Changes

Batton's father, J. B. Batton, a native of [[rural]] Dubberly in south Webster Parish,<ref name=jbbgrave>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/122605540|title=James Bryant Batton|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=September 12, 2014}}</ref> was a former Webster Parish deputy sheriff, a two-term Minden police chief,<ref name="Minden Herald 1947, p. 1">''Minden Herald'', October 24, 1947, p. 1.</ref> and an unsuccessful candidate for sheriff in an all-Democratic [[special election]] conducted on June 6, 1933. Held barely a month after a devastating [[tornado]] struck the city on May 1, the election was required to replace Sheriff Arthur Montgomery Hough (1873-1933), who died on May 7 of [[influenza]].<ref>"Parish Pays Final Tribute to Sheriff Hough Monday", ''Minden Signal-Tribune'', May 9, 1933, p. 1.</ref>​

Batton's father, J. B. Batton, a native of [[rural]] Dubberly in south Webster Parish,<ref name=jbbgrave>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/122605540|title=James Bryant Batton|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=September 12, 2014}}</ref> was a former Webster Parish deputy sheriff, a two-term Minden police chief,<ref name="Minden Herald 1947, p. 1">''Minden Herald'', October 24, 1947, p. 1.</ref> and an unsuccessful candidate for sheriff in an all-Democratic [[special election]] conducted on June 6, 1933. Held barely a month after a devastating [[tornado]] struck the city on May 1, the election was required to replace Sheriff Arthur Montgomery Hough (1873-1933), who died on May 7 of [[influenza]].<ref>"Parish Pays Final Tribute to Sheriff Hough Monday", ''Minden Signal-Tribune'', May 9, 1933, p. 1.</ref>​

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As the chief deputy under Sheriff Hough, the senior O. H. Haynes won the special election in which 80 percent of registered voters cast ballots. His bare majority, 50.8 percent of the vote, negated the need for a runoff election. The runner-up in the race, with 22.2 percent, was Louie A. Jones (1900-1965),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Jones&GSfn=L&GSmn=A&GSbyrel=all&GSdy=1965&GSdyrel=in&GSst=20&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=118634849&df=all&|title=Louie A. Jones (1900-1965)|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=September 12, 2014}}</ref> the assistant superintendent of the Louisiana State Police and personal bodyguard of [[Governor]] [[Huey Long|Huey Pierce Long, Jr.]], and subsequently the warden of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola in West Feliciana Parish. Another candidate, J. D. Huckaby, was the president of the Webster Parish Police Jury. J. Bryant Batton finished last in the race with 7.8 percent of the ballots cast; he won a plurality only in Dubberly.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mindenmemories.org/government.htm|title=Echoes of the Past: Sheriff's Race 1933|publisher=''Minden Press-Herald''|author=John A. Agan|accessdate=September 12, 2014}}</ref> Haynes, Sr., held the sheriff's position for nineteen years.<ref name=mindenandperseverance>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=grfQzpojKc4C&pg=PT216&lpg=PT216&dq=J.+D.+Batton&source=bl&ots=4nHeyHMBdu&sig=ff5fMvEbDjxTuYeEMoQGFDR3ADg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=U94EVOecIcjf8AGK3IDgBA&ved=0CDsQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=J.%20D.%20Batton&f=false|title=Minden: Perseverance and Pride|author=John Allison Agan|date=2002|publisher=Arcadia Publishing Company|location=[[Charleston]],[[South Carolina\\|isbn=9781439630532|accessdate=September 1, 2014}}</ref>​

As the chief deputy under Sheriff Hough, the senior O. H. Haynes won the special election in which 80 percent of registered voters cast ballots. His bare majority, 50.8 percent of the vote, negated the need for a runoff election. The runner-up in the race, with 22.2 percent, was Louie A. Jones (1900-1965),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Jones&GSfn=L&GSmn=A&GSbyrel=all&GSdy=1965&GSdyrel=in&GSst=20&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=118634849&df=all&|title=Louie A. Jones (1900-1965)|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=September 12, 2014}}</ref> the assistant superintendent of the Louisiana State Police and personal bodyguard of [[Governor]] [[Huey Long|Huey Pierce Long, Jr.]], and subsequently the warden of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola in West Feliciana Parish. Another candidate, J. D. Huckaby, was the president of the Webster Parish Police Jury. J. Bryant Batton finished last in the race with 7.8 percent of the ballots cast; he won a plurality only in Dubberly.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mindenmemories.org/government.htm|title=Echoes of the Past: Sheriff's Race 1933|publisher=''Minden Press-Herald''|author=John A. Agan|accessdate=September 12, 2014}}</ref> Haynes, Sr., held the sheriff's position for nineteen years.<ref name=mindenandperseverance>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=grfQzpojKc4C&pg=PT216&lpg=PT216&dq=J.+D.+Batton&source=bl&ots=4nHeyHMBdu&sig=ff5fMvEbDjxTuYeEMoQGFDR3ADg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=U94EVOecIcjf8AGK3IDgBA&ved=0CDsQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=J.%20D.%20Batton&f=false|title=Minden: Perseverance and Pride|author=John Allison Agan|date=2002|publisher=Arcadia Publishing Company|location=[[Charleston]],[[South Carolina]]|isbn=9781439630532|accessdate=September 1, 2014}}</ref>​

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==Law enforcement career==​

==Law enforcement career==​

===Minden Police Chief===​

===Minden Police Chief===​

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Like his father, J. D. Batton, was the Minden police chief prior to making his own first run for sheriff.<ref name=crhennigan>Teri Herren, "Deputy C. R. Hennigan: 80-years young and still upholding the law", ''Minden Press-Herald', February 5, 1986.</ref> His brother, [[Jack Batton]], was a [[business]]man and rodeo enthusiast who served on the Minden City Council and as [[mayor]] from 1978 to 1982. At times J. D. Batton was in business with his brother.<ref name=candidacystatement/> In January 1948, while his brother was already a city council member, J. D. Batton lost a race for Webster Parish clerk of court to the incumbent Thomas Jenkins "Tom" Campbell (1895–1968). Batton received 3,037 votes to Campbell's 4,528.<ref>''Minden Herald'', January 23, 1948, p. 1.</ref> Campbell was part of a local political family<ref name="Minden Herald 1947, p. 1"/> whose current members include Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Foster Lonnie Campbell, Jr., and the Bossier-Webster District Attorney [[Schuyler Marvin]].​

Like his father, J. D. Batton, was the Minden police chief prior to making his own first run for sheriff.<ref name=crhennigan>Teri Herren, "Deputy C. R. Hennigan: 80-years young and still upholding the law", ''Minden Press-Herald', February 5, 1986.</ref> His brother, [[Jack Batton]], was a [[business]]man and rodeo enthusiast who served on the Minden City Council and as [[mayor]] from 1978 to 1982. At times J. D. Batton was in business with his brother.<ref name=candidacystatement/> In January 1948, while his brother was already a city council member, J. D. Batton lost a race for Webster Parish clerk of court to the incumbent Thomas Jenkins "Tom" Campbell (1895–1968). Batton received 3,037 votes to Campbell's 4,528.<ref>''Minden Herald'', January 23, 1948, p. 1.</ref> Campbell was part of a local political family<ref name="Minden Herald 1947, p. 1"/> whose current members include Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Foster Lonnie Campbell, Jr., and the Bossier-Webster District Attorney [[Schuyler Marvin]].​

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After Batton's defeat for clerk of court, the position of Minden police chief opened when on March 1, 1948, Benjamin Garey Gantt (1890-1948), an [[Alabama]] native<ref>{{cite web|url=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gl=ROOT_CATEGORY&rank=1&new=1&so=3&MSAV=1&msT=1&gss=ms_f-2_s&gsfn=Benjamin+Gary&gsln=Gantt&msypn__ftp=Minden%2C+Louisiana&cpxt=0&catBucket=rstp&uidh=upc&cp=0|title=Benjamin Geary Gantt|publisher=search.ancestry.com|accessdate=January 24, 2015}}</ref> who had been the chief since 1944, died suddenly of a heart attack. Gantt had been an unsuccessful candidate for sheriff a few weeks earlier in the race against the senior Haynes. Gantt's widow, whose first name was Clyde (1889-1950), briefly filled the position of police chief pending the election for a full term.<ref>"Chief of Police Appointment Made by Council", ''Minden Press'', March 12, 1948, p. 2.</ref> Not long before his death, Gantt had been one of six [[defendant]]s charged in the lynching at Dorcheat Bayou near Minden of John Jones and Albert Harris, Jr., two [[African-American]]s. The charges against Gantt were dropped because of his cooperation with federal authorities.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_qoLa8ysYUIC&pg=PA114&dq=%22Malcolm+Lafargue%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KkzeVKeMMcWuyATjyoG4Ag&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22Malcolm%20Lafargue%22&f=false|title=A More Noble Cause: A.P. Tureaud and the Struggle for Civil Rights in Louisiana|publisher=[[Louisiana State University Press]]|location=[[Baton Rouge, Louisiana]]|page=114|author=Rachel L. Emanuel and Alexander P. Tureaud, Jr.|date=2011|isbn=978-0-8071-3793-2|accessdate=February 13, 2015}}</ref>​

After Batton's defeat for clerk of court, the position of Minden police chief opened when on March 1, 1948, Benjamin Garey Gantt (1890-1948), an [[Alabama]] native<ref>{{cite web|url=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gl=ROOT_CATEGORY&rank=1&new=1&so=3&MSAV=1&msT=1&gss=ms_f-2_s&gsfn=Benjamin+Gary&gsln=Gantt&msypn__ftp=Minden%2C+Louisiana&cpxt=0&catBucket=rstp&uidh=upc&cp=0|title=Benjamin Geary Gantt|publisher=search.ancestry.com|accessdate=January 24, 2015}}</ref> who had been the chief since 1944, died suddenly of a heart attack. Gantt had been an unsuccessful candidate for sheriff a few weeks earlier in the race against the senior Haynes. Gantt's widow, whose first name was Clyde (1889-1950), briefly filled the position of police chief pending the election for a full term.<ref>"Chief of Police Appointment Made by Council", ''Minden Press'', March 12, 1948, p. 2.</ref> Not long before his death, Gantt had been one of six [[defendant]]s charged in the lynching at Dorcheat Bayou near Minden of John Jones and Albert Harris, Jr., two [[African-American]]s. The charges against Gantt were dropped because of his cooperation with federal authorities.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_qoLa8ysYUIC&pg=PA114&dq=%22Malcolm+Lafargue%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KkzeVKeMMcWuyATjyoG4Ag&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22Malcolm%20Lafargue%22&f=false|title=A More Noble Cause: A.P. Tureaud and the Struggle for Civil Rights in Louisiana|publisher=[[Louisiana State University]] Press|location=[[Baton Rouge]]|page=114|author=Rachel L. Emanuel and Alexander P. Tureaud, Jr.|date=2011|isbn=978-0-8071-3793-2|accessdate=February 13, 2015}}</ref>​

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Batton nearly won the race for police chief in the first primary in a six-candidate field. In runoff balloting, Batton defeated another Democrat, C. M. Ritchie (born c. 1897), a former deputy sheriff and former employee of the since closed Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant, 935 to 632 votes.<ref>"Batton Given High Vote for Police Chief", ''Minden Herald'', May 14, 1948, p. 1.</ref>​

Batton nearly won the race for police chief in the first primary in a six-candidate field. In runoff balloting, Batton defeated another Democrat, C. M. Ritchie (born c. 1897), a former deputy sheriff and former employee of the since closed Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant, 935 to 632 votes.<ref>"Batton Given High Vote for Police Chief", ''Minden Herald'', May 14, 1948, p. 1.</ref>​