Stephen B. Packard
| Stephen B. Packard | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 27th Governor of Louisiana | |
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In office January 8, 1877 – April 24, 1877 |
|
| Lieutenant | Caesar Antoine |
| Preceded by | William P. Kellogg |
| Succeeded by | Francis T. Nicholls |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
April 25, 1839 Auburn, Maine |
| Died | January 31, 1922 (aged 82) |
| Political party | Republican |
Stephen Bennett Packard (April 25, 1839 – January 31, 1922), a native of Maine, emerged as an important Republican politician in Louisiana during the era of Reconstruction. He was the unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1876.
A captain in the Union Army during the American Civil War, Packard was appointed United States marshal in New Orleans in 1871 during the administration of U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant. He emerged as a leader of what was called the "Customhouse Ring", a faction of the Republican Party opposed to Governor Henry Clay Warmoth. By 1872 Warmoth had allied with anti-Grant Republicans and some Democrats, supporting election of Democratic candidate John McEnery.
In 1872, Packard directed the successful gubernatorial campaign of Republican William Pitt Kellogg. Packard supported the impeachment of outgoing Governor Warmoth. A Returning Board appointed by Warmoth certified McEnery as victor, but the Republicans, outraged by election violence and fraud, appointed their own Returning Board. Both parties claimed victory. The legislature impeached Warmoth as governor, on charges of having sold the election. Packard obtained federal recognition of the African American P.B.S. Pinchback as acting governor for the thirty-five days left in Warmoth's term. Kellogg was ultimately recognized by President Grant as the legitimate authority in charge, but violence related to the election resulted in 80-150 deaths of blacks in the Colfax Massacre of 1873, and the paramilitary White League takeover of the state buildings in New Orleans in September 1874, at the cost of nearly 100 casualties among city police and militia. Federal troops restored order for a time, but in January 1875 the Democrats started meeting separately as a legislature at the Odd Fellows Hall.
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