Benjamin Flanders

Benjamin F. Flanders
31st Mayor of New Orleans
In office April 4, 1870 – November 29, 1872
Preceded by	John R. Conway
Succeeded by	Louis A. Wiltz
21st Governor of Louisiana
In office June 8, 1867 – January 8, 1868
Lieutenant	Albert Voorhies
Preceded by	James M. Wells
Succeeded by	Joshua Baker
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 1st district
In office December 3, 1862 – March 3, 1863
Preceded by	J. E. Bouligny
Succeeded by	J. Hale Sypher
Personal details
Born	January 26, 1816 Bristol, New Hampshire
Died	March 13, 1896 (aged 80) Lafayette Parish, Louisiana
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Susan H. Sawyer
Religion	Episcopalian

Benjamin Franklin Flanders (January 26, 1816 – March 13, 1896) was a teacher, politician and planter in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1867 he was appointed by the military commander as the 21st Governor of Louisiana during Reconstruction, serving for about six months.

A native of New Hampshire, he had moved to New Orleans as a young man in 1843, where he studied law, then became a schoolteacher and principal. He worked and raised his family in Louisiana for nearly 20 years before the American Civil War, and opposed secession. He served as an Alderman in New Orleans from 1847-1852.

After New Orleans and much of Louisiana was occupied by Union troops, in 1864 Flanders was among the founders of the Republican Party of Louisiana, and began working for rights and suffrage for freedmen. He also served as an appointed, then elected Mayor of New Orleans, in total from 1870-1873. In 1873 he was appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant as an Assistant Treasurer of the United States, serving during his administration. Late in life Flanders lived on his Ben Alva plantation in Lafayette Parish.

Early life

Flanders was born in Bristol, New Hampshire, on January 26, 1816. At the age of 26 he graduated from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.

In January 1843 he moved to New Orleans and read law under Charles M. Emerson. The following year he left this study to become a schoolteacher and principal. In 1845, Flanders became editor of New Orleans Tropic, a local newspaper. In 1847 he married Susan H. Sawyer in Bristol, New Hampshire. She returned with him to New Orleans, where they had six children together.

Political career

Flanders became active in politics, elected as a Democratic Alderman representing the 3rd Municipal District of New Orleans, and serving from 1847 - 1852. In 1852, he was selected as the Secretary and Treasurer of the New Orleans, Opelousas and Great Western Railroad, a position he held until 1862. In 1861, he fled New Orleans, leaving his family behind, as he had opposed secession and sentiment against Unionists was high.

Flanders made his way to Cairo, Illinois; Columbus, Ohio, and eventually, New York City. He did not return to New Orleans until April 1862, when the city was captured by Union troops. On July 20, he was appointed by the military government as New Orleans City Treasurer. He served until his election to Congress on December 12, 1862. He was elected along with Michael Hahn as at-large Representatives of Louisiana, defeating independent incumbent J. E. Bouligny. Flanders and Hahn were not seated in Congress until the last fifteen days of their terms in February 1863.^[1]

On July 13, 1863, Flanders was made the Captain of Company C, 5th Regiment Louisiana Volunteers, a Union Army unit. He was honorably discharged in August 1863, when he was appointed a Special Agent of the United States Treasury Department of the Southern Region by Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase. He held this position until 1866. While in office, he generated commissions for the government by selling confiscated cotton from Confederate plantations. The Department of Treasury controlled licensing of cotton brokers, trying to regulate the market, but a black market flourished for the lucrative sale of cotton.

In 1864, Flanders campaigned for Governor, running a weak third place behind Michael Hahn and Fellows. He was appointed by Republicans as the first Supervising Special Agent of the Freedmen’s Bureau, Department of the Gulf. At the same time, he led the movement to create a local Republican Party in Louisiana. He formed the 'Friends of Universal Suffrage' with other Louisiana Unionists (known as scalawags to opponents), as well as free men of color (who had been free before the war) and freedmen; they were working to gain black suffrage and to repeal the Louisiana Black Codes. These had been passed to control the movement of freedmen. Fearful of the black majority in many Louisiana districts, most white Democrats opposed giving freedmen suffrage, especially after Confederate veterans were temporarily disenfranchised unless they took a loyalty oath. The tension over the rights of freed slaves escalated into New Orleans Riots of 1866, in which whites attacked blacks.

In 1867, General Philip Sheridan, Commander of the 5th Military District, which included Louisiana and Texas, removed elected Governor James Madison Wells for not responding to the riots appropriately and for not advancing the rights of freedmen. Sheridan appointed Flanders as Governor of Louisiana. About six months later, on January 1, 1868, Major General Winfield Scott Hancock, as the new military commander of Louisiana, removed all radical Republicans from state offices. Governor Flanders resigned on January 8 and was replaced by General Hancock's appointee, Joshua Baker.

In 1870, Governor Henry C. Warmoth, elected as part of the Reconstruction-era civil government, appointed Flanders as Mayor of New Orleans. He was later elected to a full two-year term as Mayor, serving until 1873. That year President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Flanders as Assistant Treasurer of the United States, serving during Grant's term. Flanders ran unsuccessfully in 1888 as a Republican candidate for Louisiana State Treasurer; by that time Democrats were controlling most statewide elections.

Flanders retired to his Ben Alva plantation in Lafayette Parish. He died there in 1896. He was interred at Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans.

References

1. John D. Winters, The Civil War in Louisiana, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1963, ISBN 0-8071-0834-0, pp. 133-134

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• National Governor's Association biography
• State of Louisiana - Biography