LOUQUE, Charles, St. John the Baptist, then Orleans Parish, Louisiana Submitted for the LA GenWeb Archives by Mike Miller, Apr 1998 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ Louisiana: Comprising Sketches of Parishes, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form (volume 3), pp. 263-264. Edited by Alcée Fortier, Lit.D. Published in 1914, by Century Historical Association. Louque, Hon. Charles, one of the ablest members of the New Orleans Bar and a well and favorably known citizen, is a native of Louisiana. He was born in the parish of St. John the Baptist, in 1845, Nov. 29, on the plantation of his father, Norbert Louque, who was born in St. James parish, La., in 1808, and was a son of Juan Louque, a native of Venice, Italy, who came to the United States when a boy of 11 years, and located in New Orleans, where he grew to manhood and married a German lady and later became a planter. The name Louque (pronounced L-u-k-e), if spelled as it was in Italy, should be Luca, but its present spelling was given it by a French schoolmaster, a Mr. DeLaneville, in the parish of St. John the Baptist, a teacher of Norbert Louque. Norbert Louque was thrice married. By his first wife he was the father of 1 child; by his second wife, the father of 7 children; and of 9 by his third wife. The mother of Charles Louque was his second wife. She bore the maiden name of Candide Delhommer, and was a member of an old, highly-respected French family of Louisiana. Charles Louque was reared on his father's plantation, in the parish of St. John the Baptist, until he was 12 years of age. His early education was received under the direction of private tutors, and then, after attending private schools in New Orleans and spending 1 year in Spring Hill college (Alabama), he entered Jefferson college, where he had spent 3 years when the Civil war came on and interrupted his college work. Immediately after the war, Mr. Louque took up the study of law in the Louisiana university, from which he was graduated April 2, 1866, since when he has been in the active practice of the law. For 3 years he was with Edward D. White, now chief justice of the United States supreme court, in the law office of Edward Bermudez, who afterward became chief justice of the supreme court of Louisiana. In 1878, Mr. Louque compiled and published a digest of the decisions of the Louisiana supreme court, which is recognized a necessary work to the practice of law in our state. In politics, Mr. Louque is a Democrat, and for 4 years, from 1892 to 1896, he served as a member of the New Orleans city council, and during Mayor Fitzpatrick's administration he was chairman of the public order committee. He is now serving his third term as state senator, having been consecutively elected to this position, which he has filled with great independence, and as chairman of the city affairs committee of the senate he has won an enviable reputation as senator. New Orleans will ever be under great gratitude to Mr. Louque for the active part he has taken in the matter of reclaiming the swamps surrounding the city and converting an uninhabitable section into tillable lands and property fitted for resident purposes. This was a movement in which Mr. Louque took the initiative as a pioneer and ardent advocate, in 1887, and to which he devoted much time, energy and money. In 1871, Mr. Louque was married to Miss Edna Stewart, and they have 6 children. Esteemed as a public-spirited citizen, and held in highest regard by a large acquaintance, adjudged fair and just in every relation to his fellow man, Charles Louque is truly one of the foremost men of New Orleans. As a lawyer, he has long enjoyed an extensive and lucrative practice. In addition to the several courts of Louisiana, he has successfully practiced before the supreme court of the United States. Note: Original source includes a photo of Mr. Louque. # # #