Richard Simms

Richard Simms was a state legislator who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives and the Louisiana State Senate during the Reconstruction era.[1]

Richard Simms
Louisiana House of Representatives
In office
1872–1874
Louisiana House of Representatives
In office
1876–1878
Louisiana State Senate
In office
1880–1892
Louisiana House of Representatives
In office
1892–1894
Personal details
Political partyRepublican

Biography

Simms was first elected to represent the St. Landry Parish in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1872 until 1874.[1][2]

At the 1874 and 1876 Republican State Conventions he represented St. James Parish along with four other delegates from the parish.[3][4] In 1876 he was working as sheriff for the Parish of St. James.[5]

He was elected again to the Louisiana House of Representatives to serve from 1876 until 1878,[1] this time representing St. James Parish.[6]

Approaching the end of the session in October 1878 he again ran for the position of parish sheriff, but lost out coming second to Victor Miles.[7] He was a member of the State Central Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Louisiana in 1879 when P. B. S. Pinchback was president.[8]

Simms was nominated to run on the Republican ticket for State Senator in a long and "stormy session" at the Republican Senatorial Convention October 15, 1879.[9] He was one of two nominations the other being G. H. Hill and the first fifty-three ballots were deadlocked and on the fifty-forth ballot he succeeded by eight to seven.[9] Simms was then elected to serve in the Louisiana State Senate for three session from 1880 until 1892.[1][10]

He along with the other four black senators voted against a bill put forth by Charles Parlange in 1884 to put convicts to work on levees and to break the current lease of the prison.[11]

Simms again returned to the Louisiana House of Representatives in 1892 representing St. James Parish and presumed to have served until 1894.[12]

In 1896 Simms was a delegate to the Eleventh Republican National Convention in St. Louis representing the central district.[13]

Notes
  • In some of the contemporary newspaper articles his name was given as Richard Simmes, including the reporting of his nomination on the Republican ticket for the senate.[14]

See also

References
  1. Foner, Eric (1 August 1996). Freedom's Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction. LSU Press. p. 197. ISBN 978-0-8071-2082-8. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  2. Vincent, Charles (28 January 2011). Black Legislators in Louisiana during Reconstruction. SIU Press. p. 148, 233. ISBN 978-0-8093-8581-2. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  3. "Republican State Convention". New Orleans Republican. 8 August 1874. p. 1. Retrieved 30 October 2022.open access
  4. "Republican State Convention (1876)". New Orleans Republican. 1 June 1876. p. 1. Retrieved 30 October 2022.open access
  5. "Judicial Notices - Richard Simms, Sheriff". Le Louisianais. 21 October 1876. p. 2. Retrieved 30 October 2022.open access
  6. "Official: State Senators and Members of the House of Representatives". New Orleans Republican. 7 December 1876. p. 4. Retrieved 30 October 2022.open access
  7. "Election Returns of the Parish of St. James". The New Orleans Daily Democrat. 21 November 1878. p. 3. Retrieved 30 October 2022.open access
  8. "State Central Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Louisiana". The Weekly Louisianian. 10 May 1879. p. 3. Retrieved 30 October 2022.open access
  9. "Republican Senatorial Convention: Richard Simms for State Senator". The Donaldsonville Chief. 18 October 1879. p. 2. Retrieved 30 October 2022.open access
  10. "SENATE DIRECTORY 1880-2004" (PDF). Louisiana State Legislature. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  11. Carleton, Mark T. (1967). "The Politics of the Convict Lease System in Louisiana: 1868-1901". Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association. 8 (1): 16–21. ISSN 0024-6816. JSTOR 4230931. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  12. "The General Assembly: Senate and House". Abbeville Meridional. 14 May 1892. p. 3. Retrieved 30 October 2022.open access
  13. Official Report of the Proceedings. Republican National Committee. 1896. p. 66. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  14. "Republican District Ticket". The Donaldsonville Chief. 1 November 1879. p. 3. Retrieved 30 October 2022.open access
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