William Jasper Blackburn | |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 5th district | |
In office July 18, 1868 – March 3, 1869 | |
Preceded by | District established |
Succeeded by | Frank Morey |
Member of the Louisiana State Senate from Claiborne Parish | |
In office 1874–1878 | |
Mayor of Minden, Louisiana | |
In office May 1855 – May 1856 | |
Succeeded by | A. B. George |
Personal details | |
Born | Randolph County, Arkansas, U.S. | July 24, 1820
Died | November 10, 1899 Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. | (aged 79)
Resting place | Mount Holly Cemetery |
Political party | Republican |
Other political affiliations | Democratic |
Occupation | Newspaper publisher and printer |
(1) Publisher Blackburn switched his party affiliation to Republican because he opposed slavery and the secession of the Confederate States of America.
(2) Blackburn was spared conviction — and automatic execution — by a one-vote margin of charges that he printed counterfeit Confederate currency. (3) After the return of Democratic Redeemer government in Louisiana in 1878, Blackburn soon returned to his native Arkansas, where he published the short-lived Arkansas Republican newspaper. (4) Blackburn served in the United States House of Representatives and the Louisiana State Senate as a Republican; earlier he was a Democratic mayor of Minden, Louisiana, from 1855 to 1856. (5) Blackburn launched the first paper to bear the name Minden Herald. | |
William Jasper Blackburn (July 24, 1820 – November 10, 1899) was an American printer, publisher and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from northwestern Louisiana from July 18, 1868, to March 3, 1869. A Republican during Reconstruction, he was elected to the Louisiana State Senate, serving from 1874 to 1878.[1]