Joseph Barton Elam | |
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| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromLouisiana's4th district | |
| In office March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1881 | |
| Preceded by | William Mallory Levy |
| Succeeded by | Newton C. Blanchard |
| Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives (Confederate States of America) | |
| In office 1862–1864 | |
| President | Jefferson Davis, CSA |
| Preceded by | None |
| Succeeded by | B. F. Chapman |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 12 June 1821 (1821-06-12) |
| Died | July 4, 1885(1885-07-04) (aged 64) |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Twice widowed Third wife: Harriet Spencer Elam |
| Relations | William B. Spencer (brother-in-law) Harmon Drew, Jr. (great-grandson) |
| Children | Charles Wheaton Elam (1866-1917) Joseph Barton Elam, Jr. (1878-1935) |
| Residence(s) | Alexandria, Louisiana Many, Louisiana |
| Alma mater | Private study of law |
| Profession | Lawyer |
Joseph Barton Elam, Sr. (June 12, 1821 – July 4, 1885), was a two-termDemocraticU.S. representative forLouisiana's 4th congressional district, whose service corresponded with the administration ofU.S. PresidentRutherford B. Hayes.
Elam was born nearHope inHempstead County in southwesternArkansas Territory, to William Jefferson Elam, a teacher, and his wife, the former Cynthia Wheaton, both fromVirginia. The Elam family moved in 1823 toAyish Bayou nearSan Augustine inEast Texas, where another son, Charles Wheaton Elam, was born. In 1826, the Elams relocated toNatchitoches, Louisiana, where Mary Jane Elam, was born. By 1833, the family moved toFort Jessup, Louisiana, the westernmost outpost of the United States at that time. William Elam tutored the officers' sons. Another son, John Waddill Elam, was born at Fort Jesup in 1833. There was also a daughter, Henrietta Elam.
The Elam children were educated at Fort Jessup. Later, Joseph Elamread law with his cousin John Waddill inAlexandria, Louisiana. In 1853, Waddill helped obtain freedom ofSolomon Northup, a kidnapped man fromNew York and the subject of the film,Twelve Years a Slave, who had been sold into slavery in Louisiana. Northup had been held for twelve years as a slave in theRed River region. Under its 1841 law, the state of New York commissioned an attorney to help find and free the kidnapped man.[1][page needed]
Elam was admitted to the bar in October 1843 and began his practice in Alexandria. He moved in 1844 toSabine Parish and settled in theparish seat ofMany.
Elam helped to establish the court system inDeSoto Parish, where on August 7, 1843, he made his first court appearance as an attorney. In 1845, Elam was elected to the Sabine ParishPolice Jury, the parish governing body. He was the jury president from 1846 to 1847. Elam also served as thedistrict attorney of Sabine Parish.In 1847, Elam drafted the articles for incorporation for the town ofMansfield, and was elected as its firstmayor.[2] He served as mayor a second time in 1856. He was also a Mansfield alderman.
Elam was elected to theLouisiana House of Representatives from DeSoto Parish. He served as theHouse Speaker from 1862 to 1864.[3] His brother, John Waddill Elam, was elected sheriff of DeSoto Parish.
In 1861, Elam was elected a delegate to theConfederate Constitutional Convention and signed the LouisianaOrdinance of Secession on January 26, 1861.
In November 1865, he was elected as a state representative in the post-civil warReconstruction legislature; this tenure is not reflected in the website, "Membership of the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2016." Elam served in the state legislature until the passage in 1867 by Congress of theReconstruction Acts.[4] Elam attended the National Union Convention as a delegate from Louisiana in 1866.[5]
During Reconstruction, theRadical Republicans took control of Louisiana, and Elam was temporarily disfranchised under the Louisiana Constitution of 1868, which prevented former officers of the Confederacy from running for office for a limited period. When in 1870, section 99 of this Constitution was repealed, Elam was allowed again to seek office.
Because of violence and intimidation associated with elections, conducted in part by theKu Klux Klan trying to suppress black and other Republican voting, the Radicals passed legislation in 1870 to establish "returning boards," which were authorized to review elections and dismiss results from ones in which fraud was committed. That year, the U. S. Congress passed theForce Act, intended to aid in suppressing the power of the KKK in the South.
Elam was denied office in 1870, 1872 and 1874 by the returning boards. In 1870, Elam stopped a riot by speaking to and calming a crowd after an election was taken from him, and did the same in 1872.[6] TheWheeler Adjustment, passed by the Louisiana legislature in March 1875, did not allow Elam to take his Louisiana State Senate seat for the 1874 election.[7] The elections continued to be marked by violence by theWhite League, aparamilitary group that supported the Democratic Party, disrupted Republican gatherings and worked to suppress black voting.[8]
In 1876, Elam, a secessionist and former Confederate state legislator, was elected to the United States Congress in theForty-fifth Congress. A national political compromise of that year allowed him and other Democrats to take office, along with the accession ofRepublican Rutherford Hayes as President. Elam was reelected to theForty-sixth Congress for Louisiana's 4th district.[9]
During his reelection campaign of 1878, Elam was severely injured in astagecoach accident.[10] In 1881, he returned to Louisiana to practice law in Mansfield, where he died at the age of sixty-three.
Elam was twice widowed and had eight children by his third wife, Harriet Spencer Elam. SonCharles Wheaton Elam, the brother of Joseph Elam, Jr., served in the Louisiana House from 1892 to 1896, and Joseph Barton Elam, Jr., was the mayor of Mansfield from 1914 to 1920.[11]
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| Preceded by | Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives (Confederate) 1863–1864 Simeon Belden(Union) 1862 – 1864 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromLouisiana's 4th congressional district 1877 – 1881 | Succeeded by |
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