A. B. George

Alexander Banks George, known as A. B. George (1829 – November 11, 1899),^[1] was an educator, lawyer, politician, and judge from Minden in Webster Parish and Shreveport in Caddo Parish, both in northwestern Louisiana, USA.

Biography

A native of Wilcox County in southern Alabama, George attended the since defunct Cumberland College in Princeton in Caldwell County in western Kentucky. At Cumberland, he and a classmate, John D. Watkins, became close friends and moved together to Louisiana to take teaching jobs. They subsequently became law partners and both served as district attorney, state court judge, and state senator, dates of service for George unavailable. Both were also delegates to the Louisiana Constitutional Convention of 1879.^[2][3]

George and Watkins briefly taught and served as principal of Minden Male Academy, one of the forerunners of Minden High School. Each engaged in the private study of law and soon left the field of education. When Watkins left Minden Male Academy to begin his legal career, George took over as principal. Many leading citizens studied at the academy, then located in Claiborne Parish before the creation in 1871 of Webster Parish. Alumni included Watkins's son, John T. Watkins, and John N. Sandlin, both eight-term members of Congress for Louisiana's 4th congressional district. Other alumni were Minden Mayors McIntyre H. Sandlin and A. M. Leary, and State Senator Thomas Wafer Fuller. Alumnus William G. Stewart, a pioneer farmer who lived in Webster Parish as a child prior to the American Civil War, was later president of the Webster Parish School Board. The since defunct William G. Stewart Elementary School in west Minden was named in his honor. Minden Male Academy was financially supported by such families as the Drakes, Drews, Crichtons, and Webbs.^[3]

George was admitted to the bar in 1855 and joined Watkins in the formation of a law partnership. George instructed young men in his office who were studying law and taking the bar examination.^[4] George was a town alderman, town attorney, and from 1856 to 1858, when terms were for one-year each, the mayor of Minden. He served again on the council after he left the mayor's position. As mayor, he had succeeded W. Jasper Blackburn, editor of a former version of the The Minden Herald who held Louisiana's 5th congressional district seat from 1868 to 1869. Like Blackburn, George was also an editor of a newspaper, The Minden Democrat. George left Minden for Shreveport after his election to the Louisiana Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. It is unknown how long he served on the circuit court.^[3] Watkins's sons, John T. and L. K., thereafter became his law partners in the Minden office after Watkins's tenure on the bench ended in 1869.^[2]

George is interred at Oakland Cemetery in Shreveport, alongside his wife, the former Penelope Ward (1837-1898), who preceded him in death by one year and two weeks.^[5]

References