Newton Crain BLANCHARD, Congress, LA (1849-1922)

BLANCHARD Newton Crain , a Representative and a Senator from Louisiana; born in Rapides Parish, La., January 29, 1849; completed academic studies; studied law in Alexandria, La., in 1868 and graduated from the law department of the University of Louisiana in 1870; admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Shreveport, La., in 1871; delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1879; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-seventh and to the six succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1881, until his resignation, effective March 12, 1894; chairman, Committee on Rivers and Harbors (Fiftieth, Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses); appointed and subsequently elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Edward D. White and served from March 12, 1894, to March 3, 1897; was not a candidate for reelection; chairman, Committee on Improvement of the Mississippi River and its Tributaries (Fifty-third Congress); elected associate justice of the supreme court of Louisiana and served from 1897 to 1903, when he resigned; Governor of Louisiana 1904-1908; resumed the practice of law in Shreveport, La.; member of the State constitutional convention in 1913 and served as president; died in Shreveport, La., June 22, 1922; interment in Greenwood Cemetery.

Bibliography

Dictionary of American Biography.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present