Casabianca Kizzia (1866-1940)

Portrait from the 1907 Arkansas legislative composite.

  Our near month-long stay in Arkansas concludes with a peek at the life of Casabianca Kizzia, certainly one of the oddest named men ever to win election to the Arkansas house of representatives. A well-known resident of Pike County during his life, Kizzia served as clerk of the county circuit court prior to his legislative service and was a longstanding merchant in that county. Like several other individuals profiled recently, Kizzia's life is shrouded in obscurity, with little information available on his life after his time in state government. His unusual first name is spelled as both "Casabianca" and "Casabianco", with sources such as Ancestry.com indicating his nickname, "Anka". 

   Born on December 12, 1866, in Murfreesboro, Arkansas Casabianca "Anka" Kizzia was the son of Nathan and Isabella Clementine (Gould) Kizzia. No information could be located on Kizzia's formative years or education, and he married in Arkansas in October 1896 to Nancy Clark "Gallie" Gentry (1873-1948). The couple were wed for over forty years and had at least seven children: Cassandra Fae (1897-1982), Annie Mae (1899-1902), Clark Vernon (1901-1979), Kate Aileen (1903-1971), Ruth Estelle (1905-1992), John Alton (1908-1974), and Sada Bell (1912-1924).   

  Following his marriage, Kizzia was elected as Pike County clerk, an office that also saw him serving in the capacity of circuit court clerk. He held that office from 1901 to at least 1904, and in 1906 was elected as Pike County representative to the Arkansas General Assembly. Taking his seat at the start of the 1907-09 session, Kizzia's term saw him named to the committees on Engrossed Bills, Public Printing, and State Lands. Kizzia would introduce legislation that would "raise the salaries of clerks and judges of election from $1 to $1.50 per day", and with fellow representative James Jackson authored a bill:

"To prohibit drunkeness at public gatherings, and imposes a fine of not less than $10 or more than $25 for any person to appear in a drunken condition at any picnic, barbecue, children's day exercises, Sunday school, church service or literary society."  

  During his term Kizzia remained active in business in his native county, being a founding incorporator of the Murfreesboro Realty Co. in June 1907. He is also remarked as operating a mercantile establishment in Murfreesboro near the "edge of the Pike County diamond field." In February 1908 Kizzia began preparations for a new mercantile store in Antoine (also in Pike County), purchasing goods in Little Rock to sell at this new location. This store, operated with a partner named Cooper, was later consumed by fire in 1911, with the building and merchandise loss being valued at $10,000.                                                      Little else is known of Kizzia's life after 1911, excepting note of his being affiliated with the Bank of Delight, Arkansas, serving as its cashier. He continued in that role well into the 1920s and died on November 8, 1940, aged 73. He was survived by his wife and both were interred at the Murfreesboro Cemetery. 

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