William J. Behan

William J. Behan (September 25, 1840 – May 4, 1928) was an American Confederate veteran and politician. A military, business, and political leader, he served as the 41st mayor of New Orleans (November 20, 1882 – April 28, 1884).

Early life and education

William James Behan was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on September 25, 1840, to his Irish immigrant parents, John Holland Behan and Katherine (Walker) Behan who settled in New Orleans about 1835. The father, prominent as an architect and builder, and active in real estate circles, died in Philadelphia in 1890.

William was the eldest of three boys, William J., Frank, and Isaac D. With deep family ties to the city, Behan was destined from a young age to live out his days in the area. He received a liberal education at the Western Military Institute in Nashville, Tennessee, and the University of Louisiana (now known as Tulane University) of New Orleans.

Behan became Captain of the Mistick Krewe of Comus.

Career

The Civil War absorbed his years as a young man. He enlisted as a sergeant in the Washington Artillery of the Confederate States Army of his native city, although he had been offered a captaincy in the infantry, in order to fight in company with his schoolmates and friends in an outfit composed of young man in New Orleans. The battles of Bull Run and Manassas were his introductions to warfare, and the surrender at Appomattox his last one. His command was attached to the Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee. He participated in all the campaigns of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, where the fighting was hot. At the close of the war, Behan was a lieutenant.

He became a major in the CSA.

Mustered out, he returned to New Orleans and set himself to work building up his own and the city's fortunes. His first position was as a clerk. He then entered the wholesale grocery business with Herman Zuberbier, under the firm name of Zuberbier & Behan, having bought out the interest of Mr. Schneider in the firm of Schneider & Zuberbier, which had been established about 1845. As the enterprise flourished, the partners organized the Crescent Jute Mills, manufacturing jute bagging. Behan retired from these enterprises when his partner died in 1903. Meantime, in 1875, they had bought the Alhambra Plantation in Iberville Parish, Louisiana, situated on the Mississippi River, and the Granada Plantation, of which Behan became the sole owner in 1903, disposing of them just previous to World War I. He was one of the best known sugar planters of the South, and his Alhambra plantation was equipped with all the modern improvements known to that industry. He was in his active days director of several banks, and president of the Crescent City Railway Company, and vice-president of the New Orleans City and Lake Railway Company.

During Reconstruction, he endeavored to defend the rights of his fellow-citizens against the inroads of carpetbaggers, and, commissioned general and second in command, he deposed the usurpers in the battle of September 14, 1874, thus bringing to the State a new era of progress. He was appointed major general of the newly reorganized State National Guard and served from 1874 to 1882. Behan headed the implementation of the Crescent City White League. This paramilitary group consisted of Confederate veterans who sought to keep Republicans from taking office. It was described by many to be the "Military arm of the Democratic Party.

Behan's involvement in the formation of this led to his nomination from the Democratic Party for the Mayor of New Orleans. He won in what is considered a landslide political victory in the 1882 election. He became the first Mayor in the new city charter which was constructed in the post-war process. In 1884, after two years in office, Behan lost his incumbent position in what is considered to be an travesty to the Democratic selection. The popular vote in the election was thrown out and was deemed inconclusive, and the decision was made by a "Ring" of influential politicians. He was then ousted by fellow Democrat J. Valsin Guillotte. Outraged by this decision, Behan left the party and joined the Republicans. In 1904, Behand ran as the Republican candidate for governor of Louisiana, but was thoroughly defeated by Democrat Newton Blanchard. After the defeat, he stated that he would never strive to be Mayor of New Orleans for the rest of his life.

He was elected a member of the State Senate, holding office from 1888 to 1892. When the Louisiana Division of the United Confederate Veterans' Association was formed in 1889, Behan was chosen major-general and served for two terms.

He served as chairman of the Republican State Executive Committee and as delegate to the National conventions of 1896, 1900, 1904, 1908, and 1912.

During World War I, he represented New Orleans, Louisiana, and the United States as commissioner to France to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the founding of Louisiana by the French. At this time, 1917, he toured the battlefronts of the Aisne and Somme sectors, under the guidance of an artillery officer who was a descendant of Lafayette, a very delicate courtesy of the French Government. When he returned to the U.S., Behan was active in work for the Red Cross and Liberty loans.

Since 1905, he served as commander of the Washington Artillery Veterans' Association, president of the Pickwick Club, and first vice-president of the Louisiana Historical Society. He was a member of the Southern Yacht Club, the Jockey Club and the French Opera Association.

Personal life

In 1865, Behan married Kate Walker, born in New Orleans, daughter of William Walker. The couple had two daughters: Bessie (later, Mrs. Lewis); and Katherine. (later, Mrs. André Dreux).

Behan died May 4, 1928, on Jackson Avenue at his home in New Orleans.

References

Sources

* "Administrations of the Mayors of New Orleans: Behan." Administrations of the Mayors of New Orleans: Behan. Louisiana Division, New Orleans Public Library, 19 Nov. 2002. Web. 26 Feb. 2013.
* Current, Richard N. The Confederacy: Selections from the Four-volume Simon & Schuster Encyclopedia of the Confederacy. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 1998. Print.
* Hirsch, Arnold R., and Joseph Logsdon. "The People And Culture of New Orleans" New Orleans Online, n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2013.
* Miller, Mike. Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Louisiana 2 (1997): 279-80.USGW Archives. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.
* "Mrs. William J. Behan Obituary." Louisiana Research Collection ew Orleans1920: n. pag. Print.
* Nystrom, Justin A. New Orleans after the Civil War: Race, Politics, and a New Birth of Freedom. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins UP, 2010. Print.
* Solomon, Clara, and Elliott Ashkenazi. The Civil War Diary of Clara Solomon: Growing up in New Orleans, 1861-1862. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 1995. Print.
* United States of America. New Orleans. Office of the Mayor. Mayor Records 1862-1920. N.p.:Print.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Behan, William J.
1840 births
1928 deaths
Mayors of New Orleans
Confederate States Army officers
19th-century mayors of places in Louisiana
People from New Orleans
American people of Irish descent