LABBE, Theobald J., St. Martin Parish, Louisiana Submitted by Mike Miller ************************************************ 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. 238-240. Edited by Alcée Fortier, Lit.D. Published in 1914, by Century Historical Association. Labbe, Hon. Theobald J.--Farmer, druggist, banker, legislator, and Educator; St. Martinville, St. Martin parish, La., was born at St. Martinville, Nov. 6, 1867. His father, Arthur Labbe, was born in the same locality as was the son, and died at the place of his birth, in the year 1904, at the age of 60 years. At the age of 17 he enlisted in the 18th La. volunteer infantry and served as a Confederate soldier throughout the years of the Civil war. After the war he returned home, collected such resources as remained to him, and began business as a merchant at St. Martinville. Subsequently he began farming, and continued the latter occupation until the time of his death. He lived the life of an active, public-spirited citizen, and in the course of his services to the public during 8 years filled the position of president of the police jury of St. Martin parish. His wife, Stephanie (Duchamp) Labbe, was a native of the Island of Martinique, and came to Louisiana with her father, Eugene Duchamp, when a child. Eugene Duehamp also was a native of the Island of Martinique. On locating at St. Martinville he established a drug business, and to this his energies were devoted until about 3 years prior to his death, covering a period of 40 years. His store stood upon the ground now occupied by the new store owned and operated by the subject of this sketch, the latter building having been erected in 1897. The paternal grandfather, Cesaire Labbe, and his father, Vincent Labbe, were natives of St. Martin parish, and devoted their respective lives to the avocation of farming. The founder of the Labbe family in Louisiana came to this country as captain of a French sailing vessel, and having lost his ship, after some preliminary prospecting, located at Lafayette, where he opened a provate school. At that time the country in the region of Lafayette and thereabouts was known as the Attakapas, and St. Martin parish then included a part of Lafayette and Iberia parishes. Theobald J. Labbe was the first of 7 children born to his parents, 6 of these surviving at this time. He was educated in private schools at St. Martinville, later entering Louisiana State university, in 1879, where he remained until 1882, following which he studied pharmacy at St. Martinville, passed an examination, and was licensed as a pharmacist in the State of Alabama, there being no laws regulating such matters in Louisiana at that time, 1886. In 1884 he assumed charge of a stock of drugs his father had purchased, and since that year has been continually engaged in the drug business. In 1897 he erected the building in which the drug store is now housed, and in 1910 built the store adjoining, now occupied as a hardware, house-furnishing and specialty establishment, the dimensions of the building being 85x65 feet, 2 stories high, the largest store building in the parish, and carrying the largest retail stock. In 1889, through the State Pharmaceutical association, Mr. Labbe was appointed by Gov. Murphy J. Foster as a member of the Louisiana pharmaceutical examining board, and was later reappointed successively by Gov. Blanchard and Gov. Heard, serving 12 years as a member of this important board, 4 years of which time he occupied the office of president. In 1896 he was elected mayor of St. Martinville, and without opposition reëlected in 1898. In 1900 he became a candidate, on the reform ticket, for the Louisiana state senate, and was duly elected to that body from the 13th senatorial district, comprising St. Martin, Iberia and Lafayette parishes. In the same year he became president of the St. Martin parish school board. In the succeeding term of the Louisiana state senate, Sen. Labbe was one of the most active and aggressive workers for much-needed reforms throughout the state, by no means confining his efforts at bettering conditions to his own district. He led the fight in the senate for the institution of civil service in the administrative affairs of the city of New Orleans, and is credited with having saved that measure for the city. In 1904 he was not a candidate for the senate, but in 1908 was again elected to that body. It was during this session of the legislature that the measure directed toward putting an end to race track gambling was introduced, and in the upper house Sen. Labbe made a strong and successful fight for the law. He also introduced a measure known as the medical bill, which also became a law and in its operation did away with medical practice by those not qualified. This bill was especially aimed at quack practitioners. As president of the St. Martin parish school board, 1900 to 1908, inclusive, the first tax for school purposes was levied. In the year 1900 there was only 1 school building in the parish that was owned by the parish. During the 8 years of Sen. Labbe's incumbency as president of the board, 30 school buildings were erected in the parish, these ranging in cost from $1500 to $20,000, and this 1 item alone furnishes an eloquent commentary upon the efficient labors of the president of the parish school board, but in addition to this, the standard of efficiency of the teachers was put upon a much higher plane than it previously had been. These school buildings are constructed 3 miles apart, so that no child in the parish is more than 1-1/2 miles from a school. In the year 1900 there were only 900 pupils attending the public schools of the parish. At the end of Sen. Labbe's incumbency as president of the board, 3,000 children were attending the public schools of the parish. At the time he became identified with the parish school board, the parish was paying $500 per year toward the support of the schools, and is now paying about $14,000 per year for that purpose, while even a larger sum is received from the state. Previous to the year 1912 Sen. Labbe acted with the democratic party, but he is now a Progressive. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and in church affiliation is a Roman Catholic. In 1912 he organized the Commercial bank of St. Martinville, was elected president of the institution, and has remained its executive head since its organization. Sen. Labbe is also practically interested in farming. In April of 1889 he was married to Miss Corinne Flemming, a daughter of August Flemming of St. Martinville, who for a number of years occupied the office of clerk of court of St. Martin parish. Ten children have been born to Sen. and Mrs. Labbe, these being, in order of birth, as follows: Alan, who was 2 years a student at the University of Michigan and 2 years at Annapolis Military academy, and now a teacher in the Jeanerette high school; May, now the wife of Francis Fournet, an electrical engineer and teacher in the state normal school at Natchitoches, La.; Hilda, wife of L. J. Voorhies, civil engineer in charge of city improvements at Lafayette, La. ; Waldo, in the electrical department of the Southern Pacific slips at Houston, Tex.; Lorena, Bessie, Alice, Stephanie, Ethel, and Elliot, all living, and all except those otherwise mentioned, now living at the parental home.