Jack Batton
Encyclopedia
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of the small city of Minden
Minden, Louisiana
Minden is a city in the American state of Louisiana. It serves as the parish seat of Webster Parish and is located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish. The population, which has been stable since 1960, was 13,027 at the 2000 census...
, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, for a single term from 1978–1982.
Early years
Batton, a Minden native, was the son of Mr. and Mrs. J. Bryant Batton, formerly of DubberlyDubberly, Louisiana
Dubberly is a village in Webster Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 290 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Minden Micropolitan Statistical Area....
in south Webster Parish. Bryant Batton was a former Webster Parish chief deputy sheriff and a two-term Minden police chief. Jack Batton graduated in 1932 from Minden High School
Minden High School (Minden, Louisiana)
Minden High School is the public secondary educational institution in Minden, a small city of 13,000 and the seat of Webster Parish located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport in northwestern Louisiana...
, having played football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
in the fall of 1931. His first wife was the former Dorothy Alice Shurtleff (December 18, 1914–May 14, 1973), the daughter of A. C. Shurtleff (January 15, 1882 - September 16, 1928) and Cora Belle Shurtleff (February 1, 1888–December 16, 1960).
The Battons resided in a house made of brown rock at the intersection of Goodwill and Marshall streets in Minden. The house is across the street from the boyhood home of the singer David Houston
David Houston
David Houston may refer to:* David F. Houston, American politician* David Houston , sometime Lord Lieutenant of Sutherland* David Houston , country singer...
. The football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
star David Lee
David Lee (Baltimore Colts)
David Allen Lee is a former American football punter for the former Baltimore Colts in the National Football League and subsequently retired from a career as a General Motors executive in Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish, in northwestern Louisiana...
of the former Baltimore Colts
History of the Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional football team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They play in the AFC South division of the National Football League. They have won 3 NFL championships and 2 Super Bowls....
grew up in the same neighborhood block. The Battons had three children: Jackie Batton Reeves (born 1938) and husband, Henry Rogers Reeves (born ca. 1937), of Haughton
Haughton, Louisiana
Haughton is a town in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 2,792 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Shreveport–Bossier City Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Haughton is located at ....
in Bossier Parish; James Howard "Jimmy" Batton (1943–1997), a former Webster Parish sheriff’s deputy, and Dorothy Gale Batton Smith (born 1946) and husband, Harold Eugene Smith (1940-2011), of Waynesboro, Virginia
Waynesboro, Virginia
Waynesboro, deriving its name from General Anthony Wayne, is an independent city surrounded by Augusta County in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 21,006 in 2010.....
. There were also five grandchildren. At the time of his death, Batton was divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
d from the former Louise Z. Jones (1916–2004), the widow of retired United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
officer Rosamond Jones (1912–1980) of Minden.
Local politician
Batton served on the Minden City CouncilCity council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
in the former position of streets and parks commissioner from 1946–1962 and from 1966–1978. He was defeated in the at-large city council races held on May 12, 1962, as were all council members, and businessman J. Travis Taylor (1914–1995) became the new streets and park commissioner for a single term. Batton was a brother of former Webster Parish Sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
John D. Batton (1911–1981), known as J.D. Batton, who served from 1952–1964. J. D. Batton also lost a race for Webster Parish clerk of court in 1948 to the incumbent Tom J. Campbell (1895–1968). His brother-in-law, Arthur Howard Shurtleff (1920–1985), was a member of the Webster Parish Police Jury.
In his first term as street commissioner, Batton and then newly-elected Mayor John T. David
John T. David
John Thomas David, Sr. was the Democratic mayor of the small city of Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, from 1946-1955...
moved forward a plan to blacktop eight miles of Minden municipal streets, beginning with Bayou Avenue to the Minden Cemetery. Batton was defeated for reelection to the council in the 1962 Democratic runoff election, as were all incumbents except Mayor Frank T. Norman
Frank T. Norman
Francis Toadvin Norman, known as Frank T. Norman , was a Democratic mayor of the small city of Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, from 1958-1966. From 1952-1958, Norman had served on the Minden City Council as the then public safety commissioner under the since disbanded...
. He returned to the council in 1966, when Norman was unseated by the Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Tom Colten
Tom Colten
Arthur Thomas Colten, known as Tom Colten , was a Louisiana politician from the 1960s to the 1990s who rose from a small-town mayoralty position to head his state's Department of Transportation and Development under three governors from both parties...
and streets and parks commissioner Travis Taylor did not run again. Batton won his last term as streets and parks commissioner in 1974, when he defeated two intraparty rivals, Emily Doss and the businessman William J. Rabon (1922–1991), who had owned the former Star Furniture Company on the Shreveport Road.
In 1978, after nearly three decades on the council, all under the city commission format
City commission government
City commission government is a form of municipal government which once was common in the United States, but many cities which were formerly governed by commission have since switched to the council-manager form of government...
, Batton ran for mayor under the current mayor-council
Mayor-council government
The mayor–council government system, sometimes called the mayor–commission government system, is one of the two most common forms of local government for municipalities...
system. The incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
, Jacob E. "Pat" Patterson, declined to seek a second term. In the nonpartisan blanket primary held on September 16, 1978, Batton won the mayor’s position by an 88-vote margin over his fellow Democrat, the late Orris R. Long, former executive director of the Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
. Batton polled 2,633 votes (50.8 percent) to Long’s 2,545 (49.2 percent).
In the same election, Peggy J. Staples (1933–2009) became the first woman ever elected to the city council. She defeated fellow Democrat Ben Kinel, 733 (67 percent) to 359 (33 percent). Robert T. Tobin
Robert T. Tobin
Robert Terry Tobin was an African-American educator who became the first and, to date, only member of his race to have served as mayor of Minden, a small city of about 13,000 residents and the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana...
similarly became the first African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
elected to the council in 1978, having defeated fellow Democrat J.D. Hampton, 519 (69.8 percent) to 225 (30.2 percent). And Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Felix R. Garrett (1922–1987), formerly the public utilities commissioner, became the first member of his party to fill a single-member district seat on the city council. Batton did not seek reelection in 1982, when the educator, Noel "Gene" Byars, was elected mayor.
As mayor, Batton advocated continued municipal ownership of the light and power plant, first procured by the city during the 1958–1966 administration of Mayor Frank Norman. Batton worked to expand low-income housing and continued street paving. Batton operated his Batton’s Grocery from 1936 until his retirement in 1991. He was also a member of the Minden Fire Department from 1949–1989.
In 1986, Batton returned to the political fray in a bid to oust Byars. He used the slogan, "Get an Old Pro Off the Bench." Byars boasted of his accomplishments; $830,000 in street improvements, $9 million in new industry, and three hundred new jobs. Byars prevailed, 2,603 votes (53.6 percent) to Batton's 2,252 (46.4 percent). It was Batton's last political race.
Batton as civic leader
A cattleman, Batton owned the Minden Auction Barn and provided at no cost the arena used by the Minden Riding Club. He also raised horseHorse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s. The facility was subsequently renamed the Jack Batton Arena. Active with Batton in the riding club was his friend and fellow cattleman, Delna Russell "Cowboy" Drake (1905–1976).
In 1949, Batton became a director of Hunter's Playground and Playhouse, located near Batton's home on Goodwill Street. The complex was opened for the entertainment of young people in the city by Larry B. Hunter (1896–1971) and his wife, Gladys Powell Hunter (1899–1973), the owners of the local Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
company. Batton was also named a director of the Webster Parish Free Fair Board, since the Bossier
Bossier Parish, Louisiana
Bossier Parish is named for Pierre Bossier, a 19th-century Louisiana state senator and U.S. representative from Natchitoches Parish.Bossier Parish was spared fighting on its soil during the American Civil War...
/Webster Fair and Forest Festival. In 1950, he was named the second president of the new Webster Parish Cattleman's Association.
Batton was a member of the Masonic lodge
Masonic Lodge
This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...
and the First United Methodist Church. He operated a store, Batton's Grocery, on Maiden Lane in an African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
section of the city. He was a soft-spoken, shy man, traits unexpected in a politician. He died at the age of eighty-two and is interred in the Batton/Shurtleff family plot in Section C of the Minden Cemetery
Minden Cemetery
The Minden Cemetery, located in Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, United States, has graves dating from 1843, seven years after the founding of the city in 1836...
.