Murphy J. Foster
Encyclopedia
Murphy James Foster, Sr. (January 12, 1849 June 12, 1921), was a Louisiana
politician
who served two terms as the 31st Governor of Louisiana from 1892 to 1900.
Early and personal life
Foster was born on a sugar plantation near Franklin
, the seat of St. Mary Parish
, to Thomas Foster and the former Martha P. Murphy. He was educated in public schools and attended Washington and Lee University
in Lexington, Virginia
, and graduated from Cumberland University
in Lebanon, Tennessee
in 1870. He studied law at the University of Louisiana (later Tulane University
) in New Orleans and was admitted to the bar in 1871.
On May 15, 1877, Foster married the former Florence Daisy Hine, the daughter of Franklin merchant T.D. Hine. She died on August 26, 1877, at age 19. In 1881, he married the former Rose Routh Ker, daughter of Captain John Ker and the former Rose Routh of Ouida Plantation in West Feliciana Parish near Baton Rouge. The couple had ten children, nine of whom lived to maturity. One was Murphy James Foster, II, the father of future Governor Murphy (Mike) Foster
. By and large the family has been Episcopalian
.
nominee, and he had the support of the Farmer's Alliance as well.
His lieutenant governors were, first, Hiram R. Lott and then Robert H. Snyder
of Tensas Parish
in the second term.
-Populist
fusion candidate John Newton Pharr (1829–1903), a sugar planter from St. Mary Parish
. Lewis Strong Clarke
, a neighboring sugar planter from St. Mary Parish, directed the Pharr campaign.Pharr had possibly gained a majority of the actual votes and won twenty-six of the then fifty-nine parishes, with his greatest strength in north central Louisiana and the Florida Parishes
to the east of Baton Rouge
. With the assistance of the Regular Democratic Organization
political machine
based in New Orleans, Foster officially received 116,116 votes (57 percent) to Pharr's 87,698 ballots (43 percent). The election, however, suffered heavily from fraud which benefited Foster, and a clear accounting of the election results is probably not possible. Subsequently Foster saw to the adoption of the Louisiana Constitution of 1898, "to disenfranchise blacks, Republicans, and white Populists" (all of whom had voted overwhelmingly for John N. Pharr) and moved Louisiana more toward "Solid South
" Democratic hegemony. Thus, after Foster's reelection in 1896, Louisiana general elections became foregone conclusions lacking intensity and voter participation until the latter half of the 20th century. By 1908, for example, when John N. Pharr's son Henry Newton Pharr (eponym of Pharr, Texas) sought the Louisiana governorship as a Republican, he gained just 11.1 percent, of a much reduced number of voters in comparison with his father's campaign against Foster in 1896.
. He served until 1913, when he lost the Democratic nomination. Thereafter, he was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson
as the customs collector
in New Orleans.
Co. Foster fought for the interest of sugar growers and supported flood-control legislation and the regulation of railway rates.
Foster was the last governor of Louisiana to serve two consecutive 4-year terms until John J. McKeithen (who served from 1964 to 1972).
Foster was the last Democratic gubernatorial nominee prior to John J. McKeithen in the election cycle of 1963 to face a really serious challenge from a Republican (Charlton Lyons
).
In 1997, Foster was posthumously inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame
in Winnfield
.
His grandson, Murphy J. Foster, Jr.
, served as a Republican
governor of the state from 1996 to 2004. Mike Foster is technically Foster III, but he uses the term "Jr." instead.
Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections, 1896 Louisiana gubernatorial election returns
"Murphy James Foster," A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, Vol. I (1988), p. 315
Miriam G. Reeves, The Governors of Louisiana (1962)
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...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
who served two terms as the 31st Governor of Louisiana from 1892 to 1900.
Early and personal life
Foster was born on a sugar plantation near Franklin
Franklin, Louisiana
Franklin is a city in and the parish seat of St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 8,354 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Morgan City Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, the seat of St. Mary Parish
St. Mary Parish, Louisiana
St. Mary Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Franklin. As of 2000, the population was 53,500.The Morgan City Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of St. Mary Parish.-Geography:...
, to Thomas Foster and the former Martha P. Murphy. He was educated in public schools and attended Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University is a private liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States.The classical school from which Washington and Lee descended was established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, about north of its present location. In 1776 it was renamed Liberty Hall in a burst of...
in Lexington, Virginia
Lexington, Virginia
Lexington is an independent city within the confines of Rockbridge County in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 7,042 in 2010. Lexington is about 55 minutes east of the West Virginia border and is about 50 miles north of Roanoke, Virginia. It was first settled in 1777.It is home to...
, and graduated from Cumberland University
Cumberland University
Cumberland University is a private university in Lebanon, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1842, though the current campus buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896.-History:...
in Lebanon, Tennessee
Lebanon, Tennessee
Lebanon is a city in Wilson County, Tennessee, in the United States. The population was 20,235 at the 2000 census. It serves as the county seat of Wilson County. Lebanon is located in middle Tennessee, approximately 25 miles east of downtown Nashville. Local residents have also called it...
in 1870. He studied law at the University of Louisiana (later Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
) in New Orleans and was admitted to the bar in 1871.
On May 15, 1877, Foster married the former Florence Daisy Hine, the daughter of Franklin merchant T.D. Hine. She died on August 26, 1877, at age 19. In 1881, he married the former Rose Routh Ker, daughter of Captain John Ker and the former Rose Routh of Ouida Plantation in West Feliciana Parish near Baton Rouge. The couple had ten children, nine of whom lived to maturity. One was Murphy James Foster, II, the father of future Governor Murphy (Mike) Foster
Murphy J. Foster, Jr.
Murphy James "Mike" Foster, Jr. served as 53rd Governor of Louisiana from January 1996 until January 2004. Foster's father was Murphy J. Foster, Jr., but Mike Foster uses "Jr." even though he is technically Murphy J. Foster, III. Foster is a businessman, landowner, and sportsman in St...
. By and large the family has been Episcopalian
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
.
Road to governorship
Prior to serving as governor, he was a state senator from 1880 to 1892. In 1892, he was elected governor as the Democratic PartyDemocratic 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...
nominee, and he had the support of the Farmer's Alliance as well.
His lieutenant governors were, first, Hiram R. Lott and then Robert H. Snyder
Robert H. Snyder
Robert H. Snyder was a Democratic politician from St. Joseph, the parish seat of Tensas Parish in northeastern Louisiana....
of Tensas Parish
Tensas Parish, Louisiana
Tensas Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The seat of the parish is St. Joseph. In 2010, the population of Tensas Parish was 5,252; it is the least-populous of all sixty-four parishes....
in the second term.
John N. Pharr
In the 1896 general election, Foster officially gained reelection. He defeated the RepublicanRepublican 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...
-Populist
Populist Party (United States)
The People's Party, also known as the "Populists", was a short-lived political party in the United States established in 1891. It was most important in 1892-96, then rapidly faded away...
fusion candidate John Newton Pharr (1829–1903), a sugar planter from St. Mary Parish
St. Mary Parish, Louisiana
St. Mary Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Franklin. As of 2000, the population was 53,500.The Morgan City Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of St. Mary Parish.-Geography:...
. Lewis Strong Clarke
Lewis Strong Clarke
Lewis Strong Clarke, Sr. , was the owner of a sugar plantation in St. Mary Parish and a leader of the Republican Party in Louisiana in the latter part of the 19th century....
, a neighboring sugar planter from St. Mary Parish, directed the Pharr campaign.Pharr had possibly gained a majority of the actual votes and won twenty-six of the then fifty-nine parishes, with his greatest strength in north central Louisiana and the Florida Parishes
Florida Parishes
The Florida Parishes , also known as the North Shore region, are eight parishes in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana, which were part of West Florida in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Unlike much of Louisiana, this region was not part of the Louisiana Purchase, as it had been...
to the east of Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
. With the assistance of the Regular Democratic Organization
Regular Democratic Organization
The Regular Democratic Organization , or Old Regulars, or the New Orleans Ring, is a conservative political organization based in New Orleans. It has existed for 130 years and as of 2006 is still active. The symbol of the RDO is the rooster...
political machine
Political machine
A political machine is a political organization in which an authoritative boss or small group commands the support of a corps of supporters and businesses , who receive rewards for their efforts...
based in New Orleans, Foster officially received 116,116 votes (57 percent) to Pharr's 87,698 ballots (43 percent). The election, however, suffered heavily from fraud which benefited Foster, and a clear accounting of the election results is probably not possible. Subsequently Foster saw to the adoption of the Louisiana Constitution of 1898, "to disenfranchise blacks, Republicans, and white Populists" (all of whom had voted overwhelmingly for John N. Pharr) and moved Louisiana more toward "Solid South
Solid South
Solid South is the electoral support of the Southern United States for the Democratic Party candidates for nearly a century from 1877, the end of Reconstruction, to 1964, during the middle of the Civil Rights era....
" Democratic hegemony. Thus, after Foster's reelection in 1896, Louisiana general elections became foregone conclusions lacking intensity and voter participation until the latter half of the 20th century. By 1908, for example, when John N. Pharr's son Henry Newton Pharr (eponym of Pharr, Texas) sought the Louisiana governorship as a Republican, he gained just 11.1 percent, of a much reduced number of voters in comparison with his father's campaign against Foster in 1896.
Senator and customs official
After leaving the office of governor in 1900, Foster was elected by the state legislature as a U.S. senatorUnited States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
. He served until 1913, when he lost the Democratic nomination. Thereafter, he was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
as the customs collector
United States Customs Service
Until March 2003, the United States Customs Service was an agency of the U.S. federal government that collected import tariffs and performed other selected border security duties.Before it was rolled into form part of the U.S...
in New Orleans.
Death
He died in 1921 on the Dixie Plantation near Franklin, some nine years before his future grandson-governor was born.Legacy
Foster struggled to maintain white supremacy in Louisiana through his support of the Louisiana Constitution of 1898, which practically disfranchised blacks. He also led the fight which succeeded in outlawing the Louisiana LotteryLouisiana State Lottery Company
The Louisiana State Lottery Company was a private corporation that in the mid-19th century ran the Louisiana lottery. It was for a time the only legal lottery in the United States, and for much of that time had a very foul reputation as a swindle of the state and citizens and a repository of...
Co. Foster fought for the interest of sugar growers and supported flood-control legislation and the regulation of railway rates.
Foster was the last governor of Louisiana to serve two consecutive 4-year terms until John J. McKeithen (who served from 1964 to 1972).
Foster was the last Democratic gubernatorial nominee prior to John J. McKeithen in the election cycle of 1963 to face a really serious challenge from a Republican (Charlton Lyons
Charlton Lyons
Charlton Havard Lyons, Sr., also known as Big Papa Lyons , was a Shreveport oilman who in 1964 waged the first determined Republican bid for the Louisiana governorship since Reconstruction. Lyons also made a strong but losing bid for the United States House of Representatives in a special election...
).
In 1997, Foster was posthumously inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame
Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame
The Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield, Louisiana, highlights the careers of more than a hundred of the state’s leading politicians and political journalists. Because three governors, Huey P. Long, Jr., Oscar K...
in Winnfield
Winnfield, Louisiana
Winnfield is a city in and the parish seat of Winn Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,749 at the 2000 census. It has long been associated with the Long faction of the Louisiana Democratic Party and was home to three governors of Louisiana.-Geography:Winnfield is located at ...
.
His grandson, Murphy J. Foster, Jr.
Murphy J. Foster, Jr.
Murphy James "Mike" Foster, Jr. served as 53rd Governor of Louisiana from January 1996 until January 2004. Foster's father was Murphy J. Foster, Jr., but Mike Foster uses "Jr." even though he is technically Murphy J. Foster, III. Foster is a businessman, landowner, and sportsman in St...
, served as a 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...
governor of the state from 1996 to 2004. Mike Foster is technically Foster III, but he uses the term "Jr." instead.
External links
- State of Louisiana - Biography
- Cemetery Memorial by La-Cemeteries
- Congressional Biography
Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections, 1896 Louisiana gubernatorial election returns
"Murphy James Foster," A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, Vol. I (1988), p. 315
Miriam G. Reeves, The Governors of Louisiana (1962)