Wade O. Martin, Sr.

Wade Omer Martin, Sr. (March 4, 1885 -- August 10, 1956) was a Louisiana planter, educator, and politician allied with the Huey Pierce Long, Jr., faction of the Democratic Party. Martin's longest tenure was on the Louisiana Public Service Commission (PSC) (District 2) for 24 years, beginning with his election in 1932. After Long's assassination, Martin attempted to run for governor in 1935 but was unable to mount a serious campaign.

Martin was born in Arnaudville in St. Landry Parish to Dr. G.W. Martin and the former Ida Gilbeau. He attended public schools and Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He organized the LSU Dramatic Club, edited the yearbook, the "Gumbo", and was assistant editor of the student newspaper, the "Reveille". He worked for the United States Department of Agriculture and was later a teacher and a coach. He also managed a large plantation and operated a sawmill.

In 1912, at the age of twenty-seven, he was elected sheriff of St. Martin Parish. He served two terms until 1920. He was elected again for two terms in 1924 and 1928, when he also supported Huey Long for governor. As sheriff, Martin hired Drauzin Angelle as chief deputy, a position that Angelle held from 1924 until his death in 1958. Angelle became a political power broker in St. Martin Parish through the chief deputy's position.

Martin left the sheriff's office when he was elected to the rate-fixing PSC, while simultaneously as vice president and then president of the National Association of Railway and Utilities Commission (1942-1944). He was known for his interest in flood control and was chairman of Louisiana Flood Control and Waterway Conservation from 1930 until his death. He was also an officer of the Mississippi Valley Flood Control Association. He was chairman of the National Commission on Use of Waterways and the Vermilion Navigation Association. He supported the dredging of the Intracoastal Canal for Louisiana and Texas.

Martin, Sr., played a role in getting his son, Wade O. Martin, Jr., elected secretary of state in the 1943-1944 election cycle. After Martin, Sr.'s, death, Earl Long quarrelled with Martin, Jr., a conservative, and, with legislative concurrence, removed the voting machine and insurance sections of the secretary of state's office to separate departments.

On April 24, 1907, Martin married the former Alice Mills, the daughter of Patrick Mills and the former Justine Fanguy. The couple had two sons and two daughters. Wade O. Martin, Jr. (1911-1990), was the Louisiana secretary of state from 1944-1976. Dr. Murphy Martin (born 1914) was the public health officer for St. Martin, Iberia, and Lafayette parishes. First-born Leona Martin of St. Martinville (January 31, 1908 - October 26, 2000) was married to James E. Guirard (also born 1908), and Jeanne Martin of Baton Rouge (August 17, 1915 - October 23, 2002) was the wife of Douglass Svendson (1908-1963).

Martin was a member of the St. Martin de Tours Catholic Church in St. Martinville and the Catholic men's organization, the Knights of Columbus. He and Mrs. Martin are interred in St. Francis Regis Catholic Cemetery in Arnaudville.

On Martin's death, Governor Earl Kemp Long appointed E. P. Roy, Sr., as the interim commissioner. Then former state Senator Ernest S. Clements of Oberlin in Allen Parish was elected to the first of his three terms on the PSC in the 1956 Democratic primary.

References

"Wade O. Martin, Sr.," "A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography" (1988), pp. 553-554

William J. "Bill" Dodd, "Peapatch Politics: the Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics", Baton Rouge: Claitor's, 1991