Adolphe Lafargue
| Adolphe Jolna Lafargue | |
Louisiana State Representative
for Avoyelles Parish | |
| Preceded by | Aristide Barbin James K. Bond |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | J. E. Didier William A. Morrow |
Judge of the
Louisiana 10th District Court | |
| In office 1899–1912 | |
Judge of the
Louisiana 14th District Court | |
| In office 1912–1917 | |
| Born | October 3, 1855 Marksville, Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana |
| Died | January 24, 1917 (aged 61) Marksville, Louisiana |
| Resting place | Saint Joseph Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum No. 1 in Marksville |
| Political party | Democrat |
| Spouse(s) | (1) Annie Winn Irion Lafargue (died 1890) (2) Emma Irion Lafargue |
| Relations | Malcolm Lafargue (grandson) Alfred Briggs Irion |
| Children | Walter Strong Lafargue Edwin Louis Lafargue |
| Residence | Marksville, Louisiana |
| Alma mater | Jefferson College (St. James Parish) |
| Occupation | Attorney; Newspaper publisher; Politician |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Adolphe Jolna Lafargue (October 3, 1855 – January 24, 1917)[1][2] was an attorney, Democratic politician, and newspaper publisher in his native Marksville in Avoyelles Parish in south central Louisiana.[3]
Contents
Background
Descended from a prominent family originally from the Pyrenees, Lafargue's father, Pierre Adolphe Lafargue (1818-1869), was born in Orthez, France. The senior Lafargue later dropped "Pierre" from his name and was known only as "Adolphe Lafargue." While he was teaching school in Natchitoches Parish, he wed the former Zepherine Michel Zorich, a member of an influential family from the Rachal community. They had a daughter and two sons, Adolphe and Arnaud, both of whom became members of the Louisiana House of Representatives. The senior Lafargue subsequently became a professor of French and mathematics at the former Jefferson College in Convent in St. James Parish, Louisiana and then at Tulane University in New Orleans, known then as the "University of Louisiana." He subsequently settled in Marksville and became superintendent of public instruction for Avoyelles Parish. In 1856, he founded Marksville High School. He was also a mayor of Marksville.[4] The senior Lafargue started the newspaper then named The Pelican and later The Marksville Villager.[5]
Career
Adolphe Jolna Lafargue was educated at the former Jefferson College and then studied law at what became Tulane University. He returned to Marksville in 1880 to publish and edit The Marksville Bulletin,[4] later The Marksville Weekly News, the name still in use. The publication is the oldest continuously operating newspaper in Louisiana.[6] In 1878, Adolphe Lafargue married Annie Winn Irion (1860-1890), the daughter of U. S. Representative Alfred Briggs Irion (1833-1903) of Louisiana's 6th congressional district, which then stretched northward into Avoyelles Parish. Representative Irion was originally from rural Evergreen in Avoyelles Parish, where he had farming interests. Lafargue and his wife had four sons, Walter Strong (1878-1951), Edwin Louis (1881-1922), Alvan Henry, Sr., and Sidney Eustis (1885-1942). After Annie died, Adolphe married her sister, Emma (1870-1961), who died in New Orleans at the age of ninety. She was only eight years older than stepson Walter Strong Lafargue.[1]
In 1884, Governor Samuel Douglas McEnery (1837-1910) named Lafargue the Avoyelles Parish assessor. In 1886, Lafargue was appointed clerk of court. Both positions are now elected.[4] Considered an outstanding orator, Adolphe Lafargue was elected to the Louisiana House in 1892.[7] In 1899, near the end of his second legislative term, Governor Murphy James Foster, Sr., (1849-1921) named him to fill an unexpired term as judge of the state 10th Judicial District. In 1912, he was elected judge of the 14th District, a position that he held until shortly before his death.[1][4]
Family
Lafargue's brother, Arnaud D. Lafargue, served in the Louisiana House from 1916 to 1917. The brothers died the same year. Arnaud Lafargue was succeeded in the House by Willam A. Morrow, who eighteen years earlier had succeeded Adolphe Lafargue in the same position.[7]
Oldest son Walter Lafargue of Thibodaux in Lafourche Parish,[8] was first the assistant principal of Thibodaux College and thereafter the long-term superintendent of schools in Lafourche Parish.[9] Third son Alvan Lafargue was a physician for fifty years and from 1926 to 1938 the three-term mayor of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish in southwestern Louisiana. He had been one of the first settlers of Sulphur and founded a hospital and a bi-parish fair there.[10] A Lafargue grandson, Malcolm Lafargue (1908-1963), son of Edwin Louis Lafargue, was from 1941 to 1950 the United States Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, based in Shreveport. He resigned to run unsuccessfully for the United States Senate against his fellow Democrat Russell Long.[11]
Lafargue is interred at Saint Joseph Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum No. 1 in Marksville.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Adolphe Jolna Lafargue. findagrave.com. Retrieved on July 30, 2020.
- ↑ Some sources, including findagrave.com, list his middle name as "Jolmeus", but his gravestone uses only the middle initial "J."
- ↑ Henry E. Chambers, "Walter S. Lafargue," History of Louisiana, Vol. 1 (Chicago and New York City: American Historical Society, Inc., 1925).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Brief Family History. larc.tulane.edu. Retrieved on February 19, 2015; material no longer on-line.
- ↑ Maude Reid (May 2007). Early Calcasieu Doctors. mcneese.edu. Retrieved on July 30, 2020.
- ↑ Newspapers of Avoyelles. angelfire.com. Retrieved on July 30, 2020.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Membership in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2024: Avoyelles Parish. Louisiana House of Representatives. Retrieved on July 30, 2020.
- ↑ Walter Strong Lafargue. findagrave.com. Retrieved on July 30, 2020.
- ↑ Genealogy search for Lafargues. louisianacajun.com. Retrieved on February 18, 2011; material no longer accessible on-line.
- ↑ Lafargue, Alvan Henry. A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography (Louisiana Historical Association). Retrieved on July 30, 2020.
- ↑ M. E. Lafargue, Former District Attorney, Dies – Succumbs in Sleep Here at Age 54; Services Saturday 1-A, 4-A. Shreveport Journal (March 28, 1963). Retrieved on July 30, 2020.
