Jacques Dupre

Infobox Governor


order = 8th
office = Governor of Louisiana
term_start = 1830
term_end = 1831
lieutenant = none
predecessor = Armand Beauvais
successor = Andre B. Roman
birth_date = 1773
birth_place = New Orleans, Louisiana
death_date = death date|1846|9|14|mf=y
death_place = Opelousas, Louisiana
party = Whig
spouse = Theototse Roy
religion = Catholic

Jacques Dupre (1773 - September 14, 1846) was a Louisiana State Representative, State Senator and Acting Governor.

Born in New Orleans the eldest son of Laurent Dupre de Terrebonne and Marie Josephe Fontenot, Dupre grew up in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. When he was ten years old, his father died and his mother remarried.

In 1791, he and his brothers received Royal Spanish grants on Bayou Boeuf. The next year Dupre married Theotoste Roy of Pointe Coupee Parish in Opelousas. They raised seven children on a ranch northwest of Opelousas. Beginning in 1815, Dupre served as a Major in the 16th Regiment of the Louisiana Militia. He saw combat at the Battle of New Orleans along with two of his sons.

First elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives in 1816, Dupre was re-elected in 1822 and 1824. In 1828, Dupre was elected to the Louisiana Senate. In 1830, Dupre was chosen as President of the Senate when Governor Pierre Derbigny died and Senate President Armand Beauvais assumed the duties of Acting Governor. When Beauvais resigned two months later, Dupre became Acting Governor. He was the second Acting Governor within the year and there was constitutional crisis over the lack of an elected Governor. The result was that a special election was called in 1831. The dispute over who succeeds the governor in case of his death would not be solved until the office of Lt. Governor was created by a new constitution in 1845.

As governor, Dupre oversaw the incorporation of the first railroad, a canal company and a bayou improvement company, the Merchant’s Insurance Company of New Orleans and a company to granulate sugar by a new process. During his administration there is also a prohibition of further immigration of free persons of color into the state and the expulsion of all those who entered since 1825. Also in 1830, the seat of government returned to New Orleans from Donaldsonville.

Dupre did not run for Governor in 1831 and when Andre B. Roman was elected, Dupre returned to the State Senate where he served 16 more years.

On September 14, 1846, Dupre died and was buried in Opelousas.

External links

* [http://www.la-cemeteries.com/Governors/Dupre,%20Jacques/Dupre,%20Jacques.shtml Cemetery Memorial] by La-Cemeteries

ources

* [http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/tabid/366/Default.aspx Secretary of State of Louisiana]