Caesar Antoine
Caesar Carpentier Antoine (1836–1921) was a soldier, businessman, editor, and African-American Republican politician in Louisiana during the Reconstruction era.[1]
Caesar Carpentier Antoine | |
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| 13th Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana | |
| In office May 22, 1873 – April 24, 1877 | |
| Governor | William P. Kellogg Stephen B. Packard |
| Preceded by | P.B.S. Pinchback |
| Succeeded by | Louis A. Wiltz |
| Louisiana State Senator from Caddo Parish | |
| In office 1868–1872 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1836 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | 1921 (aged 84–85) Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Resting place | New Bethlehem Baptist Church Cemetery |
| Political party | Republican |
| Relations | Felix C. Antoine (brother) |
| Residences |
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| Occupation | Barber, Editor, Businessman |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Branch/service | Union Army |
| Rank |  Captain |
| Unit | 7th Louisiana (Colored) Infantry Regiment |
| Battles/wars | American Civil War |
He was born as a free man of color in New Orleans.[1] His brother was Felix C. Antoine.[1][2]
During the Civil War, he served as Captain in the 7th Louisiana Regiment Infantry and 10th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery Regiment.[3] After the war, he moved to Shreveport, Louisiana. He was a member of St. Paul's Colored Methodist Episcopal Church and lived in the Allendale neighborhood.[1]
He was elected as a state senator for Caddo Parish in 1868, partaking in the Louisiana Constitutional Convention.[1] He served until 1872 when he was elected to serve as Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, the third man of color to hold that position.[1][2] He co-founded a newspaper with P. B. S. Pinchback, his immediate pre-decessor.
He became a Worshipful Master in 1884. Shreveport's Freeman Lodge Number 185 of the Price Hall Masons is named in his honor.[1]
In 1887, he co-founded Comité des Citoyens, which fought the case that became Plessy v. Ferguson, and became its vice-president.[1]
Legacy and honors
- In 2008, C. C. Antoine Celebration was established as an annual event during Black History Month in Shreveport.[4]
- A tombstone was dedicated at Antoine's gravesite on Memorial Day, 31 May 1999.[1][5]
- In 1984, a Shreveport park was named for Antoine and a sculpture of him was installed in it.[1]
- Antoine's house in Shreveport was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 20, 1999.[1][6] It was destroyed by fire in May 2022.[6]
References
- Brock, Eric J (2003). "Louisiana Political Pioneer" (PDF). Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-02-23.
- Foner, Eric (1996). Freedom's Lawmakers. LSU Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-0807120828.
- "Antoine, Caesar C." Soldier Details - The Civil War (U.S. National Park Service). Retrieved 2023-05-19.
- C.C. Antoine Celebration Archived 2014-02-23 at the Wayback Machine website, accessed 7 February 2014
- John Andrew Prime, "Cities to declare Confederate History Month next week" Archived 2011-07-14 at the Wayback Machine, Shreveport Times, n.d., hosted at North Star website, accessed 7 February 2014
- "Historic Shreveport house 1 of 2 destroyed in early morning fire". KTAL-TV. May 13, 2022. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
- "Caesar Carpentier Antoine". A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, Vol. 1 (1988), p. 16
- John W. Blassingame, Black New Orleans, 1860-1880 (1973)
- Dorothea Olga McCants, ed., Our People and Our History (1973)
- Charles Vincent, Black Legislators in Louisiana during Reconstruction (1976)
- Rayford W. Logan and Michael R. Winston, eds., Dictionary of American Negro Biography (1982)
