David Theophilus Stafford

David Theophilus Stafford (September 12, 1849 January 18, 1926) was a planter, businessman, and sheriff of Rapides Parish in Central Louisiana, a position which he held from 1888 to 1904.

David Theophilus Stafford.
Sheriff of Rapides Parish, Louisiana
In office
1888–1904
Personal details
Born(1849-09-12)September 12, 1849
Cheneyville, Rapides Parish, Louisiana, USA
DiedJanuary 18, 1926(1926-01-18) (aged 76)
Alexandria, Louisiana
Resting placeRapides Cemetery in Pineville, Louisiana
NationalityAmerican
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Amy Blanchard Graham (married 1874–1926, his death)
RelationsGrove Stafford (nephew)
Charlton Lyons (cousin)
ChildrenEleven children
ParentsConfederate Brigadier General Leroy Augustus Stafford
Sarah Catherine Wright Stafford
Alma materLouisiana Seminary of Learning
OccupationFarmer

businessman

law-enforcement officer

Biography

Stafford was born at Edgefield Plantation near Cheneyville, Louisiana, south of Alexandria in southern Rapides Parish, to Leroy Augustus Stafford and the former Sarah Catherine Wright, the daughter of Dr. Jesse D. Wright and the former Sarah R. Grimball. He was educated locally and then at the Louisiana Seminary of Learning, the forerunner to what became Louisiana State University. His father, a brigadier general in the Confederate Army, was mortally wounded in May 1864 in the Battle of the Wilderness in Virginia. Living in Alexandria, he established the firm Stafford and Cullen, a steamboat and warehouse concern. During Reconstruction, he emerged as a member of the white supremacist organization, the Knights of the White Camelia and as a Democrat opposed the Republican Party. He subsequently joined the Citizens League and was on Canal Street in New Orleans during unrest there on September 14, 1874.[1]

On December 30, 1874, Stafford was married at the Tyrone Plantation to Amy Blanchard Graham (1853–1940), the daughter of George Mason Graham and the former Mary Eliza Wilkinson. The couple had eleven children[2] and relocated in 1876 to the Montrose Plantation in Rapides Parish, at which he engaged in farming until his election as sheriff in 1888. After sixteen years as sheriff, he was appointed in 1904 by Governor Newton C. Blanchard as the Louisiana adjutant general. He was retained for a second term in that office in 1908 by Blanchard's successor, incoming Governor Jared Y. Sanders, Sr.[1]

Stafford died at the age of seventy-six in Alexandria and is interred at Rapides Cemetery in Pineville, Louisiana.[3]

References

  1. "David Theophilus Stafford". Louisiana Historical Association. Archived from the original on July 16, 2016. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  2. The Stafford children were as follows: George Mason Graham Stafford, II, M.D. (1876–1958) of Baton Rouge, Leroy Augustus, I (born 1877); Catharine (born 1878), Eleanor (born 1880), Duncan (born 1881), Thomas (born 1882), Donald (born 1884), David (born 1886), Marion (born 1888), Leroy Augustus, II (born 1890), Margaret (born 1891), and Amy Seip (1893–1984).
  3. "Gen. David Theophilus Stafford". findagrave.com. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
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