Connell Fort
Encyclopedia
Connell Fort was a business
man and newspaper
man who served as the Democratic
mayor
of the small city of Minden
, the seat of Webster Parish
in north Louisiana
, from 1922 to 1926 and again from 1932 to 1934.
, located west of Minden, to Thomas Moore Fort (1820–1887), a lawyer originally from Twigg County
, Georgia
, and the former Martha Ann "Mattie" Connell (1835–1927), a native of Columbus
, Mississippi
. The couple married in 1856 in nearby Fillmore, also in Bossier Parish. In 1872, Thomas and Mattie Fort moved to Minden to rear their family.
In 1901, Connell Fort married the former Ellie Miles (1873–1913), a native of South Carolina
. The Forts had a daughter, later Mary F. Barnes of Shreveport
, and five sons, Connell Miles Fort (1902–1975), Thomas L. Fort, John L. Fort, Carlton A. Fort, and Owen Fort, all of Minden. John Fort (1906–1992) and his wife, Louise B. Fort (1906–2000), operated the former Fort's News Stand, which was located for many years on Main Street in Minden. In 1920, some seven years after Ellie's death, Connell Fort married the former Jessie Beopple. From that union came three more children. Bernard Moore Fort (1921–1945) died at sea during the World War II Battle of Iowa Jima
, having been attached to the USS Saratoga
. The two younger Fort children were George W. Fort (1924–2005) and Katherine Virginia Fort, later Katherine Virginia Elliott (1922–2011), the last surviving child of Connell Fort.
Daniel Webster Pratt, who served from 1896 to 1900. From 1900 to 1908, Fort was a member of the Minden City Council, on which he pushed for the establishment of concrete sidewalks. In 1908, Fort and later Mayor J. Frank Colbert
managed the successful gubernatorial campaign in Webster Parish of Jared Y. Sanders, Sr.
, of Franklin
, the seat of St. Mary Parish
in south Louisiana. Governor Sanders named Fort as the conservation agent for northwestern Louisiana. Sanders left office in 1912, and Fort returned to the Minden City Council for another eight years of service. In 1914, Fort joined Colbert in the newspaper business in Minden. During Fort's second council stint, he pushed for the paving of the main business district of Minden.
During the first term of Mayor W. Matt Lowe
, Fort supported the purchase of the municipal generating station after a fire in 1917 swept through the Minden Lumber Company and the former Minden Electric Light and Power Company, the previous owner of the station. Minden is one of twenty municipalities in Louisiana in which residences and businesses still purchase their electricity from the city, with profits diverted to finance the costs of government.
In 1922, Fort was elected to the first of his two consecutive two-year terms as mayor to succeed the one-term Mayor J. Berry Sandefur (1868–1954). During his mayoral terms, Fort worked to obtain the moving to Minden of the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway
shop facility from its former location in Stamps
in Lafayette County in southwestern Arkansas
. The city paved ten miles (16 km) in concrete, and efforts were made to rid Minden of mosquito
es. Natural gas
lines were laid. A bond issue financed the establishment of the city sewerage system. Modern fire-fighting equipment was also purchased during Fort's tenure.
In 1926, Fort was unseated in his bid for a third term by 23-year-old attorney Robert F. Kennon
, then the youngest mayor in the state. A native of Dubberly
in south Webster Parish and the son of a downtown Minden grocer, Kennon did not seek reelection in 1928 but was instead elected as district attorney
in 1930, judge
in 1940, and governor of Louisiana in 1952.
In 1932, Fort staged a comeback for a third term when he unseated Kennon's successor as mayor, Henry L. Bridges
, a clothing merchant originally from Athens
in Claiborne Parish
. Fort polled 709 votes to Bridges's 437 in the primary election held on April 12, 1932. In his third term, Fort pushed successfully for further road construction, and the establishment of municipal parks and tennis courts. The year 1933, however, was devastating to Minden, with a tornado, two bank failures, and a large fire, which damaged the health and caused the death the next year of Fire Chief Ben F. Turner, Sr. (1883–1934).
1933, since named Veterans Day
in 1954, another tragedy struck. Fort's son, John L. Fort, shot to death a city council member who had quarreled with Mayor Fort. The councilman, elected in 1932, was Abraham Brisco Nation, Sr. (1886–1933), a native Texan
and a foreman of the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway with twelve children. at least one of whom, Oree B. Nation (1910–1936), died early in life. Connell Fort and Nation engaged in a verbal exchange in the municipal tax office on the Saturday afternoon of November 11. Mayor Fort broke his cane across Nation. As Nation lifted the cane back toward the mayor, John Fort pulled a .38 caliber pistol from his trousers and shot Nation, who died before he could reach the nearby Minden Sanitarium, since the Minden Medical Center. "I'm getting tired of you[r] treating my father like you have," shouted John Fort.
Sheriff Oscar Henry Haynes, Sr. (1888–1969), transported John Fort to Shreveport, where he was to await presumed indictment
from a grand jury
. Nation, meanwhile, was interred in the new section of Minden Cemetery
off Goodwill Street within twenty-four hours of his death. Services held at the Nation home preceded the interment amid an overflow of mourners.
Nation's children included D. Webster Nation, also a railroad man, and the educator, principal, and football coach Patrick Cary Nation (1918–2005), who lost a race in 1974 for the Minden City Council to current Mayor Bill Robertson. A Nation grandson, Billy Joe Booth
, became a professional football player in Canada
but died early in life in a private plane crash. A granddaughter, Kathryn Diana Nation (1946–1968), daughter of Webster and Kathryn Watson Nation, died in 1968 in an automobile accident while commuting to her elementary school teaching job in Sarepta
in Webster Parish, shortly before her pending marriage.
Brisco Nation was succeeded on the city council by another railroad employee, Grady L. Hancock, an appointee of Governor O.K. Allen. Hancock said that he did not solicit the interim appointment, had no political agenda other than support for U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt
, and would make an effort to work with Mayor Fort and the entire council.
Meanwhile, John Fort was incarcerated for two years in Bossier Parish, within the 26th Judicial District, awaiting a true bill against him that the grand jury never presented. The district attorney
at the time was the same Robert F. Kennon, who had unseated Connell Fort for mayor in 1926. No indictment against John Fort was ever presented despite the testimony of two eyewitnesses to the shooting, John L. Garrett and J.R. Murph, then the secretary of the city council.
, a former university professor, journalist, and a native of Wales
. In the runoff election held on May 15, 1934, Bridges handily defeated Thomas, 624 to 377.
Connell Fort was Methodist. Upon his death, Fort was interred in the original section of the Minden Cemetery in the Miles plot, where his first wife's family is buried. This plot is behind his parents' Fort section of the graveyard. In addition to his second wife and children from both marriages, Fort was survived by two brothers, Walton Fort (1857–1940) of Minden, and Moses Fort of Louisville
, Kentucky
. Pallbearers included his business colleague and later mayor, J. Frank Colbert, and Judge Harmon Caldwell Drew
, who was subsequently unseated three years later in 1940 by then District Attorney Robert F. Kennon.
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
man and newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
man who served as the Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of the small city of Minden
Minden, Louisiana
Minden is a city in the American state of Louisiana. It serves as the parish seat of Webster Parish and is located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish. The population, which has been stable since 1960, was 13,027 at the 2000 census...
, the seat of Webster Parish
Webster Parish, Louisiana
Webster Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The seat of the parish is Minden. In 2010, its population was 41,207....
in north Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, from 1922 to 1926 and again from 1932 to 1934.
Background
Fort was born in rural Bellevue in Bossier ParishBossier Parish, Louisiana
Bossier Parish is named for Pierre Bossier, a 19th-century Louisiana state senator and U.S. representative from Natchitoches Parish.Bossier Parish was spared fighting on its soil during the American Civil War...
, located west of Minden, to Thomas Moore Fort (1820–1887), a lawyer originally from Twigg County
Twiggs County, Georgia
Twiggs County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created on December 14, 1809. As of 2000, the population was 10,590. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 10,280...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, and the former Martha Ann "Mattie" Connell (1835–1927), a native of Columbus
Columbus, Mississippi
Columbus is a city in Lowndes County, Mississippi, United States that lies above the Tombigbee River. It is approximately northeast of Jackson, north of Meridian, south of Tupelo, northwest of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and west of Birmingham, Alabama. The population was 25,944 at the 2000 census...
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
. The couple married in 1856 in nearby Fillmore, also in Bossier Parish. In 1872, Thomas and Mattie Fort moved to Minden to rear their family.
In 1901, Connell Fort married the former Ellie Miles (1873–1913), a native of South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
. The Forts had a daughter, later Mary F. Barnes of Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
, and five sons, Connell Miles Fort (1902–1975), Thomas L. Fort, John L. Fort, Carlton A. Fort, and Owen Fort, all of Minden. John Fort (1906–1992) and his wife, Louise B. Fort (1906–2000), operated the former Fort's News Stand, which was located for many years on Main Street in Minden. In 1920, some seven years after Ellie's death, Connell Fort married the former Jessie Beopple. From that union came three more children. Bernard Moore Fort (1921–1945) died at sea during the World War II Battle of Iowa Jima
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima , or Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Empire of Japan. The U.S...
, having been attached to the USS Saratoga
USS Saratoga
USS Saratoga may refer to:* One of several United States Navy ships named after the Battle of Saratoga in the American Revolutionary War:** , a 18-gun sloop launched in 1780; lost at sea the following year...
. The two younger Fort children were George W. Fort (1924–2005) and Katherine Virginia Fort, later Katherine Virginia Elliott (1922–2011), the last surviving child of Connell Fort.
Public service
Connell Fort was a deputy in the second term of Webster Parish SheriffSheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
Daniel Webster Pratt, who served from 1896 to 1900. From 1900 to 1908, Fort was a member of the Minden City Council, on which he pushed for the establishment of concrete sidewalks. In 1908, Fort and later Mayor J. Frank Colbert
J. Frank Colbert
Jefferson Franklin Colbert, known as J. Frank Colbert , was a Democratic politician who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1920–1925 and from 1944-1946 as the mayor of the small city of Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana.-Background:Colbert was born in...
managed the successful gubernatorial campaign in Webster Parish of Jared Y. Sanders, Sr.
Jared Y. Sanders, Sr.
Jared Young Sanders, Sr. , was a journalist and attorney from Franklin, the seat of St. Mary Parish in south Louisiana, who served as his state's House Speaker , lieutenant governor , the 34th Governor , and U.S. representative...
, of Franklin
Franklin, Louisiana
Franklin is a city in and the parish seat of St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 8,354 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Morgan City Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, the seat of St. Mary Parish
St. Mary Parish, Louisiana
St. Mary Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Franklin. As of 2000, the population was 53,500.The Morgan City Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of St. Mary Parish.-Geography:...
in south Louisiana. Governor Sanders named Fort as the conservation agent for northwestern Louisiana. Sanders left office in 1912, and Fort returned to the Minden City Council for another eight years of service. In 1914, Fort joined Colbert in the newspaper business in Minden. During Fort's second council stint, he pushed for the paving of the main business district of Minden.
During the first term of Mayor W. Matt Lowe
W. Matt Lowe
William Matt Lowe, known as W. Matt Lowe was a merchant and public official in the city of Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana. During World War I and its aftermath, Lowe served two terms from 1916-1920 as mayor of Minden...
, Fort supported the purchase of the municipal generating station after a fire in 1917 swept through the Minden Lumber Company and the former Minden Electric Light and Power Company, the previous owner of the station. Minden is one of twenty municipalities in Louisiana in which residences and businesses still purchase their electricity from the city, with profits diverted to finance the costs of government.
In 1922, Fort was elected to the first of his two consecutive two-year terms as mayor to succeed the one-term Mayor J. Berry Sandefur (1868–1954). During his mayoral terms, Fort worked to obtain the moving to Minden of the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway
Louisiana and Arkansas Railway
The Louisiana and Arkansas Railway was a railroad that operated in the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. The railroad's main line extended 332 miles, from Hope, Arkansas to Shreveport and New Orleans...
shop facility from its former location in Stamps
Stamps, Arkansas
Stamps is a city in Lafayette County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 2,131 at the 2000 census.Stamps was the shop headquarters for the former Louisiana and Arkansas Railway until the relocation in the early 1920s to Minden, Louisiana....
in Lafayette County in southwestern Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
. The city paved ten miles (16 km) in concrete, and efforts were made to rid Minden of mosquito
Mosquito
Mosquitoes are members of a family of nematocerid flies: the Culicidae . The word Mosquito is from the Spanish and Portuguese for little fly...
es. Natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
lines were laid. A bond issue financed the establishment of the city sewerage system. Modern fire-fighting equipment was also purchased during Fort's tenure.
In 1926, Fort was unseated in his bid for a third term by 23-year-old attorney Robert F. Kennon
Robert F. Kennon
Robert Floyd Kennon, Sr., known as Bob Kennon , was the 48th Governor of Louisiana, serving from 1952-1956. He failed to win a second non-consecutive term in the 1963 Democratic primary....
, then the youngest mayor in the state. A native of Dubberly
Dubberly, Louisiana
Dubberly is a village in Webster Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 290 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Minden Micropolitan Statistical Area....
in south Webster Parish and the son of a downtown Minden grocer, Kennon did not seek reelection in 1928 but was instead elected as district attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
in 1930, judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
in 1940, and governor of Louisiana in 1952.
In 1932, Fort staged a comeback for a third term when he unseated Kennon's successor as mayor, Henry L. Bridges
Henry L. Bridges
Henry L. Bridges, Sr. , was a businessman who served from 1928 to 1932 and again from 1934 to 1936 as the mayor of the small city of Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana....
, a clothing merchant originally from Athens
Athens, Louisiana
Athens is a village in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 262 at the 2000 census.The Pilgrim's Pride poultry hatchery in Athens was designated for closure early in 2009, along with other company businesses in nearby Arcadia in Bienville Parish, Choudrant in Lincoln...
in Claiborne Parish
Claiborne Parish, Louisiana
Claiborne Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Homer and as of 2000, the population is 16,851.-History:The parish is named for the first Louisiana governor, William C. C. Claiborne....
. Fort polled 709 votes to Bridges's 437 in the primary election held on April 12, 1932. In his third term, Fort pushed successfully for further road construction, and the establishment of municipal parks and tennis courts. The year 1933, however, was devastating to Minden, with a tornado, two bank failures, and a large fire, which damaged the health and caused the death the next year of Fire Chief Ben F. Turner, Sr. (1883–1934).
Shooting of Brisco Nation
On Armistice DayArmistice Day
Armistice Day is on 11 November and commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day...
1933, since named Veterans Day
Veterans Day
Veterans Day, formerly Armistice Day, is an annual United States holiday honoring military veterans. It is a federal holiday that is observed on November 11. It coincides with other holidays such as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day, which are celebrated in other parts of the world and also mark...
in 1954, another tragedy struck. Fort's son, John L. Fort, shot to death a city council member who had quarreled with Mayor Fort. The councilman, elected in 1932, was Abraham Brisco Nation, Sr. (1886–1933), a native Texan
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and a foreman of the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway with twelve children. at least one of whom, Oree B. Nation (1910–1936), died early in life. Connell Fort and Nation engaged in a verbal exchange in the municipal tax office on the Saturday afternoon of November 11. Mayor Fort broke his cane across Nation. As Nation lifted the cane back toward the mayor, John Fort pulled a .38 caliber pistol from his trousers and shot Nation, who died before he could reach the nearby Minden Sanitarium, since the Minden Medical Center. "I'm getting tired of you[r] treating my father like you have," shouted John Fort.
Sheriff Oscar Henry Haynes, Sr. (1888–1969), transported John Fort to Shreveport, where he was to await presumed indictment
Indictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...
from a grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
. Nation, meanwhile, was interred in the new section of Minden Cemetery
Minden Cemetery
The Minden Cemetery, located in Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, United States, has graves dating from 1843, seven years after the founding of the city in 1836...
off Goodwill Street within twenty-four hours of his death. Services held at the Nation home preceded the interment amid an overflow of mourners.
Nation's children included D. Webster Nation, also a railroad man, and the educator, principal, and football coach Patrick Cary Nation (1918–2005), who lost a race in 1974 for the Minden City Council to current Mayor Bill Robertson. A Nation grandson, Billy Joe Booth
Billy Joe Booth
Billy Joe Booth played professionally with the Ottawa Rough Riders in the Canadian Football League from 1962-1970. He also played for his alma maters, Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and Minden High School in Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, where he was born...
, became a professional football player in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
but died early in life in a private plane crash. A granddaughter, Kathryn Diana Nation (1946–1968), daughter of Webster and Kathryn Watson Nation, died in 1968 in an automobile accident while commuting to her elementary school teaching job in Sarepta
Sarepta, Louisiana
Sarepta is a town in Webster Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 925 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Minden Micropolitan Statistical Area....
in Webster Parish, shortly before her pending marriage.
Brisco Nation was succeeded on the city council by another railroad employee, Grady L. Hancock, an appointee of Governor O.K. Allen. Hancock said that he did not solicit the interim appointment, had no political agenda other than support for U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
, and would make an effort to work with Mayor Fort and the entire council.
Meanwhile, John Fort was incarcerated for two years in Bossier Parish, within the 26th Judicial District, awaiting a true bill against him that the grand jury never presented. The district attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
at the time was the same Robert F. Kennon, who had unseated Connell Fort for mayor in 1926. No indictment against John Fort was ever presented despite the testimony of two eyewitnesses to the shooting, John L. Garrett and J.R. Murph, then the secretary of the city council.
Defeat and death
In the first primary election held on April 10, 1934, Fort was eliminated from his bid for a fourth nonconsecutive term as mayor. Instead, former Mayor Henry L. Bridges was placed into a runoff election against his own evenutual successor as mayor in 1936, David William ThomasDavid William Thomas
David William Thomas, Sr. , was a Welsh-American "Renaissance man", journalist, university professor and attorney who served from 1936—1940]] as mayor of the small city of Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana.-Early years and education:A native of Cardiff, Wales,...
, a former university professor, journalist, and a native of Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. In the runoff election held on May 15, 1934, Bridges handily defeated Thomas, 624 to 377.
Connell Fort was Methodist. Upon his death, Fort was interred in the original section of the Minden Cemetery in the Miles plot, where his first wife's family is buried. This plot is behind his parents' Fort section of the graveyard. In addition to his second wife and children from both marriages, Fort was survived by two brothers, Walton Fort (1857–1940) of Minden, and Moses Fort of Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
. Pallbearers included his business colleague and later mayor, J. Frank Colbert, and Judge Harmon Caldwell Drew
Harmon Caldwell Drew
Harmon Caldwell Drew was a lawyer from Minden, Louisiana, who served prior to 1945 as the district attorney of Bossier and Webster parishes and then as a judge of both the district and the state appeal courts. His political career ended with his defeat by future Governor Robert F. Kennon...
, who was subsequently unseated three years later in 1940 by then District Attorney Robert F. Kennon.