Edwards Barham
Encyclopedia
Erle Edwards Barham is an American farmer and conservationist
in Oak Ridge
, a village
in Morehouse Parish in north Louisiana
, best known for having been the first Republican
elected—by a 29-vote margin—to the Louisiana State Senate
since the era of Reconstruction. Barham represented the agricultural District 33 from 1976 to 1980. He was narrowly unseated in the 1979 jungle primary
by the Democrat
David Ginn, who held the seat until 1988.
. He graduated from Oak Ridge High School
and received a bachelor's degree
from Louisiana State University
in Baton Rouge. Thereafter, he obtained a master's degree
in ornithology
from the University of Louisiana at Monroe
(then Northeast Louisiana State College). President Richard M. Nixon named him in the early 1970s to head a White House
conservation
initiative.
Barham is married to the former Bennie Faye Berry (born 1935). Their older son, Robert Berry Barham (born 1957), works with his father on the Morehouse Parish plantation
. Another son, Erle West Barham (born 1964), farms a large area about the family's Ingleside Plantation in Leflore
and Carroll
counties in Mississippi
. He claims residences in Sidon
and Greenwood
. West Barham, as he is known, grows cotton, rice, corn, and soybeans. He and his wife, Trudy C. Barham (born 1963), have two children.
West Barham is also a conservationist who has made a name for himself trying to preserve the habitat and survival of the bobtail quail
. He is indeed sometimes called the "quail man." The conservationist thrust of the family was actually set by the senior Erle Barham. There is a wildlife refuge on Barham properties in Morehouse Parish near the parish seat of Bastrop
, and the Tensas Wildlife Refuge near Delhi
in Richland Parish came to fruition with the help of the senior Barham.
The senior Barham was killed in the crash of the light plane that he was piloting near Oak Ridge. Barham and four friends were returning to Morehouse Parish from Baton Rouge, where they had attended the 1976 LSU-Oregon State University
at Corvallis
football
game. Barham and three of the men were killed, but a fourth (John S. Barr, III) survived.
on February 6, 1968. He polled 44 percent as the Republican nominee in a two-seat district. The winners were the Democrats T.T. Fields and James P. Smith. In that election, all 105 state House seats were won by Democrats.
In the 1975 Senate election, Barham, who campaigned extensively, narrowly prevailed 14,499 (50.1 percent) to Democratic candidate L.B. "Buddy" Loftin's 14,470 ballots (49.9 percent). The district then embraced Richland, West Carroll, East Carroll, and Morehouse parishes to the north and east of Monroe
. It was noted that the state reelected a governor with the last name of "Edwards," and the 33rd Senate District elected a state senator with the first name of "Edwards." And the two were of opposite parties.
In his 1979 defeat, Barham did not benefit from any gubernatorial coattails. The four parishes in the district largely split their votes between Republican candidate David C. Treen
and his Democratic opponent, state Senator Louis Lambert
of Baton Rouge even though Treen was a narrow statewide winner. However, eight years earlier, Treen in defeat had won most of those same northeast parishes by comfortable margins in his first race against Edwin Edwards. It was speculated that if Treen had run stronger in the 33rd Senate district, the party may have held on to its single state Senate seat.
Edwards Barham's former seat was later held by his younger brother, Robert J. Barham
(born 1949). (Edwards Barham has a second brother, Thomas W. Barham, also of Oak Ridge.) Robert Barham was first elected to the state Senate as a Democrat in a special election in 1994. He was reelected as a Democrat with a 93 percent margin in 1995 and unopposed in 1999. Thereafter, he switched to Republican affiliation and won reelection again without opposition in 2003. Meanwhile, he ran unsuccessfully for the Fifth District seat in Congress in the 2002 jungle primary.
Edwards and Robert Barham were distant cousins of Louisiana Supreme Court
Justice Mack Elwin Barham
(1924–2006), who was originally from Bastrop. They were also cousins of State Senator Charles C. Barham
, who represented an adjoining district based about Ruston from 1964 to 1972 and 1976 to 1988. The author is unable to determine how Erle M. "Ninety" Barham was related to C.E. "Cap" Barham, the former lieutenant governor of Louisiana who was the father of Charles Barham.
Edwards Barham technically was not the first Louisiana Republican state senator of the modern era. A.C. "Ace" Clemons, Jr. (1921–1992), of Jennings
in Jefferson Davis Parish switched from Democrat to Republican affiliation in 1970, having been elected in 1960, 1964 and 1968. Clemons served until 1972. Barham followed Clemons four years later as a full-term elected senator. When Edwards Barham was defeated, there were no Republicans in the state Senate for the following term.
Years after his legislative career, Barham was appointed to the board of supervisors of the Louisiana Technical and Community Colleges by former Republican Governor Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Jr.
The term ended in July 2005. Edwards Barham also still contributes to Republican candidates, including Fifth District Congressman Rodney Alexander
, who first won the seat as a Democrat when Robert Barham failed to secure a general election berth. In 2004, Alexander switched to the Republican Party and went on to defeat a fellow Republican, John W. "Jock" Scott
of Alexandria
.
Edwards Barham is a member of the Louisiana Cotton
Producers Association, the Northeast Louisiana Rice
Growers Association, and is the treasurer of the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in Oak Ridge.
Conservation movement
The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental and a social movement that seeks to protect natural resources including animal, fungus and plant species as well as their habitat for the future....
in Oak Ridge
Oak Ridge, Louisiana
Oak Ridge is a village in Morehouse Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 142 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Bastrop Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Oak Ridge is located at ....
, a village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
in Morehouse Parish in north Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, best known for having been the first Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
elected—by a 29-vote margin—to the Louisiana State Senate
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
since the era of Reconstruction. Barham represented the agricultural District 33 from 1976 to 1980. He was narrowly unseated in the 1979 jungle primary
Jungle primary
A nonpartisan blanket primary is a primary election in which all candidates for elected office run in the same primary regardless of political party. Under this system, the top two candidates who receive the most votes advance to the next round, as in a runoff election...
by the Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
David Ginn, who held the seat until 1988.
Early years, family, conservation
Barham was born to Louisiana native Erle McKoin "Ninety" Barham (1916–1976) and the former Rosalie Smith (1913–1999), originally from MissouriMissouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. He graduated from Oak Ridge High School
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
and received a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
from Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
in Baton Rouge. Thereafter, he obtained a master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in ornithology
Ornithology
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...
from the University of Louisiana at Monroe
University of Louisiana at Monroe
The University of Louisiana at Monroe is a coeducational public university in Monroe, Louisiana and part of the University of Louisiana System.-History:...
(then Northeast Louisiana State College). President Richard M. Nixon named him in the early 1970s to head a White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
conservation
Conservation movement
The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental and a social movement that seeks to protect natural resources including animal, fungus and plant species as well as their habitat for the future....
initiative.
Barham is married to the former Bennie Faye Berry (born 1935). Their older son, Robert Berry Barham (born 1957), works with his father on the Morehouse Parish plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
. Another son, Erle West Barham (born 1964), farms a large area about the family's Ingleside Plantation in Leflore
Leflore County, Mississippi
-National protected area:*Mathews Brake National Wildlife Refuge*Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 37,947 people, 12,956 households, and 8,887 families residing in the county. The population density was 64 people per square mile...
and Carroll
Carroll County, Mississippi
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 10,769 people, 4,071 households, and 3,069 families residing in the county. The population density was 17 people per square mile . There were 4,888 housing units at an average density of 8 per square mile...
counties in Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
. He claims residences in Sidon
Sidon, Mississippi
Sidon is a town in Leflore County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 672 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Greenwood, Mississippi micropolitan area.-Geography:Sidon is located at ....
and Greenwood
Greenwood, Mississippi
Greenwood is a city in and the county seat of Leflore County, Mississippi, United States, located at the eastern edge of the Mississippi Delta approximately 96 miles north of Jackson, Mississippi, and 130 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee. The population was 15,205 at the 2010 census. It is the...
. West Barham, as he is known, grows cotton, rice, corn, and soybeans. He and his wife, Trudy C. Barham (born 1963), have two children.
West Barham is also a conservationist who has made a name for himself trying to preserve the habitat and survival of the bobtail quail
Quail
Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally considered in the order Galliformes. Old World quail are found in the family Phasianidae, while New World quail are found in the family Odontophoridae...
. He is indeed sometimes called the "quail man." The conservationist thrust of the family was actually set by the senior Erle Barham. There is a wildlife refuge on Barham properties in Morehouse Parish near the parish seat of Bastrop
Bastrop, Louisiana
Bastrop is a city in and the parish seat of Morehouse Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 12,988 at the 2000 census. It is the principal city of and is included in the Bastrop, Louisiana Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Monroe-Bastrop, Louisiana Combined...
, and the Tensas Wildlife Refuge near Delhi
Delhi, Louisiana
Delhi, originally called Deerfield, is a town in Richland Parish, Louisiana, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 3,066.-History:...
in Richland Parish came to fruition with the help of the senior Barham.
The senior Barham was killed in the crash of the light plane that he was piloting near Oak Ridge. Barham and four friends were returning to Morehouse Parish from Baton Rouge, where they had attended the 1976 LSU-Oregon State University
Oregon State University
Oregon State University is a coeducational, public research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities. There are more than 200 academic degree programs offered through the...
at Corvallis
Corvallis, Oregon
Corvallis is a city located in central western Oregon, United States. It is the county seat of Benton County and the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton County. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 54,462....
football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
game. Barham and three of the men were killed, but a fourth (John S. Barr, III) survived.
The state senate elections
Barham ran unsuccessfully in a race for the Louisiana House of RepresentativesLouisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
on February 6, 1968. He polled 44 percent as the Republican nominee in a two-seat district. The winners were the Democrats T.T. Fields and James P. Smith. In that election, all 105 state House seats were won by Democrats.
In the 1975 Senate election, Barham, who campaigned extensively, narrowly prevailed 14,499 (50.1 percent) to Democratic candidate L.B. "Buddy" Loftin's 14,470 ballots (49.9 percent). The district then embraced Richland, West Carroll, East Carroll, and Morehouse parishes to the north and east of Monroe
Monroe, Louisiana
Monroe is a city in and the parish seat of Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 53,107, making it the eighth largest city in Louisiana. A July 1, 2007, United States Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 51,208, but 51,636...
. It was noted that the state reelected a governor with the last name of "Edwards," and the 33rd Senate District elected a state senator with the first name of "Edwards." And the two were of opposite parties.
In his 1979 defeat, Barham did not benefit from any gubernatorial coattails. The four parishes in the district largely split their votes between Republican candidate David C. Treen
David C. Treen
David Conner "Dave" Treen, Sr. , was an American attorney and politician from Mandeville, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana – the first Republican Governor of the U.S. state of Louisiana since Reconstruction. He was the first Republican in modern times to have served in the U.S...
and his Democratic opponent, state Senator Louis Lambert
Louis Lambert
Louis Joseph Lambert, Jr. , is a Louisiana attorney, businessman, former member and chairman of the Louisiana Public Service Commission, and a former Louisiana state senator....
of Baton Rouge even though Treen was a narrow statewide winner. However, eight years earlier, Treen in defeat had won most of those same northeast parishes by comfortable margins in his first race against Edwin Edwards. It was speculated that if Treen had run stronger in the 33rd Senate district, the party may have held on to its single state Senate seat.
Edwards Barham's former seat was later held by his younger brother, Robert J. Barham
Robert J. Barham
Robert Jocelyn Barham is a large-scale farmer from Morehouse Parish who has been appointed by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal as the secretary of the state's Department of Wildlife and Fisheries...
(born 1949). (Edwards Barham has a second brother, Thomas W. Barham, also of Oak Ridge.) Robert Barham was first elected to the state Senate as a Democrat in a special election in 1994. He was reelected as a Democrat with a 93 percent margin in 1995 and unopposed in 1999. Thereafter, he switched to Republican affiliation and won reelection again without opposition in 2003. Meanwhile, he ran unsuccessfully for the Fifth District seat in Congress in the 2002 jungle primary.
Edwards and Robert Barham were distant cousins of Louisiana Supreme Court
Louisiana Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Louisiana is the highest court and court of last resort in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The modern Supreme Court, composed of seven justices, meets in the French Quarter of New Orleans....
Justice Mack Elwin Barham
Mack Barham
Mack Elwin Barham was a prominent attorney who served on the Louisiana Supreme Court from 1968 to 1975. A native of Bastrop, the seat of Morehouse Parish, Barham spent his later years in New Orleans. However, after Hurricane Katrina waters destroyed his Lakewood home near the 17th Street Canal, he...
(1924–2006), who was originally from Bastrop. They were also cousins of State Senator Charles C. Barham
Charles C. Barham
Charles Clem "Charlie" Barham was an attorney in private practice for thirty-nine years in Ruston, Louisiana, and a Democratic member of the Louisiana State Senate from District 35, nonconsecutively, from 1964 to 1972 and 1976 to 1988.He was the older son of Lieutenant Governor C.E...
, who represented an adjoining district based about Ruston from 1964 to 1972 and 1976 to 1988. The author is unable to determine how Erle M. "Ninety" Barham was related to C.E. "Cap" Barham, the former lieutenant governor of Louisiana who was the father of Charles Barham.
Edwards Barham technically was not the first Louisiana Republican state senator of the modern era. A.C. "Ace" Clemons, Jr. (1921–1992), of Jennings
Jennings, Louisiana
Jennings is a small city in and the parish seat of Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana, United States, near Lake Charles. The population was 10,986 at the 2000 census....
in Jefferson Davis Parish switched from Democrat to Republican affiliation in 1970, having been elected in 1960, 1964 and 1968. Clemons served until 1972. Barham followed Clemons four years later as a full-term elected senator. When Edwards Barham was defeated, there were no Republicans in the state Senate for the following term.
Years after his legislative career, Barham was appointed to the board of supervisors of the Louisiana Technical and Community Colleges by former Republican Governor Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Jr.
Murphy J. Foster, Jr.
Murphy James "Mike" Foster, Jr. served as 53rd Governor of Louisiana from January 1996 until January 2004. Foster's father was Murphy J. Foster, Jr., but Mike Foster uses "Jr." even though he is technically Murphy J. Foster, III. Foster is a businessman, landowner, and sportsman in St...
The term ended in July 2005. Edwards Barham also still contributes to Republican candidates, including Fifth District Congressman Rodney Alexander
Rodney Alexander
Rodney McKinnie Alexander is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district covers twenty-two parishes in roughly the northeast quadrant of the state...
, who first won the seat as a Democrat when Robert Barham failed to secure a general election berth. In 2004, Alexander switched to the Republican Party and went on to defeat a fellow Republican, John W. "Jock" Scott
Jock Scott
John Wyeth "Jock" Scott, II was a lawyer and college professor in Alexandria, who served three terms from District 26 in the Louisiana House of Representatives, first as a Democrat and then as a Republican . He was defeated in a race for the Louisiana State Senate in 1987...
of Alexandria
Alexandria, Louisiana
Alexandria is a city in and the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes....
.
Edwards Barham is a member of the Louisiana Cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
Producers Association, the Northeast Louisiana Rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
Growers Association, and is the treasurer of the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in Oak Ridge.
External links
- http://deltafarmpress.com/mag/farming_farming_fowl_go/index.html
- http://www.legis.state.la.us/boards/board_members.asp?board=597
- http://senate.legis.state.la.us/SessionInfo/Archives/1999/.../05101999.pdf
- http://herndon1.sdrdc.com/cgi-bin/com_ind/C00376749/A-E/
- http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi