Richmond C. Hathorn

Richmond Conrad Hathorn, Sr., often known as R. C. Hathorn or as Richmond C. Hathorn (November 25, 1893 – June 22, 1941),^[1] was a Democrat who represented his native Rapides Parish, Louisiana, from 1936 to 1940 in the Louisiana House of Representatives during the administrations of Governors Richard Leche and Earl Kemp Long, respectively. He served alongside W. T. Bradford and Jesse F. Lucas, who were in their second and last terms in the House.^[2]

Family background

Hathorn was a son of Richmond Yancey Hathorn (1858-1921) and the former Josephine Antoinette "Cennie" Borland. He served in the United States Army infantry in World War I.^[1] In 1919, he wed the former Mary Ella Richey (1897-2001), who was born in rural Rhinehart in Catahoula Parish. After his death, she was a widow for sixty years.^[3] The Hathorns had seven children, four from Alexandria: Louise Hathorn Slocum (1920-2013),^[4] Janet "Jinks" Hathorn Sauve (1922-2007), Richmond Conrad "Sonny" Hathorn, Jr. (1929-2009), and Irma Hathorn Davis. The surviving children are Robert J. "Jack" Hathorn (born October 1932) of the Poland Community in Rapides Parish and Lou Ann Hathorn Beard Thompson (born October 1933) of Vidalia in Concordaia Parish.^[5][1][4]

Another daughter, Hilda J. Hathorn Fuglaar (1924-2001), the widow of Harvey Casper Fulgaar (1922-1975), died in Little Rock, Arkansas, at the age of seventy-six. Her husband's uncle was another Louisiana state representative, Lawrence T. Fuglaar of Pineville.^[6][7]

One of Hathorn's sons-in-law, Jerry Washington Slocum, Jr. (1914-2008), husband of Louise Slocum, was a board member of the Red River, Atchafalaya, and Bayou Bouef Levee District. His Slocum Construction Company, founded in 1949, sponsored many successful slow-pitch softball teams in Alexandria.^[8]

Political life

In November 1939, near the end of his House tenure, Hathorn was one of nineteen persons named in sixty-six indictments by a Rapides Parish grand jury. Along with Mayor Rollo C. Lawrence of Pineville, Hathorn was cited for dual office holding and being a "deadhead" on the state payroll, a term which refers to one who does little if any work for which there is a need. Parish Sheriff U. T. Downs and three of his deputies, W. C. Nash, N. G. Aymond, and Roy Yerby, were charged with malfeasance in office. Alexandria Mayor V. V. Lamkin, an Earl Long supporter, was indicted for both bribery and malfeasance in office.^[9] Others faced embezzlement and income tax violations. Indictments were issued against George C. Gray, the former Alexandria chief of police and a candidate to succeed Downs as sheriff, as well as Alexandria police officers Allen E. Zachary and Joseph T. Ohman.^[10]

Sheriff Downs's son, C. H. "Sammy" Downs, an Alexandria lawyer, later served in both houses of the Louisiana Legislature as a floor leader for Earl Long and a future aide to Governor John McKeithen.

Hathorn was living in Ward 2 (Lecompte) in south Rapides Parish in the 1940 census.^[5] He died a year after he left the legislature. Hathorn and other family members are interred at Greenwood Memorial Park in Pineville, Louisiana.^[1]

References