Wilbur T. McCain (Louisiana politician)
| Wilbur Teal "Brandy" McCain, Sr. | |
Louisiana State Representative
for Grant Parish | |
| In office 1940–1948 | |
| Preceded by | James W. Ethridge |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | Richard Elmer Walker |
Judge of the 35th Judicial District Court for Grant Parish
| |
| Preceded by | First in position |
| Succeeded by | Billy Lutes |
| Born | October 19, 1913 Colfax, Grant Parish, Louisiana, USA |
| Died | March 6, 1993 (aged 79) Colfax, Louisiana |
| Resting place | Colfax Cemetery |
| Political party | Democrat |
| Spouse(s) | Erin Purifoy Sandlin McCain (married 1937-1989, her death) |
| Children | Ten children,
including W. T. McCain, Jr. |
| Residence | Colfax, Louisiana |
| Alma mater | Louisiana State University Law Center |
| Occupation | Attorney |
Wilbur Teal McCain, Sr., known as W. T. "Brandy" McCain (October 19, 1913 – March 16, 1993), was a Democratic legislator and judge from his native Colfax in Grant Parish, Louisiana.
McCain a son of Clair Henry McCain (1880-1945) and the former Minnie Gray (1885-1953). At the time of his death, Clair McCain was retired from his legal practice and married to a second wife, Elmeanie H. McCain (1899-1981). Clair McCain was Roman Catholic and is interred at the Montgomery Cemetery in Montgomery in northwestern Grant Parish.[1]
A graduate of Louisiana State University Law Center in Baton Rouge, W. T. McCain was attending law school[2] while serving the first of his two consecutive terms as a state representative, a position he held from 1940 to 1948.[3] In February 1943, as a senior law student, he was named Chief Justice of the Honor Court.[2]
He left the House to run unsuccessfully in 1948 for the state Senate in a district including Caldwell, Grant, LaSalle, and Winn parishes. Both McCain and the incumbent senator, Bill Hodges, were defeated by another Democrat, businessman Puckett Willis of Winnfield.[4] In 1952, McCain again failed in a political race, this time in a bid to return to the state House. He lost in a heated runoff election to fellow Democrat W. L. Rambo of Georgetown in eastern Grant Parish, an ally by marriage of the Long faction.
McCain practiced law in Colfax. In 1976, he became the first elected Louisiana 35th Judicial District judge only for Grant Parish; Colfax native Billy Lutes similarly became the first district attorney to represent only Grant Parish.[5] Lutes, who was also in the construction business, subsequently was elected the state court judge to succeed McCain.[6]
In 1983, prior to leaving his office, Judge McCain successfully sued the Grant Parish Police Jury to compel the governing body to fund clerical expenses of the 35th Judicial District Court. In 1982, McCain had sought $11,400 for such expenses, but the police jury budgeted only $2,500. The Louisiana Court of Appeal for the Third Circuit, based in Lake Charles, ruled in McCain's favor: the courts have the "inherent power to compel the guardians of the public [the police jury] to budget adequate funds for the operations of the court to insure ... the proper independence among our three co-equal branches of government."[7]
McCain and his wife, the former Erin Purifoy Sandlin (1918-1989), wed in 1937. They had ten children, including his namesake son, W. T. McCain, Jr. (1947-2020), a banker, and Wilmot Sandlin "Sandy" McCain (1952-2020), a department of corrections warden. McCain's namesake grandson, W.T. "Dub" McCain, III, resides in Alexandria.[8]
McCain died at the age of seventy-nine and is interred at the Colfax Cemetery.
References
- ↑ Winnfield News-American through findagrave.com (November 11, 1945). Retrieved on January 17, 2021.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 W. Lee Hargrave (2004). LSU Law: The Louisiana State University Law School from 1906 to 1977. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 0-8071-2914-3. Retrieved on January 17, 2021.
- ↑ Membership in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2024: Grant Parish. Louisiana House of Representatives. Retrieved on January 17, 2021.
- ↑ "Willises share memories of life in Winn community," The Dodson (Louisiana) Times, accessed October 19, 2014.
- ↑ Alexandria Town Talk, November 7, 1976.
- ↑ Billy Gene Lutes. findagrave.com. Retrieved on January 17, 2021.
- ↑ McCain v. Grant Parish Police Jury. leagle.com. Retrieved on January 17, 2021.
- ↑ Wilbur Teal "W. T." McCain, Jr.. Findagrave.com. Retrieved on January 17, 2021.
