McIntyre H. Sandlin

McIntyre H. Sandlin (February 1870 – October 31, 1955), was a Democratic politician from Minden in Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana.

Family background

Sandlin was the older of two sons of Nicholas J. Sandlin, originally from North Carolina, and the former Irene McIntyre (1840-1922), a Louisiana native and the daughter of Dr. Alexander McIntyre, one of the first physicians in Webster Parish. Nicholas Sandlin served in the Army of Northern Virginia under Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson and was wounded and taken prisoner in the American Civil War. In Louisiana, he was active in the overthrow of the Carpetbagger government. He was district attorney of a tract of land stretching from the Red to the Ouachita rivers.^[2] Years later, he represented Webster Parish in the state legislature from 1892 to 1893^[3] but stepped down to accept appointment from U.S. President Grover Cleveland as the postmaster at Minden. The former Nicholas J. Sandlin Camp near Minden was named in his honor by the organization, Sons of Confederate Veterans."^[2]

McIntyre Sandlin's younger brother, John N. Sandlin, was a district attorney, judge, and a member of the United States House of Representatives for Louisiana's 4th congressional district.^[2]He had a daughter, Mary Grace Sandlin. He was a Baptist.^[4]

Career

Sandlin was born on a farm near Minden a few months prior to the creation of Webster Parish from its eastern neighbor, Claiborne Parish. In 1894, at the age of twenty-four, he was elected the mayor of Minden, the seat of government of Webster Parish. After two one-year terms as mayor, Sandlin was elected in 1896 to the Louisiana House of Representatives, a position which he filled for one four-year term until 1900.^[3] From 1908 to 1937, he was the Webster Parish tax assessor, having served until his primary defeat by William Richard Garrison (1882-1946). In the assessor's runoff race, Garrison led with 2,918 votes (56.1 percent) to Sandlin's 2,287 (43.9 percent).^[5] Thereafter, Sandlin was a member of the Webster Parish Democratic Executive Committee.^[4]

In the 1940 Democratic primary election for mayor of Minden, Sandlin tried to return to an active political role by winning back the office he had held briefly in the 19th century. He led a three-candidate field with 668 votes. He then entered the runoff election with the runner-up, the young Minden attorney Floyd D. Culbertson, Jr., who finished with 596 ballots. Incumbent Mayor David William Thomas was eliminated with his third place finish, 345 votes.^[6] In the second round of balloting, Culbertson defeated Sandlin, 827 to 780 votes.^[7]

In 1934, the Minden Signal-Tribune called Sandlin "probably the most widely known man in Webster Parish. He is committed to every progressive movement in the parish."^[8]

Sandlin died at the age of eighty-five in a hospital in Alexandria, Louisiana. Along with his parents, brother, and numerous other Minden mayors, Sandlin is interred at the historic Minden Cemetery.^[4]

References