Sam H. Jones
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Sam Houston Jones (July 15, 1897 – February 8, 1978) was the 46th Governor of Louisiana from 1940 to 1944. He defeated the renowned Earl Kemp Long in the 1940 Democratic primary. Long turned the tables on Jones and defeated him in the 1948 party primary.
in Beauregard Parish and was raised in nearby DeRidder. He served in the United States Army
during World War I. Much of his service was spent at nearby Camp Beauregard
. After the war, he studied law at Louisiana State University
in Baton Rouge. He practiced law in DeRidder before moving to Lake Charles
, the seat of Calcasieu Parish in 1924, where he practiced law and served as assistant district attorney for nine years. Jones was a delegate to the Louisiana Constitutional Convection of 1922 and assistand district attorney in the 14th Judicial District from 1925 to 1934. Jones married the former Louise Gambrell Boyer (1902–1996), and they had two children, Robert Gambrell "Bob" Jones and Carolyn Jelks Jones.
to run for governor in 1940 against Huey's brother, Earl Long. Though initially reluctant, Jones agreed, and ran on a platform promising a return to honest efficient government after the corruption and excesses of the Long years. He particularly emphasized "the scandals" involving Huey Long's successor as governor, Richard W. Leche
. Earl Long led in the primary round of voting, but with support from defeated third-place candidate and disgruntled former Long supporter James A. Noe
, Jones won a close victory in the runoff election and became governor. Jones received 284,437 (51.7 percent) to Long's 265,403 (48.3 percent). Although Noe and Long quarreled in the 1940 election, they ran—unsuccessfully—as a "team" for governor and lieutenant governor, respectively, in the 1959 Democratic primary. Eliminated in the 1940 primary was future U.S. Representative James Hobson "Jimmy" Morrison
of Hammond
in the "Florida Parishes" east of Baton Rouge.
and completed in 1952 in the Robert F. Kennon
administration. Jones also worked to increase international trade through the Louisiana ports on the Gulf of Mexico
.
Jones was barred from succeeding himself as governor, and therefore (see Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1944)
was succeeded in 1944 by another anti-Long candidate, Jimmie Houston Davis
. Coincidently, Jones and Davis shared the middle name "Houston."
Jones supported highway beautification and preservation of plants and wildlife. His administration hired the Louisiana botanist and naturalist
Caroline Dormon
of Natchitoches Parish as a consultant for the Louisiana Highway Department.
of New Iberia
, who failed in a bid for reelection against Long's choice, Bill Dodd. Fred S. LeBlanc
, former mayor of Baton Rouge
ran on the Jones slate for attorney general. Dave L. Pearce
of West Carroll Parish ran for agriculture commissioner on the Jones slate; so did Ellen Bryan Moore
as a candidate for register of state lands, who unsuccessfully opposed the incumbent Lucille May Grace
. Shelby M. Jackson
, the successful candidate for state education superintendetnt, also allied himself with Jones.
Jones and Earl Long led in the primary and hence entered a gubernatorial runoff in which Long handily defeated Jones, 432,528 votes (65.9 percent) to 223,971 ballots (34.1 percent). Other candidates eliminated in the primary were later Governor Robert F. Kennon
of Minden
and U.S. Representative James H. Morrison
of Hammond
.
Jones hence returned to Lake Charles to practice law, but he remained a politically prominent member of the anti-Long faction throughout the 1950s. In 1964, Jones endorsed the Republican presidential nominee, Senator Barry M. Goldwater of Arizona
, who won Louisiana's ten electoral votes. Jones said that he would remain a Democrat so that he could vote in pivotal Louisiana Democratic primaries—this was before the adoption of the Louisiana nonpartisan blanket primary—but that overall he was disillusioned with his ancestral party.
Jones' son, Bob Jones of Lake Charles, served as a Democrat in the Louisiana House of Representatives
(1968–1972 and the state Senate (1972–1976). Like his father, he was considered a political reformer. In 1975, the younger Jones ran in the first of the nonpartisan blanket primaries for governor. He polled 292,220 votes (24.3 percent), a considerable portion from Republicans, but he lost to Democratic incumbent Edwin Washington Edwards, who had 750,107 (62.4 percent). Another candidate, Secretary of State Wade O. Martin, Jr.
, drew 146,368 votes (12.2 percent). Later, both Robert Jones and Wade Martin became Republicans. Bob Jones and his son, Sam Houston Jones, II, named for his grandfather, are Lake Charles stockbrokers.
Governor and Mrs. Jones are interred at Prien Memorial Park Cemetery in Lake Charles. They were Methodists.
Jones is honored by the Sam Houston Jones State Park
in Moss Bluff
, which contains a statue of the former governor.
Sam Houston Jones (July 15, 1897 – February 8, 1978) was the 46th Governor of Louisiana from 1940 to 1944. He defeated the renowned Earl Kemp Long in the 1940 Democratic primary. Long turned the tables on Jones and defeated him in the 1948 party primary.
Early life
Sam Jones was born in MerryvilleMerryville, Louisiana
Merryville is a town in Beauregard Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,126 at the 2000 census. It is part of the DeRidder Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Merryville is located at ....
in Beauregard Parish and was raised in nearby DeRidder. He served in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
during World War I. Much of his service was spent at nearby Camp Beauregard
Camp Beauregard
For the American Civil War site, see Camp Beauregard Memorial in Water Valley.Camp Beauregard is a U.S. Army installation located northeast of Pineville, Louisiana, primarily in Rapides Parish, but also extending northward into Grant Parish. It is currently operated by the Louisiana National Guard...
. After the war, he studied law at 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. He practiced law in DeRidder before moving to Lake Charles
Lake Charles, Louisiana
Lake Charles is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Located in Calcasieu Parish, a major cultural, industrial, and educational center in the southwest region of the state, and one of the most important in...
, the seat of Calcasieu Parish in 1924, where he practiced law and served as assistant district attorney for nine years. Jones was a delegate to the Louisiana Constitutional Convection of 1922 and assistand district attorney in the 14th Judicial District from 1925 to 1934. Jones married the former Louise Gambrell Boyer (1902–1996), and they had two children, Robert Gambrell "Bob" Jones and Carolyn Jelks Jones.
Election of 1940
In August 1939, Jones was approached by members of the political faction opposed to the policies of the late Huey Pierce Long, Jr.Huey Long
Huey Pierce Long, Jr. , nicknamed The Kingfish, served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928–1932 and as a U.S. Senator from 1932 to 1935. A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies. Though a backer of Franklin D...
to run for governor in 1940 against Huey's brother, Earl Long. Though initially reluctant, Jones agreed, and ran on a platform promising a return to honest efficient government after the corruption and excesses of the Long years. He particularly emphasized "the scandals" involving Huey Long's successor as governor, Richard W. Leche
Richard W. Leche
Richard Webster Leche was the 44th Governor of Louisiana from 1936 until 1939. Leche was the first governor of Louisiana sentenced to prison.- Early life :...
. Earl Long led in the primary round of voting, but with support from defeated third-place candidate and disgruntled former Long supporter James A. Noe
James A. Noe
James Albert Noe, Sr. of Monroe served for three and a half months as the 43rd Governor of Louisiana after the death of Oscar K. Allen on January 28, 1936....
, Jones won a close victory in the runoff election and became governor. Jones received 284,437 (51.7 percent) to Long's 265,403 (48.3 percent). Although Noe and Long quarreled in the 1940 election, they ran—unsuccessfully—as a "team" for governor and lieutenant governor, respectively, in the 1959 Democratic primary. Eliminated in the 1940 primary was future U.S. Representative James Hobson "Jimmy" Morrison
James H. Morrison
James Hobson "Jimmy" Morrison, Sr. , was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from the Sixth Congressional District of Louisiana, who served from 1943 to 1967...
of Hammond
Hammond, Louisiana
Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,049 at the 2009 census. It is home to Southeastern Louisiana University...
in the "Florida Parishes" east of Baton Rouge.
Jones as governor
As governor, Jones tried to eliminate the power of the Longite political machine by reducing the number of state employees, instituting competitive bidding for state contracts, eliminating the deduct system of mandatory campaign contributions by state employees, and enacting civil service, much of that work undertaken in 1940 by the Tulane Law School professor Charles E. DunbarCharles E. Dunbar
Charles Edward Dunbar, Jr. , was an attorney who developed the modern civil service system in the U.S. state of Louisiana. He was the first chairman of the Louisiana State Civil Service Commission, having served from 1940-1947.Dunbar was born in McComb, Mississippi, to Charles Dunbar, Sr., and the...
and completed in 1952 in the Robert F. Kennon
Robert F. Kennon
Robert Floyd Kennon, Sr., known as Bob Kennon , was the 48th Governor of Louisiana, serving from 1952-1956. He failed to win a second non-consecutive term in the 1963 Democratic primary....
administration. Jones also worked to increase international trade through the Louisiana ports on the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
.
Jones was barred from succeeding himself as governor, and therefore (see Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1944)
Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1944
The Louisiana gubernatorial election of 1944 was held in two rounds on January 18 and February 29, 1944. Like most Southern states between Reconstruction and the civil rights era, Louisiana'sRepublican Party was virtually nonexistent in terms of electoral...
was succeeded in 1944 by another anti-Long candidate, Jimmie Houston Davis
Jimmie Davis
James Houston Davis , better known as Jimmie Davis, was a noted singer of both sacred and popular songs who served two nonconsecutive terms as the 47th Governor of Louisiana...
. Coincidently, Jones and Davis shared the middle name "Houston."
Jones supported highway beautification and preservation of plants and wildlife. His administration hired the Louisiana botanist and naturalist
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
Caroline Dormon
Caroline Dormon
Caroline Coroneos Dormon was a botanist, horticulturist, ornithologist, historian, archeologist, preservationist, naturalist, conservationist, and author from Louisiana. She was born in modest circumstances at Briarwood, the family home in northern Natchitoches Parish, to James L. Dormon and the...
of Natchitoches Parish as a consultant for the Louisiana Highway Department.
After the governorship
Jones attempted a gubernatorial comeback in the 1947–1948 election cycle. He assembled an intraparty slate, including the incumbent Lieutenant Governor J. Emile VerretJ. Emile Verret
J. Emile Verret was the Democratic lieutenant governor of Louisiana from 1944 to 1948, having served under the first of the two nonconsecutive gubernatorial terms of James Houston "Jimmie" Davis. Verret defeated former Governor Earl Kemp Long in the party's runoff election for the second-ranking...
of New Iberia
New Iberia, Louisiana
New Iberia is a city in and the parish seat of Iberia Parish, Louisiana, United States, 30 miles southeast of Lafayette. In 1900, 6,815 people lived in New Iberia; in 1910, 7,499; and in 1940, 13,747...
, who failed in a bid for reelection against Long's choice, Bill Dodd. Fred S. LeBlanc
Fred S. LeBlanc
Frederick Saugrain LeBlanc, Sr., known as Fred S. LeBlanc , was a 20th century politician in the U.S. state of Louisiana who served two terms as his state's attorney general and was firmly allied with the anti-Long faction of the predominant Democratic Party.-Background:LeBlanc graduated in 1916...
, former mayor of Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
ran on the Jones slate for attorney general. Dave L. Pearce
Dave L. Pearce
David L. "Dave" Pearce was a Democrat who served as the Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry from 1952–1956 and again from 1960-1976...
of West Carroll Parish ran for agriculture commissioner on the Jones slate; so did Ellen Bryan Moore
Ellen Bryan Moore
Ellen Bryan Moore was a pioneer of women in Louisiana politics, having served in the formerly elected office of "Register of State Lands" from 1952–1956 and 1960-1976...
as a candidate for register of state lands, who unsuccessfully opposed the incumbent Lucille May Grace
Lucille May Grace
Lucille May Grace, a.k.a. Mrs. Fred Columbus Dent, Sr., , was the first woman to attain statewide elected office in Louisiana. A Democrat, "Miss Grace," as she preferred to be called, became Register of the State Land Office in 1931 on appointment of Governor Huey Pierce Long, Jr...
. Shelby M. Jackson
Shelby M. Jackson
Shelby M. Jackson was a Democratic superintendent of public education in Louisiana who served from 1948-1964. In the early 1960s, he tried in vain to block federally-authorized school desegregation. Jackson was posthumously honored in 1994, by the naming of the "Shelby M...
, the successful candidate for state education superintendetnt, also allied himself with Jones.
Jones and Earl Long led in the primary and hence entered a gubernatorial runoff in which Long handily defeated Jones, 432,528 votes (65.9 percent) to 223,971 ballots (34.1 percent). Other candidates eliminated in the primary were later Governor Robert F. Kennon
Robert F. Kennon
Robert Floyd Kennon, Sr., known as Bob Kennon , was the 48th Governor of Louisiana, serving from 1952-1956. He failed to win a second non-consecutive term in the 1963 Democratic primary....
of Minden
Minden, Louisiana
Minden is a city in the American state of Louisiana. It serves as the parish seat of Webster Parish and is located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish. The population, which has been stable since 1960, was 13,027 at the 2000 census...
and U.S. Representative James H. Morrison
James H. Morrison
James Hobson "Jimmy" Morrison, Sr. , was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from the Sixth Congressional District of Louisiana, who served from 1943 to 1967...
of Hammond
Hammond, Louisiana
Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,049 at the 2009 census. It is home to Southeastern Louisiana University...
.
Jones hence returned to Lake Charles to practice law, but he remained a politically prominent member of the anti-Long faction throughout the 1950s. In 1964, Jones endorsed the Republican presidential nominee, Senator Barry M. Goldwater of Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, who won Louisiana's ten electoral votes. Jones said that he would remain a Democrat so that he could vote in pivotal Louisiana Democratic primaries—this was before the adoption of the Louisiana nonpartisan blanket primary—but that overall he was disillusioned with his ancestral party.
Jones' son, Bob Jones of Lake Charles, served as a Democrat in the Louisiana House of Representatives
Louisiana House of Representatives
The Louisiana House of Representatives is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Louisiana. The House is composed of 105 Representatives, each of whom represents approximately 42,500 people . Members serve four-year terms with a term limit of...
(1968–1972 and the state Senate (1972–1976). Like his father, he was considered a political reformer. In 1975, the younger Jones ran in the first of the nonpartisan blanket primaries for governor. He polled 292,220 votes (24.3 percent), a considerable portion from Republicans, but he lost to Democratic incumbent Edwin Washington Edwards, who had 750,107 (62.4 percent). Another candidate, Secretary of State Wade O. Martin, Jr.
Wade O. Martin, Jr.
Wade Omer Martin, Jr. was the Democratic Secretary of State of Louisiana under five governors, having served from 1944 to 1976...
, drew 146,368 votes (12.2 percent). Later, both Robert Jones and Wade Martin became Republicans. Bob Jones and his son, Sam Houston Jones, II, named for his grandfather, are Lake Charles stockbrokers.
Governor and Mrs. Jones are interred at Prien Memorial Park Cemetery in Lake Charles. They were Methodists.
Jones is honored by the Sam Houston Jones State Park
Sam Houston Jones State Park
Sam Houston Jones State Park is a park in near the city of Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish, in southwestern Louisiana located at the confluence of the Houston and Calcasieu Rivers and Indian Bayou. It consists of of woodlands, lakes and rivers. Prominent in the park are many bald cypress trees...
in Moss Bluff
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
Moss Bluff is a census-designated place in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 10,535 at the 2000 census. Located just north of the city of Lake Charles, it is considered a suburb of that city. Moss Bluff is a burgeoning community, and is one of the communities in...
, which contains a statue of the former governor.
External links
- State of Louisiana – Biography
- Cemetery Memorial by La-Cemeteries
- Political Graveyard