Tennessee Chesmond Brister (1896-1976)

Portrait from the Alexandria Weekly Town Talk, January 8, 1944.

    A leading figure in the political and business life of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, Tennessee Chesmond "T.C." Brister was a veteran of WWI who, following his service in France, relocated to Pineville, where he was affiliated with a hardware business for nearly forty years. He entered politics in 1940 with his election to the Louisiana House of Representatives, serving three nonconsecutive terms. In addition to his legislative service, Brister was an aspirant for a state senate seat in 1944 but was defeated. A resident of Louisiana for a good majority of his life, "T.C." Brister was born on May 28, 1896, in Winn Parish, the son of Allen Cicero (1872-1956) and Mary Adams Brister (1869-1944). 

  Recorded by most sources under the initials "T.C.", Brister's full name was discovered via the archives of the United States Veterans Administration's master index, which lists his full name as Tennessee Chesmond Brister. Removing with his family to Mount Lebanon, Louisiana during infancy, Brister resided there until 1906, whereafter he resided and attended school in Grant Parish. A graduate of the parish high school in 1915, Brister moved with his family to Pineville, Rapides parish sometime later and during the First World War was stationed in France with the U.S. Army Signal Corps.

  Honorably discharged in May 1919, Brister returned to Louisiana where he was employed with the Gulf Refining Co. as an agent. His work took him to Brookhaven, Mississippi, and during the 1920s was affiliated with a wholesale oil business at Westpoint. He also worked as a traveling salesman. He married in Mississippi in April 1934 to Mary Louise Blum (1906-1990), to whom he was wed for over forty years. The couple's union produced three daughters, Kathleen (1939-2020), Marleen Marie, and Margaret Louise. 

  Residing in Pineville in the late 1920s, T.C. Brister would join his brother Commodore Webster Brister in the Pineville Hardware Co., serving as its secretary and treasurer. By 1938 the business had grown to such an extent it necessitated removal to a larger building, located in Alexandria. Now serving as company manager, Brister and the store were profiled in the February 2, 1938 edition of the Alexandria Weekly Town Talk, which detailed the store's inventory. In addition to nails, barbed wire fencing, tools, and agricultural implements, the store also carried paints, stoves, and "harness and saddlery." 

  With his name firmly established in Alexandria's business community, Brister entered politics in 1939 when he announced his candidacy for the Louisiana House of Representatives. Running free of political influence, Brister decried the "crookedness, graft, and waste of public funds" in his state, and in a lengthy announcement laid out the principles of his campaign, including:

• Favoring 12 months pay for school teachers and a school teacher's tenure law.
• Favoring repeal of the state sales tax and favoring a tax on Carbon Black and other state minerals.
• The return of power to local sheriffs, mayors, and assessors
• Favoring an old age pension of $30.00 a month to every man or woman over age 60.
• Favoring organized labor, a decent wage, and an eight-hour workday
• Favoring a $3.00 car license
• Coming out against a state and parish-wide No Fence law.

A Brister campaign notice from 1939.

  Running in a field of twenty legislative candidates, Brister faced an uphill battle. On primary election day in January 1940, he emerged victorious. He went on to win the April general election, and after taking his seat was named as vice chairman of the committee on public buildings and sat on the committee on registration and election laws. 

  Towards the end of his first term, Brister announced his candidacy for the state senate, and in a write-up on his candidacy noted his successes during the previous house term, remarking:

"I was one of the co-authors of the bill that would have given eight hour working days and an increase in pay to the unpaid at our state institutions."

  On primary election day in January 1944, T.C. Brister polled second to incumbent senator Grove Stafford, who led by over 1,200 votes. Though he lost that election, Brister went on to win a second term in the state house in February 1948, polling 12,876 votes. During the 1948-52 session, he served on the committees on Appropriations, Contingent Expenses, the Penitentiary, and Printing, and wasn't a candidate for reelection. 

  Following his term Brister was a candidate for the Pineville school board in May 1952 and for the next fourteen years devoted "his time to his Pineville hardware and sporting goods business." He would sell his business in 1966 and in the following year reemerged on the political scene, announcing his candidacy for a third term in the house of representatives. In a June 1967 campaign notice, Brister highlighted his previous terms, remarking:

"The office of representative is becoming more and more important and time demanding...If you see fit to select me as one of your four representatives I will give that office full time. I will not engage in any other employment during my term of office. I will be at your service seven days a week for the next four years. Having previous service in the legislature, I will have the know-how to get things done for our district."

From the Weekly Town Talk, December 6, 1967.

   Brister won his third house term in February 1968, polling 11,850 votes, and in April 1968 was profiled in an extensive write-up in the Alexandria Town Talk. Noting that "education and highways are the biggest problems facing the legislature on a statewide level", Brister made further note of the state needing four-lane highways, and his hopes the Louisiana State University at Alexandria would someday become a four-year college "complete with dormitories." On politics, Brister announced himself as a firm backer of Alabama Governor George Wallace (then running for president) but noted that Hubert Humphrey would be the likely Democratic presidential nominee.

  T.C. Brister's third term concluded in 1972 and for the remainder of his life resided in Pineville. A member of the Fist Baptist Church of Pineville, Brister held memberships in the Solomon Lodge No. 221 and Keystone Chapter No. 44 of Free and Accepted Masons, the Trinity Commandry No.8, Knights Templer, as well as the VFW and American Legion. T.C. Brister died on November 26, 1976, at the Rapides General Hospital, aged 80. He was survived by his wife and children and was interred at the Greenwood Cemetery in Alexandria.

From the Alexandria Town Talk, April 7, 1968.

Taliaferro Hardtner Gaharan (1908-1969)

Portrait from the 1940 Louisiana State University "Gumbo" yearbook.

  After several days of highlighting oddly named political figures from Louisiana, we conclude our stay in the Bayou State with Taliaferro Hardtner "Bud" Gaharan, a longtime LaSalle Parish physician who also made a name for himself in the field of basketball, coaching the Jena, Louisiana high school basketball team to a state championship. Gaharan earns a spot here on the site due to his serving a term in the Louisiana House of Representatives, as well as for his outstandingly different name! A lifelong Louisianan, "Bud" Gaharan was born in Tullos, LaSalle Parish on December 9, 1908, the son of Phillip Steele (1874-1951) and Lille Mae (Alexander) Gaharan (1878-1962).

  A student in the public schools of his native parish, Gaharan would go on to attend the Urania High School, where he was a standout basketball player. As the son of a doctor, Gaharan decided to follow in his father's profession and in the late 1920s enrolled at the Louisiana State University, where he joined the boxing team. Due to financial hardship, Gaharan would put his studies on hold to earn extra income, first finding work in road construction, and, later, as a teacher at the Jena High School beginning in 1928.

  In the year following his joining the staff of Jena High School, Gaharan succeeded Jay Pipes as coach of the school's basketball team, the Jena Giants. While only 20 years old at the time of his becoming coach, Bud Gaharan's youth proved to be a non-factor when he coached the team to a record 42-0 season in 1929-30, winning the Louisiana State basketball championship in the process. He would further take the team to that year's National Basketball Tournament held in Chicago, where the Giants would place second to Athens, Texas, losing in a close match, 22-16. Despite their loss on the national stage, Gaharan and the Giants were later feted with a banquet by their hometown, and Gaharan himself was later acknowledged by the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate as "Louisiana's finest coach."

  Gaharan continued as coach for six more years retiring in 1936 with a record of 234 wins, and 35 losses. He later returned to the study of medicine at Louisiana State University and graduated in 1940. After interning at a Shreveport hospital, Gaharan returned to his native parish to begin practice, and in addition to having "his own clinic" in Jena, developed a reputation for "exceptional diagnostic skills before diagnostic technology was available".  "Bud" Gaharan married in March 1940 to Avis Lanelle Richardson (1914-2001), to whom he was wed until his death. The couple would have two sons, James Phillip and George Hardtner.

From the 1940 Gumbo yearbook.

  A former member of the LaSalle Parish school board for one term, "Bud" Gaharan set his sights on higher political office in 1955 when he announced his candidacy for the Louisiana House of Representatives. Throughout the latter part of 1955 and into the 1956 campaign notices touting Gaharan's candidacy were featured in the Jena Times, which noted his status as a former teacher, school board member, and his medical practice. Intoning that the office of state representative should never be an office of profit, the Times further profiled Gaharan as knowing:

" The needs and problems of all our people, he has the sympathetic understanding, the intelligence and strength of character to meet and consider all issues that may arise in Legislature on the basis of the best interest of the people of the State of Louisiana as a whole and LaSalle Parish in particular without reward or fear of reprisal."

A Gaharan campaign notice from the Jena Times, December 15, 1955.

 After winning election to the legislature in early 1956 as a Democrat, Gaharan was named to the house committees on Conservation, Enrollment, Public Health, and Welfare and Charitable Institutions. This term (which extended from 1956-60) also saw Gaharan successfully guide a bill through the house that earmarked $500,000 for improvements to Catahoula Lake, including improved conditions for duck hunting, cattle grazing, recreational activities, and "maintaining more than 50 miles of excellent fishing streams."

  In 1959 "Bud" Gaharan launched his reelection bid for the house, announcing that 

"It will be my purpose to run a clean race, based wholely on my accomplishments during the four years that I have served the people of this parish as their representative in the state legislature in Baton Rouge."

  Running for reelection against three opponents, Gaharan would lose out in the vote count on election day, the victor being Democrat Chester Floyd. After leaving the legislature Gaharan continued to operate his clinic in Jena, and in the later period of his life was beset by a lengthy illness, one that would eventually claim his life on February 11, 1969, at age 60. Taliaferro Hardtner Gaharan was survived by his wife and sons and was interred at the Jena Cemetery. 

From the Jena Times, February 13, 1969.

Duchamp Charles Labbe (1875-1924)

From the St. Martinsville Weekley Messenger, January 13, 1912.

  We continue our journey through Louisiana with a peek at the life of Duchamp Charles Labbe, a one-term state representative and state constitutional convention delegate who was featured on this site's Facebook page back in March 2016. On a shortlist of odd name political figures who were dentists by occupation, Labbe was a lifelong resident of St. Martin Parish, being born there on December 17, 1875, the son of Arthur and Stephanie Duchamp Labbe. In addition to our subject, the Labbe family would boast another odd name politician, Duchamp's younger brother Theobald Joseph Labbe (1867-1949), who was to serve as mayor of St. Martinville and as a member of the Louisiana state senate.

  Duchamp Labbe's formative education was obtained at private academies in both St. Martin and St. Landry Parish, and in the early 1890s enrolled at the Springhill College in Mobile, Alabama. Following graduation, Labbe decided upon a career in dentistry, and in 1893 began to study at Illinois Northwestern University's dental department. He graduated with his dental degree in 1896 and shortly thereafter returned to St. Martin where he began to practice. Labbe married in 1897 to Vida O. Martin (1876-1966), with whom he had four children, Harry James (1898-1941), Owen Arthur (1900-?), Lucille (1902-?), and Arthur J. (1904-1980).

  In 1900 Labbe gave up his dental practice to focus on a new business endeavor, that of the operation of his father in law's sugar refinery. After purchasing the Vida sugar refinery from his in-laws, Labbe continued with its operation for one year, when, on account of health concerns, left Louisiana for New Mexico, where he and his family resided for several years. During his New Mexico residency, Labbe grabbed headlines in November 1905 when he was refused a license to practice dentistry in the territory, this refusal coming about when members of the territorial dental board found that Labbe had been using a crib (a text used to prepare for a test or schoolwork) while taking his examination. Several days after being refused a license, Labbe encountered one of the board members, Dr. C.N. Lord, on the street. Words were exchanged between the two men, and after Labbe accused Lord of calling him a liar, proceeded to strike the doctor in the face! 

  While no charges were pressed against Labbe, the rest of his New Mexico stay proved to be quieter, with mention being given as to his connection with the Occidental Life Insurance Co. in 1907. By 1908 he had returned to St. Martinville Parish, where he would begin a new career as a real estate dealer. In 1912 Labbe entered into the race for state representative from St. Martin Parish as a candidate of the Good Government League and on election day proved successful, polling 847 votes. He served a four-year term (1912-16) and was a member of the committees on Public Health and Quarantine, and Registration and Election Laws.

  During his term, Labbe further aided his state politically when he served as a member of the Louisiana Constitutional Convention of 1913, where he was a member of the committee on the Affairs of the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, and New Provisions. Little is known of the remainder of his life, excepting notice of his death in El Paso, Texas on January 24, 1924, at age 49. He was survived by his wife and children and was later interred at the St. Michael's Catholic Cemetery in St. Martin Parish.

Hillyer Sealy Parker (1905-1968)

From the 1940 Tulane "Jambalaya" yearbook.

  Lifelong Monroe, Louisiana resident Hillyer Sealy Parker served in several prominent public posts in Ouachita Parish, being a one-term state representative, assistant city attorney, assistant district attorney, and in the six years prior to his death was a judge for Louisiana's 4th judicial district. Born in Monroe on April 16, 1905, Hillyer Sealy Parker was the son of leading local cotton trader and planter John Peyton Parker (1854-1929) and the former Marie Camille Stephens. A student in schools local to Monroe, young Hillyer was a member of the Monroe High School graduating class of 1924 and four years later graduated from the Louisiana State University.

  Having decided upon a career in law, Parker undertook further study at the Tulane Law School, earning his degree in 1933. After his admittance to the Louisiana bar in July 1933, Parker established a law practice in Monroe and would later marry Helen Womack (1913-1998). The couple's union saw the births of two sons, Bruce Stephens (born 1943) and William Hillyer Parker (1946-2017). 

  In 1940 Parker entered the political life of his state when he won election to the Louisiana House of Representatives from Ouachita Parish. His term extended from 1940-1943, resigning in the last-named year to join the U.S. Army. Prior to his resignation, Parker entered the Democratic primary race for district judge in September 1942 but lost out in the vote count on election day.

   Information regarding Parker's service in the military following his resignation from the house remains scant. He was discharged sometime in 1946 from "the armed forces" and returned to Monroe, and in 1947 he took on the post of assistant campaign manager former Governor Sam Houston Jones, then running for a second term. Touting Jones' platform of "clean and efficient government", Parker saw Jones' campaign go down to defeat in the Democratic primary of 1948, losing out to former Governor Earl Kemp Long.

From the Jena Times, October 30, 1947. 

   In 1948 Hillyer Parker was selected as assistant city attorney for Monroe, an office he'd continue in until July 1956. In that year he advanced to the post of assistant district attorney for the Fourth Judicial District, where he served until 1962. In that year Parker was elected as district court judge for Louisiana's Fourth judicial district and was one of three judges to serve that court. He served on the bench until his death at age 62 on March 31, 1968, following hospitalization for a long illness. He was survived by his wife and sons and later was interred at the Mulhearn Memorial Park Cemetery in Monroe. 

From the Monroe News-Star, April 1, 1968.

Varyon Cullie Shannon (1910-1989)

From the Shreveport Times, January 26, 1969. 

  Two-term Louisiana state representative Varyon Cullie "V.C." Shannon is the first profile added to the site in well over a month, and hiding behind that unusual name lies the story of a man who, prior to entering politics, was engaged as an engineer in the Army Corps of Engineers and later held the post of executive director of the Caddo Levee District. A native of Mississippi, Varyon Cullie Shannon was born in Port Gibson in that state on May 2, 1910, the son of John Oscar and Pearl Van Shannon. 

   While information regarding Shannon's early life remains scant, it is known that he attended both the Port Gibson High School and the Port Gibson College and in the early 1930s he married Lillian Claire Wood (1912-1974). The couple later had three children, D. Kenneth, Varyon Stacey (1934-2009), and Connie Gaile (born 1941). Following his marriage, Shannon was employed as a civil engineer in Mississippi, specializing in work on: 

"Dam, highway, bridge and railroad constuction in northeast Mississippi, together with wharf and levee construction on the Mississippi River."

   V.C. Shannon later relocated to Shreveport, Louisiana and in 1952 began a lengthy connection with the Caddo Levee District, work that later saw him rise through the ranks of the Shreveport offices of the Army Corp of Engineers. By 1969 he was the executive director of the Caddo Levee District, and is remarked as having directed and supervised the construction of the "complete bank protection system on Red River in the vicinity of Shreveport."

  Shannon entered city politics in 1966 when he was an unsuccessful candidate for Public Works Commissioner of Shreveport. In January 1969 he became one of six Democrats vying for a vacant seat on the Shreveport City Council, a vacancy that had been occasioned by the resignation of public works commissioner H. Lane Mitchell. Two years later Shannon was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives from Caddo Parish, with his first term extending from 1972-76. This term also saw Shannon serve as a delegate to the 1973 Louisiana Constitutional Convention held in Baton Rouge. 

   In 1975 V.C. Shannon won a second term in the legislature and during the 1976-80 session sat as a member of the committee on Transportation, Highways and Public Works; House and Governmental Affairs, and Retirement. Shannon would resign in 1979 (being succeeded by Robert P. Waddell) and for the remaining years of his life resided in Shreveport. Widowed in 1974, Shannon died aged 79 on January 30, 1989, and was later interred at the Centuries Memorial Park in Shreveport.

From the Shreveport Times, January 31, 1989.

Dosité Samuel Perkins (1866-1939)

Portrait courtesy of www.sulphur.org.

   Hailing from a state that has been severely underrepresented here on The Strangest Names In American Political History, Louisiana native Dosite Samuel Perkins was for many years a physician and surgeon in Calcasieu Parish. In 1914 he was appointed as the first mayor of Sulphur, Louisiana, which had been incorporated as a village a short while before. Prior to this appointment, Perkins had served two terms as Calcasieu Parish's representative in the Louisiana state legislature.

   A lifelong Louisianan, Dosite S. Perkins was born on December 12, 1866, at Rose Bluff in Calcasieu Parish. The son of Confederate veteran and former state representative Eli A. Perkins, Perkins's early life centered around his father's plantation. He attended schools local to the Calcasieu Parish area and studied both chemistry and physics at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. He continued to study at the Tulane Medical School and graduated in 1889 with his medical degree.

  Following his graduation, Perkins returned to Sulphur and established a medical practice. The succeeding years would see him build up a "leading drug store in the town" in addition to being a physician and surgeon. In 1893 he married Septima E. Postell (1871-1953) and later had four children: Paul Samuel (born 1894), Mable (1899-1900), Ruth (born 1901), and Logan Postell Perkins (born 1905). 

   Active in many areas of Calcasieu Parish public life, Perkins served as president of both the Parish School Board and the Calcasieu Board of Public Health. In addition to those posts, he held the vice presidency of the Lake Charles Savings and Trust Bank and also donated the building sites for several churches and schools in the Sulphur area. From 1892-1896 he served two terms in the Louisiana State House of Representatives and for a time served as acting chairman of the committee on Enrollment.

   In April 1914 the settlement of Sulphur was officially incorporated as a village and Dosite Perkins was appointed as its first mayor. His term extended until 1916 and was succeeded in that office by George Root, who had won the village's first mayoral election that September. After his term as mayor Perkins was elected to the Sulphur City Council in the mid-1920s and died on December 13, 1939, one day following his 73rd birthday. His widow Septima survived him by fourteen years, and following her death in 1953 was interred alongside her husband at the Orange Grove Cemetery in Lake Charles, Louisiana.