C. E. "Cap" Barham

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Charles Emmett "Cap" Barham (September 28, 1904 -- February 23, 1972), was the Democratic lieutenant governor of Louisiana from 1952 - 1956, who is credited with having established the office independent from that of the governor. He was frequently at odds with then Governor Robert F. Kennon of Minden, the seat of Webster Parish. Prior to his statewide position, Barham was a state senator from the then 29th District (Lincoln and Union parishes) between 1948 and 1952. He was part of the anti-Long faction of Louisiana politics.

Barham was born in Kimbleton near Dubach in Lincoln Parish to John Robert Barham and the former Leola Fowler. He was educated in Dubach public schools and then attended, not the nearby technical college, Louisiana Tech University in Ruston (then "Louisiana Polytechnic Institute"), but Northwestern State University (then "Louisiana Normal College") in Natchitoches, from which he graduated with teaching credentials in 1927. He taught school for a year at Dubach and then enrolled in the law school of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He received his L.L.B. degree in 1931 and thereafter opened his law practice in Ruston.

Barham married the former Carice Helen Hilburn, and they had two sons, Charles Clem Barham (born 1934), a Ruston attorney and the Lincoln-Union state senator from 1964-1972 and 1976-1988, and Robert E. Barham (1940-1996), an English professor at Louisiana Tech. Barham was an uncle by marriage to Wiley W. Hilburn (born 1938), head of the Louisiana Tech journalism department, editorial writer for the Shreveport Times, and authority on Louisiana politics, and Chester William "Chet" Hilburn (born 1945), a journalist formerly with the Houston Chronicle.

Barham ran for lieutenant governor on the intraparty ticket with Congressman Thomas Hale Boggs, Sr., of New Orleans in the 1951-1952 election campaign. Boggs, considered one of Louisiana's most liberal officials in his time, did not make the gubernatorial runoff, but Barham was placed into a second primary with John Julian McKeithen (born 1918), from Columbia in Caldwell Parish, who had run on a ticket with Judge Carlos Spaht of Baton Rouge. In the runoff campaign, Barham was "adopted" by the successful gubernatorial candidate, Robert Kennon, and the Kennon-Barham slate won an easy victory over Spaht-McKeithen. Barham was the only member of the original Boggs ticket to win office at the statewide level. Barham often found himself at odds with the much more conservative Governor Kennon.

In 1969, Barham was among the first six men inducted into the Northwestern State University "Hall of Fame." He is interred in Greenwood Cemetery in Ruston.

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Preceded by A.K. Goff, Jr.	Louisiana State Senator from District 29 (Lincoln and Union parishes) 1948–1952	Succeeded by James P. Hinton
Preceded by William J. "Bill" Dodd	Louisiana Lieutenant Governor 1952–1956	Succeeded by Lether Frazar