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Ruffin G. Pleasant
Born in
Shiloh, Louisiana on June 2, 1871 to Benjamin Franklin
Pleasant and Martha Washington Dudy Pleasant, Ruffin G.
Pleasant went to school at Farmersville and Shiloh
before attending Ruston College in 1886 and Mount
Lebanon College from 1887 until 1889. He studied at
Louisiana State University from 1890 until 1894, and
from there he went to Harvard Summer School in 1895 to
study law. In 1896 he began at Yale Law School,
finishing there in 1897. He also served as an
instructor from 1896 until 1898 at Louisiana State
University. He also studied Louisiana law along with a
general study in law.1
He served as lieutenant-colonel of the First
Louisiana Regiment of Infantry, United States Volunteers
at the outbreak of the Spanish-American War. He was
located at Shreveport after the war and here he
continued to study law. In 1899 he was admitted to the
Louisiana bar; for twenty-five years he was one of the
most notable figures of the Shreveport bar. He served
as Shreveport’s city attorney from 1902 and 1908. He
also served under Judge Walter Guion as the assistant
attorney general. In 1912 he was elected as attorney
general, a position he held until 1916. From that year
until 1920, he served as governor. He was in charge of
all war activities. He retired from his position as
governor and returned to Shreveport for private law
practice. 2
He was a delegate to the Democratic National
Convention of 1916 and in 1924 he was the
delegate-at-large. In 1921 he served as a member of the
Louisiana Constitutional Convention. He died on
September 13, 1937, three years to the day after his
wife, Anne Ector, died. 3
Ruffin’s wife, Anne Ector Pleasant, founded Pleasant
Hall
School in their home at 1703 Highland Avenue where it
still stands. The first class graduated in 1931. After
Anne’s death, her sister, Lucille Johnson, ran the
school.4 The home served as the oldest private
school, which had begun in 1923 after Ruffin’s first
term as governor. It began with kindergarten, and soon
expanded to middle school. 5
References
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