James W. Bolton

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James Wade Bolton (August 4, 1869 -- February 18, 1936) was a prominent banker, civic leader, and school board president in Alexandria, the seat of Rapides Parish and the largest city in central Louisiana. Bolton High School in Alexandria is named in his honor. He was president of the Rapides Bank and Trust Company in Alexandria from 1912 until his death. Rapides Bank later became part of Bank One Corporation.

Bolton was born in Winnfield, the seat of Winn Parish, to George Washington Bolton and the former Miss Tennessee Wade. He was twice married. His first wife, the former Annie White, died in 1895, after fewer than two years of marriage. He then married Mary Esther Calderwood on October 21, 1896. They had three children, James Calderwood Bolton, Robert Harvey Bolton, and Mrs. Charles L. Brown. Both Bolton sons were bankers too.

In addition to his bank presidency, Bolton was president of the Louisiana Bankers Association from 1916-1917 and a member of the executive council of the American Bankers Association from 1920-1923. He sat on the board of trustees for the Peabody Institute in Nashville, Tennessee. He was on the original advisory board of the New Orleans branch of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, which was established in 1932 in the Hoover administration to provide loans to prevent large businesses from collapse. For years, Bolton represented Rapides Parish, including Alexandria, on the Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee.

Bolton was a member (and president from 1929-1931) of the board of trustees of Baptist Hospital in Alexandria, later named Rapides General Hospital and then Rapides Medical Center. He was also a member of the executive board of the Louisiana Baptist Convention and was president of the board of trustees of Emmanuel Baptist Church in downtown Alexandria. He was chairman of the building committee that constructed the first brick church building. He was a York Rite Mason, a Shriner, and a member of the Elks Club.

Bolton was an elected member of the Rapides Parish School Board for 30 years and was the board president for 18 years. Under his leadership, the Rapides system, and particularly Bolton High School, became an educational model for the state. Bolton High was founded in 1915 on land donated by Bolton in the Garden District of Alexandria. The current facility opened in 1926. The school board, at Bolton's prodding, established a student loan fund to assist in the education of future teachers in the parish.

Bolton is interred in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Pineville, across the Red River from Alexandria.

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