Louis A. Wiltz

.

Wiltz was born in New Orleans to J.B. Theopile Wiltz and the former Louise Irene Villanueva. He attended public school until the age of fifteen, when he began work with Plauche and Company. After the company failed, Wiltz became the clerk for the Second District Court of Louisiana. With the outbreak of the U.S. Civil War, Wiltz joined the Confederate States Army as a private but quickly rose to the rank of captain. In 1863, Wiltz married Miss Bienvinue of St. Martinville, the seat of St. Martin Parish. They had four daughters and one son.

In 1868, Wiltz was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives and the New Orleans School Board. In 1872, he was elected mayor but could not take office until 1875 because of the refusal of the Republican mayor to vacate the office. In addition to serving two years as mayor, Wiltz was once again elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives and served as lieutenant governor.

With the implementation of the new Louisiana state constitution of 1879, the gubernatorial term of Francis T. Nicholls was cut short by one year. An election was held in 1879, and Louis Wiltz easily defeated his Republican opponent. Wiltz’s term as governor was one strife with corruption. The corrupt Louisiana lottery continued to have influence over the state legislature. The state treasurer, Edward A. Burke, embezzled state funds while the public schools were neglected, and black disenfranchisement continued.

Wiltz died of tuberculosis while in office on October 16, 1881 in New Orleans. Lieutenant Governor Samuel D. McEnery, a fellow Democrat succeeded Wiltz.

References

External links

* [http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/tabid/386/Default.aspx State of Louisiana - Biography]
* [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Louisiana/New_Orleans/_Texts/KENHNO/22*.html Kendall's "History of New Orleans", Chapter 22: Wiltz]
* [http://nutrias.org/~nopl/info/louinfo/admins/wiltz.htm New Orleans Public Library page]

succession box
title=Mayor of New Orleans
before=Benjamin F. Flanders
after=Charles J. Leeds
years=November 30 1872ndash November 30 1874succession box
before=Charles W. Lowel
title=Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives
Louis A. Wiltz (Disputed) Michael Hahn
years=1875
after=E.D. Estilette
Wheeler Compromise [cite book |last=Andrews|first=Elisha Benjamin|title=The United States in our own time; a history from reconstruction to expansion; being an extension of "The history of the last quarter century|year=1903 |publisher=C. Scribner's Sons|pages=160-67 [http://www.archive.org/details/elishainourown00andrrich Internet Archive] ] succession box
title=Governor of Louisiana
before=Francis Tillou Nicholls (D)
after=Samuel D. McEnery (D)
years=1880–1881