| Jack Batton | |
|---|---|
| Mayor of Minden, Webster Parish, Louisiana, USA | |
| In office 1978 – December 31, 1982 |
|
| Preceded by | Jacob E. "Pat" Patterson |
| Succeeded by | Noel "Gene" Byars |
| Minden City Council member (Streets and Parks Commissioner) | |
| In office 1946–1962 |
|
| Succeeded by | Five at-large winners J. Travis Taylor (as Streets and Parks Commissioner) |
| In office 1966–1978 |
|
| Succeeded by | Position abolished under new charter |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 16, 1913 Minden, Louisiana |
| Died | April 8, 1996 (aged 82) Minden, Louisiana |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic Party |
| Spouse(s) | Alice Shurtleff Batton (died 1973)
(2) Louise Z. Jones Batton (divorced) |
| Children | Jackie Batton Reeves
Jimmy Batton (1943–1997) Dorothy Batton Smith |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Religion | Methodist |
| (1) Mayor Batton continued the municipally-owned power plant in his small city of Minden and pushed for expanded street paving and low-income housing projects during his tenure from 1978–1982.
(2) Though he made his living as a merchant and a cattleman, Batton served a total of thirty-two years in municipal government. (3) Batton's election as mayor coincided with the implementation of a new mayor-council government superseded the city commission format. |
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Jack Batton (December 16, 1913 – April 8, 1996)[1] was a small businessman who served as the Democratic mayor of the small city of Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, for a single term from 1978–1982.
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Batton, a Minden native, was the son of Mr. and Mrs. J. Bryant Batton, formerly of Dubberly in south Webster Parish. Bryant Batton was a former Webster Parish chief deputy sheriff and a two-term Minden police chief.[2] Jack Batton graduated in 1932 from Minden High School, having played football in the fall of 1931. His first wife was the former Dorothy Alice Shurtleff (December 18, 1914–May 14, 1973), the daughter of A. C. Shurtleff (January 15, 1882 - September 16, 1928) and Cora Belle Shurtleff (February 1, 1888–December 16, 1960).
The Battons resided in a house made of brown rock at the intersection of Goodwill and Marshall streets in Minden. The house is across the street from the boyhood home of the singer David Houston. The football star David Lee of the former Baltimore Colts grew up in the same neighborhood block. The Battons had three children: Jackie Batton Reeves (born 1938) and husband, Henry Rogers Reeves (born ca. 1937), of Haughton in Bossier Parish; James Howard "Jimmy" Batton (1943–1997), a former Webster Parish sheriff’s deputy, and Dorothy Gale Batton Smith (born 1946) and husband, Harold Eugene Smith (1940-2011),[3] of Waynesboro, Virginia. There were also five grandchildren.[4] At the time of his death, Batton was divorced from the former Louise Z. Jones (1916–2004), the widow of retired United States Army officer Rosamond Jones (1912–1980)[1] of Minden.
Batton served on the Minden City Council in the former position of streets and parks commissioner from 1946–1962 and from 1966–1978. He was defeated in the at-large city council races held on May 12, 1962, as were all council members,[5] and businessman J. Travis Taylor (1914–1995)[1] became the new streets and park commissioner for a single term.[6] Batton was a brother of former Webster Parish Sheriff John D. Batton (1911–1981), known as J.D. Batton, who served from 1952–1964. J. D. Batton also lost a race for Webster Parish clerk of court in 1948 to the incumbent Tom J. Campbell (1895–1968).[2] His brother-in-law, Arthur Howard Shurtleff (1920–1985), was a member of the Webster Parish Police Jury.
In his first term as street commissioner, Batton and then newly-elected Mayor John T. David moved forward a plan to blacktop eight miles of Minden municipal streets, beginning with Bayou Avenue to the Minden Cemetery.[7] Batton was defeated for reelection to the council in the 1962 Democratic runoff election, as were all incumbents except Mayor Frank T. Norman.[5] He returned to the council in 1966, when Norman was unseated by the Republican Tom Colten and streets and parks commissioner Travis Taylor did not run again. Batton won his last term as streets and parks commissioner in 1974, when he defeated two intraparty rivals, Emily Doss and the businessman William J. Rabon (1922–1991),[1] who had owned the former Star Furniture Company on the Shreveport Road.
In 1978, after nearly three decades on the council, all under the city commission format, Batton ran for mayor under the current mayor-council system. The incumbent, Jacob E. "Pat" Patterson, declined to seek a second term. In the nonpartisan blanket primary held on September 16, 1978, Batton won the mayor’s position by an 88-vote margin over his fellow Democrat, the late Orris R. Long, former executive director of the Chamber of Commerce. Batton polled 2,633 votes (50.8 percent) to Long’s 2,545 (49.2 percent).[8]
In the same election, Peggy J. Staples (1933–2009) became the first woman ever elected to the city council. She defeated fellow Democrat Ben Kinel, 733 (67 percent) to 359 (33 percent). Robert T. Tobin similarly became the first African American elected to the council in 1978, having defeated fellow Democrat J.D. Hampton, 519 (69.8 percent) to 225 (30.2 percent). And Republican Felix R. Garrett (1922–1987), formerly the public utilities commissioner, became the first member of his party to fill a single-member district seat on the city council.[8] Batton did not seek reelection in 1982, when the educator, Noel "Gene" Byars, was elected mayor.
As mayor, Batton advocated continued municipal ownership of the light and power plant, first procured by the city during the 1958–1966 administration of Mayor Frank Norman. Batton worked to expand low-income housing and continued street paving. Batton operated his Batton’s Grocery from 1936[9] until his retirement in 1991. He was also a member of the Minden Fire Department from 1949–1989.
In 1986, Batton returned to the political fray in a bid to oust Byars. He used the slogan, "Get an Old Pro Off the Bench." Byars boasted of his accomplishments; $830,000 in street improvements, $9 million in new industry, and three hundred new jobs. Byars prevailed, 2,603 votes (53.6 percent) to Batton's 2,252 (46.4 percent). It was Batton's last political race.[10]
A cattleman, Batton owned the Minden Auction Barn and provided at no cost the arena used by the Minden Riding Club. He also raised horses.[4] The facility was subsequently renamed the Jack Batton Arena.[11] Active with Batton in the riding club was his friend and fellow cattleman, Delna Russell "Cowboy" Drake (1905–1976).[12]
In 1949, Batton became a director of Hunter's Playground and Playhouse, located near Batton's home on Goodwill Street. The complex was opened for the entertainment of young people in the city by Larry B. Hunter (1896–1971) and his wife, Gladys Powell Hunter (1899–1973), the owners of the local Coca-Cola company.[13] Batton was also named a director of the Webster Parish Free Fair Board, since the Bossier/Webster Fair and Forest Festival.[14] In 1950, he was named the second president of the new Webster Parish Cattleman's Association.[15]
Batton was a member of the Masonic lodge and the First United Methodist Church.[4] He operated a store, Batton's Grocery, on Maiden Lane in an African American section of the city. He was a soft-spoken, shy man, traits unexpected in a politician. He died at the age of eighty-two and is interred in the Batton/Shurtleff family plot in Section C of the Minden Cemetery.
| Preceded by Jacob E. "Pat" Patterson |
Mayor of Minden, Louisiana
Jack Batton |
Succeeded by Noel E. "Gene" Byars |