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C.C. Antoine
Caesar
Carpentier Antoine was born in 1836 in New Orleans to a
veteran of War of 1812, who had fought the British in
the Battle of New Orleans. His mother was a West Indies
native, whose father, an African chief, saw his parents
taken away as slaves. 1 His grandmother, Rose Gorrone
Antoine, was brought to America as a slave, but later
bought her freedom; moreover, when she died, she left
her seven children over $20,000 each. 2
He spent his childhood in New Orleans, where
he attended private schools and became fluent in English
and French. After graduation, he became a barber, one
of the few trades open to blacks at the time. In 1862
Federal troops captured Baton Rouge, and in that year
Antoine established a colored company, which became
known as Company I, 7th Louisiana Colored Regiment,
Corps d’Afrique. He served as the captain of the
company, participating in minor engagements through the
end of the Civil War. He moved to Shreveport and opened
a grocery store; however, his business tactics and
public support allowed him to enter into politics. 3
During
Reconstruction two black delegates from Caddo Parish
attended the Louisiana Constitutional Convention of
1867-1868, and one of these was C. C. Antoine. 4-5 He
later won an election to the state Senate and sponsored
a bill that established a mayor/council form of
government in Shreveport. In 1869 Antoine sponsored the
bill that established the first Charity Hospital in
Shreveport. In 1871 Antoine was the sponsor of the
legislation that led to the incorporation of Shreveport
as a city. He also oversaw the construction of the first
police department. In 1872 the first city hall was
constructed at the corner of Milam and Lafayette Streets
under his supervision. 6-7 He served on the state
Senate from 1868 until 1872. He then participated in the
committees of commerce and manufactures and education in
the Senate. He pushed for the state to support public
education, and in 1875 he became a member of the School
Board of Caddo Parish. 8
In 1872
he was nominated as Louisiana’s lieutenant governor and
served under Governor William Pitt Kellogg from that
year until 1876, making him one of three blacks in
Louisiana elected to this position. 9-11 He was
re-nominated in 1876 for this position under Governor
Stephen B. Packard, but the government fell when the
federal troops were removed in 1877. 12 Antoine was
Louisiana’s last black man to serve as lieutenant
governor. 13 He advocated tax reforms, petitioned
Congress for an extension of the Freedmen’s Bureau, and
wanted an extensive Bill of Rights. 14
In 1876 he served as the acting governor. 15
Antoine invested in railroad and lottery
stocks, and he also raised race horses. He co-owned the
semi-weekly newspaper,
Louisiana,
with Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback, and in 1880 he
served as the president of the Cosmopolitan Life
Insurance Company. 16-17 By his death, he owned several
city lots, a residence on Perrin Street valued at
$1,300, and a 960-acre plantation in the Flournoy-Lucas
area, now the site of the General Electric Plant. 18 His
house at 1914 Perrin Street in the Allendale district of
Shreveport is the only one of Antoine’s several houses
to still be standing. 19 It was added to the National
Register of Historic Places on August 20, 1999. 20
C. C.
Antoine died in September of 1921 in his house on Perrin
Street at the age of eighty-five. 21 Funeral services
were held at what is now St. Paul’s United Methodist
Church. 22 He was buried in Bethlehem Missionary Baptist
Church cemetery on West 70th Street. His grave was
unmarked for several years before a simple white stone
was placed on it. 23
In 1982 the eight-acre park in the 1700
block of Milam Street was dedicated as the C. C. Antoine
Park. 24-25 A six-foot monument, listing his
accomplishments, stands in the park. 26 The C. C.
Antoine Lodge No. 185 was named also for him. 27
References
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