Perry Polk Keith, Sr. (October 20, 1847 – February 6, 1935), was a
planter, developer, and a member of the
Louisiana House of Representatives
The Louisiana House of Representatives (french: link=no, Chambre des Représentants de Louisiane) 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 repr ...
who was the co-founder and namesake of the
unincorporated community of
Keithville
Keithville is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies to the south of Shreveport, Louisiana, Shreveport along U.S. Route 171. Although unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP c ...
outside
Shreveport
Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population o ...
in
Caddo Parish
Caddo Parish ( French: ''Paroisse de Caddo'') is a parish located in the northwest corner of the U.S. state of Louisiana. According to the 2020 U.S. census, the parish had a population of 237,848. The parish seat is Shreveport, which developed a ...
in northwestern
Louisiana.
Keithville came into existence when two railroads met on Keith properties in the early 1880s, the
Texas and Pacific (T&P) and the Houston-Shreveport, later part of the
Southern Pacific
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
.
[Perry Polk Keith: Caddo Pioneer, former Member of Legislature, Noted for Strong Qualities, '' Shreveport Times'', February 7, 1935, p. 1]
Background
Keith was born near
Macon, Georgia
Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of Geo ...
but settled in Caddo Parish when he was three months old with his parents, Henry David Keith and the former Mary Jones. On February 23, 1871, he married the former Narcissa Miller of Caddo Parish, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. I. W. Miller.
[ Their children were William Henry Keith (1875-1951), Daniel Wesley Keith (1875-1929), Perry P. Keith, Jr. (1877-1941), David Keith (Perry's twin who died in infancy), Mary Slaughter Keith (1880-1931, never married), James Hardy Keith (born and died in 1883), Anna Beulah Keith Darby Cranfield (1885-1966, remarried after death of first husband) of Plaquemine, Louisiana, and Ray Cleveland Keith (died soon after birth in 1889).]
Political career
A Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
, Keith served in the state house from 1912 to 1928. In his first term from 1912 to 1916, he served alongside David B. Samuel, later a long-term Shreveport city judge, and Lee Emmett Thomas
Lee may refer to:
Name
Given name
* Lee (given name), a given name in English
Surname
* Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee:
** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname
** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese s ...
, the Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Caddo Parish and later from 1922 to 1930 the mayor of Shreveport
Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population o ...
.
As a legislator, the taciturn Keith is believed to have made no speeches on the House floor during his entire tenure. Instead he became a "cue giver" whose judgment affected the votes of many of his colleagues on controversial issues. As chairman of the House Finance Committee during the administration of Governor John M. Parker
John Milliken Parker, Sr. (March 16, 1863 – May 20, 1939), was an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician from Louisiana, who served as the state's List of Governors of Louisiana, 37th Governor from 1920 to 1924. ...
from 1920 to 1924, Keith worked to maintain state finances on a sound footing and to treat all state agencies and commissions with fairness in regard to budgetary constraints.[
Prior to his legislative years, Keith served eight years each on the Caddo Parish School Board and the parish governing body called the "police jury," since revamped as the Caddo Parish Commission.][
]
Personal life
The Methodist Keith donated the land for construction of what is now the Keithville United Methodist Church at 11145 Old Mansfield Road. Construction was begun in 1904 by Tom Hudnall, and the first service was held on October 4 of that year. The dedication took place in December 1905. The church installed a brass bell in its steeple. Originally used on a locomotive, the bell came from a plantation in Coushatta in Red River Parish
Red River Parish ( French: ''Paroisse de la Rivière-Rouge'') is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 9,091, making it the fourth-least populous parish in Louisiana. Its seat is Coushatta. ...
. Keith was also active in the Masonic lodge, the Shriners
Shriners International, formally known as the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (AAONMS), is an American Masonic society established in 1870 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida.
Shriners International describes itself ...
, and Woodmen of the World.[
Keith died at the age of eighty-seven after an illness of more than three months. Death came in the same modest house in which he had lived since 1854, when he was seven years of age. Services were held at the Keith residence, with ministers from Shreveport and ]Grand Cane
Grand Cane is a village in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 242 at the 2010 census, up from 191 in 2000. It is part of the Shreveport– Bossier City Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is the hometown of women's bas ...
officiating. Interment was at Keithville Cemetery.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keith, Perry
1847 births
1935 deaths
Democratic Party members of the Louisiana House of Representatives
Politicians from Macon, Georgia
People from Keithville, Louisiana
American planters
American city founders
Methodists from Louisiana
Louisiana local politicians
School board members in Louisiana