Changes

==Service as sheriff==

==Service as sheriff==

Coleman was still a prohibition agent when he was elected sheriff in 1936. He defeated his boss, the 30-year incumbent, John Hughes, a son of [[Ireland|Irish]]  [[immigration|i[[mmigrants whose father had served in the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] Army. Hughes was orphaned in 1870 at the age of five and reared by an uncle on a plantation in Tensas Parish. He attended Jefferson College near his birthplace of Natchez, [[Mississippi]], and became a planter and merchant. In 1904, he helped to organize the Bank of Newellton and the next year was elected as sheriff of Tensas Parish to succeed Coleman's father-in-law. The election was complicated by the presence of a third [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[primary]] candidate named Dan Morris of Newellton, who made a strong showing and cut into Hughes' base in northern Tensas Parish. Coleman won the position when Hughes declined to pursue a runoff election; Hughes reasoned that much of Morris' votes would likely have switched to Coleman in a second race. Closely identified with the planter aristocracy, Hughes lost support from both political factions when he was trapped during the campaign into denying that he was an opponent of the late Huey Long.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-11082006-162523/unrestricted/jmreonasdiss.pdf|author=James Matthew Reonas|title=Once Proud Princes: Planters and Plantation Culture in Louisiana's Northeast Delta, From the First World War Through the Great Depression'|publisher=etd.lsu.edu ([[Louisiana State University]], [[dissertation]], 2006), pp. 214-215, 265)|accessdate=July 20, 2013}}</ref> While Coleman eas elected sheriff in Tensas Parish 1936, one of his fellow bodyguards at the Long assassination,[Larry Sale] was elected that same year sheriff in Claiborne Parish in North Louisiana.<ref>Exhibit, [[Herbert S. Ford Memorial Museum]], Homer, Louisiana.</ref>

Coleman was still a prohibition agent when he was elected sheriff in 1936. He defeated his boss, the 30-year incumbent, John Hughes, a son of [[Ireland|Irish]]  [[immigration|i[[mmigrants whose father had served in the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] Army. Hughes was orphaned in 1870 at the age of five and reared by an uncle on a plantation in Tensas Parish. He attended Jefferson College near his birthplace of Natchez, [[Mississippi]], and became a planter and merchant. In 1904, he helped to organize the Bank of Newellton and the next year was elected as sheriff of Tensas Parish to succeed Coleman's father-in-law. The election was complicated by the presence of a third [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[primary]] candidate named Dan Morris of Newellton, who made a strong showing and cut into Hughes' base in northern Tensas Parish. Coleman won the position when Hughes declined to pursue a runoff election; Hughes reasoned that much of Morris' votes would likely have switched to Coleman in a second race. Closely identified with the planter aristocracy, Hughes lost support from both political factions when he was trapped during the campaign into denying that he was an opponent of the late Huey Long.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-11082006-162523/unrestricted/jmreonasdiss.pdf|author=James Matthew Reonas|title=Once Proud Princes: Planters and Plantation Culture in Louisiana's Northeast Delta, From the First World War Through the Great Depression'|publisher=etd.lsu.edu ([[Louisiana State University]], dissertation, 2006), pp. 214-215, 265)|accessdate=July 20, 2013}}</ref> While Coleman eas elected sheriff in Tensas Parish 1936, one of his fellow bodyguards at the Long assassination,[Larry Sale] was elected that same year sheriff in Claiborne Parish in North Louisiana.<ref>Exhibit, [[Herbert S. Ford Memorial Museum]], Homer, Louisiana.</ref>

After his victory in 1936, Coleman was reelected in 1940, 1944, 1948, 1952, and 1956. In 1960, however, he was unseated<ref name=lahist/> by his fellow Democrat William M. "Max" Seaman, the younger brother of state Representative]] [[J. C. Seaman]], also from Waterproof. At the time of his retirement, Coleman was at seventy-nine the oldest serving sheriff in Louisiana.<ref>''[[Monroe News Star|Monroe Morning World]],'' April 17, 1960.</ref> Max Seaman was elected sheriff again in 1964 and 1968 but died in office in October 1968.

After his victory in 1936, Coleman was reelected in 1940, 1944, 1948, 1952, and 1956. In 1960, however, he was unseated<ref name=lahist/> by his fellow Democrat William M. "Max" Seaman, the younger brother of state Representative]] [[J. C. Seaman]], also from Waterproof. At the time of his retirement, Coleman was at seventy-nine the oldest serving sheriff in Louisiana.<ref>''[[Monroe News Star|Monroe Morning World]],'' April 17, 1960.</ref> Max Seaman was elected sheriff again in 1964 and 1968 but died in office in October 1968.

During his long tenure as sheriff, Coleman directed several attempts to hold the [[Mississippi River]] within its levees. At the Tensas Parish centennial ceremony on April 6, 1943, Coleman delivered a speech "High Lights of High Waters," which recounted several occasions during which the river tore through the levees to inundate the alluviual farming area of Tensas and adjoining parishes.<ref name=tgazette>"Tensas Parish Centennial Given Gala Observance!, ''The Natchez Democrat,''  April 7, 1943,  reprinted in ''The Tensas Gazette,'' May 1, 1993.</ref>  On that occasion, then District Attorney][[Jefferson B. Snyder]] of Tallulah in neighboring Madison Parish, echoed Coleman's observances, saying that he could recall the time when there were "no levees, no bridges, ferries nor

During his long tenure as sheriff, Coleman directed several attempts to hold the [[Mississippi River]] within its levees. At the Tensas Parish centennial ceremony on April 6, 1943, Coleman delivered a speech "High Lights of High Waters," which recounted several occasions during which the river tore through the levees to inundate the alluviual farming area of Tensas and adjoining parishes.<ref name=tgazette>"Tensas Parish Centennial Given Gala Observance!, ''The Natchez Democrat,''  April 7, 1943,  reprinted in ''The Tensas Gazette,'' May 1, 1993.</ref>  On that occasion, then District Attorney Jefferson B. Snyder (1859-1951) of Tallulah in neighboring Madison Parish, echoed Coleman's observances, saying that he could recall the time when there were "no levees, no bridges, ferries nor

roads, but the richest [[soil]] in the world, more fertile than the [[Nile River|Valley of the Nile River]]. It was a hunter's paradise."<ref name=tgazette/>

roads, but the richest [[soil]] in the world, more fertile than the [[Nile River|Valley of the Nile River]]. It was a hunter's paradise."<ref name=tgazette/>