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| name=Hall McCord Lyons​<br>

| name=Hall McCord Lyons​<br>

(Louisiana oilman and<br> political activist)

(Louisiana oilman and<br> political activist)

​| birth_date=December 22, 1923​

| birth_date=December 22, 1923​

| birth_place=[[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]], USA​<br>

| birth_place=[[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]], USA​<br>

Principal residences:<br>

Principal residences:<br>

==Background==

==Background==

 

Born in [[Shreveport]], where his parents had relocated in 1921, Lyons was given his mother's maiden surname as a first name and his great-aunt's married name as a middle name.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=McCord&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=20&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=17170082&df=all&|title=Dot Hall McCord|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=August 17, 2014}}</ref>​

Born in [[Shreveport]], where his parents had relocated in 1921, Lyons was given his mother's maiden surname as a first name and his great-aunt's married name as a middle name.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=McCord&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=20&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=17170082&df=all&|title=Dot Hall McCord|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=August 17, 2014}}</ref>​

 

===Education and military===

===Education and military===

 

Young Lyons was educated in Shreveport at the public South Highlands Elementary School and the private Southfield School with instruction through the eighth grade. He graduated from the college preparatory Lawrenceville School, a boarding school in Lawrenceville in Mercer County in central [[New Jersey]]. After enlistment in the United States Naval Reserve, Lyons studied at Centenary College in Shreveport, where the Marjorie Lyons Playhouse is named for his mother, and then [[Louisiana Tech University]] in [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]].<ref name=obit/><ref name=lyonsfamily/>​

Young Lyons was educated in Shreveport at the public South Highlands Elementary School and the private Southfield School with instruction through the eighth grade. He graduated from the college preparatory Lawrenceville School, a boarding school in Lawrenceville in Mercer County in central [[New Jersey]]. After enlistment in the United States Naval Reserve, Lyons studied at Centenary College in Shreveport, where the Marjorie Lyons Playhouse is named for his mother, and then [[Louisiana Tech University]] in [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]].<ref name=obit/><ref name=lyonsfamily/>​

 

Lyons received his commission as an ensign in the [[United States Navy]] through the Naval Station Great Lakes near North Chicago, [[Illinois]]. Lyons was then assigned to duty at the Leyte Gulf in the [[Philippines]]. While headed to Leyte, his plane developed engine trouble and was compelled to land at Peleliu Island. The noted newspaperman Ernie Pyle was aboard the altered flight. Upon reaching Leyte, the small ship to which Lyons had been assigned had already departed for the [[Battle of Okinawa|invasion of Okinawa]] off the [[Japan]]ese coast. He finally reached [[Okinawa Island]], where he remained for eighteen months.<ref name=lyonsfamily/>

Lyons received his commission as an ensign in the [[United States Navy]] through the Naval Station Great Lakes near North Chicago, [[Illinois]]. Lyons was then assigned to duty at the Leyte Gulf in the [[Philippines]]. While headed to Leyte, his plane developed engine trouble and was compelled to land at Peleliu Island. The noted newspaperman Ernie Pyle was aboard the altered flight. Upon reaching Leyte, the small ship to which Lyons had been assigned had already departed for the [[Battle of Okinawa|invasion of Okinawa]] off the [[Japan]]ese coast. He finally reached [[Okinawa Island]], where he remained for eighteen months.<ref name=lyonsfamily/>

===Oil industry===

===Oil industry===

 

After the war, Lyons completed his studies at [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]], from which in 1949 he received a degree in arts and sciences. After the war, Lyons lived for several years in [[San Antonio]], [[Texas]], where he was employed in the petroleum business with his father and a cousin, Newton Hall McCord (born in 1915 in [[New Orleans]]), who later settled in [[Houston, Texas|Houston]], Texas. Lyons returned to Shreveport to become a partner in his family-owned C. H. Lyons Petroleum Company, formerly known as the Lyons, McCord & Logan company.<ref name=lyonsfamily/> When he lived in Shreveport, Lyons was, like his mother, active in the musical community there. A former president of the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, which was founded in 1948, Lyons often sang in [[opera]] presentations.<ref name=obit>Hall M. Lyons obituary, ''The Shreveport Times'', July 26, 1998.</ref>​

After the war, Lyons completed his studies at [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]], from which in 1949 he received a degree in arts and sciences. After the war, Lyons lived for several years in [[San Antonio]], [[Texas]], where he was employed in the petroleum business with his father and a cousin, Newton Hall McCord (born in 1915 in [[New Orleans]]), who later settled in [[Houston, Texas|Houston]], Texas. Lyons returned to Shreveport to become a partner in his family-owned C. H. Lyons Petroleum Company, formerly known as the Lyons, McCord & Logan company.<ref name=lyonsfamily/> When he lived in Shreveport, Lyons was, like his mother, active in the musical community there. A former president of the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, which was founded in 1948, Lyons often sang in [[opera]] presentations.<ref name=obit>Hall M. Lyons obituary, ''The Shreveport Times'', July 26, 1998.</ref>​

Both Charlton and Hall Lyons were originally [[Democratic Party|Democrats]]. In 1966, having resided for nearly six years in Lafayette, Lyons entered the first of his two political races as a candidate. He challenged the reelection of the nine-term Democratic]] [[U.S. Representative]] Edwin Edward Willis (1904-1972) of St. Martinville Louisiana's 3rd congressional district seat, now held by the Republican [[Clay Higgins]]. Willis had first defeated two fellow Democrats in the 1966 party primary, State Representative Richard Guidry of Lafourche Parish and state Senator Dudley J. LeBlanc of Vermilion Parish, who had made a fortune in the patent medicine called Hadacol.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/1592776/|title=Everyone gets into state politics|publisher=''Lake Charles American Press''|date=August 12, 1966|location=[[Lake Charles]], [[Louisiana]]|page=15|accessdate=September 11, 2014}}</ref>​

Both Charlton and Hall Lyons were originally [[Democratic Party|Democrats]]. In 1966, having resided for nearly six years in Lafayette, Lyons entered the first of his two political races as a candidate. He challenged the reelection of the nine-term Democratic]] [[U.S. Representative]] Edwin Edward Willis (1904-1972) of St. Martinville Louisiana's 3rd congressional district seat, now held by the Republican [[Clay Higgins]]. Willis had first defeated two fellow Democrats in the 1966 party primary, State Representative Richard Guidry of Lafourche Parish and state Senator Dudley J. LeBlanc of Vermilion Parish, who had made a fortune in the patent medicine called Hadacol.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/1592776/|title=Everyone gets into state politics|publisher=''Lake Charles American Press''|date=August 12, 1966|location=[[Lake Charles]], [[Louisiana]]|page=15|accessdate=September 11, 2014}}</ref>​

 

Lyons accused Willis of being too closely aligned with [[U.S. President]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] and the [[Great Society]] social policy.<ref>''The Lafayette Daily Advertiser'', November 9, 1966, p. 1.</ref> Republicans also claimed that Willis's health had diminished after he sustained in February 1966 a series of strokes which required surgery.<ref>''[[Shreveport Journal]]'', November 9, 1966, p. 2</ref>  Lyons polled 31,444 votes (40.3 percent) in a district in which no Republican had been elected since [[Reconstruction]]. Despite health issues, Willis received 46,533 votes (59.7 percent). Lyons obtained a slim majority in Iberia Parish and finished with 46 percent in Lafayette Parish.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Louisiana general election returns, November 8, 1966</ref>  

Lyons accused Willis of being too closely aligned with [[U.S. President]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] and the [[Great Society]] social policy.<ref>''The Lafayette Daily Advertiser'', November 9, 1966, p. 1.</ref> Republicans also claimed that Willis's health had diminished after he sustained in February 1966 a series of strokes which required surgery.<ref>''[[Shreveport Journal]]'', November 9, 1966, p. 2</ref>  Lyons polled 31,444 votes (40.3 percent) in a district in which no Republican had been elected since [[Reconstruction]]. Despite health issues, Willis received 46,533 votes (59.7 percent). Lyons obtained a slim majority in Iberia Parish and finished with 46 percent in Lafayette Parish.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Louisiana general election returns, November 8, 1966</ref>  

===American Independent Party, 1972===

===American Independent Party, 1972===

 

Unlike his father, who was a staunch supporter of [[U.S. President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]] in all three presidential campaigns and helped to deliver critical delegates to Nixon at the 1968 [[Republican National Convention]], Hall Lyons grew disillusioned with the [[liberal]] influence within the national Republican Party and the large number of [[Moderate Republicans]] in positions of leadership.<ref>Hall Lyons was particularly critical of such [[Moderate Republican]]s as [[Hugh Scott]] of [[Pennsylvania]], who led the Republican minority in the U.S. Senate from 1969 to 1977, after the death of [[Everett Dirksen]], and was usually at odds with party conservatives. Other targets were Senators [[Jacob Javits]] of [[New York]], [[Clifford  Case]] of New Jersey, [[Edward Brooke]] of [[Massachusetts]], and [[Charles Mathias]] of [[Maryland]] and Governor [[Nelson Rockefeller]] of New York.</ref>  

Unlike his father, who was a staunch supporter of [[U.S. President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]] in all three presidential campaigns and helped to deliver critical delegates to Nixon at the 1968 [[Republican National Convention]], Hall Lyons grew disillusioned with the [[liberal]] influence within the national Republican Party and the large number of [[Moderate Republicans]] in positions of leadership.<ref>Hall Lyons was particularly critical of such [[Moderate Republican]]s as [[Hugh Scott]] of [[Pennsylvania]], who led the Republican minority in the U.S. Senate from 1969 to 1977, after the death of [[Everett Dirksen]], and was usually at odds with party conservatives. Other targets were Senators [[Jacob Javits]] of [[New York]], [[Clifford  Case]] of New Jersey, [[Edward Brooke]] of [[Massachusetts]], and [[Charles Mathias]] of [[Maryland]] and Governor [[Nelson Rockefeller]] of New York.</ref>  

==Family and death==

==Family and death==

 

Lyons died at the age of seventy-four after a brief illness in Jefferson, a census-designated place in Jefferson Parish. He had been in semi-retirement at nearby Grand Isle in the [[Gulf of Mexico]] for a number of years.<ref name=obit/>​

Lyons died at the age of seventy-four after a brief illness in Jefferson, a census-designated place in Jefferson Parish. He had been in semi-retirement at nearby Grand Isle in the [[Gulf of Mexico]] for a number of years.<ref name=obit/>​

 

Lyons was preceded in death by his first wife, Betty Sue Buffington (1925-1993),<ref name=obit/> the daughter of Culver W. Buffington and the former Nevva Scott. Betty Sue and Hall Lyons had four surviving children. After their divorce in 1960, she married Billy Carl McKeever (1930-2002). The McKeevers are interred together at Forest Park East Cemetery in Shreveport.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=McKeever&GSiman=1&GScnty=1117&GRid=37481042&|title=Billy Carl McKeever|publisher=findagrave.com|author=Lyn St. Peters|accessdate=August 17, 2014}}</ref>  

Lyons was preceded in death by his first wife, Betty Sue Buffington (1925-1993),<ref name=obit/> the daughter of Culver W. Buffington and the former Nevva Scott. Betty Sue and Hall Lyons had four surviving children. After their divorce in 1960, she married Billy Carl McKeever (1930-2002). The McKeevers are interred together at Forest Park East Cemetery in Shreveport.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=McKeever&GSiman=1&GScnty=1117&GRid=37481042&|title=Billy Carl McKeever|publisher=findagrave.com|author=Lyn St. Peters|accessdate=August 17, 2014}}</ref>  

Though the senior Lyons and his wife were [[Episcopalians]], Hall Lyons turned [[Mormon]]. Services were held at a Latter Day Saints meetinghouse in Shreveport.<ref name=obit/> Burial was in the Lyons family plot at Forest Park East Cemetery in Shreveport.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Lyons+&GSfn=Hall&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSob=n&GRid=64566884&df=all&|title=Hall McCord Lyons|author=John Andrew Prime|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=August 17, 2014}}</ref> Pallbearers included Lyons' boyhood friend, Republican former state Represenatives Benjamin F. "Ben" O'Neal, Jr. (1922-2004), of Shreveport and Lyons's son-in-law, Wayne Kent Despain (born 1953).<ref name=obit/>​

Though the senior Lyons and his wife were [[Episcopalians]], Hall Lyons turned [[Mormon]]. Services were held at a Latter Day Saints meetinghouse in Shreveport.<ref name=obit/> Burial was in the Lyons family plot at Forest Park East Cemetery in Shreveport.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Lyons+&GSfn=Hall&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSob=n&GRid=64566884&df=all&|title=Hall McCord Lyons|author=John Andrew Prime|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=August 17, 2014}}</ref> Pallbearers included Lyons' boyhood friend, Republican former state Represenatives Benjamin F. "Ben" O'Neal, Jr. (1922-2004), of Shreveport and Lyons's son-in-law, Wayne Kent Despain (born 1953).<ref name=obit/>​

 

==References==

==References==

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[[Category:Louisiana People]]​

[[Category:Louisiana People]]​