Emile La Sére (1802 – August 14, 1882) was a member of the

U. S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of the ...

representing the first district in the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. He served three terms as 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 (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Early life

Le Sére was born on

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

. His family moved to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

in 1805, where Le Sére was raised and educated. Some sources indicate that he attended the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

or Transylvania College as a contemporary of

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the only President of the Confederate States of America, president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the Unite ...

, but there is no record that he intended either. Le Sére was well-trained for a career in business, and is known to have been fluent in English, French, and Spanish. After completing his education, Le Sére worked as a clerk in

Jackson, Louisiana Jackson is a town in East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 3,842 at the 2010 U.S. census, down from 4,130 in 2000; the 2020 population estimates program determined Jackson had a population of 3,707. It is part of ...

and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

mercantile business establishments for several years before returning to New Orleans. A

and political ally of

John Slidell John Slidell (1793July 9, 1871) was an American politician, lawyer, slaveholder, and businessman. Database at A native of New York, Slidell moved to Louisiana as a young man. He was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, U.S. House ...

, among the ventures in which they were interested was publication of the ''Louisiana Courier'' newspaper, which also enabled La Sére to obtain appointment as Louisiana's state printer. In 1840, Le Sére was elected sheriff of the New Orleans Commercial Court, and he served until 1845.

U.S. Representative

In 1846, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in a special election held to fill the vacancy caused by Slidell's resignation. He was elected to two full terms, and served from January 29, 1846 to March 3, 1851 (the 29th, 30th, and 31st Congresses). During the 29th Congress, he was chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Post Office Department.

Later life

When President

Antonio López de Santa Anna Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón (21 February 1794 – 21 June 1876),Callcott, Wilfred H., "Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez De,''Handbook of Texas Online'' Retrieved 18 April 2017. often known as Santa Anna, wa ...

returned to power in Mexico in 1853,

Benito Juárez Benito Pablo Juárez García (; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) was a Mexican politician, military commander, and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. A Zapotec peoples, Zapotec, he w ...

went into exile in New Orleans. Le Sére hosted Juárez for two years, until Santa Anna's 1855 resignation enabled him to return to Mexico. During the administration of President

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. A northern Democratic Party (United States), Democrat who believed that the Abolitionism in the United States, abolitio ...

, he served as disbursing agent for the

New Orleans Mint The New Orleans Mint () operated in New Orleans, Louisiana, as a branch mint (facility), mint of the United States Mint from 1838 to 1861 and from 1879 to 1909. During its years of operation, it produced over 427 million gold and silver coins ...

. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, Le Sére served in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

, first as

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

of the 10th Louisiana Regiment, and later as chief quartermaster of the Trans-Mississippi Department. In 1864, he was appointed the Confederacy's commercial agent in Mexico. Le Sére was a delegate to numerous local, county, state, and national Democratic conventions and served as chairman of Louisiana's Democratic State central committee for more than fifteen years. Among his post-war ventures was serving as president of the Tehuantepec Railroad Company in Mexico.

Death and burial

Le Sére died in New Orleans on August 14, 1882. He was buried at Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans. Le Sére never married, and had no children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:La Sere, Emile 1802 births 1882 deaths Haitian emigrants to the United States Confederate States Army officers People of Louisiana in the American Civil War Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives