Lee Emmett Thomas
| Lee Emmett Thomas | |
| In office 1922 – 1930 | |
| Preceded by | John McWilliams Ford |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | J. G. Palmer |
Louisiana State Representative
for Caddo Parish | |
| In office 1908 – 1916 | |
| Preceded by | At-large members:
W.H.B. Croon |
| Succeeded by | At-large members:
George Dimick |
Speaker of the
Louisiana House of Representatives | |
| In office 1912 – 1916 | |
| Preceded by | H. Garland Dupré |
| Succeeded by | Hewitt Leonidas Bouanchaud |
| Born | September 23, 1866 Marion, Union Parish, Louisiana |
| Died | February 16, 1935 (aged 68) Shreveport, Louisiana |
| Resting place | Forest Park Cemetery in Shreveport |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democrat |
| Spouse(s) | Florence Smith Thomas |
| Alma mater | Samford University Eastman Business College |
| Occupation | Attorney; Banker |
| Religion | Baptist |
Lee Emmett Thomas (September 23, 1866 – February 16, 1935) was an attorney and banker who served as the mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana, from 1922 to 1930. He was from 1912 to 1916 the Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives.
Background
Thomas was born in tiny Marion in Union Parish north of Ruston, a son of B. B. Thomas and the former of Susan S. George of Perry County, Alabama. Thomas was educated at the former Concord Institute in the community of Shiloh in Union Parish. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Baptist-affiliated Samford University, then known as Howard College in Marion, Alabama, but since located in Birmingham, Alabama. Thomas also obtained a Master of Accounts degree, a 14-week course, from the defunct Eastman Business College in Poughkeepsie, New York. Thereafter for two years, he kept the books in his father's mercantile business in Farmerville in Union Parish. In 1889, Thomas procured his law degree from the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, Virginia.[1][2]
From 1889 to 1896, he practiced law in Farmerville,[2] where he married the former Florence Smith. Thomas's biographical sketch in A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography[1] and Maude Hearn O'Pry's The Chronicles of Shreveport and Caddo Parish does not indicate if the couple had children. In 1896, the Thomases came to Shreveport, where he continued his law practice. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Shreveport.[2]
Thomas also served as president of the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce and was affiliated with several fraternal orders, including the Masonic lodge, the Shriners, and the Order of the Eastern Star, Knights Templar, and the Knights of Pythias. Thomas worked to establish the Shriner's Hospital for Children in Shreveport, the first of its kind in the nation.[1][3] Thomas was also the chairman of the board of the Alexandria orphanage, the Masonic Home for Children, established c. 1928.[2]
Political career
In 1903, Thomas was appointed state banking commissioner by Governor William Wright Heard (1853-1926), who like Thomas was a Union Parish native. Thomas served as banking commissioner until 1906, when he formed Continental Bank and Trust Company, of which he served as president until 1917.[1] In 1908, Thomas, an active Democrat, was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives. Reelected in 1912, he served his second term in the House as the Speaker. In his second term, he served with David B. Samuel, Perry Keith, and Joseph E. Johnston, Jr., no relation to the Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston. One of his at-large successors in the House, John McWilliams Ford, was also Thomas' predecessor as mayor. Ford also served from 1930 until his death in 1965 as the municipal finance commissioner, a position which no longer exists.[4]
From 1916 to 1920, Thomas was the chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Central Committee, an influential body in a one-party state at the time. He also served on the Democratic National Committee through his role as the party's Louisiana national committeeman. Thomas was chairman of the Louisiana Tax Commission from 1917 to 1919 under Governor Ruffin G. Pleasant, of Shreveport and like Heard and Thomas a Union Parish native. Thomas was again the state banking commissioner from 1919 to 1922,[2] under the Pleasant and successor John M. Parker administrations. In 1924, Thomas ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate, losing the Democratic nomination to incumbent Joseph Ransdell of Lake Providence in East Carroll Parish.[1] Ransdell polled 104,312 votes (54.9 percent) to Thomas' 85,547 ballots (45.1 percent).[5] In 1930, Ransdell was unseated in the primary by Governor Huey Pierce Long, Jr., who did not immediately take his seat in the chamber.
Shreveport mayor
As the Shreveport mayor for two four-year terms, Thomas promoted the construction of the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium,[1] originally a memorial to World War I service personnel, which was restored in 1994.[6] From 1948 to 1960, the auditorium staged the Louisiana Hayride Country music program. Elvis Presley performed at the auditorium on several occasions between 1954 and 1956. While Thomas was mayor, W. K. Henderson launched KWKH Radio.[7] Thomas was active too in building the viaduct on Market Street, the Cross Lake Reservoir (the city's principal water supply), and the construction of ten parks and playgrounds.Thomas worked for the purchase of Barksdale Field.[1]
Death
Thomas died in Shreveport at the age of sixty-eight and is interred there at Forest Park Cemetery.[8]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Thomas, Lee Emmett. Louisiana Historical Association: A Directory of Louisiana Biography (lahistory.org). Retrieved on October 11, 2019.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Lee Emmett Thomas. files.usgwarchives.org. Retrieved on December 30, 2010; no longer on-line.
- ↑ A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography uses information for its biographical sketch on Mayor Thomas from Lilla McLure and J. Ed Howe, History of Shreveport and Shreveport Builders (1937) and Maude Hearn O'Pry, Chronicles of Shreveport (1928).
- ↑ Membership of the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2020 (Caddo Parish). Louisiana House of Representatives (May 21, 2019). Retrieved on October 11, 2019.
- ↑ State of Louisiana, Louisiana Secretary of State, U.S. Senate election returns, 1924.
- ↑ Eric Brock, "Municipal Auditorium Now Being Restored," The Shreveport Times, September 17, 1994.
- ↑ Louisiana Hayride. caddohistory.com. Retrieved on December 24, 2010; no longer on-line.
- ↑ Index to Politicians: Thomas, K to N. politicalgraveyard.com. Retrieved on December 29, 2010.