Ford E. Stinson
Ford Edwards Stinson, Sr. (August 24, 1914 – September 22, 1989) was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1940–1944 and again from 1952-1972. In his last legislative term from 1968–1972, he served in a two-member district covering Bossier Parish with fellow Democrat Walter O. Bigby. Prior to 1968, he had been the only Bossier Parish representative in the Louisiana House. Stinson, a native and resident of the parish seat of Benton, did not run again in 1972 and was succeeded by fellow Benton Democrat Jesse C. Deen.
Contents
- 1 Background
- 2 Political career
- 3 Personal life
- 4 References
Background
Stinson was the great-grandson of Major R. E. Wyche, who served as sheriff of Bossier Parish from 1878-1889. His maternal grandfather and namesake, J. Ford Edwards, was also a Bossier Parish sheriff for four terms (1904-1920). His father, Robert T. Stinson, was president and cashier of the Bank of Benton and the Bossier Parish treasurer until his death of a lightning strike at the age of thirty-two. His mother married H. L. McKnight after the death of Robert Stinson.
After his graduation from Benton High School, Stinson obtained his law degree from the Louisiana State University Law School in Baton Rouge. Stinson served on the Benton Town Council from 1936 to 1940. While a state representative in his first term, he served in World War II in North Africa and Italy as a member of the U.S. Army Air Corps. He attained the rank of lieutenant colonel and was awarded the Bronze Star. He was also awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with five bronze battle stars for the Tunisia, Sicily, Naples-Foggia, Rome-Arno, and Northern Apennines campaigns. He was active in the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Community Chest, and the United Methodist Church. In November of 2013, he was posthumously inducted into the Louisiana State University Military Hall of Honor.
Political career
Stinson first served in the House during the administration of Governor Sam Houston Jones. He left the legislature in 1944 while overseas, and fellow Democrat Jimmy Boyd of Bossier City succeeded him in the position for eight years. Boyd won his second term in 1947 in a close vote over the future State Senator Herman "Wimpy" Jones of Bossier and neighboring Webster parishes.
In 1948, Stinson lost a race for district attorney of Bossier and Webster parishes to James E. Bolin, Stinson's former legislative colleague and fellow Democrat who then resided in Springhill in northern Webster Parish. Bolin prevailed, 6,432 to 5,618. Bolin's margin of victory came from his strong showing in his own Webster Parish Future State Representative R. Harmon Drew, Sr., of Minden would have been the *istant DA, based in Webster Parish, had Stinson won the election.
Stinson returned to the House in 1952 under the administration of Governor Robert F. Kennon. He served through the subsequent administrations of Earl Kemp Long, Jimmie Davis, and John J. McKeithen. In 1956, he introduced the state "litterbug law" to fight the ac*ulation of litter in public places.
In 1956, Stinson introduced unsuccessful legislation to separate state Judicial District 26 (Bossier and Webster parishes). The bill, which would have moved Bossier Parish into a District 32, was strongly opposed by Stinson's former rival, Judge James Bolin. State Senator C. H. "Sammy" Downs of Alexandria declined to bring up Stinson's bill for a vote in the upper legislative chamber. The bill had the backing of area lawmakers Algie D. Brown and Jasper Smith of Caddo Parish and the opposition of state Senator Herman "Wimpy" Jones and DA Louis H. Padgett, Jr.
Stinson in 1956 called for p*age of a state law to crack down on littering, having cited a growing problem along roadways and in many other areas as well. Also in 1956, Stinson aut*d a bill that created the Metropolitan Planning Commission for the Village of Benton (Act 558).
In 1958, Stinson introduced the legislation that created the Cypress-Black Bayou Recreation and Water Conservation District in the Benton area of Bossier Parish (Act 292).
Stinson was one of eight legislators to co-author Acts 41 and 42 of 1964 that created Louisiana State University-Shreveport and Southern University-Shreveport.
In 1972, Stinson was elected as one of the two delegates from Bossier Parish to serve in the Louisiana Cons*utional Convention of 1973.
Personal life
Stinson and his wife, the former Edna Earle Richardson of Shreveport, had a daughter, Mary Carol, a daughter, Janet, and a son, Ford E. Stinson, Jr., a former 26th Judicial District judge based in Benton. The junior Stinson announced his retirement at the end of 2014 after eighteen years in the position. One of his grandsons, Douglas M. Stinson, was elected 26th Judicial District judge on March 26, 2022.
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