Virginia deGravelles
Encyclopedia
Mary Virginia Wheadon deGravelles (born December 4, 1915) is a retiree from Lafayette
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...

 who was the 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...

 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...

 national committeewoman from 1964–1968, a position which constitutes automatic membership on the Republican National Committee
Republican National Committee
The Republican National Committee is an American political committee that provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is...

. Her husband, Charles Camille deGravelles, Jr.
Charles deGravelles
Charles Camille deGravelles, Jr., known as Charlie deGravelles , was a Lafayette oil and gas landman who was a pioneer in the development of the Republican Party in the formerly historically Democratic state of Louisiana. Known as the “Mr...

 (1913–2008), an oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....

 and gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

 landman
Landman (oil worker)
In the United States and Canada, a Landman or "Petroleum Landman" is an individual who performs various services for oil and gas exploration companies...

, was the state party chairman from 1968–1972 and is considered to have been one of the founders of the modern Louisiana GOP. In 1968, when Mrs. deGravelles vacated the national committee position, her state party had only 28,427 registered members, barely 2 percent of the state's voters.

For a brief time in 1968, both deGravelleses were on the Republican National Committee, a husband-wife combination that has not since repeated itself.

Family and education

Virginia deGravelles was born in Alexandria
Alexandria, Louisiana
Alexandria is a city in and the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes....

, the seat of Rapides Parish and the largest city in Central Louisiana
Central Louisiana
Central Louisiana , also known as the Crossroads region, is the part of Louisiana that includes the following parishes: Allen Parish, Beauregard Parish, Catahoula Parish, Concordia Parish, Grant Parish, La Salle Parish, Natchitoches Parish, Rapides Parish, Sabine Parish and Vernon Parish.The five...

, to John Samuel Butler Wheadon (1883-1952) and the former Anna Kilpatrick (1887-1970) and are interred at Mt. Olivet Episcopal Cemetery in Pineville
Pineville, Louisiana
Pineville is a city in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is adjacent to the city of Alexandria, and is part of that city's Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 13,829 at the 2000 census....

. Her father managed the former Rapides Hotel, built in 1898 at the intersection of Second and Washington streets. Its three stories contained sixty-four rooms and an excellent restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...

. An elevator was added in 1914. Wheadon also leased the Stonewall Hotel at Third and Jackson streets. The building was torn down about 1960. Mrs. Anna Wheadon was a homemaker and a legal secretary. Virginia lived next door for a time to the family of Nauman Steele Scott, I. Nauman Scott, II
Nauman Scott
Nauman Steele Scott, II , was a Republican-appointed federal judge in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana from 1970 until 2001, who ordered cross-parish busing guidelines in 1980 to foster racial balance in Rapides Parish public schools...

 (1916–2001), with whom she recalls having ridden tricycle
Tricycle
A tricycle is a three-wheeled vehicle. While tricycles are often associated with the small three-wheeled vehicles used by pre-school-age children, they are also used by adults for a variety of purposes. In the United States and Canada, adult-sized tricycles are used primarily by older persons for...

s together, became a Republican-appointed U.S. District Judge in the Western District of Louisiana, based in Alexandria. Virginia's grandfather was a 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....

, and her great-grandfather was a judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...

. She graduated from Bolton High School
Bolton High School (Louisiana)
Bolton High School is a secondary educational institution located in the Garden District of Alexandria, the seat of Rapides Parish and the largest city in central Louisiana. The school is named for its benefactor, James W...

 in Alexandria in 1931, then the only public high school available, and attended Northwestern State University
Northwestern State University
Northwestern State University, known as NSU, is a four-year public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Polk and Alexandria. It is a part of the University of Louisiana System.NSU was founded in 1884 as...

 (then Louisiana Normal School
Normal school
A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...

) in Natchitoches
Natchitoches, Louisiana
Natchitoches is a city in and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was named after the Natchitoches Indian tribe. The City of Natchitoches was first incorporated on February...

 for two years. Thereafter, she transferred to Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...

 in Baton Rouge, where she received her degree in education and met Charles, who grew up in Thibodaux
Thibodaux, Louisiana
Thibodaux is a small city in and the parish seat of Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, United States, along the banks of Bayou Lafourche in the northwestern part of the parish. The population was 14,431 at the 2000 census. Thibodaux is a principal city of the Houma–Bayou Cane–Thibodaux...

, the seat of Lafourche Parish. In 1960, Mrs. deGravelles completed graduate studies at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, or UL Lafayette, is a coeducational, public research university located in Lafayette, Louisiana, in the heart of Acadiana...

.

On September 14, 1935, the couple eloped and were wed by a justice of the peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 in Woodville
Woodville, Mississippi
Woodville is a town in and the county seat of Wilkinson County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,192 at the 2000 census.The Woodville Republican, a weekly newspaper founded in 1823, is the oldest surviving business in Mississippi.-Geography:Woodville is located at .According to...

 in Wilkinson County
Wilkinson County, Mississippi
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 10,312 people, 3,578 households, and 2,511 families residing in the county. The population density was 15 people per square mile . There were 5,106 housing units at an average density of 8 per square mile...

, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

. They had five children, twin sons (born 1949) and three daughters, one, Mary Alix deGravelles, deceased. The sons are Charles Nations deGravelles, a former Episcopal
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...

 archdeacon, and John W. deGravelles, an attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

, both of Baton Rouge. The daughters are Elizabeth Claire Cloninger (husband Spike Cloninger), a writer of books and contemporary Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

 in Fairhope
Fairhope, Alabama
Fairhope is a city in Baldwin County, Alabama, on a sloping plateau, along the cliffs and shoreline of Mobile Bay. The 2010 census lists the population of the city as 16,176....

 in Baldwin County
Baldwin County, Alabama
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*85.7% White*9.4% Black*0.7% Native American*0.7% Asian*0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*1.5% Two or more races*4.4% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...

 near Mobile
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...

, and Virginia Ann McBride Norton of Bali, Indonesia. Son-in-law Ed Norton works for the Nature Conservancy on ecological
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...

 issues, while Ann is a photographer with her own company, Photo Voice. In 2008, Mrs. deGravelles had thirteen grandchildren, sixteen great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.

Republican politics

The deGravelleses became active in local, state, and national politics. In 1941, they became the first two whites in many years to register as Republicans in Lafayette Parish. The only declared Republicans then were a few African Americans, who were then frozen out of the pivotal Democratic
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...

 primaries. She is hence among the small number of the oldest living Republicans in the state of Louisiana. Francis Grevemberg
Francis Grevemberg
Francis Carroll Grevemberg , was the superintendent of the Louisiana State Police from 1952 to 1955, best remembered for his fight against organized crime....

 (1914–2008) of New Orleans, the Republican candidate for governor in 1960, did not join the party until 1959, the same year that former Lafayette Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 Dud Lastrapes
Dud Lastrapes
William Dudley "Dud" Lastrapes, Jr. , is a Lafayette, businessman, who was the first Republican since Reconstruction to have been elected mayor of his city, the fourth largest in Louisiana, according to the 2000 census. Lastrapes was mayor for three terms, having served from 1980-1992. Previously,...

, as a 30-year-old, switched parties. In time, Republicans even came to dominate Lafayette Parish.

Early in 1964, the deGravelles supported Charlton Havard Lyons, Sr.
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...

, an oilman from Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

 in Caddo Parish in northwestern Louisiana, for the governorship. Lyons was the first GOP gubernatorial candidate since Reconstruction to wage an active campaign for the office. Grevemberg four years before Lyons was mostly ignored by voters and the media. Mrs. deGravelles recalls Lyons as "a wonderful, compassionate man," who pioneered the development of the two-party system
Two-party system
A two-party system is a system where two major political parties dominate voting in nearly all elections at every level of government and, as a result, all or nearly all elected offices are members of one of the two major parties...

 in Louisiana. Charles deGravelles succeeded Lyons as state party chairman. Mrs. deGravelleses was a delegate to the 1964 Republican National Convention
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...

, which met in the Cow Palace
Cow Palace
Cow Palace is an indoor arena, in Daly City, California, situated on the city's border with neighboring San Francisco, notable as a sporting arena.-History:...

 in San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

 to nominate then U.S. Senator Barry M. Goldwater for the American presidency, considered to have been a breakthrough by conservatives.

Organizations and honors

Mrs. deGravelles, who is 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...

, is a member of the Huguenot Society. She has been a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution
Daughters of the American Revolution
The Daughters of the American Revolution is a lineage-based membership organization for women who are descended from a person involved in United States' independence....

 for more than a half-century. She is also affiliated with the Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Society, and Kappa Delta
Kappa Delta
Kappa Delta was the first sorority founded at the State Female Normal School , in Farmville, Virginia. It is one of the "Farmville Four" sororities founded at the university...

 sorority.

Charles and Virginia deGravelles won several joint awards, primarily for their two-party and Republican activities. They were honored by the conservative Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge
Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge
The Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge is a national, non-profit, non-partisan, non-sectarian educational organization, founded in 1949. The Foundation is located adjacent to the Valley Forge National Historical Park, near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, U.S., and sits on ground that was once part of...

 (Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

) and by the Louisiana GOP for lifetime achievement. On January 27, 2007, the deGravelleses were 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 ...

, traditional home of the Long
Huey Long
Huey Pierce Long, Jr. , nicknamed The Kingfish, served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928–1932 and as a U.S. Senator from 1932 to 1935. A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies. Though a backer of Franklin D...

 political dynasty
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...

. They were the first couple honored together by the organization, which was established in 1993 to recognize Louisiana political powerhouses.
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