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John McWilliams Ford (view source)
Revision as of 18:28, September 2, 2019
, 18:28, September 2, 2019no edit summary
|term_start3=1908
|term_start3=1908
|term_end3=1912
|term_end3=1912
|office4=[[Caddo Parish]] Police Jury member
|office4=Caddo Parish Police Jury member
|term_start4=1912
|term_start4=1912
|term_end4=1916
|term_end4=1916
|succeeded5=E. Wayles Brown
|succeeded5=E. Wayles Brown
| birth_date=February 18, 1880
| birth_date=February 18, 1880
| birth_place=[[Shreveport, Louisiana]]
| birth_place=Shreveport, Louisiana
|death_place=Shreveport, Louisiana
|death_place=Shreveport, Louisiana
|death_date=July 1, 1965 (aged 85)
|death_date=July 1, 1965 (aged 85)
|children=No children
|children=No children
|religion=[[Methodist]]
|religion=[[Methodist]]
|footnotes=('''Notes''':<br>
|footnotes='''Notes''':<br>
(1) John McWilliams Ford was Shreveport's longest serving public official, having been in office from 1908 to 1965, except for 1922 to 1930.<br>
(1) John McWilliams Ford was Shreveport's longest serving public official, having been in office from 1908 to 1965, except for 1922 to 1930.<br>
(2) Ford was an unassuming man who answered his own [[telephone]] and always kept his office door open to the general public.<br>
(2) Ford was an unassuming man who answered his own [[telephone]] and always kept his office door open to the general public.<br>
(3) Ford is honored by the naming of the recreational center, Ford Park on Cross Lake in Shreveport.
(3) Ford is honored by the naming of the recreational center, Ford Park on Cross Lake in Shreveport.
}}
}}
'''John McWilliams Ford''' (February 18, 1880 – July 1, 1965) was the longest-serving elected public official in his native [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]]. Though he served as [[mayor]] only from 1918 to 1922, it was his tenure as finance commissioner that is most remembered for longevity—from 1930 until his death thirty-five years later. The finance commissioner was established under the previous city commission government, which was replaced with the 1978 elections by the mayor-council form of municipal government.
'''John McWilliams Ford''' (February 18, 1880 – July 1, 1965) was the longest-serving elected public official in his native [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]]. Though he served as [[mayor]] only from 1918 to 1922, it was his tenure as finance commissioner that is most remembered for longevity — from 1930 until his death thirty-five years later. The finance commissioner was established under the previous city commission government, which was replaced with the 1978 elections by the mayor-council form of municipal government.
Ford's first elective office was as city alderman in 1908. He was also a member of the Caddo Parish Police Jury, the parish governing body now known as the Caddo Parish Commission.<ref>Veta Samuels, History of the Caddo Parish Commission.</ref> A [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], he served in the state legislature from 1916 until he stepped down in 1918 to become mayor after the death of S. A. Dickson, M.D. Robert Hodges Ward had followed Dickson as mayor, and then Ford was elected to a single four-year term from 1918 to 1922. Ford then spent eight years in the private sector before returning to City Hall as finance commissioner, a position which he handily retained in the elections of 1930, 1934, 1938, 1942, 1946, 1950, 1954, 1958, and 1962.<ref name=obit>Ford [[obituary]], ''The Shreveport Times,'' July 2, 1965.</ref> Dwight L. Saur, a [[Certified Public Accountant]] succeeded Ford as finance commissioner in 1966. Saur himself died in office in 1971, and the position then went to its last occupant and only [[Republican Party|Republican]], [[George A. Burton]]. The new city charter superseded the finance commissioner's post.
Ford's first elective office was as city alderman in 1908. He was also a member of the Caddo Parish Police Jury, the parish governing body now known as the Caddo Parish Commission.<ref>Veta Samuels, History of the Caddo Parish Commission.</ref> A [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], he served in the state legislature from 1916 until he stepped down in 1918 to become mayor after the death of S. A. Dickson, M.D. Robert Hodges Ward had followed Dickson as mayor, and then Ford was elected to a single four-year term from 1918 to 1922. Ford then spent eight years in the private sector before returning to City Hall as finance commissioner, a position which he handily retained in the elections of 1930, 1934, 1938, 1942, 1946, 1950, 1954, 1958, and 1962.<ref name=obit>Ford [[obituary]], ''The Shreveport Times,'' July 2, 1965.</ref> Dwight L. Saur, a [[Certified Public Accountant]] succeeded Ford as finance commissioner in 1966. Saur himself died in office in 1971, and the position then went to its last occupant and only [[Republican Party|Republican]], [[George A. Burton]]. The new city charter superseded the finance commissioner's post.