Preceded by James L. Earhart Name J. Brown Nationality American | Succeeded by Leon Irwin, III Succeeded by Moon Landrieu | |
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Died Date and place of death missing Spouse(s) Marie Blanche Crosby Brown (divorced) | ||
J. Marshall Brown (1924 - deceased prior to 2013) was an insurance agent from New Orleans, Louisiana, who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 12 in his native Orleans Parish from 1952 to 1960.
In 1959, Brown announced that he would run for governor of Louisiana, but he soon withdrew from the race ultimately won by former Governor Jimmie Davis.
From 1964 to 1972, Brown was the Louisiana Democratic National Committeeman. He was an active supporter of the Kennedy-Johnson, Johnson-Humphrey, and Humphrey-Muskie tickets in 1960, 1964, and 1968, the first of those having been the only one to win Louisiana's then ten electoral votes.
At the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Brown led the state delegation in opposition to the seating of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, rather than the Mississippi state party regulars. However, there was no walkout considered by the Louisiana delegation in support of the Mississippians when two MFDP delegates were seated as at-large members. A walkout over the civil rights plank had occurred at the 1948 party convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which led to the third party bid by Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who challenged U.S. President Harry S. Truman and the Republican Thomas E. Dewey.
During the 1960s, Brown served on the Louisiana State Board of Education, an elected position, as the representative of Louisiana's 2nd congressional district.
On June 6, 1977, Brown was convicted after a jury trial in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, of having knowingly caused a fraudulently-obtained check to be transported in interstate commerce. Brown's insurance business partner, James A. Heinritz, was also implicated in the case. Brown's appeal was rejected in March 1981 by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans. Brown had claimed violation of his Fifth and Sixth amendment rights. Brown was released from the United States Bureau of Prisons on April 5, 1989; the website does not indicated how long or where he served in prison.
Brown was divorced from the former Marie Blanche Crosby (1923-2013), who was born in Glendale, California. The couple had a daughter, Cindy Brown, of Metairie. Marie Brown was the daughter of Winnie Bouanchaud and Raymond H. Crosby. Her maternal grandfather, Larmartine Bouanchaud, was the long-time sheriff of Pointe Coupee Parish; her maternal great-uncle was Hewitt Bouanchaud of New Roads, the lieutenant governor from 1920 to 1924 under John M. Parker. Her grandmother was the former Olivia Samson. Mrs. Brown was a graduate of Northwestern State University in Natchitoches and received her master's degree in education from Nicholls State University in Thibodaux. She was the former assistant director of the New Roads Memorial Area Vocational School.
In 2014, Brown was posthumously inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield.