Francis T. Nicholls

Francis T. Nicholls

Francis Redding Tillou Nicholls (born August 20, 1834 in Donaldsonville , Ascension Parish , Louisiana , †  January 4, 1912 in Thibodaux , Louisiana) was an American politician and governor of the state of Louisiana from 1877 to 1880 and from 1888 to 1892 . During the American Civil War he was a Brigadier General in the Confederation Army.

Early years

Francis Nicholls attended the Jefferson Academy in New Orleans and then graduated from the US Military Academy in West Point , New York , between 1851 and 1855 , which he finished 12th in his class. He was then stationed as a lieutenant in the US Army in Florida and California for a year . In 1856, Nicholls resigned for health reasons. After completing a law degree at what is now Tulane University , he began working as a lawyer in Napoleonville, Louisiana.

Political rise

At the beginning of the Civil War, Nicholls helped set up an infantry regiment in Louisiana, which later became part of the Confederate Army . In this regiment he became a captain. In the further course of the war he rose to brigadier general. During the war he lost his left arm and left foot. After the war he continued his legal practice. He was a member of the Democratic Party and was nominated by this as a candidate for the upcoming 1876 gubernatorial election. His opponent was Republican Stephen B. Packard . Nicholls won the election by about 8,000 votes. The Republicans challenged the election over irregularities, and an election committee declared Packard the winner. In connection with the controversial presidential election of 1876 between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden , a compromise was reached at the federal level. In addition to the end of the reconstruction policy , Nicholls was recognized as governor of Louisiana.

Louisiana Governor

Nicholls took up his new office on January 8, 1877. He had to deal with a corrupt administration. Treasury Secretary Edward A. Burke was one of the most corrupt politicians in Louisiana history. This later settled in Honduras with $ 1.2 million from the household budget . Samuel James, who was responsible for hiring out convicts, also knew how to illegally profit from this position. Lieutenant Governor Louis A. Wiltz made huge profits from the corrupt state lottery. The governor was unable to counter the sweeping corruption, even within his party. In his first term, the capital was again moved from New Orleans to Baton Rouge . A constitutional convention headed by Lieutenant Governor Wiltz reduced Nicholls' term of office by one year. The fact that Nicholls was no longer nominated in 1879 and that Wiltz of all people was elected as his successor underscores how little the governor could achieve against the corruption in Louisiana at the time. After the end of his tenure, he returned to practice as a lawyer.

In 1887 his party had changed its stance. She was now against the corrupt lottery and nominated Nicholls again for the office of governor. He was elected and was able to complete a second term between May 21, 1888 and May 10, 1892. During this time he led a crusade against the lottery company. In doing so, he also received help from the federal government, which passed a law prohibiting lottery tickets from being mailed across state borders between US states. However, Nicholls was now using questionable methods himself. For example, he has agreed to appoint Samuel D. McEnery as a judge on the state's Supreme Court . In doing so, he avoided a fair election in which the Republicans would have had a majority. Nicholls also supported the policy that black people should be kept away from elections as much as possible. Another negative point is the cut in the education budget. Louisiana's educational system was comparatively poor, and that wasn't going to change much in the next 100 years.

Another résumé

After his tenure ended, Nicholls was named presiding judge of the Louisiana Supreme Court. He held this office from 1892 to 1904. Between 1904 and 1911 he was an associate judge at that court. Francis Nicholls died in January 1912. He had seven children (one son and six daughters) with his wife, Caroline Alpha Guion.

Web links

Commons : Francis T. Nicholls  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Francis Nicholls in the National Governors Association (English)
• The governors of Louisiana (English)