James Peyton Smith

James Peyton Smith, known as James P. Smith (September 6, 1925 – August 14, 2006),[2] was a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Union and Morehouse parishes in North Louisiana, a position which he held from 1964 to 1972 during the administration of Governor John McKeithen. In the first term he represented only Union Parish.[3] Thereafter from 1972 to 1992, he was the sergeant-at-arms of the Louisiana State Senate.[2]

James Peyton Smith
Louisiana State Representative from Union and Morehouse parishes
In office May 1964 – May 1972
Preceded by	T. T. Fields
Succeeded by	John C. Ensminger Louise B. Johnson
Sergeant-at-arms of the Louisiana State Senate
In office 1972–1992
Personal details
Born	September 6, 1925 Conway Community Union Parish Louisiana, USA
Died	August 14, 2006 (aged 80) Monroe, Ouachita Parish Louisiana
Cause of death	Lengthy illness
Resting place	Antioch Cemetery in Farmerville, Louisiana
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Foye Nolan Smith (married 1945-2006, his death)
Children	James Bradley Smith Danny Allen Smith Max Graham Smith (deceased) Roslyn A. Smith Jayne Smith-Green 12 grandchildren
Residence	Farmerville, Louisiana
Occupation	33-year Louisiana state employee[1]
Awards	Bronze Star
Military service
Branch/service	United States Army
Unit	106th Infantry Division
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of the Bulge

Smith was one of eight children of the Reverend J. Duff Smith (1891-1962) and the former Sallie Jane Turner (1889-1955). The Reverend Smith served in the state House of Representatives from Union Parish from 1944 to 1948 during the first term of Governor Jimmie Davis. Smith was born in the Conway Community of Union Parish but resided in his adult life in the parish seat of Farmerville.[1]

In August 1946, Smith was ordained as a deacon by the Antioch Baptist Church in Farmerville and for six decades was the caretaker of the Antioch Cemetery, where he and many of his family members are interred.[4] He was a member of the Gideons International, Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Lions International, Masonic lodge, the Order of the Eastern Star, and Woodmen of the World. He worked for construction of a monument on the Alabama Landing Road near the Dean Community in honor of an "Unknown Soldier" of the American Civil War.[1]

As part of the 106th Infantry Division, Smith earned a Bronze Star for combat bravery in 1944 in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II.[2] Smith and his wife, the former Foye Nolan (born 1930), to whom he was married for more than sixty years, had three sons, James Bradley Smith and wife Nikki of Farmerville, Danny Allen Smith and wife Ann of Marion in Union Parish, and Max Graham Smith (1951-2011) and wife JoAnne Bennett Smith of West Monroe, and two daughters, Roslyn A Smith and husband Stan and Jayne Smith-Green and husband Bobby, both couples from Farmerville. He was survived by a sister, Lucille Smith Dawson (1920-2010) of Iowa, Louisiana; he outlived his six other siblings.[1]

Smith won his second and last term in the House in the general election held on February 6, 1968, when he and former intraparty rival, T. T. Fields of Farmerville, defeated the Republican Edwards Barham of Oak Ridge in Morehouse Parish, who polled 44 percent of the vote in a three-candidate field in which only two could be elected.[5] In 1975, Barham became the first Republican since Reconstruction to be elected to the Louisiana Senate, but he was unseated in 1979 by the Democrat David 'Bo' Ginn of Bastrop in Morehouse Parish.[6]

In September 2013, the Louisiana Highway 33 bridge over Lake D’Arbonne in Farmerville was named in Smith's honor. The legislative bill to rename the bridge was introduced by Republican Representative Rob Shadoin of Ruston, whose House District 12 includes part of the territory once represented by Smith, whom Shadoin calls "one of the greatest men of Union Parish".[2] The Senate sponsor of the legislation is Mike Walsworth, a Republican from West Monroe.[2]

References

1. "James P. Smith". The Bernice Banner, Bernice, Louisiana. Archived from the original on February 24, 2015. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
2. "Greg Hilburn, State honors the late Rep. Smith with bridge renaming, September 12, 2013". Monroe News-Star. Archived from the original on May 14, 2014. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
3. "Membership of the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2016" (PDF). legis.la.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 4, 2013. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
4. "James Peyton Smith". findagrave.com. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
5. Monroe News-Star, February 7, 1968
6. Shreveport Journal, October 29, 1979