Henry Bethard

Henry and Olive Bethard gravestone at Springville Cemetery in Coushatta, Louisiana. Mrs. Bethard died in 2012.

Henry William Bethard, III (born December 9, 1924),^[1]is a semi-retired attorney in his native Coushatta in northwestern Louisiana, who was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for Red River Parish from 1960 to 1964, during the second administration of Governor Jimmie Davis.^[2]

Background

Bethard was the son of the former Annie Shirley Edgerton (1897-1977), a Coushatta native, and the attorney Henry W. Bethard, Jr. (1898-1961), originally from Harrisonburg in Catahoula Parish in eastern Louisiana. A graduate of Loyola University New Orleans School of Law, Bethard, Jr., established his law practice in Coushatta in 1922.^[3] Bethard joined his father's firm in 1948, upon receipt of his Juris Doctor degree from the Louisiana State University Law Center in Baton Rouge.^[1] Among his civic roles were the chairmanships of the directors of the Bank of Coushatta and the commissioner of the Louisiana State Library, the latter position filled from 1947 to 1951. Bethard, Jr., was the legal counselor and secretary of the Red River - Bayou Pierre Levee District. He was a former vice president of the Red River Valley Improvement Association and served on the executive committee of the Louisiana Levee Board Association.^[3]

From 1943 to 1945, Bethard, III, served in the United States Navy during World War II.^[1]

Legal and political career

After joining his father's law firm in Coushatta, Bethard subsequently served as the Coushatta town attorney from 1956 to 1960 and 1964 to 1980. ^[4]He has also served as the village attorney for the Hall Summit, Edgefield, and Martin communities in Red River Parish. From 1950 to 1964, when his one term in the legislature ended, he was like his father the attorney for the Red River - Bayou Pierre Levee and Drainage District. He has been an active member of the bar associations of Natchitoches and Red River parishes.^[1]In March 1980, Bethard was named an assistant district attorney for Red River Parish.^[4]

Bethard fell short in his primary bid for reelection on December 7, 1963. S. M. Morgan, Jr., who had run unsuccessfully for the position four years earlier against Lester Vetter,^[5] led a five-candidate field. Bethard trailed in second place, and he and Morgan met in a runoff contest on January 11, 1964. The Coushatta barber and landowner, Oneld Walter Driggers (1921-2011), a native of Saline in Bienville Parish,^[6] finished in third place in the primary. Harvey Gates and L. S. Huckaby completed the field of candidates.^[7] On January 11, 1964, Morgan won the runoff election for the state House held in conjunction with the Democratic gubernatorial showdown between Louisiana Public Service Commissioner John McKeithen and deLesseps Story Morrison, the former mayor of New Orleans. Morgan obtained 1,590 votes to Bethard's 1,531^[8]Bethard's grandmother, Fannie M. Bethard (1874-1963) of Harrisonburg, Louisiana, died on Sunday, December 8, 1963, the day after the state primary election.^[9][10]

Bethard married the former Olive Ann Guenard (August 2, 1927 – October 31, 2012), daughter of James Hortaire Guenard, Sr., and the former Rubye Nelson. She was a native of Lake Providence in East Carroll Parish, though born across the Mississippi River in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The two met as students at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. There are two living Bethard sons, his law partners James G. and Robert E. Bethard,^[11]and their wives, Florence and Rhoda, respectively, all of Coushatta. The Bethards' daughter, Suzanne B. Hearne, lives in Shreveport with her husband, Sanders Hearne. A third son, Henry Bethard, IV, is deceased.^[12]

Bethard is also of counsel^[11] with his grandsons, Benjamin T. Bethard and Henry Bethard, V, the latter of whom was born on June 16, 1982, in Shreveport and graduated from the historically black Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge. Both grandsons joined the firm in 2008.^[13]

As of September 2014, Bethard, III, who served in the state House as a Democrat, and Bethard, V, were listed as Republican voters in Red River Parish.^[14]

Bethard family members are interred at Springville Cemetery off U.S. Highway 71 in Coushatta.^[15]Bethard's legislative predecessor, Lester Vetter, who had also been a mayor of Coushatta, died in office with two months remaining in his second term.

References