Theophile T. Allain (October 1, 1846 – February 2, 1917) was a member of the
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature (french: Législature d'État de Louisiane) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is a bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 represen ...
in the 1870s and 1880s. His politics focused on education and development and he was instrumental in the updating of
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
levee
A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually soil, earthen and that often runs parallel (geometry), parallel to ...
s in the 1880s. Later in his life he moved to
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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and he remained active in civil rights. He was, for a time, the wealthiest black person in Louisiana.Senator T. T. Allain Dead, The Kansas City Sun (Kansas City, Missouri), February 17, 1917, page 1, accessed September 12, 2016 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6605565/senator_t_t_allain_dead_the_kansas/
Early life
Theophile Terrence Allain was born a slave on October 1, 1846 on the Australian Plantation,
West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana
West Baton Rouge Parish (french: Paroisse de Bâton Rouge Ouest) is one of the sixty-four parishes in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Established in 1807, its parish seat is Port Allen. With a 2020 census population of 27,199 residents, West Baton ...
. His father was a wealthy plantation owner named Sosthene Allain and was owner of Theophile and his mother.Simmons, William J., and Henry McNeal Turner. Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising. GM Rewell & Company, 1887. p208-230 Allain served as valet and body-servant of his master.Theophile T. Allain, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana), August 5, 1886, page 3 (originally from the New York Star, July 30), accessed September 12, 2016 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6605388/theophile_t_allain_the_timespicayune/ Sosthene was affectionate to the youth, allowing Theophile to eat at his table and taking Theophile to Europe. When Allain was ten, he traveled to
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
with his father where he attended school. Allain occasionally went by the nickname "Soulouque". At one point in the 1850s, Allain was travelling to France to meet his master. Crowds gathered at the port to meet him, believing him to be the Haitian leader,
Faustin Soulouque
Faustin-Élie Soulouque (15 August 1782 – 3 August 1867) was a Haitian politician and military commander who served as President of Haiti from 1847 to 1849 and Emperor of Haiti from 1849 to 1859.
Soulouque was a general in the Haitian Army w ...
. In 1859, back in Louisiana, he entered school again, and in 1868 he attended a private school in
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat, seat of government of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Iberville, where he remained until 1873. He next invested in sugar and rice cultivation and became owner of his father's plantation. He also was successful in the shipping industry, particularly with sugar, syrup, molasses, and rice.
Louisiana politics
Working closely with
P. B. S. Pinchback
Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback (May 10, 1837 – December 21, 1921) was an American publisher, politician, and Union Army officer. Pinchback was the second African American (after Oscar Dunn) to serve as governor and lieutenant governor of a U ...
, Allain entered politics in 1872.Appiah, Kwame Anthony, ed. ''Africana: The encyclopedia of the African and African American experience''. Oxford University Press, 2005, pp. 171–172. Allain was elected to 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 ...
from 1872 to 1874 and from 1879 to 1886. He was a member of the
state Senate
A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...
from 1875 to 1878. As a legislator, he represented the 14th district. In 1879, he was a member of the constitutional convention. As a Republican legislator, he advocated for the interests of farm labor, especially black labor, stating "that labor and capital are mutually dependent upon each other". He also pushed to repair and build levees on the Mississippi, which he framed as a measure to protect the laborer as well as an important factor in economic prosperity along the Mississippi River. He was frequently associated with educational causes and with
Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...
. In 1886, he secured $14,000 in a bill for the foundation of
Southern University
Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is the largest historically black college or university (HBCU) in Louisiana, a ...
, and along with Pinchback and
Henry Demas
Henry Demas (1848–1900) was an enslaved African American who became a constable, state legislator, civil rights activist, and organizer of Southern University in Louisiana during the Reconstruction era.
Early life
Demas was born into slavery o ...
is considered a founder of that University. He was the first person after the US Civil War to organize integrated public schools in Baton Rouge.
In 1880, Allain, along with representative Zachary Taylor Young, led the opposition to a bill to modify Article 527 of the state constitution. This Article required unanimity in jury verdicts, and the modification of the bill would require only nine jurors to agree, which would make criminal convictions easier for prosecutors and would increase the number of black convicts. The amendment was led by representatives Henry Heidenhain and John S. Billiu and critics of the bill saw it as an effort to re-enslave Louisianan blacks. However, the bill passed the House in February and the Senate in April.
Move to Chicago and death
In 1887, Allain was accused of corruption and lost his standing in the party and his seat in the legislature. In the early 1890s, his plantation began to fail, and he eventually sold it and moved to Chicago in about 1893. He held several minor public positions, and continued to advocate for civil rights in local and national organizations. In 1900 he was a part of the
National Afro-American Council
The National Afro-American Council was the first nationwide civil rights organization in the United States, created in 1898 in Rochester, New York. Before its dissolution a decade later, the Council provided both the first national arena for disc ...
meetings in
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
.Plans to Hold Colored Vote, The Inter Ocean (Chicago, Illinois), September 3, 1900, page 4, Accessed September 12, 2016 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6605545/plans_to_hold_colored_vote_the_inter/
He was married to Aline Coleman and had six children. He was a member of the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. He died February 2, 1917 in Chicago. His funeral was held at St. Monica's Catholic Church.