Coleman Lindsey

Isaac Coleman Lindsey
Louisiana State Senator for Bossier and Webster parishes
In office 1924–1928
Preceded by	William J. Johnston
Succeeded by	V.V. Whittington
In office 1932–1940
Preceded by	V.V. Whittington
Succeeded by	Drayton Rogers Boucher
39th Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana
In office June 26, 1939 – May 14, 1940
Governor	Earl K. Long
Preceded by	Earl Kemp Long
Succeeded by	Marc M. Mouton
Louisiana State District Judge (19th District)
In office 1950–1968
Personal details
Born	October 2, 1892 Dry Creek, Allen Parish, Louisiana, USA
Died	November 15, 1968 (aged 76) Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana
Resting place	Resthaven Mausoleum in Baton Rouge
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Cora Herring Lindsey (married, 1914-1968, his death)
Children	Rufus Jason Lindsey Douglas Hamilton Lindsey Lewis Hughes Lindsey James Hall Lindsey David Lindsey
Residence	(1) Minden, Webster Parish (2) Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Alma mater	Oakdale High School (Oakdale, Louisiana) Louisiana State University
Occupation	Attorney; Judge
Religion	Southern Baptist

Isaac Coleman Lindsey, known as Coleman Lindsey (October 2, 1892 – November 15, 1968^[1]), was a Democratic member of the Louisiana State Senate, a district judge, and from 1939 to 1940, the lieutenant governor under Governor Earl Kemp Long.

Background

Lindsey was born to Rufus B. Lindsey, a native of Webster Parish (then part of Claiborne Parish), and the former Lydia Hamilton in Dry Creek in Calcasieu Parish (now Allen Parish) near Lake Charles in southwestern Louisiana. He grew up on a farm and was reared by his maternal grandparents, the Reverend Isaac Hamilton and the former Lydia Eliza Simmons. He lived for a time in DeRidder in Beauregard Parish and attended the "Ten Mile School" and Oakdale High School in Oakdale in Allen Parish. Lindsey taught school for a time and was assistant state treasurer under Howell Morgan. He was also a former clerk of the Allen Parish Police Jury (the parish governing body akin to county commission in other states).^[2]

In 1921, Lindsey received his LL.D. from Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge. That same year he represented Allen Parish in the Louisiana Constitutional Convention.^[3]

At this time, Lindsey was already married for seven years to the former Cora Herring (April 8, 1894—December 1973),^[1] a native of Rosebud in Falls County near Temple, Texas, and he was then the father of two sons, Rufus Jason Lindsey (born 1916) and Douglas Hamilton Lindsey (1919–2006).^[1] Rufus Lindsey became a playwright in London, England, and a friend of numerous Hollywood stars.^[4] Douglas Lindsey was the salutatorian of the 1936 graduating class of Mindnh High School.^[5]

Political life

In 1922, Lindsey and his family moved to Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, to join District Attorney R. H. Lee in the practice of law. Within two years of relocation, he was elected to the state senate from the district encompassing Bossier and Webster parishes. He was aligned with the Long faction in the legislature.^[3] Lindsey served from 1924 to 1928 and was succeeded by Bossier Parish banker V.V. Whittington. Lindsey returned to the Senate from 1932 to 1940.^[6] In the Senate, he was the chairman of the Committee on Health, Quarantine, Drainage and Charitable Institutions and vice chairman of the Committee on Banking. He served on the committees on Corporations, Parochial and Municipal Affairs; Elections, Qualifications and Registrations; the Judiciary, Railroads, Insurance and Industries. He was also a member of committee of five in charge of the 1924 inaugural ceremonies for Governor Henry L. Fuqua.^[2]

On April 8, 1930, Lindsey ran for mayor of Minden but lost to the incumbent, Henry L. Bridges. In that contest, Bridges polled 519 votes (56.4 percent) to 402 ballots (43.6 percent) for Lindsey.^[7]

As president pro tempore of the Senate, Coleman became lieutenant governor in the summer of 1939, when Earl Long, who had been elected as lieutenant governor in 1936, succeeded to the governorship on the resignation of the scandal-plagued Richard W. Leche of New Orleans during a time known as the "Louisiana Hayride", not to be confused with the former Country music program of the same name in Shreveport^[8] Coleman did not run for lieutenant governor in 1940, but Long sought a full term, only to be unseated by intraparty rival, Sam Houston Jones of Lake Charles. Long ultimately defeated Jones in 1948 and won a second full term as well in 1956.

After his service as lieutenant governor, Coleman resumed the practice of law in Minden but later returned permanently to Baton Rouge.^[3] He and Cora had three other sons, Lewis Hughes Lindsey (1922–2000),^[1] James Hall Lindsey (born 1925), and David Lindsey (born 1928). David Lindsey, like his brother Douglas earlier, graduated second in his class at Minden High School in 1945 class.^[9]

In 1950, Lindsey, a member of the East Baton Rouge Bar Association, became a judge for the Nineteenth Judicial District, Division D, a position that he held for the remainder of his life. He served as presiding judge from 1960 to 1968. Lindsey was active in the Knights Templar and the Masonic lodge and its related component, the Shriners.^[3] Lindsey wrote at least three scholarly works, including The Courts of Louisiana.^[10]

Lindsey was a Southern Baptist lay speaker and deacon.^[11] He is entombed at Resthaven Mausoleum in Baton Rouge.^[3]

References

1. "Social Security Death Index". rootsweb.ancestry.com. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
2. "Coleman Lindsey". usgwarchives. Retrieved July 10, 2009. This material is derived from Henry E. Chambers, A History of Louisiana, Vol. 2, Chicago and New York: American Historical Society, 1925, p. 169
3. "Isaac Coleman Lindsey". lahistory.org. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
4. "Joan Wiley Luck, "Days Gone By II"". mindenmemories.org. Retrieved July 10, 2009. The website includes a photo of Rufus Lindsey with Joan Crawford.
5. "Claybrook Cottingham (President of Louisiana College) to Deliver Student Address", Minden Signal-Tribune and Springhill Journal, April 28, 1936, p. 1
6. "Arthur E. McEnany, M.A., M.L.S., ed., "Membership of the Louisiana State Senate, 1880-2004"" (PDF). legis.la.us/members. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 1, 2007. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
7. Minden Herald, April 10, 1930, p. 1
8. "History of BGR". bgr.org. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
9. "Minden High School Valedictorians and Salutatorians". mindenmemories.net. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
10. "Senator Lindsey Writes Textbook", Webster Review, Minden, Louisiana, April 4, 1938, p. 1
11. "Attorney to speak to local church group", Minden Herald, February 14, 1947, p. 1