William Harper (Louisiana politician)
Louisiana reconstruction era American politician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Harper (died 1909) was a state legislator who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives and Louisiana State Senate during the Reconstruction era.[1]
William Harper | |
|---|---|
| Louisiana House of Representatives | |
| In office 1870–1872 | |
| Louisiana State Senate | |
| In office 1872–1880 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1839/34 Tennessee |
| Died | 1909 |
| Party | Republican |
Biography
Harper was born enslaved in Tennessee and was taken to Louisiana by his owner in 1845.[1] He was freed from slavery by federal troops in 1864.[1]
Harper lived in Caddo Parish, Louisiana and was selected as one of the Republican nominations to run for the house to represent the parish.[2] He was elected in 1870 to represent the parish along with George Luke Smith and John Conway Moncure.[3] At the time he also ran a small coffee shop with senator Caesar Antoine.[1]
In 1871 he along with several others organised and incorporated a new charitable association called the Morning Star Benevolent Association of Shreveport.[4]
Harper ran a small store selling groceries from 1872 to 1873 a trade he returned too later in the decade.[1]
In November 1872 Harper was elected to serve in the Louisiana State Senate serving the twenty-first senatorial district[5] and was re-elected in 1876[6] and he served until 1880.[1]
He was made director of the charity hospital in Shreveport in April 1874 along with four others, appointed by governor William Pitt Kellogg.[7]
Harper was selected to represent the forth congressional district along with Raford Blunt at the National Convention of Colored Men in Tennessee in 1876.[8]
He died in 1909.[1]
See also
Notes
- Not to be confused with Wiliam Poynot Harper (1834 - 1874) a soldier and civil sheriff who lived and served at the same time in Louisiana.[9]
