Joseph Connaughton (politician)

Joseph Connaughton (c. 1833 or 1838 – September 2, 1875)[1][2] was a state legislator in Louisiana. He was elected to two terms. He only served part of his second term in the Louisiana House of Representatives. He was African American.[3]

He was born in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, where he became a carpenter.[1] He represented his native parish in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1872 until 1875 when he lost his seat due to the Wheeler Compromise.[2][4]

He was part of the 1873 Louisiana Colored Men's Convention in New Orleans.[5] He served on the Committee on Canals and Drainage.[6]

Connaughton died on September 2, 1875,[1][2] at the age of 37 according to one source,[2] or "about 42 years" according to another,[1] while walking at the corner of Canal Street and Royal Street in New Orleans. He was described as "suddenly throwing up his hands and dropping upon the pavement in a speechless condition".[2] One obituary stated:

Though he was allied politically to the bad band in our Parish, who have sought our ruin, still we have always considered him a head and shoulder above them all in good, personal traits of character, and he was anything but a bad man. We have known him from boyhood and can bear personal testimony to his good traits as a good man. These traits he has more than proven to us, when others of far more pretensions turned us the ungrateful shoulder.[1]

A coroner later ruled that Connaughton's death was caused by "congestion of the brain".[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Death of Joe Connaughton". The Louisiana Democrat. September 8, 1875. p. 2 – via newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Sudden Death of Jos. Connaughton". The New Orleans Bulletin. September 3, 1875. p. 1 – via newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Vincent, Charles (January 28, 2011). Black Legislators in Louisiana during Reconstruction. SIU Press. ISBN 9780809385812 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Foner, Eric (1 August 1996). Freedom's Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction. LSU Press. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-8071-2082-8. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
  5. ^ "State Colored Men's Convention". n/a. September 5, 1873.
  6. ^ Representatives, Louisiana Legislature House of (September 5, 1873). "Official Journal of the Proceedings of House of Representatives of the State of Louisiana at the ... General Assembly ..." – via Google Books.
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