Richard Simms Explained

Office1:Louisiana House of Representatives
Term Start1:1872
Term End1:1874
Office2:Louisiana House of Representatives
Term Start2:1876
Term End2:1878
Office3:Louisiana State Senate
Term Start3:1880
Term End3:1892
Office4:Louisiana House of Representatives
Term Start4:1892
Term End4:1894
Party:Republican

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

Biography

Simms was first elected to represent the St. Landry Parish in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1872 until 1874.[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, 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.Simms was then elected to serve in the Louisiana State Senate for three session from 1880 until 1892.[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

See also

Notes and References

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

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