James C. Bolton

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James Calderwood Bolton (April 18, 1899 -- September 10, 1974) was a prominent banker, civic leader, and Baptist layman in Alexandria, the seat of Rapides Parish and the largest city in central Louisiana.

Bolton was born in Alexandria to James Wade Bolton and the former Mary Esther Calderwood. He was the brother of Robert Harvey Bolton, also an Alexandria banker. Bolton was educated in public schools and the college preparatory Culver Military Academy in Culver, Indiana. He served in the U.S. Army during World War I.

In 1920, Bolton received the bachelor of science degree from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Bolton was a member of the credit department of the National Bank of Commerce in New York City from 1921-1922. He married the former Frances Sample (1902-1986), the daughter of Samuel Guy Sample and the former Sarah Emma McCrory of Shreveport. The couple had two daughters, Mary Eleanor (born 1927) and Frances (born 1928). In 1951, Frances Bolton married the Alexandria orthopedic surgeon Dr. Paul M. Davis, Jr., (1919-2007).

Bolton joined his father's Rapides Bank and Trust Co. in Alexandria, since a part of Bank One Corporation. He was an assistant cashier from 1922-1925; vice-president, 1925-1936, and president, on his father's death, from 1936-1955. He was chairman of the board of directors from 1956 until his death.

Bolton was also director of the Delta Cotton Oil and Fertilizer Company in Jackson, Mississippi (Hinds County), and chairman of the Louisiana Board of Public Welfare in the administrations of Governors Robert F. Kennon (1952-1956) and James Houston "Jimmie" Davis (1960-1964). He was the chairman of the Alexandria (municipal) Civil Service Commission from 1944-1970.

Bolton was instrumental in the founding of Louisiana State University at Alexandria as a two-year college. Some four decades later, LSUA became a four-year degree-granting institution. The LSUA library bears his name. He was also the president of the LSU Foundation from 1964-1965.

He was active in the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, as president from 1930-1931, and as industrial development chairman from 1965 until his death. He was president of the Louisiana Bankers Association from 1933-1934. He was a member of the American Bankers Association and president of the state banking division in 1935.

An active member of the Baptist Church, Bolton served on the executive board of the Alexandria-based Louisiana Baptist Convention from 1928-1953. He was president of the Louisiana Baptist Foundation from 1948-1959. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge and the Kiwanis Club.

He is interred in Greenwood Memorial Park in Pineville, across the Red River from Alexandria.