S. S. DeWitt
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| Sturgis Sprague "S.S." DeWitt | |
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| In office 1964 – 1972 |
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| Preceded by | J. C. Seaman |
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| Succeeded by | Lantz Womack |
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| Born | September 15, 1914 Sicily Island, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana, USA |
| Died | February 19, 1998 (aged 83) Monroe, Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, USA |
| Political party | Democratic; later Republican |
| Spouse | Hazel Green DeWitt (born 1921) of St. Joseph |
| Children | Edith Sprague Sandoz (born 1945 of Houston, Texas) Two granchildren: |
| Residence | Newellton and St. Joseph in Tensas Parish, Louisiana |
| Occupation | Farmer; Businessman |
| Religion | Baptist |
| (1) DeWitt was the last legislator (1964-1968) to represent a district made up entirely of Tensas Parish, the least populous of Louisiana's sixty-four parishes.
(2) After legislative reapportionment into single-member districts, DeWitt lost a bid for renomination in the Democratic primary to colleague Lantz Womack of Winnsboro in Franklin Parish. Thereafter, DeWitt switched his party affiliation to Republican. |
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Sturgis Sprague DeWitt, known primarily as S.S. DeWitt (September 15, 1914 - February 19, 1998)[1] was a farmer and businessman from Newellton and St. Joseph in Tensas Parish in northeastern Louisiana who served as a conservative Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1964-1972. In 1963, DeWitt unseated 20-year Representative J.C. Seaman of Waterproof in southern Tensas Parish. He had run unsuccessfully against Seaman in the 1959 primary. In his first term from 1964-1968, DeWitt represented only Tensas Parish, but in his second term, he was paired with Lantz Womack of Winnsboro, the seat of Franklin Parish, in a combined district including Franklin, Tensas, and Madison parishes. DeWitt was hence the last person to have represented a district which included only Tensas Parish, the least populous in Louisiana. Prior to 1968, all Louisiana parishes had a minimum of one member in the 105-member state House regardless of population. In 1971, Womack defeated DeWitt and two other intraparty rivals in the legislative primary in a redistricted single-member district. After his legislative service, DeWitt switched his affiliation to the Republican Party.[2]
DeWitt was born to Harry DeWitt and the former Edith Sprague in Sicily Island in Catahoula Parish, also in northeastern Louisiana. Harry DeWitt was a Michigan native who came to Louisiana at the age of seventeen to work in a sawmill at the community of Peck in Catahoula Parish. His mother was reared in Sicily Island, but her family came originally from Natchez, Mississippi. DeWitt graduated from Sicily Island High School in 1931 and thereafter attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge for two years. In 1940, he married the former Hazel Green (born July 19, 1921). From 1941-1945, DeWitt served in the United States Army Air Corps, later the Air Force, at Muroc Army Air Field in California, renamed in 1949 as Edwards Air Force Base[3]
After the war, the couple moved to her hometown of Newellton in northern Tensas Parish, where DeWitt clerked in a store owned by Henry Lang. Thereafter, DeWitt engaged in farming and developed an interest in state politics. Prior to his defeat for the legislature, the couple relocated to St. Joseph and lived on scenic Lake Bruin, an oxbow lake of the Mississippi River.[3]
DeWitt was a member and a deacon of the First Baptist Church of Newellton. He was also active in the Louisiana Moral and Civic Advisory Committee, the American Legion, Rotary International, and the board of the Lake Bruin Golf and Country Club. He was a scoutmaster for the Boys Scouts of America.[4]
DeWitt died at the age of eighty-three of pancreatic cancer in St. Francis Hospital in Monroe. In addition to his wife, he was survived by their daughter, Edith Sprague DeWitt Sandoz (born 1945) of Houston, Texas, and two grandchildren, James Clifton "Cliff" Wilkerson, II an attorney in Baton Rouge, and Edith Margaret Wong of Atlanta, Georgia. DeWitt is interred in the Legion Memorial Cemetery in Newellton.
| Preceded by J. C. Seaman |
Louisiana State Representative from Tensas Parish (later combined with Franklin and Madison parishes)
Strugis Sprague "S.S." DeWitt |
Succeeded by Lantz Womack |
[edit] References
- ^ Social Security Death Index Interactive Search
- ^ http://www.legis.state.la.us/members/h1880-2008.pdf
- ^ a b Statement of Mrs. Hazel DeWitt, April 22, 2008
- ^ Louisiana Legislature, Regular Session, 1999, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 19, Senator Noble Ellington of Winnsboro
