 1850 by Judge Henry Bullard (q.v.), then retired from political life to his plantation in Pointe Coupée Parish. Married a Miss Key of Maryland. No children. Died, September 4, 1864; interred on plantation near Livonia, La. M.C. Sources: Meynier’s Louisiana Biographies; Henry E. Chambers, A History of Louisiana (1925); Alcée Fortier, History of Louisiana (1904); Louisiana Courier, July 2, 1842; New Orleans Bee, July 4, 1842.
JOHNSON, Isaac [I], pioneer. Born, Liverpool, England; son of Anglican minister John Johnson and Margaret Hunter. Sent to America by Liverpool mercantile firm; settled in Natchez District, British West Florida, ca. 1777. Married Mary Routh, 1778. Established sawmill and served as alcalde, Second Creek, Spanish West Florida; followed Spanish to New Feliciana, 1799; alcalde, Second Division, 1799-1805. Father of John Hunter Johnson (q.v.) and grandfather of Louisiana governor Isaac Johnson (q.v.). Died on plantation later called Troy, in present-day West Feliciana Parish, June 22, 1805. E.K.D. Sources: J. F. H. Claiborne, Mississippi as Province, Territory, and State (1964); May McBee, Natchez Court Records (1979); WPA translations, Spanish Archives; West Feliciana Parish Records.
JOHNSON, Isaac [II], governor. Born, Troy Plantation, New Feliciana, Spanish West Florida, November 1, 1803; son of John Hunter Johnson (q.v.) and Thenia Munson Johnson. Little known of early education but probably tutored at Troy, then studied law in St. Francisville office of uncle, Joseph E. Johnson (q.v.), who made him a partner in 1828. That year married Charlotte McDermott. Three children. Entered state militia as aide-de-camp to Maj. Gen. John B. Dawson (q.v.), became a colonel in 1835, when elected governor he was a major general of the Third Division. Elected in 1833 for a two-year term in the state house of representatives. Served on the Judiciary Committee and introduced three river improvements bills which failed to pass. At home served on various committees, including one to counteract actions of abolitionists, and another to maintain parish patrol for the protection of life and property against robbers and vagrants. Appointed judge of the Third Judicial District. Then appointed secretary of state by Gov. Alexandre Mouton (q.v.). Removed to the capital in New Orleans, but soon resigned to avoid the sickly season, the annual threat of yellow fever. Then appointed to Court of Errors and Appeals in criminal cases. Nominated by state Democratic party convention and won office of governor by defeating William De Buys, the Whig candidate. Opposed the protective tariff, denounced the Whig party as the party of wealth, supported the Constitution of 1845 which was adopted. The new constitution abolished the property qualification for voting or holding public office, and mandated the legislature to create public-school system. He won the election on January 19, 1846, by a majority of 2,491 out of 22,767 votes. His inaugural address noted his administration would put the new constitution into effect. Denounced federal interference in state’s rights, and the protective tariff. Applauded the annexation of Texas. Urged the legislature to support public education. One of the first bills he signed moved the capital from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. When war with Mexico began he called out the state militia by proclamation on May 4, 1846, and sent several regiments to serve under Gen. Zachary Taylor (q.v.). After the war he criticized the Wilmot Proviso and favored extending the Missouri Compromise line (36 degrees, 30 minutes North) into the Mexican Cession territory. Appointed Louisiana’s first superintendent of education, obtained school funds from the legislature, requested a new state insane asylum, called for State Board of Health, and asked the legislature to purchase slaves and equipment for use in building internal improvements. Campaigned unsuccessfully against Zachary Taylor in Louisiana. Called a special session of the legislature in 1848 that appropriated $550,000 for public schools. Moved with the state offices to the new capitol in Baton Rouge, where the legislature met for the first time in 1850. He urged the legislature to send delegates to the Southern Rights Convention in Nashville, Tenn. Johnson left office as governor on January 28, 1850. His successor, Joseph M. Walker (q.v.), appointed him attorney general. He held that office until his death three years later. His first wife died in 1847, he married a Miss Johnson from Kentucky. In 1853 he was a candidate for the supreme court, but he died during the campaign. Interred West Feliciana Parish, La. W.H.A. Sources: Sidney Joseph Aucoin, “The Political Career of Isaac Johnson, Governor of Louisiana,” Louisiana Historical Quarterly, XXVIII (1945); Edwin Davis, The Story of Louisiana (1960).
JOHNSON, John Dudley, farmer, cattleman. Born, Eunice, La., September 13, 1906; son of Jules O. Johnson and Marie Azilda Langlois. Removed to Sulphur, La., 1911. Educated local schools. Married, May 24, 1930, Elma Larpenter of Franklin, La., daughter of Eugene V. Larpenter and Irma Mary Richard. Children: Frankie (b. 1931), Joyce (b. 1934). Employed N. E. Vincent Oil Co., 1925-1938. Self-employed as farmer and cattleman, 1938-1974. Member: Catholic church; Knights of Columbus; American National and Louisiana Cattlemen’s associations; Calcasieu Cattlemen’s Association, president two years; American and Louisiana Farm Bureau associations; Calcasieu Farm Bureau Association, president two years; Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service; West Calcasieu Association of Commerce; board of directors Sulphur Rice Dryer; board of directors Louisiana Rice Council; board of commisisoners, Gravity Drainage District 5 Ward 4 Calcasieu Parish, 1965-1976. Named All-American Father of Year by Louisiana Cowbelles, 1959; honored for outstanding service in agriculture by West Calcasieu Association of Commerce, 1964; Spur Club Award, Louisiana Cattlemen’s convention, 1968; Banker’s Conservation Award, 1968. J. Dudley Johnson Canal, Calcasieu Parish, named for subject. Died, Lake Charles, December 11, 1976; interred Mimosa Pines Cemetery, Sulphur. G.S.P. Sources: Beaumont Enterprise, May 29, 1963; November 7, 1963; Lake Charles American Press, November 11, 1964; March 27, 1968; January 31, 1971; August 29, 1984; Sulphur Southwest Builder, November 14, 1958; August 28, 1962; November 13, 1964; obituary, December 12, 1976; Johnson family papers.
JOHNSON, John Hunter, pioneer, founder of St. Francisville, La. Born, Natchez District, British West Florida, 1778; son of Isaac Johnson ([I] q.v.) and Mary Routh. Came to New Feliciana, Spanish West Florida, with father, a minor Spanish official after American occupation of Mississippi Territory, 1799. Established trading post with brother Joseph Eugenius Johnson (q.v.), 1802-1804. Married Thenia Munson prior to 1798. Developed La Villa de San Francisco under Spanish charter, ca. 1807. Leader in the West Florida Rebellion, 1810; representative from Feliciana in West Florida Convention but resigned his seat after the capital was moved from St. Francisville to Baton Rouge. Elected to first police jury, Parish of Feliciana, 1811-1815; appointed sheriff of Seventh Superior Court, St. Francisville, 1814; member Louisiana senate, 1813-1816; elected parish judge, Feliciana, 1817. Died on way to Attakapas, March 1819. E.K.D. Sources: West Florida Papers, Library of Congress; Dunbar Rowland, ed., Official Letter Books of W. C. C. Claiborne (1917); West Feliciana Parish Records; St. Francisville Time Piece, June 20, 1811.
JOHNSON, Joseph Eugenius, sheriff, merchant. Born, Natchez District, Spanish West Florida, 1780; fourth son of Isaac Johnson ([I] q.v.) and Mary Routh. Mercantile partner of brother John H. Johnson (q.v.), New Feliciana, 1802-1804; appointed sheriff, Parish of Feliciana, Republic of West Florida, 1810. Married Martha Barrow Lane, daughter of David Lane and Mary Barrow; purchased Deer Run Plantation, wife’s family home, 1822. Died, Fauquier County, Va., December 6, 1828. E.K.D. Sources: West Feliciana Parish Records; West Florida Papers, Library of Congress.
JOHNSTON, Julius Alphonsus, physician, politician. Born, Choctaw County, Ala., January 23, 1853; son of Rev. John Macon Johnston and Caroline Elizabeth Moore. Married Alice Dudley at Montgomery County, Ala., February 10, 1877; children: Julius Girardus, John Clarence, and Alice Zuella. Medical degree from the Medical College of Alabama at Mobile, March 28, 1880. Practiced medicine in the Louisiana communities of Opelousas, Babbs Bridge, Pineville, Alexandria, and Spring Creek. Member of the Rapides Parish Medical and Surgical Association (1883-1890), Central Louisiana Medical Association (president, 1897), and the Alexandria Good Citizens League (vice-president). Served as health officer of Alexandria and Pineville. Served on the Pineville City Council (1882) and the Alexandria City Council (1889). Died of yellow fever at Alexandria, La., October 19, 1898; interred, Rapides cemetery. J.D.W. Sources: Nancy Jo Texada, The Research and Romance of Medicine: Rapides Parish, Louisiana Medical History and Physician Biographies (1995).
JOHNSON, William Bullein, clergyman. The first Protestant minister of record in the state of Louisiana to formally address a Roman Catholic congregation and clergy in New Orleans’ St. Louis Cathedral (1817). As a visiting Baptist minister and tractarian from Savannah, Johnson obtained permission from the officiating prelate, Antonio de Sedella (q.v.) to speak in behalf of the newly formed Poydras Female Orphan Asylum. Before he spoke, he was required to present Sedella with a draft of his proposed remarks. Johnson’s speech was given after a formal Mass and simultaneously translated into French to what was described as a “very attentive audience.” Later on in his life, Johnson became famous among Baptists as the only individual to serve as president of both the Southern Baptist Convention and the Triennial Convention. T.F.R. Sources: John T. Christian, A History of the Baptists of Louisiana (1923); Glen Lee Greene, House Upon a Rock: About Southern Baptists in Louisiana (1973).
JOHNSON, William Geary “Bunk”, jazz musician. Born, New Orleans, December 27, 1879; son of William and Theresa Johnson, former slaves in Assumption Parish. Bunk attended New Orleans University at age of six, where he learned to play the cornet under Professor Wallace Cutchey. While in school band played overtures, waltzes in street marches, ball games and other activities. Joined Adam Olivier’s band, 1894; later, 1895, became second cornetist with King Bolden’s popular New Orleans jazz band. In 1898, played with the Bob Russell band. For the next thirty years he wandered around the world playing with a variety of popular bands in minstrels, dance halls, honky-tonks, steamboats, vaudeville parades; he worked on boats sailing to South America, China, Australia, France, and Japan. In 1911, joined the famous Frankie Dusen’s Eagle Band. During this period gave early training to famous trumpeteer Louis Armstrong (q.v.), who became a lifelong friend. Removed, 1920, to New Iberia, La., and married (1) Maude Fontenette of that city. Married (2) Maude Balque, February 23, 1949, New Iberia. Records reveal that he also married Fannie Bradley. Twelve children. Played with the New Iberia Banner Band in 1931 and later joined the Black Eagles of Crowley. Then there was a fight in Rayne, La., in which Bunk’s band leader was killed and Bunk’s trumpet destroyed. These tragic events, coupled with the fact that he was losing his teeth, prompted him to quit music and to take odd jobs around New Iberia. He worked at a rice mill, drove cane trucks, was a WPA music teacher, and caretaker of the “Shadows-on-the-Teche” (antebellum home). He became close friend of Weeks Hall (q.v.), owner of The Shadows. Bunk Johnson was rediscovered in 1940 by William Russell, jazz critic and writer, who was prompted by Louis Armstrong to interview Bunk for the book Jazzmen. A collection followed to buy new teeth and a trumpet. A record was cut and sent to California jazz authorities who were impressed. Bunk selected a band, made more recordings and played again in the New Orleans area. In the spring of 1943, Bill Coburn, a jazz collector, persuaded Bunk to appear in San Francisco for a series of lectures on jazz. He made a hit in that city with such tunes as “Maple Leaf Rag,” “High Society,” “Bunk’s Blues,” and several traditional hymns. He reached his zenith in September 1945 with his new band named “Bunk Johnson and his New Orleans Band,” when he played five nights a week at New York City’s Stuyvesant Casino. He was even presented in concert with Orson Welles at Town Hall. Leading magazines gave Bunk Johnson rave reviews. Time magazine called his band the “hot jazz sensation of the year.” Made many recordings under leading labels, including RCA Victor. Died, New Iberia, July 7, 1949; interred St. Edward’s Cemetery. M.R. Sources: Al Rose and Edmond Souchon, New Orleans Jazz, A Family Album, 3rd ed. (1984); Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer, Jr., A Pictorial History of Jazz (1966); Morris Raphael, Weeks Hall: The Master of the Shadows (1981).
JOHNSTON, Frances Benjamin, photographer, writer, lecturer. Born, Grafton, W. Va., January 15, 1864; daughter of Anderson Doniphan Johnston and Frances Antoinette Benjamin. Family removed to Washington, D.C., 1872. Education: Notre Dame Convent school, outside Baltimore, Md., graduated 1883; studied art at Académie Julian, Paris, France, 1883-1885. Helped form Art Students League, Washington, D.C., 1885. Studied photography at Smithsonian Institution, 1888-1889. Pioneer woman photographer who wrote and illustrated magazine and newspaper articles and books. Covered White House administrations Harrison to Taft, photographed people and events, world’s fairs, schools in Washington, D.C., Hampton and Tuskegee Institutes, the Indian school in Carlisle, Pa., U. S. Naval Academy, West Point, 1889-1910. Specialized in lectures and photographing gardens and architecture, 1908-1940s, documented European gardens, 1925. Received successive grants from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to photograph early Southern architecture, 1930s. Began Louisiana architectural photography 1937; removed to New Orleans, 1944. Photographs exhibited in museums and galleries in U. S. and Europe. Received gold medal and grand prix at Paris Universal Exposition, 1900, and Palmes Académiques by the French government, 1905. Member: D.A.R., Photo-Secession, Thornton Society, Women’s National Press Club, Arts Club of Washington, A. I. A. Died, New Orleans, May 16, 1952; interred Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D.C. A.E.P. Sources: Pete Daniel and Raymond Smock, A Talent for Detail: The Photographs of Miss Frances Benjamin Johnston, 1889-1910 (1974); Anne E. Peterson, “Frances B. Johnston: The Crusader with a Camera,” Historic Preservation, XXXII (1980); Anne E. Peterson, “Introduction,” Frances Benjamin Johnston: Women of Class and Station (1979); Barbara Scherman et al., eds., “Johnston, Frances Benjamin,” in Notable American Women: The Modern Period, (1980).
JOHNSTON, Josiah Stoddard, congressman. Born, Salisbury, Conn., November 24, 1784. Removed to Kentucky, 1790. Education: grade schools, New Haven, Conn.; Transylvania University, Ky., graduated 1802. Studied law, admitted to Louisiana bar, 1805; began practice in Alexandria, La., with brother, John H. Johnston. Political career: member, territorial legislature, 1805-1812; clerk, Fourth Superior Court District, 1807; state representative, 1812-1821; U. S. House of Representatives, 1821-1823; unsuccessful candidate for reelection; appointed to U. S. Senate to fill vacancy caused by resignation of James Brown (q.v.); served in Senate, 1823-1833. Military service: major, territorial militia, June 6, 1809; colonel, 1814; organized regiment for defense of New Orleans, but reached city after battle of January 8, 1815. Died in explosion of steamboat Lioness, bound from Alexandria to Natchitoches, May 18, 1833; interred Rapides Cemetery, Pineville, La. C.A.B. Sources: George P. Whittington, “Rapides Parish, Louisiana: A History,” Louisiana Historical Quarterly, XVII (1934); William H. Adams, The Whig Party of Louisiana (1973); Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1949 (1950); Clarence E. Carter, ed., Territorial Papers of the United States, vol. IX, The Territory of Orleans (1940); Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northwest Louisiana (1890).
JOHNSTON, William Preston, soldier, educator, orator, author. Born, Louisville, Ky., January 5, 1831; eldest son of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston and Henrietta Preston. Raised by maternal relatives after his mother’s death when he was four. Education: Louisville public schools; S. V. Womack’s academy at Shelbyville, Ky.; Centre College, Danville, Ky., 1846; Western Military Institute, Georgetown, Ky., 1847-1848; Yale College, New Haven, Conn., 1851-1852; University of Louisville Law School, 1852-1853. Married (1), July 7, 1853, Rosa Elizabeth Duncan (d. 1885) of New Orleans, La., and New Haven, Conn., daughter of Judge John Nicholson Duncan and his wife Mary. Children: Mary Duncan (b. 1855), Henrietta Preston (b. 1856), Rosa Duncan (b. 1858), Albert Sidney Johnston, III (b. 1861), Margaret Wickcliffe (b. 1864), Caroline Hancock (b. 1866). Practiced law in Louisville, 1853-1855, 1857-1861, and New York City, 1855-1857. Civil War service: commissioned major, Second Kentucky Regiment of Artillery, Confederate Army, July 16, 1861; transferred to Third Kentucky Volunteers on August 7; promoted to rank of lieutenant colonel October 14, and assigned to First Kentucky Infantry; served in northern Virginia; in January 1862 he contracted pneumonia and later typhoid fever which rendered him unfit for active campaigning; his illness, coupled with the disbanding of his regiment, resulted in his appointment as aide-de-camp on President Jefferson Davis’ staff with the rank of colonel of cavalry; ordered to inspect the Army of the West shortly after his father’s death while commanding that army at the Battle of Shiloh; similar inspections, sometimes in the company of President Davis, followed; captured with Davis near Irwinville, Ga., May 10, 1865; conveyed to Fort Delaware, near Philadelphia, and placed in solitary confinement May 23; took oath of allegiance to the U. S. on July 19; apparently released from prison August 5. Removed with family to Montreal, Canada, but removed to Louisville, spring of 1866, resumed law practice; professor of English and History, 1867-1869, “Kentucky Professor of History”, 1869-1874 at Washington College (Washington and Lee University after 1870), Lexington, Va. Wrote biography of father, 1872-1877; published in 1878, Life of General Albert Sidney Johnston was the most significant of his numerous publications; member of Washington and Lee University Law School faculty, 1876-1880 and practiced law, 1880. President and professor of History and English Literature, Louisiana State University, 1880-1883. First president, 1883-1899, and one of the three men responsible for the establishment and success of Tulane University. Largely responsible for the founding of Newcomb College for women in New Orleans in association with Tulane in 1886. Campaigned for the establishment of public high schools throughout Louisiana. Married (2), April 25, 1888, Margaret Henshaw Avery, of Baton Rouge, daughter of Judge Dudley Avery (q.v.) and Sarah Craig Marsh. Member: Delta Kappa Epsilon; Skull and Bones (senior society at Yale), Calliopean Society; Lee Memorial Association; board of regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Died, July 16, 1899, in Lexington, Va.; buried in Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Ky. Cousin of Randall Lee Gibson (q.v.). William P. Johnston Hall at Louisiana State University named for him. L.L.H. Source: Arthur Marvin Shaw, William Preston Johnston: A Transitional Figure of the Confederacy (1943).
JOHNSTONE, George, British naval officer, colonial governor, crown delegate to the American colonies, member of Parliament. Born, Westerhall, Dumbriesshire, Scotland, 1730; fourth son of Sir James Johnstone, Third Baronet, and Barbara Murray. Married Charlotte Dee; one legitimate son, Sir John Lowther, sixth baronet. Also sired five children out of wedlock. A younger son unlikely to inherit his family’s estate, Johnstone went to sea at age thirteen; passed the lieutenant’s exam in 1749, thereby becoming eligible to command a ship. Had a stormy naval career, marked by at least three duels and several court-martial hearings. Despite his numerous altercations with commanders, he escaped serious punishment because he repeatedly distinguished himself with great valor during naval battles. Awarded his first command in 1760 as captain of the Hornet. Because of family ties to Lord Bute, former prime minister and a native of Scotland, on July 14, 1763, he received the royal nomination to serve as the first governor of British West Florida. Landed in Florida on October 21, 1764, where he served until early in 1767. While in Florida, involved in a heated political battle with several officials, particularly the military commander, Major Robert Farmar. Elected to Parliament, 1768 and 1774. Served on the Carlisle Commission to the American colonies, 1778, but was forced to resign the commission when it was discovered that he privately corresponded with American delegates. In 1779 Johnstone returned to England, where he re-entered the British navy as a commodore and commander of a small squadron. Returned to Parliament in 1781; appointed director of the East India Company, 1783. Spent the last two yearsof his life as an invalid. Died, May 24, 1787; interred, Westerhall, Scotland. G.I. Sources: Robin F. A. Fabel, Bombast and Broadsides: The Lives of George Johnstone (1987); “George Johnstone,” Dictionary of National Biography, (1917), vol. 10.
JOLIET (also rendered JOLLIET), Louis, explorer. Born, Beaupré, Quebec, Canada, September 21, 1645. Son of Johan and Marie d’Abancour Joliet. Married Clair Brissat, October 7, 1675. Studied hydrography in France in 1667; sent to trade with Indians and searched for copper in Lake Superior region, 1669; his party was the first to pass down Great Lakes by way of Detroit River into Lake Erie, 1669. Was expert cartographer; chosen to lead expedition to explore Mississippi River with Father Marquette (q.v.) as chaplain. Departed, May 17, 1673, went by way of Fox and Wisconsin rivers to Mississippi River which party entered, June 17, 1673; went down Mississippi River to Arkansas River. Being sure the river system flowed to the Gulf of Mexico, returned to Illinois and Des Plaines rivers; lost maps and journals when his canoe overturned near Montreal. Given Anticosti Island as reward for accomplishments. Became trader in Hudson Bay area; explored coast of Labrador, 1694; named royal pilot for St. Lawrence, 1694; granted seigneurie of Joliet, south of Quebec, 1697; named royal hydrographer for Canada, 1697. Died in Canada, May 1700; buried at Mignan Island, Canada. J.B.C. Source: Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896 (1967).
JOLLEY, James Richard, journalist, politician. Born, Marion, Ohio, May 30, 1842. Education: schools of Lima, Ohio; learned printing trade at The Gazette and became one of its publishers before age 19. Enlisted in Union Army, 1861; taken prisoner at Harper’s Ferry and discharged for disability. Recovered, re-enlisted, and attained rank of captain. After war, removed to New Orleans and then to the Teche country. Publisher of the Iberia Progress, 1869. In 1873 purchased Attakapas Register in Franklin and moved it in 1874 to Brashear where he remained for 40 years the owner, publisher, and editor. Re-named the paper Morgan City Review in 1878. Married (1) Carrie Miller of Morgan City. One son, Miller Jolley. Married (2) Margaret Jo Ann Toler Costello. Children: twins James Richard, Jr., and Cassius Elisha (1880), Homer Levi (1883), and Margaret Johan (1885). (All three sons became postmasters—J.R., Jr., and Homer in Morgan City; Cassius in Berwick, La.) Secretary of the Atchafalaya and Plaquemine Improvement Association, active in navigation projects; served a year as St. Mary Parish sheriff; was collector of customs of Teche District; and postal inspector at Morgan City for many years. Organized white Republican Club in 1895; charter member of the Morgan City Masonic Lodge; an Eastern Star, Elk, and Odd Fellow. Died, Morgan City, June 7, 1914; interred Greenwood Cemetery. L.K.L. Source: Jolley Family File in Morgan City Archives.
JONAS, Benjamin Franklin, congressman. Born, Williamsport, Grant County, Ky., July 19, 1834. Removed with parents to Adams County, Ill.; attended public schools. Removed to New Orleans, La., in 1853; was graduated from the law department of the University of Louisiana at Pineville, 1855. Admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in New Orleans. Married Josephine Block, 1859. Enlisted as a private in the Confederate Army in 1862 and was serving in the Washington Artillery, 1863, when Captain Fenner’s battery joined Hood’s Corps of the Army of the Tennessee; appointed sergeant major and later adjutant of the artillery regiment commanded by Col. Robert F. Beckham and served throughout the Civil War. Member, state house of representatives, 1865-1868; chairman, Louisiana delegation to the Democratic National Convention at New York City in 1868; elected to the state senate in 1867 but declined to take the seat in that body which he held was illegal. City attorney of New Orleans, 1875-1879; delegate to the Democratic National conventions in 1876 and 1884. Member, state house of representatives, 1876-1877. Elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1884; collector of the port of New Orleans, 1884-1889; resumed the practice of law. Died, New Orleans, December 21, 1911; interred Dispersed of Judah Cemetery. J.B.C. Sources: Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1949 (1950); New Orleans Times-Picayune, obituary, December 22, 1911.
JONES, Alvin Hamilton, educator, civil rights activist. Born, Napoleonville, La., March 2, 1905; one of eight children born to Augustan G. Jones and Eliza Sawyer Jones. Married Inez Geddes, 1929; two children: Alma Inez Jones and Geddes Alvin Jones. Educated in New Orleans schools, DeWitt Clinton high school (New York), Columbia University (B.A., 1926), and University of Pennsylvania (M.A., 1939). Taught Economics at Southern University in Baton Rouge (1930-1935) and Xavier University in New Orleans (1935-1944). Served as manager-director of United Seamen’s Service during World War II and executive-secretary of the New Orleans Urban League (1947-1948). Member of the American Economic Association and a Fellow of the Royal Economic Society of Great Britain (1940). In 1950, as a member of the Louisiana Progressive Voters League, led a campaign to register black voters in rural parishes; was severely beaten in Opelousas on June 5, 1950. Died of his injuries in New Orleans on October 30, 1951. J.D.W. Sources: Adam Fairclough, Race & Democracy: The Civil Rights Struggle in Louisiana, 1915-1972 (1995); G. James Fleming and Christian E. Burckel, eds., Who’s Who in Colored America (1950); Louisiana Office of Tourism, Our Culture Abounds: A Pictorial Directory of Louisiana’s African-American Attractions (1995); The Louisiana Weekly, June 10, 1950, June 24, 1950, November 3, 1951.
JONES, Carroll, farmer, livestock breeder. Born a slave of Matthew J. Jones, in Sumner County, Tenn., April 4, 1815. Jones moved his family and slaves to Bayou Jean de Jean, Rapides Parish, in 1822. In 1844, Carroll married Catherine Clifton, believed to be part Choctaw Indian. Thirteen children. Was emanciapted January 18, 1851, without a bond exacted as required by law. Lived in the Piney Woods, near the Clifton settlement, on Pine Coupée Creek before removing to Natchitoches Parish in 1869. Did considerable trading and speculating in livestock. His crossroads location brought drovers and migrants to his corn bins. His farm was a storage depot for horses, livestock, and corn during the Civil War. Gen. Richard Taylor’s (q.v.) troops camped there; Gen. Alfred Mouton (q.v.) readied for battle formation on the site. Eventually acquired 1,500 acres of choice land on Cane River. Carroll continued farming and with his large family created unusual records. He was known as the breeder of some of the finest thoroughbreds in the U. S. Died, January 10, 1894, wife on September 30, 1921. Both interred St. Augustin Cemetery at Melrose. P.K.B. Sources: Lyle Saxon Collection, Democrat, October 15, & 22, 1873, Red River Republican, January 18, 1851, Ludwell H. Johnson, Red River Campaign (1958); interviews; Rapides Parish Courthouse Records.
JONES, Francis Ernest, educator, attorney, politician, jurist. Born, Hebbardsville, Ky., November 15, 1879; son of Hugh Allen and Frances E. Jones. Education: Bethel College, Russellville, Ky.; Louisiana State University, law degree, 1911. Career: taught in public schools of La Salle Parish, La., 1906-1911; practiced law in La Salle Parish, 1911-1915; served from that time as district judge for twenty-eight consecutive years in the Eighth, Thirtieth and Twenty-eighth judicial districts, comprising the parishes of La Salle, Catahoula, Winn, and Grant; active in Democratic party and Louisiana state politics. In this long career, few of his decisions reversed by higher courts. Married, July 24, 1912, Sallie Bennett of Archie, La.; daughter of Henry S. Bennett, plantation owner, and Sallie Cotton. Children: Clara L., Mary K., Francis E., Jr., Sarah E. Member, First Baptist Church, Masonic Lodge. Retired from district judgeship, December 2, 1942. Died, Jena, La., April 28, 1944; interred Nolley Memorial Methodist Cemetery. M.K.J. Sources: Henry E. Chambers, A History of Louisiana (1925); Jena Times, obituary, May 4, 1944; Alexandria Daily Town Talk, April 29, 1944; Jones family papers.
JONES, John Sebastian, educator, editor. Born, McCall Plantation, Ascension Parish, La., October 26, 1872; son of Richard and Judea Jones. Education: local schools of Smokebend, La.; Leland College, New Orleans, graduated as valedictorian, 1887. Taught school in Calcasieu Parish; principal of the Lake Charles Negro School, 1898-1899. Advocated moving Southern University from New Orleans to Baton Rouge; after university relocated in March, 1914, Jones joined faculty of Southern University as director of the Academic Department; while in this position he acquired the sobriquet “Dean Jones.” Served as an assistant in the Negro Division of the State Department of Education, 1920-1923; became a Jeanes Supervisor, 1926; served as the Rosenwald Building Agent in Louisiana; appointed Assistant Works Progress Administration Education supervisor in 1934. One of the founders of the Louisiana Colored Teachers’ Association in 1901 and was editor of the Louisiana Colored Teachers’ Journal, 1925-1947. Married (1), Maria Morrison of Alabama. Seven children. Married (2), Lizzie LeBlanc; two children. Children: Amelia, Armstead, Ralph Waldo Emerson (q.v.), Myrtle, Leonora, Eugenia, Ogarita, Lillie, Arthesta, and Nan Geraldine. Later years spent at the State Industrial School for Negro Youths in Baton Rouge. Died, December 26, 1959. S.A. Sources: Shirley H. Ayatey, “John Sebastian Jones and the Louisiana Colored Teachers’ Journal” (M. A. thesis, Louisiana Tech University, 1969); Betty Porter, “History of Negro Education in Louisiana,” Louisiana Historical Quarterly, XXV (1942); Minns Sledge Robertson, Public Education in Louisiana After 1898 (1952).
JONES, Joseph, physician, scientist, teacher. Born, Liberty County, Georgia, September 6, 1833; son of Rev. Charles Colcock Jones, a planter and prominent minister to the slaves. Education: private tutors; South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina); Princeton University, B.A., 1853, University of Pennsylvania, M.D., 1856. Early career: developed lifelong interest in scientific research during college years; chose teaching over private practice in order to have time for research; taught chemistry at the Savannah Medical College, 1856-1857, natural history and natural philosophy at the University of Georgia, 1858, and chemistry at the Medical College of Georgia, 1858-1861; actively pursued investigation of the history, etiology, pathology,and treatment of Southern diseases. Civil War service: joined the Liberty Independent Troops shortly after the outbreak of hostilities and served for six months as a private; surgeon, Confederate States Army, 1862-1865, with the rank of major; assigned by Surgeon General Samuel P. Moore to conduct medical studies in the principal Southern armies, hospitals, and military prisons; presented findings to Moore in a series of masterful reports. Postwar career: resumed position at the Medical College of Georgia, 1865-1866; professor of the Institutes of Medicine, University of Nashville, 1866-1868; professor of Chemistry and Clinical Medicine in the Medical Department of the University of Louisiana (now Tulane University) and visiting physician at Charity Hospital, 1868-1894; one of the founders of the Southern Historical Society, 1869; president, Louisiana State Board of Health, 1880-1883; president, Louisiana State Medical Society, 1889; surgeon general, United Confederate Veterans, 1889-1894; pursued earlier research in Southern diseases and related topics throughout postwar period. Married (1), October 26, 1859, Caroline Smelt Davis of Augusta, Ga., daughter of Rev. Samuel S. Davis. Children: Samuel Stanhope Davis, Susan Hyrne, Charles Colcock, and Mary Cuthbert. Married (2), June 21, 1870, Susan Rayner Polk, of New Orleans, daughter of Episcopalian bishop and Confederate general Leonidas Polk. Children: Hamilton Polk, Frances Devereux, and Laura Maxwell. Died, New Orleans, February 17, 1896; interred Lafayette Cemetery, New Orleans. Publications: prolific writer and published over 100 papers on a wide range of medical and scientific topics in the best journals of the day; chiefly remembered for his Medical and Surgical Memoirs (3 vols. in 4 parts; 1876-1890). J.B.* Sources: Joseph Jones Papers, Tulane University; Charles Colcock Jones Papers, Tulane University; Charles Colcock Jones, Jr., Papers, University of Georgia; Robert Manson Myers, The Children of Pride (1972); Stanhope Bayne-Jones, Joseph Jones, 1833-1896 (1957?); James O. Breeden, Joseph Jones, M. D.: Scientist of the Old South (1975).
JONES, Joseph Luther, educator, businessman. Born, Leesville, La., August 24, 1895. Son of Henry Jones and Alice Shade. Education: Leesville public schools; Southern University, A. B. degree; further studies, Atlanta University, Atlanta, Ga. World War I service: in combat with the 92nd Infantry Division in France, 1918. Married, June 15, 1921, Olethia Richerson of Smyrna, Fla. One child: Catherine. Accomplishments: principal of Webster Parish High School, Minden, La., 1922-1948; president of Louisiana Interscholastic Athletic and Literary Association; appointed by Gov. James Davis to the State Board of Education for the Improvement of Negro Education in Louisiana. Chairman, board of deacons, St. Rest Baptist Church, Minden, La.; Jones Masonic Lodge, Minden, La., named for subject; “Prof.” Jones and two associates founded in 1934 the Benevolent Life Insurance Co., Inc., home office, Shreveport, branches in Alexandria, Lake Charles, and Minden, La. Died, Minden, April 11, 1948; interred Sheppard Cemetery. S.F. Sources: W. L. G. Abney, “A History of Webster High School, Minden, Louisiana, 1922-1952,” Webster Press, April 15, 1948; “A Tribute to the Memory of Deacon J. L. Jones—An Obituary,” Minden Herald, April 16, 1948; Jones family papers.
JONES, Joseph M., attorney, businessman, civic leader. Born, New Orleans, August 30, 1903; son of Hamilton Polk Jones and Caroline Merrick; greatgrandson of Bishop Leonidas Polk (q.v.), grandson of Dr. Joseph Jones (q.v.) . Married Eugenie Penick (1902-1963). Children: Eugenie Penick (b. 1932), married Killian Huger, Jr.; Joseph Merrick, Jr. (b. 1934), married Elaine Douglass; Susan (b. 1938), married (1) H. Merritt Lane, Jr.; (2) James O. Gundlach. Tulane University, B. A., LL. B., 1925; practiced law in New Orleans after graduation, founding in 1937 his own firm which is now known as Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrère and Denègre, and in which he was senior partner at the time of his death. A founder, as well as president of the Canal Barge Company, Inc.; a director and executive committee member of Penick & Ford, Ltd., Inc.; chairman of the executive committee and director of Southdown, Inc.; other directorships included Petroleum Reserves, Inc., Central Gulf Steamship Corporation, Coastal Marine Drilling and Construction Company, Dr. G. H. Tichenor Antiseptic Company, Baurerlein, Inc., Acme Life Insurance Company and National Airlines. A member of the advisory committee of the Texas Fund Management Company. Served on the advisory board of Hotel Dieu, and was a director of the Council for a Better Louisiana, the Cultural Attractions Fund of Greater New Orleans, and the Urban Maes Research Foundation. Elected to the board of administrators, Tulane University, 1947; its president, 1950-death. A former president of the Bureau of Governmental Research and the Louisiana Association for Mental Health. In latter role, played a part in the creation and establishment of the Southeastern Louisiana Mental Hospital. Served as a vice president of the Family Service Society and was a trustee of the Isaac Delgado Museum of Art as well as of the Foreign Policy Association. A president of the New Orleans Bar Association, a member of the board of governors and executive committee of the Louisiana State Bar Association and a member of the American Bar Association. Served as president and director of The National Waterways Conference, Inc. During 1942-1943, served with the United States Department of State in Washington, D. C. Member of The Racquet & Tennis Club, the Links and the Pinnacle Club in New York; Metropolitan Club, Washington, D. C.; The Chicago Club, Chicago; in New Orleans, the Boston Club, Louisiana Club, Pickwick Club, New Orleans Country Club, Southern Yacht Club and Metairie Country Club. His fraternities were Delta Kappa Epsilon, Phi Delta Phi and the Order of the Coif. On March 11, 1963, both Mr. and Mrs. Jones lost their lives as a result of a fire which destroyed their home in Metairie. G.D. Sources: Newspaper clippings; Tulane University publications.
JONES, Marshall Carl, pioneer oilman. Born, Atlanta, Tex., 1895. Education: local schools. Left school at age 14 to work in Caddo oil fields. Military service: served with 29th Infantry Division in the Argonne Forest, World War I; wounded twice and received the Purple Heart. Entered petroleum industry in 1908 working in the Pine Island field in Caddo Parish. First well to work on was the Savage No. 1. After World War I, returned to Shreveport, formed a partnership with Walter D. George and drilled extensively. Left the partnership nine years later to operate alone, dealing in royalties and leases. Member, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Petroleum Institute, American Legion, and Association of Oil Drilling Contractors. Member, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Married Frances Ball. Children: Carl Wiley Jones, James Marshall Jones, and Martha Jones Rice. Died, Shreveport, July 30, 1978. P.L.M. Sources: “Rites Tuesday for Pioneer Oilman Marshall Carl Jones,” Shreveport Journal, July 31, 1978; oral interview, Marshall Carl Jones, September 21, 1977, LSU-S Archives.
JONES, Norris Wright, farmer, educator. Born, Catahoula Parish, La., November 18, 1847; son of John and Mary (Oglethorpe) Jones. Enlisted July 1864 in Confederate States Army, Company D., Third Louisiana Cavalry, private; served until end of war. Assigned to pilot herds of beef cattle through the Catahoula Lake swamp area into Mississippi. Married Jane Elizabeth Curtis (1850-1919), daughter of John J. Curtis, February 1867, Catahoula Parish. Children: Ernest Wright, Bertha Ann, Mary Rebecca, Emmanuel E., Martha Jane, Norris Franklin, Florence Unica, and Calvin Davis. Owned a large farm, which he operated until the mid-twentieth century. Taught school at Chalk Hill and Little Creek in Catahoula Parish. Justice of the peace at Little Creek for many years. Director of the Black Jack Public School and overseer of the Gilmore’s Ferry-Funny Louis Public Road. An avid fisherman, a member of the Democratic party and the Methodist church. Died, Jena, May 21, 1932. Interred Beulah Cemetery, near Trout, La. A.Y.B. Sources: Norris W. Jones, application for Confederate pension, Louisiana State Archives, Baton Rouge, La.; U. S. Census, Catahoula Parish, La., 1850-1880, 1900; Headstones of Norris W. and Jane C. Jones, Belah Cemetery, near Trout, La.; Catahoula Parish, La., Civil Court Records (Conveyances and Successions); Catahoula Parish, La. v. I, Bits & Pieces (1984).
JONES, Okla Jarred II, lawyer, jurist. Born, Natchitoches, La., 1950; son of Henry Jones and Willie Mae McCoy. Married Carolyn Carmon; one son, Okla Jarred Jones, III. Education: graduated from Central High School, Natchitoches, La.; Bachelor’s degree in Political Science, Southern University, Baton Rouge, La., 1968; law degree, Boston College, 1972. Worked in New Orleans with a private law practice for several years; also served as lawyer for the Orleans Indigent Defender Program, director of Tulane University Law School’s employment discrimination clinic and project director of the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights. Appointed special council to the New Orleans City Council, 1983, and City Attorney for New Orleans, May, 1986; resigned when elected to New Orleans Civil District Court, 1991; appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve on the federal district court for eastern Louisiana, October, 1994. Issued several important rulings including ordering that the names of legislative scholarships recipients to Tulane University be released as public information and deciding that lawsuits against tobacco manufacturers did qualify as class action suits. Member: the American Bar Association, the National Bar Association, the American Judicature Society, the National Conference of Black Lawyers, and the Louis A. Martinet Society. Died of leukemia at Ochsner Foundation Hospital, New Orleans, January 8, 1996; interred, St. Roch Cemetery No. 2, New Orleans, La. J.D.W. Sources: New Orleans Times-Picayune, January 10, 1996.
JONES, Ralph Waldo Emerson, academic. Born, Lake Charles, La., August 6, 1905; son of John Sebastian Jones and Maria Morrison. Education: Southern University, B. A., 1925; Columbia University, M. A., 1932. Teacher, Lampton College, Alexandria, La., 1925-1926; instructor, 1926-1927, and dean, 1927-1936, Lincoln Parish Training School (Grambling State University). President, Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute (Grambling State University), 1936-1977; known by the sobriquet “Prez.” While an instructor at Grambling, taught biology, mathematics, physics, chemistry, coached the football and baseball teams; served as dean of men, registrar, and band organizer. Continued as baseball coach throughout his 51 years at Grambling. Wrote the Grambling State University song, “Old Grambling, Dear Grambling,” to the tune of “Maryland, My Maryland”; member, Governor’s Committee of 100, Human Relations Council; appointed by the governor as a representative of the state of Louisiana in the Southern Regional Education Board; member, Council of Trustees of the Gulf South Research Institute of the State of Louisiana; member, Steering Committee for the Curriculum Study of Elementary and Secondary Education; member, National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics; member, New Rocky Valley Baptist Church, Grambling, La., where he served as trustee and member of the deacon board; member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., and a Thirty-third-Degree Prince Hall Mason. Married Mildred Shay, April 11, 1937. Two children: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Jr., and John Arthur. Honors: named to the Grambling Hall of Fame, 1980; became the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics’ Coach of the Year in 1963 and named to NAIA Hall of Fame, 1964. Received honorary doctorates from Southeastern, Washington, D. C., University of Baltimore, and Louisiana Tech University, 1970. Received special commendations from the state of Louisiana after he and the Grambling State University Band accompanied Mrs. Richard M. Nixon to Liberia for the inauguration of President William Tolbert on December 9, 1971. Received a resolution and a plaque of commendation from the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees upon his retirement on June 24, 1977. Long Hall at Grambling University renamed Long-Jones Hall. Coleman & Lincoln streets, Grambling, renamed R. W. E. Jones Drive. Died, April 9, 1982, at Lincoln General Hospital, Ruston, La.; interred Memorial Gardens, Grambling, La. S.A. Sources: J. Andrew Gaulden, ed., Negro Louisiana (1945); New York Times, March 25, 1977; Ruston Daily Leader, April 11, 1982; June 13, 1977; Grambling The Gramblingite, April 16, 1982; obituary, April 12, 1982.
JONES, Roland, attorney, congressman. Born, Salisbury, N. C., November 18, 1813. Attended private schools; taught school in Wilkesboro, N. C., 1830-1835; Cambridge (Mass.) Law School, graduated 1838. Admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Brandon, Miss.; editor of the Brandon Republican, 1838-1840. Removed to Shreveport, La., in 1840 and continued the practice of law. Member, the state house of representatives, 1844-1848; district judge of Caddo Parish, 1851-1852; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-third Congress (March 4, 1853-March 3, 1855). Was not a candidate for renomination in 1854; resumed practice of law; again elected district judge in 1860 and served until 1868. Died, Shreveport, February 5, 1869; interred Oakland Cemetery. J.B.C. Source: Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1949 ( 1950).
JONES, Sam Houston, attorney, soldier, governor. Born, Merryville, La., July 15, 1897; son of Robert D. Jones and Susan Frazar Jones. Eduction: public schools of DeRidder; Louisiana State University Law School. Entered U. S. Army in 1917; discharged 1919 as second lieutenant; retired 1957 as major, U. S. Army Reserve. Served as deputy clerk of court, Beauregard Parish, 1919-1921. Served in constitutional convention of 1921. Admitted to Louisiana bar, 1922; practiced in DeRidder. Assistant district attorney, Fourteenth Judicial District, 1925-1934. Married Louise Gambrell Boyer, July 15, 1934. Four children. Practiced law in Lake Charles, 1934-1940. Elected governor, 1940, as reform candidate following the “Louisiana Scandals.” Established state civil service; benefitted from growth of industry and increased revenues during World War II. Returned to law practice in Lake Charles in 1944. Unsuccessful candidate for governor in 1948 against Earl K. Long (q.v.). Appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as member of Commission on Intergovernmental Regulations in 1953; appointed by Gov. Earl Long to committee to investigate problems in state prison at Angola in 1958. Died, Lake Charles, February 7, 1978. A.W.B. Sources: Roland Cocreham, Sam Houston Jones, Governor, State of Louisiana, 1940-1944: A Brief Biographical Sketch (1971); “Sam Houston Jones, Reform Governor—Louisiana Statesman,” Acadiana Profile, II, No. 5 (1971); Sam H. Jones Papers, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Library; New Orleans Times-Picayune, February 8, 1978.
JONES, Thomas Sambola, attorney, educator, politician, diplomat. Born, East Feliciana Parish, La., October 5, 1859; son of Thomas S. Jones, M. D. Education: Centenary College, B. A., 1876, M. A., 1879; University of Louisiana (now Tulane University), law degree, 1880. Married (1) Deborah Henrietta Spencer, 1883, and (2) Julia de Durón, daughter of well-to-do Honduran politician, intellectual and historian, Romulo Durón, 1919. One child: daughter Eliza Perry by first marriage. School teacher, Catahoula Parish, 1876-1878; law practice; superintendent, East Baton Rouge schools, 1882-1886; owner and editor, Louisiana Educator, 1888-1892; Louisiana house of representatives; judge, Baton Rouge; editor, Daily Advocate, official state newspaper; envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, Honduras, from June 26, 1918, to October 17, 1919. Commissioner to St. Louis Exposition, 1904; commissioner to Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, 1915. Member, Masonic fraternity, Odd Fellows, Elks, Knights of Pythias, and Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce. Honorary doctor of laws, Centenary, 1920. Died, 1933. T.D.S. Sources: H. E. Chambers, A History of Louisiana (1925); A History of Who’s Who in Louisiana Politics (1916); U. S. Dept. of State, United States Chiefs of Mission, 1778-1973 (1973).
JONES, Valena Cecilia MacArthur, educator. Born, Bay St. Louis, Miss., August 3, 1872; daughter of Elbert Eldridge MacArthur and Henrietta Knight. Education: local schools; Straight College, New Orleans. Upon graduation named principal at the Bay St. Louis Negro School. Left that position in 1897 to teach in New Orleans public schools. A short time later voted the most popular colored teacher in the city. Married the Reverend Robert E. Jones in 1901. Three children: Grace (b. 1901), Mary (b. 1903), Robert, Jr. (b. 1905). Left teaching in 1901 to help Rev. Jones edit the Southwestern Christian Advocate and took a lively interest in educational and religious activities. A year after her death, in 1918, she became the fourth black for whom a New Orleans public school was named. Died, January 13, 1917, New Orleans; interred Greenwood Cemetery. C.V. Sources: Mrs. Mary Jones Broussard, Santa Barbara, California, daughter, telephone interview, September 13, 1982; Robert Meyer, Jr., Names Over New Orleans Public Schools (1975).
JONES, William Elliott, engineer, agriculturist. Born, Dinwiddie County, Va., 1881; son of Thomas Thweatt Jones, a Presbyterian minister, and Margaret Bolling Jones. Education: Hampden-Sydney College, civil engineering degree; Washington and Lee University. He worked with the Reilly Coffee Company in New Orleans and also managed a cotton plantation in Greenwood, Miss. Became associated with Southdown Plantation, near Houma, 1917. Married, 1928, Jane Elizabeth Chauvin Hochenedel of Baton Rouge, a widow with three daughters. Lived at Crescent Farm Plantation on Little Bayou Black. Introduced P.O.J. cane, a disease resistant variety, which revived the waning sugarcane industry in Louisiana. Member, State Levee Board and Terrebonne Parish School Board. Died, Jackson, Miss., 1959; interred Roselawn Cemetery, Baton Rouge. B.C.H.M. Sources: Author’s research; A. W. Dykers, “Up Front with the League,” Sugar Bulletin, (August 1, 1960); E. V. Abbott, “Dedication of Memorial to William Elliott Jones,” Sugar Bulletin, (August 1, 1960).
JOOR, Harriet C., artist, writer, and teacher. Born, Harrisburg, Tex., January 20, 1875; daughter of Joseph and Ella Joor. Moved to New Orleans when her father became professor of Botany at Tulane University. Education: B. S., Newcomb College, 1895. Joined first pottery class in fall, 1895. Continued training in pottery production as special student and graduate student. Became pottery decorator, Newcomb College. Three of her pieces were exhibited at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. Taught art, University of Chicago, 1905-1911. Homesteaded in South Dakota with a group of women. After World War I taught art to disabled veterans at Walter Reed Hospital. Taught art, Southwestern Louisiana Institute, 1923-38. Book illustrator and regular contributor of articles to House Beautiful, Vogue, and Country Life; staff writer for The Craftsman. Wrote articles on stenciling and embroidery as well as fiction. Died March 28, 1965; interred at Roselawn Memorial Cemetery, Baton Rouge, La. I.B.T. Sources: Claudia K. Kheel, “The Pioneering Spirit.” Cultural Vistas, 4 (Fall, 1993), 4-5.
JORDAN, Anna Elizabeth Toliver, educator, civic leader. Born, Baton Rouge, October 4, 1886; daughter of Jackson Toliver and Sara Hood Toliver. Education: Mount Mirah Elementary School; Baton Rouge College; Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, Ala.; Southern University. Married, January 1, 1912, Thomas Jefferson Jordan (q.v.) of Baton Rouge, son of Reese Jordan, Heflin farmer. Children: Sarah Ann Jordan Dixon, Thelma Cora Jordan Griffith, and Ella Dee Jordan Thomas. Involved in civic and social activities, principal-teacher, Port Hudson Elementary and South Scotlandville Elementary schools. Member, Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church, Baton Rouge. Anna T. Jordan Park, Baton Rouge, named for subject. Died, Baton Rouge. December 10, 1956; interred Southern Memorial Gardens. R.J.S. Sources: Sara Ann Jordan Dixon (daughter) and Ella Dee Jordan Thomas (daughter); Jordan family papers.
JORDAN, Thomas Jefferson, civic leader. Born, Heflin, La., July 31, 1885; son of Reese Jordan and Ella Harris Jordan. Education: Union Hall School; Baton Rouge College; Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, Ala. Married, January 1, 1912, Anna Elizabeth Toliver (q.v.) of Baton Rouge. Children: Sara Ann Jordan Dixon, Thelma Cora Jordan Griffith and Ella Dee Jordan Thomas. Active in NAACP, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Louisiana Retirement Association and the Louisiana Education Association. First state agent for Agricultural Extension Service for black farmers in Louisiana. One of the founders of First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Scotlandville. Organized: Scotlandville Community Improvement Committee, which worked for street improvements and lights. Member: Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church (deacon), Baton Rouge. Died, Baton Rouge, April 1, 1967; interred Southern Memorial Gardens. R.J.S. Sources: Sara Ann Jordan Dixon (daughter) and Ella Dee Jordan Thomas (daughter).
JUCHEREAU DE ST-DENIS, Louis, explorer, soldier, administrator. Born, Beaufort, Canada, September 17, 1677; eleventh child of Nicolas Juchereau and Marie Thérèse Gifford. Educated in France. Arrived in Louisiana on January 8, 1700, with Pierre Le Moyne, sieur d’Iberville (q.v.). Commandant of Fort de la Boulaye on the Mississippi River until the fort was abandoned in 1707. Made numerous exploratory journeys throughout Louisiana and Texas. Commandant of Fort Maurepas, Biloxi, until selected by Governor Cadillac in 1713 to seek out the Spanish. Traveled to Presidio del Norte (near Eagle Pass, Texas); detained by Spanish authorities; taken to Mexico City by orders of the viceroy and imprisoned. Released and selected by viceroy to lead Spanish expedition to east Texas to reestablish Catholic missions among the Indians. Married Emanuela Maria Stefania Sanchez-Navarre at Presidio del Norte on October 26, 1715. The expedition to East Texas in 1716 became the beginnings of Texas. Formed commercial partnership with four other Canadianas in 1717; returned to Mexico with trade goods; was arrested and again imprisoned in Mexico City. Returned to Mobile after release. Appointed commandant of Upper Cane River by royal commission in 1720. Knighted by King Louis XV in 1721. Defeated the Natchez Indians at Fort St. Jean-Baptiste, Natchitoches, in 1731. His move of Fort St. Jean-Baptiste in 1735 precipitated a lengthy dispute with the Spanish over the French-Spanish border but resulted in stabilizing the disputed area. Credited by friends and enemies alike with extraordinary skill in dealing with the Indians. Died, June 11, 1744, at Natchitoches, where he had served as commandant for twenty-four years. Interred in the local church. R.W.G. Source: Author’s research.
JUCHEREAU DE ST-DENIS, Marie des Neiges, pioneer, vocal proponent of civil rights. Born, post of St. Jean-Baptiste des Natchitoches, August, 1734; daughter of Louis Juchereau de St-Denis (q.v.) and Emanuela Maria Stefania Sanchez-Navarre. Married at Natchitoches, June 2, 1754, Antonio Emanuel de Soto y Bermudes (q.v.), the controversial secretary of the governor of Spanish Tejas. Upon husband’s arrest and incarceration for a decade in Mexico City asserted her own abilities and sentiments. In doing so, went far beyond confines then permitted to women by civil and church law. A businesswoman, supported family of eight children. Frequently appeared in court, juggling creditors, fending intervention of the church and state into private lives—on both moral and financial matters—and championing the rights of slaves who, she felt, had been treated unjustly by the law. Remaining the figurative head of family even after husband’s return, petitioned for and received a grant of land in the Bayou Chicot district of the post of Opelousas. Mme de Soto has, heretofore, been most often noted in history as the mistress and godmother of the legendary freedwoman of Natchitoches, Marie Thérèse dite Coincoin (q.v.). The eight children born to Marie were Marie Eleonore de St. Denis (b. 1750, of an unknown father; last on record in the January and May 1766 censuses of the Natchitoches Post); Marie Emanuelle de Soto (1756); Joseph Antoine Marcel de Soto (1758); Marie Josephe Damascene de Soto (1760); Louis Joseph Firmin de Soto (1761); Joseph François de Soto (1763); Eulalie Marianne de Soto (1764); and Severine Antoinée Gertrude de Soto (1766). Bedridden for last dozen years of life. Died, Bayou Chicot, September 1799. E.S.M. Sources: Registers 1-4B, Parish of St. François des Natchitoches, numerous entries. Docs. 757, 764-66, 1227-28, 1358, 1427, 1434, 1444, 1514, 1780, 2804; Natchitoches Colonial Records, Office of the Clerk of Court, Natchitoches. Docs. 1783-255, 1784-364, 1785-390, 1785-391; and unnumbered document 1789, May 31, Opelousas Colonial Records, Louisiana State Archives; 1785 Recensements des Postes Opelousas et Atacapas, Legajo 2360, Papeles Procedentes de Cuba (hereafter PPC), Archivo General de Indias, Seville, Spain; 1788 Recensement du Poste de Oppeloussas, Legajo 2361, PPC; Marie de St. Denis to “Monseigneur,” January 28, 1777, Legajo 190, PPC; Marie de St. Denis to Governor Miró, August 23, 1780, May 6, 1782, May 7, 1782, September 10, 1782, and Commandant de Clouet to Marie de St. Denis, Order, October 20, 1781, Legajo 195, PPC; Register (burials), Parish of St. Landry des Opelousas; Marie de St. Denis to Commandant de Mézières, September 4, 1778, Box 1, Natchitoches Parish Records Collection, Department of Archives, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge; Papers, Marie Juchereau de St. Denis, Folders 575-76, Melrose Collection, Watson Memorial Library, Northwestern State University of Louisiana at Natchitoches; January 27, 1766, Census of Natchitoches, Miscellaneous Collection 3, Watson Memorial Library, and May 6, 1766, Census of Natchitoches, Legajo 2585, Audiencia de Santo Domingo, Archivo General de Indias, published in Elizabeth Shown Mills, Natchitoches Colonials: Census, Military Rolls, and Tax Lists, 1722-1803 (1980).
JUDICE, Alcide, businessman, philanthropist. Born, Lafayette Parish, La., January 14, 1851; son of Gustave Judice and Eliza Doucet. Education: reported to have had a public school education, but Edwin Louis Stephens (q.v.) stated that this remarkable man was without schooling. Married, 1871, Anais Cayret of Youngsville, La., daughter of Dominique Cayret and Hortense Duhon. Children: Louis Leo (q.v.), and Bella. Began a mercantile business in Lafayette Parish about five miles west of the town of Vermilonville (now Lafayette). Store served as nucleus of a settlement which eventually became the town of Scott, La. At an early age, began urging friends and neighbors to educate their children. Took special interest in the development of the Lafayette Parish school system, always contributing money and time generously to scholastic activities. Was largely responsible for securing Southwest Louisiana Industrial Institute (now University of Southwestern Louisiana) for Lafayette through a donation of money and land. Member, Lafayette Parish Police Jury, and member, Lafayette Parish School Board. Member and benefactor, Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church. Died after a brief illness, April 7, 1908; interred Scott. G.R.C. Sources: Alcée Fortier, Louisiana … , 3 vols. (1909); Lafayette Advertiser, April 10, 1908.
JUDICE, Louis Leo, politician. Born, Scott, La., January 26, 1872; son of Alcide Judice (q.v.), advocate of education, benefactor of Southwestern Louisiana Institute (now University of Southwestern Louisiana), and founder of Scott, La., and Anais Cayret. Received early education in public schools of Scott and Lafayette; received degree from Louisiana State University. Married Hunter Fergusson of Richmond, Va., October 14, 1903; entered business with his father in Scott; managed Judice holdings after 1908. Elected to Lafayette Parish School Board, 1912; became board president, 1923; remained in that position until death, 1941; served as secretary of Lafayette Drainage Board No. 1; member of board of aldermen and mayor of Scott, 1930-1940. Served as vice president of Bank of Lafayette and Trust Co., and Merchants Bank; president, Judice Co., Inc. Member, Louisiana constitutional conventions of 1913 and 1921. Member Lafayette Rotary Club; Past Master of Hope Lodge, Order of Masons; member, Woodmen of the World. Died, April 16, 1941, Scott, La. G.C.T.†Source: Author’s research.
JULIEN, Leonard, Sr., farmer, musician, inventor. Born, Hohen Solms (north of Donaldsonville), La., January 29, 1910; son of Anthony Julien and Florence Bertrand. Married Alice Gaudin, November 11, 1939; fourteen children. Formal education ended after elementary school. Oversaw the expansion of the family farm in Modeste, La., from a sixty-acre homestead to more than 700 acres. Self-taught musician; played the trumpet, piano, and saxophone. Trained and organized family members into the Leonard Julien Orchestra, 1930s-1960s. Wrote and recorded some of his songs in the 1960s. Founded and directed the St. Catherine of Sienna Catholic Church Band. Designed and built the first mechanical sugarcane planter; field-testedplanter, October 21, 1964. Although he did secure a patent for the invention he recieved little profit from it. Died, Baton Rouge, La., Feburary 24, 1994; interred, St. Catherine of Sienna Catholic Church Cemetery, Donaldsonville, La. J.D.W. Sources: Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, March 2, 1994.
JULIO, Everett D. B. Fabrino, portraitist, landscapist and genre painter. Born on the island of St. Helena, 1843. Education: Boston, Mass., and Paris, France. Unmarried. Established in New Orleans, 1867; studios and showrooms located at 23 Exchange Place, 166 Canal Street, 3 Carondelet Street, and 146 Carondelet Street; exhibited work at the Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia, 1876. Died in Kingston, Ga., September 15, 1879. J.H.L. Source: The Historic New Orleans Collection, Encyclopaedia of New Orleans Artists, 1718-1918 (1987).
JUMEL, Allen, politician. Born, West Point, N. Y., February 19, 1835; son of Albert Jumel. Family removed to Louisiana in 1836; and to Iberville Parish, 1844. Studied at Centenary College until 1850. Sheriff, Iberville Parish, 1860. Elected captain, Company I, Second Louisiana Cavalry, September 1, 1862; transferred to quartermaster department, 1865. Sheriff, Iberville Parish, 1868. Owned Point Clear Plantation and ran steamboat business, 1869-1876. Elected state auditor, 1876; served until 1884. State senator, 1884-1888; state representative, 1892-1896. Adjutant general of Louisiana, 1896-1904. Died, July 26, 1915; interred Plaquemine, La. A.W.B. Sources: Clement A. Evans, Confederate Military History, 13 vols. (1899); Evans J. Casso, Louisiana Legacy: A History of the State National Guard (1976).