Michael Joe Nerren, known as Mike Nerren (born May 28, 1963), is the Division E judge of the 26th Judicial District Court based in Bossier and Webster parishes in northwestern Louisiana.
Background
Nerren is the son of Fenely Smith, a former district chief for the fire department in Bossier City, Louisiana, and Connee Smith, a retired employee of the Bossier Parish Sheriff's Department. He graduated in 1981 from Haughton High School in Haughton in south Bossier Parish.
In 2007, Nerren became an assistant district attorney under DA Schuyler Marvin of Minden in Webster Parish. In that capacity, he served as the juvenile prosecutor and handled all cases of youthful offenders between the ages of ten and seventeen.
Legal career
A Republican, Nerren won his judgeship in 2012 to succeed the retiring Bruce M. Bolin, a Democrat who held the position judgeship from its creation in 1991 until his retirement in 2012. Bolin also formerly served in the Louisiana House of Representatives. The court is based in Benton, the seat of government of Bossier Parish.
In that election, Nerren was opposed by two other Republicans, Whitley Robert "Whit" Graves (born October 1954) and John Bernard Slattery, Jr. (born July 1955), the city judge in Springhill in northern Webster Parish. No Democrat entered the competition. In previous years, no Republicans would likely have filed for the judgeship, but party fortunes began to reverse themselves in down-ballot races in Louisiana early in the 21st century. In the 2012 contest, Whit Graves cited his thirty-five years of experience as a state trooper, prosecutor, and private attorney. Nerren, with then eighteen years of legal experience, twelve as a prosecutor, noted that he had prevailed early in his career in a jury trial against Graves acting in the role of the prosecutor.
Nerren and Graves led the primary field on November 6, and Judge Slattery, who finished in third place, was eliminated from contention. Nerren then defeated Graves in the second round of balloting on December 8. The vote was 7,390 (53.5 percent) to 6,412 (46.5 percent).
Nerren was one of several Republicans unopposed in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on November 4, 2014.
Background
Nerren is the son of Fenely Smith, a former district chief for the fire department in Bossier City, Louisiana, and Connee Smith, a retired employee of the Bossier Parish Sheriff's Department. He graduated in 1981 from Haughton High School in Haughton in south Bossier Parish.
In 2007, Nerren became an assistant district attorney under DA Schuyler Marvin of Minden in Webster Parish. In that capacity, he served as the juvenile prosecutor and handled all cases of youthful offenders between the ages of ten and seventeen.
Legal career
A Republican, Nerren won his judgeship in 2012 to succeed the retiring Bruce M. Bolin, a Democrat who held the position judgeship from its creation in 1991 until his retirement in 2012. Bolin also formerly served in the Louisiana House of Representatives. The court is based in Benton, the seat of government of Bossier Parish.
In that election, Nerren was opposed by two other Republicans, Whitley Robert "Whit" Graves (born October 1954) and John Bernard Slattery, Jr. (born July 1955), the city judge in Springhill in northern Webster Parish. No Democrat entered the competition. In previous years, no Republicans would likely have filed for the judgeship, but party fortunes began to reverse themselves in down-ballot races in Louisiana early in the 21st century. In the 2012 contest, Whit Graves cited his thirty-five years of experience as a state trooper, prosecutor, and private attorney. Nerren, with then eighteen years of legal experience, twelve as a prosecutor, noted that he had prevailed early in his career in a jury trial against Graves acting in the role of the prosecutor.
Nerren and Graves led the primary field on November 6, and Judge Slattery, who finished in third place, was eliminated from contention. Nerren then defeated Graves in the second round of balloting on December 8. The vote was 7,390 (53.5 percent) to 6,412 (46.5 percent).
Nerren was one of several Republicans unopposed in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on November 4, 2014.
Edwin Gustav Preis, Sr. (February 17, 1916 - July 28, 2011) was a farmer and businessman who served from 1966 to 2000 as the Democratic mayor of the town of Newellton in Tensas Parish in northeastern Louisiana.
Biography
Preis was born in Waterproof in southern Tensas Parish. In the late 1940s, he moved to Newellton with his wife, Patricia Preis, to whom he was married for sixty-seven years until his death. There he engaged in business and served seven terms as mayor. After numerous election cycles without opposition, Preis was unseated in the fall of 2000 by Alex Davis, an African American who received 366 votes (56.8 percent) to Preis' 184 (28.6 percent), and 94 votes (14.6 percent) for a third candidate, F. A. "Coonie" McVay.
A Mississippi River delta town, Newellton acquired a large majority of black voters after the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. From 1976 to 1977, Preis was the president of the Louisiana Municipal Association. He was known for trips to Washington, D.C., from which he often secured such projects as water or sewer systems for his community. In the 1990s, he represented Louisiana at a meeting in the White House with U.S. President Bill Clinton.
Preis was a founder of Little League in Tensas Parish and a devotee, particularly of the sports programs, of the since defunct Newellton High School. During the 1960s, when Newellton was the runner-up at state in its division, Preis served as an announcer at the games.<ref name=edpreisobit/>
Preis died of a short illness at the age of 95. After services at the Newellton Union Church, he was interred at Legion Memorial Cemetery north of Newellton.<ref name=edpreisobit/>
In addition to his wife Patricia and son Phil and his wife, Terry, Edwin Preis is survived by an older son, Edwin Preis, Jr., an attorney in Lafayette, Louisiana, and his wife, Chris Preis, and a daughter, Patricia Preis Thompson, the wife of Dr. Tony Thompson of Nacogdoches, Texas. He had twelve grandchildren.<ref name=edpreisobit/>
Biography
Preis was born in Waterproof in southern Tensas Parish. In the late 1940s, he moved to Newellton with his wife, Patricia Preis, to whom he was married for sixty-seven years until his death. There he engaged in business and served seven terms as mayor. After numerous election cycles without opposition, Preis was unseated in the fall of 2000 by Alex Davis, an African American who received 366 votes (56.8 percent) to Preis' 184 (28.6 percent), and 94 votes (14.6 percent) for a third candidate, F. A. "Coonie" McVay.
A Mississippi River delta town, Newellton acquired a large majority of black voters after the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. From 1976 to 1977, Preis was the president of the Louisiana Municipal Association. He was known for trips to Washington, D.C., from which he often secured such projects as water or sewer systems for his community. In the 1990s, he represented Louisiana at a meeting in the White House with U.S. President Bill Clinton.
Preis was a founder of Little League in Tensas Parish and a devotee, particularly of the sports programs, of the since defunct Newellton High School. During the 1960s, when Newellton was the runner-up at state in its division, Preis served as an announcer at the games.<ref name=edpreisobit/>
Preis died of a short illness at the age of 95. After services at the Newellton Union Church, he was interred at Legion Memorial Cemetery north of Newellton.<ref name=edpreisobit/>
In addition to his wife Patricia and son Phil and his wife, Terry, Edwin Preis is survived by an older son, Edwin Preis, Jr., an attorney in Lafayette, Louisiana, and his wife, Chris Preis, and a daughter, Patricia Preis Thompson, the wife of Dr. Tony Thompson of Nacogdoches, Texas. He had twelve grandchildren.<ref name=edpreisobit/>
James Howard Netterville, usually cited as J. H. Netterville (December 4, 1879 - December 17, 1943), was a large cotton plantation manager in Newellton in Tensas Parish in northeastern Louisiana in the Mississippi River delta country.
Background
Netterville was born near Woodville in Wilkinson County, Mississippi; his father, Charles Netterville, was a planter in Adams County; his mother, the former Mattie Morris, was a native of Natchez in Adams County, where she also spent her later years.
Plantation manager
Shortly after the start of the 20th century, Netterville came to Tensas Parish, where he was first a clerk in the plantation stores of C. B. Muir and then William O'Kelley at Somerset. From these starting positions, he obtained the training to become a plantation manager whose job was to maximize profits with minimum input. In 1907, Netterville began employment for the Panola Company, an agricultural business that controlled some eleven thousand acres, two thirds planted in cotton and the other third in grains. Panola was based in the parish seat of St. Joseph; among its principal founders was William Mackenzie Davidson, the mayor of St. Joseph from 1901 until his accidental death in 1930. Netterville became general manager of three highly profitable Panola properties, the Balmoral, Blackwater, and Wyoming plantations, in which capacity he supervised 125 African-American tenant farming families on some of the richest farmland in the United States. was also a plantation manager in St. Joseph for the Panola Company. He began his career as the manager for six years of the store at Winter Quarters Plantation, located between Newellton and St. Joseph. He was employed in that capacity by Dr. J. M. Gillespie. Wade Netterville then ran the store at Panola Plantation prior to becoming the manager for two years of the Wyoming Plantation. He subsequently assumed the management of the 1,000-acre Panda Plantation, a Panola property near St. Joseph. Wade Netterville and his wife, the former Susie Hair (died 1909), named their son "Howard" for his uncle, Netterville's younger brother. Considering her early year of death, the marriage was presumably brief, as Wade would have become a widower by the age of thirty-three.
Personal life
During World War I, J. H. Netterville was parish chairman of the local chapter of the American Red Cross. He was elected to the Tensas Parish School Board. and Elizabeth Netterville Coit (1913-2004), the wife of Wilson Lindsey Coit (1911-1999). Wilson "Lindsey" Coit, a native of Enterprise in Clarke County, Mississippi, graduated from the former Newellton High School. For many years Coit was the Chevrolet and John Deere dealer in Newellton. Elizabeth Coit was born on Balmoral Plantation and taught school in Newellton for forty-two years. Wilson and Elizabeth Coit were in-laws of former Louisiana State Representative Chuck McMains, a Republican from Baton Rouge, who is married to their daughter, the former Mary Lynn Coit (born c. 1948).
Netterville died in Newellton two weeks after his 64th birthday. He, his brother Wade, his wife Bessie, and daughter Mattie and son-in-law William Roundtree, are interred at Natchez City Cemetery in Natchez, Mississippi.<ref nameobit/> Wilson and Elizabeth Coit, however, are buried at Legion Memorial Cemetery in Newellton.<ref namecoit/>
Background
Netterville was born near Woodville in Wilkinson County, Mississippi; his father, Charles Netterville, was a planter in Adams County; his mother, the former Mattie Morris, was a native of Natchez in Adams County, where she also spent her later years.
Plantation manager
Shortly after the start of the 20th century, Netterville came to Tensas Parish, where he was first a clerk in the plantation stores of C. B. Muir and then William O'Kelley at Somerset. From these starting positions, he obtained the training to become a plantation manager whose job was to maximize profits with minimum input. In 1907, Netterville began employment for the Panola Company, an agricultural business that controlled some eleven thousand acres, two thirds planted in cotton and the other third in grains. Panola was based in the parish seat of St. Joseph; among its principal founders was William Mackenzie Davidson, the mayor of St. Joseph from 1901 until his accidental death in 1930. Netterville became general manager of three highly profitable Panola properties, the Balmoral, Blackwater, and Wyoming plantations, in which capacity he supervised 125 African-American tenant farming families on some of the richest farmland in the United States. was also a plantation manager in St. Joseph for the Panola Company. He began his career as the manager for six years of the store at Winter Quarters Plantation, located between Newellton and St. Joseph. He was employed in that capacity by Dr. J. M. Gillespie. Wade Netterville then ran the store at Panola Plantation prior to becoming the manager for two years of the Wyoming Plantation. He subsequently assumed the management of the 1,000-acre Panda Plantation, a Panola property near St. Joseph. Wade Netterville and his wife, the former Susie Hair (died 1909), named their son "Howard" for his uncle, Netterville's younger brother. Considering her early year of death, the marriage was presumably brief, as Wade would have become a widower by the age of thirty-three.
Personal life
During World War I, J. H. Netterville was parish chairman of the local chapter of the American Red Cross. He was elected to the Tensas Parish School Board. and Elizabeth Netterville Coit (1913-2004), the wife of Wilson Lindsey Coit (1911-1999). Wilson "Lindsey" Coit, a native of Enterprise in Clarke County, Mississippi, graduated from the former Newellton High School. For many years Coit was the Chevrolet and John Deere dealer in Newellton. Elizabeth Coit was born on Balmoral Plantation and taught school in Newellton for forty-two years. Wilson and Elizabeth Coit were in-laws of former Louisiana State Representative Chuck McMains, a Republican from Baton Rouge, who is married to their daughter, the former Mary Lynn Coit (born c. 1948).
Netterville died in Newellton two weeks after his 64th birthday. He, his brother Wade, his wife Bessie, and daughter Mattie and son-in-law William Roundtree, are interred at Natchez City Cemetery in Natchez, Mississippi.<ref nameobit/> Wilson and Elizabeth Coit, however, are buried at Legion Memorial Cemetery in Newellton.<ref namecoit/>
William Mackenzie Davidson (December 1857 - January 18, 1930) was a planter, politician, and civic figure in St. Joseph, Louisiana, the seat of government of Tensas Parish, one of the Mississippi River delta parishes with majority African American populations, rich in farming, and susceptible to periodic flooding.
Background
Davidson was born to Scottish immigrants in New York City. As a child, he was brought to Natchez, Mississippi, where he later attended nearby Jefferson Military Academy. He then relocated to Waterproof in southern Tensas Parish. Despite Davidson's northern birth, his father had fought for the Confederacy in the American Civil War. In 1878, Davidson himself was among the approximately one hundred white posse members who joined parish judge and later State Senator Charles C. Cordill in crushing by force a revolt of African American resistance to the segregated order, imposed despite the Fifteenth Amendment. From this incident, Davidson was arrested and carried to New Orleans to stand trial on fraud charges, but the case was suspended.
In 1880, at the age of twenty-four, Davidson moved the short distance north to St. Joseph and became a merchant and planter. He married Carrie Moore (1866-1957), daughter of Joseph Moore, one of the wealthiest men in Tensas Parish. He moved with comfort and ease into the circle of the Tensas elite.
Political and civic affairs
Davidson was a founder and the general manager of the powerful Panola Company, an agricultural entity based in St. Joseph which controlled at one point eleven thousand acres of valuable farmland. J. H. Netterville supervised three of its most valuable holdings, the Balmoral, Blackwater, and Wyoming plantations.
As the office of mayor in such small communities was and remains part-time, Davidson was also the Tensas Parish treasurer for some three decades. was killed in action in France shortly before the armistice ending World War I, then known as The Great War.
Lieutenant Davidson was a graduate of Culver Military Academy in Indiana, the University of Michigan, and the George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C., where he also was a staff member for U.S. Senator Joseph E. Ransdell of Lake Providence, a foremost spokesman for delta interests. Citizens in 1926 named the high school in St. Joseph in Davidson's honor. Nearly all African Americans of school age are enrolled in public schools, which have struggled financially and with weak pupil performance for many years.
Mayor Davidson's accidental death
In January 1930, some eleven years after his son's death, Davidson died from an accidental fall. He slipped on an icy patch of sidewalk outside his office, fell, and fractured his skull. He was carried into his Bank of St. Joseph, of which he was the president, and there he lapsed into unconsciousness and died a few minutes later. Davidson's sudden demise brought an outpouring of emotion from all races and classes, "on every face of every color of every age," as the editor of the Tensas Gazette described the tragedy.
A. H. Jackson, then the principal of the all-black Tensas Parish Training School in St. Joseph, later known as Tensas Rosenwald High School, described Davidson as "always straightforward, full of advice and sympathy," and supportive of "movements which he felt were good for all the people irrespective of race or color."
Background
Davidson was born to Scottish immigrants in New York City. As a child, he was brought to Natchez, Mississippi, where he later attended nearby Jefferson Military Academy. He then relocated to Waterproof in southern Tensas Parish. Despite Davidson's northern birth, his father had fought for the Confederacy in the American Civil War. In 1878, Davidson himself was among the approximately one hundred white posse members who joined parish judge and later State Senator Charles C. Cordill in crushing by force a revolt of African American resistance to the segregated order, imposed despite the Fifteenth Amendment. From this incident, Davidson was arrested and carried to New Orleans to stand trial on fraud charges, but the case was suspended.
In 1880, at the age of twenty-four, Davidson moved the short distance north to St. Joseph and became a merchant and planter. He married Carrie Moore (1866-1957), daughter of Joseph Moore, one of the wealthiest men in Tensas Parish. He moved with comfort and ease into the circle of the Tensas elite.
Political and civic affairs
Davidson was a founder and the general manager of the powerful Panola Company, an agricultural entity based in St. Joseph which controlled at one point eleven thousand acres of valuable farmland. J. H. Netterville supervised three of its most valuable holdings, the Balmoral, Blackwater, and Wyoming plantations.
As the office of mayor in such small communities was and remains part-time, Davidson was also the Tensas Parish treasurer for some three decades. was killed in action in France shortly before the armistice ending World War I, then known as The Great War.
Lieutenant Davidson was a graduate of Culver Military Academy in Indiana, the University of Michigan, and the George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C., where he also was a staff member for U.S. Senator Joseph E. Ransdell of Lake Providence, a foremost spokesman for delta interests. Citizens in 1926 named the high school in St. Joseph in Davidson's honor. Nearly all African Americans of school age are enrolled in public schools, which have struggled financially and with weak pupil performance for many years.
Mayor Davidson's accidental death
In January 1930, some eleven years after his son's death, Davidson died from an accidental fall. He slipped on an icy patch of sidewalk outside his office, fell, and fractured his skull. He was carried into his Bank of St. Joseph, of which he was the president, and there he lapsed into unconsciousness and died a few minutes later. Davidson's sudden demise brought an outpouring of emotion from all races and classes, "on every face of every color of every age," as the editor of the Tensas Gazette described the tragedy.
A. H. Jackson, then the principal of the all-black Tensas Parish Training School in St. Joseph, later known as Tensas Rosenwald High School, described Davidson as "always straightforward, full of advice and sympathy," and supportive of "movements which he felt were good for all the people irrespective of race or color."