W. Jasper Blackburn
Encyclopedia
William Jasper Blackburn (July 24, 1820 – November 10, 1899) was an American
printer
and publisher who served in the United States House of Representatives
from northwestern Louisiana
from July 18, 1868, to March 3, 1869. A Republican
during Reconstruction, he was thereafter a member of the Louisiana State Senate
from 1874 to 1878.
Blackburn was born on the Fourche de Mau in Randolph County in northeastern Arkansas
. He received his early education from his mother. In 1839, he moved to Batesville
to learn his printing trade. He resided in Little Rock
in 1845, in Fort Smith
in western Arkansas in 1846, and in Minden
, the seat of Webster Parish, in 1849, where he established the first of several subsequent newspapers to use the name Minden Herald eventually the Minden Press-Herald
.
As a Democrat
, Blackburn was elected mayor
of Minden, then part of Claiborne Parish, and served a single twelve-month term from May 1855 to May 1856. Blackburn was opposed to slavery
and supported the Union
during the American Civil War
. He left Minden in the late 1850s and settled in nearby Homer
, the seat of Claiborne Parish. There he published the Homer Iliad beginning in 1859. He rejected the growing strength of the Know Nothing Party in Louisiana and shifted to unpopular Republican affiliation during the war.
Blackburn worked openly against the Confederate States of America
. He was tried in Confederate District Court in Shreveport
on charges of having produced counterfeit Confederate currency
. He survived conviction by the jury, 11-1. Had the verdict
been unanimous, Blackburn would have been executed. According to the official Minden city historian
, John Agan, a faculty member at Bossier Parish Community College
in Bossier City
, Blackburn had made anti-Semitic remarks in print about the Jewish district judge. Apparently, the judge worked frantically to have Blackburn hanged. Some of Blackburn’s friends, however, intervened. He was spared conviction by one vote and thereafter granted a pardon
. On his return to Homer, Blackburn continued publishing the Homer Iliad and dabbled in politics.
In 1867, Blackburn was elected as a member of the Louisiana Constitutional Convention. He also served as the then administrative judge of Claiborne Parish, a position which no longer exists. On the readmission of Louisiana to the Union, Blackburn was elected as a Republican to the Fortieth Congress, served less than one calendar year, and did not seek renomination in 1868.
After his four-year stint in the Louisiana Senate, he returned in 1880 to Little Rock, where he published the Arkansas Republican from 1881 to 1884 and the Free South from 1885 to 1892. He died in Little Rock and is interred there in Mount Holly Cemetery.
Blackburn was not the only Minden mayor with newspaper experience. David William Thomas
, mayor from 1936 to 1940, J. Frank Colbert
, mayor from 1944 to 1946, and Tom Colten
, who served from 1966 to 1974, had extensive backgrounds in journalism as well.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
printer
Printer (publisher)
In publishing, printers are both companies providing printing services and individuals who directly operate printing presses. With the invention of the moveable type printing press by Johannes Gutenberg around 1450, printing—and printers—proliferated throughout Europe.Today, printers are found...
and publisher who served in the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from northwestern 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 July 18, 1868, to March 3, 1869. A Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
during Reconstruction, he was thereafter a member of the Louisiana State Senate
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
from 1874 to 1878.
Blackburn was born on the Fourche de Mau in Randolph County in northeastern 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...
. He received his early education from his mother. In 1839, he moved to Batesville
Batesville, Arkansas
Batesville is the county seat and largest city of Independence County, Arkansas, United States, 80 miles northeast of Little Rock, the state capital. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city was 9,556...
to learn his printing trade. He resided in Little Rock
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
in 1845, in Fort Smith
Fort Smith, Arkansas
Fort Smith is the second-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. With a population of 86,209 in 2010, it is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area, a region of 298,592 residents which encompasses the Arkansas...
in western Arkansas in 1846, and in 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, in 1849, where he established the first of several subsequent newspapers to use the name Minden Herald eventually the Minden Press-Herald
Minden Press-Herald
The Minden Press-Herald is a Monday-Friday daily newspaper published in Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, by Specht Newspapers, Inc...
.
As a Democrat
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...
, Blackburn was elected 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 Minden, then part of Claiborne Parish, and served a single twelve-month term from May 1855 to May 1856. Blackburn was opposed to slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
and supported the Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. He left Minden in the late 1850s and settled in nearby Homer
Homer, Louisiana
Homer is present day parish seat of Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, United States. The town was named after the Greek poet Homer and was laid out around the Courthouse Square in 1850 by Frank Vaughn. The present day brick courthouse, built in the Greek Revival style of architecture, is one of only...
, the seat of Claiborne Parish. There he published the Homer Iliad beginning in 1859. He rejected the growing strength of the Know Nothing Party in Louisiana and shifted to unpopular Republican affiliation during the war.
Blackburn worked openly against the Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
. He was tried in Confederate District Court in 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....
on charges of having produced counterfeit Confederate currency
Currency
In economics, currency refers to a generally accepted medium of exchange. These are usually the coins and banknotes of a particular government, which comprise the physical aspects of a nation's money supply...
. He survived conviction by the jury, 11-1. Had the verdict
Verdict
In law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. The term, from the Latin veredictum, literally means "to say the truth" and is derived from Middle English verdit, from Anglo-Norman: a compound of ver and dit In law, a verdict...
been unanimous, Blackburn would have been executed. According to the official Minden city historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, John Agan, a faculty member at Bossier Parish Community College
Bossier Parish Community College
Bossier Parish Community College is a two-year institution of higher education established in 1967 by the Louisiana State Legislature, initially as a pilot program to test the feasibility of commuter two-year colleges...
in Bossier City
Bossier City, Louisiana
Bossier City is a city in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, United States.As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of 61,315. Bossier City is closely tied to its larger sister city Shreveport, located on the western bank of the Red River. The Shreveport-Bossier City metropolitan area is the...
, Blackburn had made anti-Semitic remarks in print about the Jewish district judge. Apparently, the judge worked frantically to have Blackburn hanged. Some of Blackburn’s friends, however, intervened. He was spared conviction by one vote and thereafter granted a pardon
Pardon
Clemency means the forgiveness of a crime or the cancellation of the penalty associated with it. It is a general concept that encompasses several related procedures: pardoning, commutation, remission and reprieves...
. On his return to Homer, Blackburn continued publishing the Homer Iliad and dabbled in politics.
In 1867, Blackburn was elected as a member of the Louisiana Constitutional Convention. He also served as the then administrative judge of Claiborne Parish, a position which no longer exists. On the readmission of Louisiana to the Union, Blackburn was elected as a Republican to the Fortieth Congress, served less than one calendar year, and did not seek renomination in 1868.
After his four-year stint in the Louisiana Senate, he returned in 1880 to Little Rock, where he published the Arkansas Republican from 1881 to 1884 and the Free South from 1885 to 1892. He died in Little Rock and is interred there in Mount Holly Cemetery.
Blackburn was not the only Minden mayor with newspaper experience. David William Thomas
David 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,...
, mayor from 1936 to 1940, 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...
, mayor from 1944 to 1946, and Tom Colten
Tom Colten
Arthur Thomas Colten, known as Tom Colten , was a Louisiana politician from the 1960s to the 1990s who rose from a small-town mayoralty position to head his state's Department of Transportation and Development under three governors from both parties...
, who served from 1966 to 1974, had extensive backgrounds in journalism as well.