Franklinton's Government, Washington Parish, Louisiana Submitted by Bonnie Dier Date: August 27, 2006 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ Bogalusa Daily News September 29, 1991 Franklinton’s government took a while to establish It was a little over a century ago – 103 years – that Franklinton finally fulfilled a 27-year-old goal and organized its first town government. Franklinton had been incorporated in 1861, but the Civil War intervened, followed by more than two decades of poverty. So it wasn’t until 1888 that Franklinton got around to forming a government. Franklinton was a small, close-knit community, but there was very little continuity in the government in the first five years, judging from the records of the period, with no fewer than five different mayors serving in the first five years. Franklinton’s first appointed and elected mayor was James M. Burris Sr., but he moved outside the town limits and his brother took over. Rapid Turnovers Terms lasting just one year made it inevitable that there would be one turnover after another in the roster of city officials, but in addition two of the first five members resigned before their one-year terms were completed. There were some holdovers on the Board of Aldermen, but four men served as marshal during those five years. While Franklinton got its first town official in 1888, official records of Franklinton town activities still on file don’t begin for almost another 10 years. A roster of official oaths in the State Archives microfilmed collection, however, shows who was appointed and commissioned for the years 1888 to 1892. The book for 1892 to 1898 is missing from the state records and is not available on microfilm. No Legal Records The first years of the town’s business – officials, ordinances, activities and so on – are revealed only in the early issues of the New Era, Washington Parish’s first newspaper. Because only a few of the newspaper’s issues are available and official records are non-existent, no complete list of the early mayors and aldermen of Franklinton has existed here, and the state archives had to be searched for the information on the municipal officials for the first five years. The first panel of officers was appointed by Gov. Francis T. Nicholls on July 28, 1888. Most of the names – Mayor J. M. Burris Sr. and Aldermen J. R. Wood, G. W. Varnado, T. M. Babington and W. H. Jones – are familiar representing families whose descendants still live in the area. Helvestion Active One, however, doesn’t really ring a bell: Alderman William Helvestion. But he was a strong influence at the time, serving continuously as an alderman through the first four years while other officials came and went for a year or less. He was a carpenter who owned property near what is now Mill Street, where he ran a cotton gin. Helvestion was the only alderman who served on the first appointed board and continued in service through three elections. He later moved away from Franklinton. Because of the loss of the 1890 census there is no information about where he came from, and local recollections don’t give a clue as to where he went. He apparently left no family in the area. Mayors came and went fairly quickly. Burris was appointed and served nine months before being elected during the first elections in May, 1889. But he only served 10 months before moving outside the town limits and resigning. In No Hurry Even though Franklinton had waited 27 years from its incorporation to get its first town officials, the first officials seemed in no hurry to organize. The New Era reported in an August, 1988, edition that the new officials “will organized in a few day”, but in a later edition editor L. W. Stovall complained, “Wonder what has become of the Board of Mayo and Aldermen. Why don’t they organize?” They finally got going, however, and most of them were returned to office when the first election of town officials was held May 6, 1889. Those chosen were mostly those who were already serving by appointment: Mayor James M. Burris Sr.; aldermen John R. Wood, G. W. Varnado, Helvestion and R. H. Babington, Jacob E. Wood replaced W. H. Jones on the Board of Aldermen, and C. P. Morris apparently became the first official town marshal. If a town marshal was appointed the year before by Nicholls, his name isn’t listed in the archives. Served As Judge Although his service as mayor was brief, Burris served as parish judge for years after that. The position of parish judge was similar to today’s justice of the peace. William Addison Burris was appointed as mayor March 19, 1890, to fill his brother’s shoes. Jones, one of the original appointed aldermen, also returned to the town council at about the same time, being named to succeed John R. Wood, who had also moved outside the town limits. Mayor Six Weeks Addison Burris served only about six weeks as mayor until W. S. Hutchinson was elected May 5, 1890. Hutchinson is another relative unknown today, like Helvestion. Little is known about him beyond his service as mayor for a brief period and the fact that he was probably a doctor. Thee was a whole new slate of officials elected in 1890 with Hutchinson, including Aldermen Helvestion, J. N. Varnado, Whit Pierce, L. W. Stoval and J. A. Burris, and Marshal G. W. Magee Hutchinson only served five months and resigned at the end of September, being replaced by William J. Brumfield, who was appointed Oct. 20, 1890. Brumfield was then elected for full term as mayor the next May along with Aldermen Helvestions, J. N. Varnado, Whit Pierce, L. W. Stovall and J. A. Burris and Marshal W. W. Magee. At the end of May, 1892 elections C.S.E. “Zeke” Babington was elected mayor; he later served as state senator. He started as a merchant, one of the four Babington Brothers of the Babington Brothers Store. Did They Run? John R. Wood, a merchant, and G. W. Varnado, a local doctor, served on the first appointed board and the first elected board, but did not serve after the first term and a half. Because the election records for municipalities are sparse, it is unknown if they were defeated or simply didn’t run for re-election. Whit Pierce, the local barber, was elected in 1890 and served up to 1892, when the records stop; so did L. W. Stovall (editor of the New Era), J. N. Varnado and J. A. Burris. It seems a new marshal was elected every year. W. J. Brumfield moved from appointed mayor to elected mayor to marshal. Others were C. P. Morris, G. W. “Wence” Magee, who was a merchant, and W. W. Magee. Since Zeke Babington, 17 men have served as mayor in the remaining century, most of them for considerably longer than the first five did. They are W. W. Babington, J. Vol Brock, Dan Sheridan, Silas W. Magee, Dewitt E. Branch Sr., Dave A. Self, Ed A. Burris, Eugene L. Magee, Charles J. Gayer, W. E. “Gene” Magee, L. O. Torregrossa, Mouton Bickham, George Dick, Heyward Green, Haley Carter, Othar Simmons, Warren Greer and the incumbent, Varnado Fussell. A successor to Fussell, who is serving by appointment and not seeking re-election, will be Chosen Oct. 1.