Preceded by J. J. Holmes Preceded by Christopher Chaffe Succeeded by J. F. Hill Succeeded by Thomas W. Randle | Preceded by W. W. Carloss Name J. Carter Succeeded by Irvin Talton | |
John Jefferson Carter, known as J. J. Carter (May 6, 1832 – February 24, 1907), was a businessman and Democratic politician from Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana.
Biographical sketch
Born in Pike County in southwestern Mississippi, he was the eldest son and the second of four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Henry Carter. His father and grandfather were natives of South Carolina. Young Carter relocated to Louisiana in 1857 and settled in Minden, the seat of government of Webster Parish east of Shreveport. During the American Civil War, he fought with the Confederacy through a cavalry group known as the Minden Rangers, which in early April 1861 reported for service at Corinth in northeastern Mississippi, with F. D. Wimberly as the captain. Upon returning from war, he was a bookkeeper for the T. B. Neal Company. In addition to his service as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1878 to 1880, he served on the Minden City Council from 1875 to 1877 with Mayors T. M. Fort and C. S. Smith. Carter was mayor himself from 1891 to 1893. He was also elected to the Webster Parish School Board and served as member and president on the Webster Parish Police Jury from 1877 to 1879, the parish governing board, akin to the county commission in other states. His juror colleagues included later state representatives Nicholas J. Sandlin and Irvin Talton. Carter was subsequently the police jury clerk from 1888 to 1896 and served as mayor of Minden as well during part of that time. Carter was the collector of revenue at the port of New Orleans in the first administration from 1885 to c. 1888 of U.S. President Grover Cleveland.
Prior to his military service, he married in 1860 the former Amanda J. Murrell (1842-1912), a native of Illinois, whose father, Drury Murrell had been a pioneer settler in Louisiana dating back to 1834. The couple had six children; the oldest of whom, Henry Murrell Carter, was twice married and died in 1916 at the age of fifty.
Carter was a Baptist and a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Masonic lodge. His last position was as a bookkeeper for the Farmers Union. He is interred at historic Minden Cemetery along with his wife and oldest son.