John Martin Hamley

John Martin Hamley, Sr. (August 26, 1883 – January 23, 1942),^[1] served from 1912 to 1924 as a Democrat in the Louisiana House of Representatives from East Carroll Parish in far northeastern Louisiana.^[2]

Hamley was born in Lake Providence, the second son of Edward J. Hamley, a native of St. Louis, Missouri. The Hamleys moved to East Carroll Parish in 1878. Edward Hamley (1860-1929) was mayor of Lake Providence for twelve years. John Hamley's mother, Annie Malam Hamley (1861-1943),^[3] was born in Bavaria; in the 1860s, her family migrated to the United States. John and Edward Hamley were partners in the real estate business.^[4] Hamley's younger brothers were Edward D. Hamley (1888-1902), William Hugh Hamley (1889-1940), and Joseph Celestin Hamley (1891-1965).^[3]

After his three terms in the state House of Representatives, Hamley served from 1924 to 1931 as the House clerk, a position chosen by the members.^[2] In 1933, he was elected East Carroll Parish tax assessor. He was also a member of the Louisiana Flood Control Committee, a group interested in the prevention of a future Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.^[4]

In 1914, Hamley married Katie Ransdell (1893-1980), the daughter of Judge Francis Xavier Ransdell of the Louisiana 6th Judicial District Court (then 9th District) and his wife, the former Katie Blackburn Davis. Katie, or "Kate", was a paternal niece of U.S. Senator Joseph E. Ransdell, also of Lake Providence. The Hamley children attended the St. Patrick's Catholic Church parochial school in Lake Providence; the daughters thereafter attended Maryville University, then Maryville College in St. Louis.^[4] There were at least four Hamley children: Edward Ransdell Hamley (1915-1929), Mary Hamley Marron (1918-2005), Dorothy Hamley Bagbey (1920-1967), and John Martin Hamley, Jr. (1922-1945); two other Hamley children may have been nieces of John Martin Hamley, or possibly daughters: Marietta Hamley (1928-1930) and Elizabeth Hamley Lewis (1928-1958), possibly twins.^[5]

Hamley was a brother-in-law of Judge Frank Voelker, Sr., who in 1937 succeeded Francis Ransdell on the Louisiana 6th Judicial District Court, of which the long-term district attorney was Jefferson B. Snyder. Voelker was married to the former Isabel Ransdell, a sister of Katie Ransdell.^[4]

Hamley died in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Hamleys are interred at Lake Providence Cemetery. There is confusion about his middle name "Martian", which appears on his tombstone. A cenotaph dedicated to the youngest of the Hamley sons is posted as John Martin Hamley, Jr., who died at the age of twenty-three while serving as an ensign in the United States Navy during World War II. Hamley, Jr., is buried at the Honolulu National Cemetery.^[5] The Louisiana House membership listing spells Hamley's middle name as "Martin."^[2]

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