Background

John R. Conway was born in Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...

 in 1825. In 1862, he moved to New Orleans and began work at a cotton commission house (which buys and sells cotton for a customer), but was soon fired due to the suspension of business in New Orleans by the occupying

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 Union

Union (American Civil War)

During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...

 forces. However, in 1865, Conway, along with his brother, Colin, entered business again, now as a wholesale grocer and commission merchant.

Politics

For quite a while, Conway had been greatly interested in politics, and considered active participation as part of his patriotic duty. After the Civil War, when the Orleans Parish Democratic Committee was reformed, Conway was named chairman. Conway worked with the Democratic State Central Committee to return control of the city back to the people, after several years of military control. Also during Conway's time as mayor, the city of New Orleans received a statue of Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin

Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...

 from neoclassical

Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...

 sculptor Hiram Powers

Hiram Powers

Hiram Powers was an American neoclassical sculptor.-Biography:The son of a farmer, Powers was born in Woodstock, Vermont, on the July 29, 1805. In 1818 his father moved to Ohio, about six miles from Cincinnati, where the son attended school for about a year, staying meanwhile with his brother, a...

.

Personal life

On December 9, 1857 Conway married Elize G. Waggeman. The couple had two daughters.
John R. Conway participated in many organizations, including the American Legion of Honor, the Chess, Checkers and Whist Club, the Board of Trade, the Chamber of Commerce,and was an organizer of the Sons of the Revolution. On March 11, 1896, at age 70, Conway died in his home in New Orleans, and was buried in the Cypress Grove Cemetery.