Pierre Caliste Landry
| Pierre Caliste Landry | |
|---|---|
| Mayor of Donaldsonville | |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
April 19, 1841 Prevost sugar cane plantation, Ascension Parish |
| Died | April 22, 1921 (aged 80) |
| Nationality | American |
| Denomination | Methodist Episcopal |
| Parents | Marcelite Prevost, Roseman Landry |
| Spouse | Amanda Grigsby |
| Children | 12 |
Pierre Caliste Landry (April 19, 1841 – December 22, 1921) was a former slave, attorney, Methodist Episcopal minister, and politician in Louisiana. He is best remembered for being elected in 1868 as mayor of Donaldsonville, making him the first African American to be elected mayor in the United States.
Pierre Caliste Landry was born into slavery in 1841 on the Prevost sugar cane plantation in Ascension Parish, the son of Marcelite Prevost, a slave and cook, and Roseman Landry, a white laborer. The plantation had one of the largest slave populations devoted to sugar cultivation in the state.
Landry was sold at auction, at age 13, to the Bringier family, which owned 35,000 acres on various plantations. He was likely purchased as the property of Louis Amedée Bringier, who was born on and had inherited the Hermitage Plantation in Ascension Parish (other Bringier plantations were located in St. James Parish).
Landry was educated in the plantation's primary and technical schools. He was also tutored by the ministers W.D. Goodman and A.L. Atkinson.
Landry married Amanda Grigsby, with whom he had twelve children. After her death, he married Florence Simpkins, and they had another two children. Many of their children continued their parents' commitment to education and the church.
By the end of the Civil War, Landry had married. He moved with his family to Donaldsonville, which became known for having the third-largest black community in the state. In the postwar years, many freedmen were migrating from rural areas to towns in order to establish their own communities, trades, and businesses independent of white supervision. They also found more safety in their own communities.
In 1868, during the Reconstruction Era, Landry was elected mayor of Donaldsonville, Louisiana, the first African American in the United States to achieve this distinction. He also founded St. Peter's Methodist Episcopal Church and became active in local community affairs on many levels. He served as an elected judge, superintendent of schools, tax collector, president of the police jury, parish school board member, postmaster, and as justice of the peace.
...
Wikipedia