Kennon and Lindsey and Pearce

Noted with interest this morning on Facebook the campaign to have Chris Gorman appointed as Lieutenant Governor for the interim term. It's no secret that my political views don't dovetail with his; however, he came and spoke to my Political Science classes during his campaign for Congress and I was impressed. I think he would be a good choice for Gov. Jindal and I would also be very grateful to have, even if just for the interim, a statewide official from North Louisiana, especially Northwest Louisiana, it's been a while and we could use the representation. My only problem is that this site seems official -- several siblings are members of the group -- and I wonder if they've found a loophole in Gov. Jindal's stated intent to only appoint someone that will not run for the vacancy in the Fall. Perhaps, since it seems the Gov's proposed amendment to abolish the job is DOA in the legislature, he has changed his mind. I can't see the value in a four month stint as Lt. Gov. for Chris, but, I am happy to see this movement.

Now, what the heck does that have to do with local history? If Chris Gorman did become Lieutenant Governor he would have some tenuous family ties to Minden and Webster Parish. In our history we have had three men from the Minden area occupy either the Governor's office or the Lieutenant Governor's office, technically two of them bear an asterisk by their name, but still they held office. Sadly, at present there is no sort of public recognition of any of these men in our parish.

Robert F. Kennon was Mayor of Minden at age 23, District Attorney, Justice of the Court of Appeals,and Governor of Louisiana from 1952 to 1956. Kennon was a graduate of Minden High School and at least three houses that he called home still stand in Minden. Rep. Jean Doerge and I have talked before about the need to have some visible monument to Bob Kennon in Minden. Like Chris Gorman, I don't agree with many of his political stands, but Kennon was a honorable public servant and needs to be recognized in his hometown.

Coleman Lindsey served as Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, but with an asterisk. When Gov. Richard Leche resigned in 1939 prior to indictment and eventual time in Federal prison, Lt. Gov. Earl K. Long moved up to Governor. Lindsey was at that point serving as Louisiana State Senator from Bossier Webster and as President of the Senate. He assumed Long's vacancy as Lieutenant Governor. Lindsey actually lived next door to Bob Kennon on Jefferson Street at the time of his term in office. After leaving the Lieutenant Governor's office he relocated to Baton Rouge and became a rather significant, and at times controversial, District Judge in the Baton Rouge area. Again, his name is largely unknown in Minden.

Our third parish resident to fill one of those two highest offices was Benjamin Pearce, who also has an asterisk by his name and in some ways a second asterisk regarding his Webster Parish ties. Pearce was a member of the family that founded Heflin. He served as the Confederate Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana from 1864 until the end of the war and at the time of his service, Webster Parish did not exist. The Heflin area was part of Bienville Parish at that time, but today Pearce's home would have been in Webster Parish. He, too, escapes notice in discussions of our local history.

So, good luck to Chris Gorman and his supporters in this quest and I hope that in the near future we will see some sort of public remembrance of the service of Bob Kennon, if not Lindsey and Pearce, in our community