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
editReferences
edit- 1 2 3 4 5 "Death of Joe Connaughton". The Louisiana Democrat. September 8, 1875. p. 2 – via newspapers.com.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Sudden Death of Jos. Connaughton". The New Orleans Bulletin. September 3, 1875. p. 1 – via newspapers.com.
- ↑ Vincent, Charles (January 28, 2011). Black Legislators in Louisiana during Reconstruction. SIU Press. ISBN 9780809385812 – via Google Books.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ "State Colored Men's Convention". n/a. September 5, 1873.
- ↑ 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.