H. G. Chalkley; Tottenham, ENG.; then Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by Mike Miller


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H. G. Chalkley.  The reputations of the leading mechanical engineers of 
modern times are not made in a day, success in this difficult field of 
endeavor necessitating highly specialized training, close application, 
diversified experience and inherent ability and fitness for the calling.  
These are qualities which have made H. G. Chalkley, of Lake Charles, 
one of the foremost figures in his profession in Louisiana and have 
gained him preferment as the head of numerous enterprises.  A man of 
many important interests, be has contributed materially to the growth 
and material advancement of Lake Charles, and at present is serving in 
the capacity of president of the police jury.

Mr. Chalkley was born at Tottenham, England, February 11, 1871, and 
is a son of Henry George and Hannah (Baron) Chalkley, the former a 
native of Tottenham and the latter of Cornwall, England.  His father, a 
prominent financial agent, was one of the promoters of the North 
American Land & Timber Company, Ltd., in 1883, which in 1890 built 
the first canal in Calcasieu Parish, conducted a colonization project and 
had large land and timber holdings in Calcasieu, Cameron and 
Jefferson Davis parishes.

H. G. Chalkley, of this review, was educated at Bootham College, 
York, and Yorkshire College, Leeds, England, the latter now Leeds 
University, where he was equipped for the profession of mechanical 
engineering.  He became an apprentice engineer and in 1893 came to 
the United States and located at Lake Charles, where he has since 
applied himself largely to the activities of his profession.  He was the 
manager of the North American Land & Timber Company, Ltd., at 
Lake Charles, for a number of years, and at present is president of the 
North American Land Company, its successor, this concern being 
owners of Sweet Lake and Indian Bayou irrigation canals, and rice 
lands, prairie and pasture lands in Calcasieu, Cameron and Jefferson 
Davis parishes.  In addition Mr. Chalkley has extensive plantation 
interests and is a grower of rice and cotton.  He was one of the 
organizers and since 1921 has been president of the American Rice 
Growers' Association, is vice president of the Lake Charles Association 
or Commerce, a director of the Calcasieu National Bank of Southwest 
Louisiana, and head of the firm of H. G. Chalkley & Sons, mortgages, 
stocks, bonds and loans.  He was one of the organizers and is president 
of the Lake Charles Country Club and belongs also to the Coastal 
Hunting and Fishing Club and the Rotary Club, while golfing is his 
recreation, and he is also a great student and reader, possessing a 
valuable library in which there arc to be found many rare editions.  Mr. 
Chalkley belongs to the American Mechanical Engineers' Society.  
While his religion is that of the Society of Friends, he served capably as 
a member of the State Council of Defense during the World war.

In 1913 Mr. Chalkley was elected a member of the Calcasieu Parish 
Police Jury, and served as its president until 1920.  In 1924 he was 
again elected a member of the jury and is now serving as president, his 
present term expiring in 1928.  From 1913 to 1920 Calcasieu Parish 
built more good roads than any other parish in the state, all of this work 
being done during Mr. Chalkley's presidency of the police jury.  Many 
other public improvements in the parish and at Lake Charles were 
inaugurated during that period.

In 1896, at Lake Charles, Mr. Chalkley married Mary Rayne Bradley, 
of Lake Charles, now deceased.  The present Mrs. Chalkley was 
formerly Miss Laura Ellen Reed, also of Lake Charles.  There are three 
children:  Mary Hannah and  Gertrude Anne, residing with their parents 
and  Henry George, Jr., a graduate of the United States Naval 
Academy, who served in the United States Navy as lieutenant engineer 
during the World war, now associated in business with his father, under 
the firm style of H. G. Chalkley & Son, with offices In the Calcasieu 
National Bank Building.

A History of Louisiana, (vol. 2), pp. 258-259, by Henry E. Chambers.  
Published by The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New 
York, 1925.