Pierre Caliste Landry (April 19, 1841 – December 22, 1921) was an American born into slavery, who went on to become an attorney,

Methodist Episcopal The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself nationally. In 1939, th ...

minister, mayor, newspaper editor, and state legislator in

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. He was elected in 1868 as mayor of

Donaldsonville Donaldsonville (historically ) is a city in, and the parish seat of Ascension Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located along the River Road of the west bank of the Mississippi River, it is a part of the Baton Rouge metropolitan statistic ...

, making him the first African American to be elected mayor in the United States ( Monroe Baker had been appointed mayor of

St. Martinville, Louisiana St. Martinville ()Jack A. Reynolds. "St. Martinville" entry i"Louisiana Placenames of Romance Origin."LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses #7852. 1942. p. 480. is a city in and the parish seat of St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, United States. I ...

in 1867 by governor Benjamin Flanders).

Biography

Early life and education

Pierre Caliste Landry was born into slavery in 1841 on the Prevost sugar cane plantation in

Ascension Parish Ascension Parish (; ) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 126,500. Its parish seat is Donaldsonville. The parish was created in 1807. Ascension Parish is part of the Baton Rouge metr ...

, the son of Marcelite Prevost, an enslaved cook, and Roseman Landry, a white laborer. The plantation had one of the largest slave populations devoted to

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

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.Shannon Burrell, "Dunn-Landry Family"
, Amistad Research Center. Tulane University He was also raised

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, first educated in the faith by Fr. Arnaud, whom he identified as a

free person of color In the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, free people of color (; ) were primarily people of mixed African, European, and Native American descent who were not enslaved. However, the term also applied to people born free who we ...

Marriage and family

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. His son

L. B. Landry Lord Beaconsfield Landry (1878 – 1934), commonly known as L. B. Landry, was an American physician, civic leader, teacher, newspaper columnist, and vocalist. He was African American, and lived in the Algiers neighborhood in New Orleans, Louisiana ...

(1878–1934) was a noted physician, and community activist in New Orleans.

Career

By the end of the Civil War, Landry had married and converted to the

faith. He moved with his family to

, which became known for having the third-largest black community in the state. In the postwar years, many

freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their owners), emancipation (granted freedom as part of a larger group), or self- ...

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 The Reconstruction era was a period in History of the United States, US history that followed the American Civil War (1861-65) and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of the Abolitionism in the United States, abol ...

, Landry was elected mayor of

Donaldsonville, Louisiana Donaldsonville (historically ) is a city in, and the parish seat of Ascension Parish, Louisiana, Ascension Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located along the River Road of the west bank of the Mississippi River, it is a part of the Baton ...

, 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. He became influential in the Republican Party, establishing the Black Republicans faction and winning election to the

Louisiana House of Representatives The Louisiana House of Representatives (; ) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This chamber is composed of 105 representatives, each of whom represents approximately 4 ...

in 1872 by a large margin. His bill was passed to establish

New Orleans University New Orleans University was a historically black college that operated between 1869 and 1935 in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It was founded by Freedmen's Aid Society and the Methodist Episcopal Church. It merged with Straight College in ...

, which became the third Black private college in Louisiana. In 1874, Landry was elected to the

Louisiana State Senate The Louisiana State Senate (; ) is the upper house of Louisiana’s legislature. Senators serve four-year terms and participate in various committees. Composition The Louisiana State Senate has 39 members elected from single-member districts ...

, serving until 1880. The Reconstruction legislature authorized public education for the first time and established a funding mechanism; it also supported a variety of public welfare institutions. In 1878 Landry was called as minister of St. Peter's Church. He became more involved in church affairs and was elected presiding elder of the Baton Rouge District in 1881. Four years later, he was elected presiding elder of the Shreveport District, where he had moved. In 1889 he became pastor of St Paul Methodist Episcopal Church in Shreveport. He regularly attended the annual conferences of the church, and in 1891 was elected to its highest position, as a Presiding Elder of the South New Orleans District.

Death

Landry died in 1921.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Landry, Pierre Caliste 1841 births 1921 deaths 19th-century American lawyers African-American mayors in Louisiana 19th-century American slaves Republican Party Louisiana state senators Republican Party members of the Louisiana House of Representatives People from Donaldsonville, Louisiana Mayors of places in Louisiana 20th-century African-American politicians 19th-century African-American lawyers African-American state legislators in Louisiana 19th-century members of the Louisiana State Legislature African-American politicians during the Reconstruction Era