East Baton Rouge-Caddo County Louisiana Archives Biographies.....Amiss, Thomas 1882 -
Contributed by: Mike Miller
Date Submitted: 07 Oct 2006 


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Author: Henry E Chambers

Thomas L. Amiss, superintendent of water works at Shreveport, is a civil 
engineer by profession, and the skill and enthusiasm with which he has handled 
his duties at Shreveport are credited by thinking citizens of that community 
with having been largely responsible for the perfection of a modern system of 
water supply, probably unexcelled by any municipality in Louisiana.

Mr. Amiss represents some of the old and prominent French families of 
Louisiana.  He was born at Baton Rouge, in 1882, son of John W. and Henriette 
(Lauzin) Amiss.  His mother is still living, is a granddaughter of Doctor 
Lauzin, who was born in France, graduated in medicine from the University of 
Paris, and on coming to Louisiana first settled in Pointe Coupee Parish.  Both 
the Amiss and Lauzin families were large land owners in Baton Rouge and 
vicinity, much of the land now used for public and church purposes in that city 
being originally held in the Amiss family.  The late John W. Amiss was of 
French Huguenot ancestry, his early forbears settling in Virginia, and his 
father was a prominent pioneer citizen of Baton Rouge.

Thomas L. Amiss was educated in local schools and St. Vincent Academy at Baton 
Rouge.  When he was seventeen years of age he began work during the 
construction of the first sewer system at Baton Rouge, and that marked the 
opening of a permanent career for him in sonic line of public and municipal 
service.  Long years of practical experience have made him a competent civil 
engineer, and he holds a license in that profession issued by the State of 
Louisiana under the acts of 1920.

Mr. Amiss has been connected with the city water works of Shreveport 
continuously since 1901.  For many years he was assistant superintendent and 
since 1916. superintendent.  Here the best efforts of his life have been 
directed to the development and construction of au adequate water system, and 
he feels justifiable pride in what promises within a short time to be one of 
the finest water works systems in the country.  The Cross Lake project now 
being carried out includes a reservoir in which will be impounded nine billion 
gallons of water.  The reservoir covers twelve and a half square miles, 
including the whole of Cross Lake, and the supply will be immediately 
sufficient for a city of 250,000, with provision made for a much greater supply 
when needed from Caddo Lake.  It is one of the monumental municipal engineering 
projects of the State

Mr. Amiss married Mrs. Cora Marie Hanley, and they have one child, Elizabeth 
Marie.  Mr. Amiss is a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Lions Club, the 
Engineer Club of Shreveport and the American Water Works Association.

Additional Comments:
A History of Louisiana, (vol. 2), p.127 , by Henry E. Chambers.  Published by 
The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, 1925.