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{{Infobox pfficeholder
{{Infobox officeholder
|name Erle Edwards Barham
|name Erle Edwards Barham
|office=[[Louisiana]] State Senator for District 33 (East Carroll, Morehouse, Richland, and West Carroll parishes)
|office=[[Louisiana]] State Senator for District 33 (East Carroll, Morehouse, Richland, and West Carroll parishes)
[[Louisiana State University]]<br>
[[Louisiana State University]]<br>
[[University of Louisiana at Monroe]]
[[University of Louisiana at Monroe]]
|occupation= [[Farmer]] and [[business]]man
|occupation=[[Farmer]] and [[business]]man
|residence=Oak Ridge, Louisiana
|residence=Oak Ridge, Louisiana
|religion=[[Episcopalian]]<br>
|religion=[[Episcopalian]]<br>
'''Note''':<br>
'''Notes''':<br>
*Both former state Senator Edwards Barham and his father, Erle "Ninety" Barham, perished in small aircraft crashes - thirty-eight years apart.<br>
*Both former state Senator Edwards Barham and his father, Erle "Ninety" Barham, perished in small aircraft crashes - thirty-eight years apart.<br>
*Barham was the first [[Republican Party|Republican]] elected to the Louisiana State Senate since [[Reconstruction]].
*Barham was the first [[Republican Party|Republican]] elected to the Louisiana State Senate since [[Reconstruction]].
}}
}}
'''Erle Edwards Barham'', known as '''Edwards Barham''' (July 10, 1937 – October 17, 2014,) was an [[United States|American]] [[business]]man, [[farmer]], and conservationist from Oak Ridge, a [[village]] in Morehouse Parish in northeastern [[Louisiana]]. He was the first [[Republican Party|Republican]] elected — by a 29-vote margin — to the Louisiana State Senate since the era of [[Reconstruction|Reconstruction]]. Barham represented the agricultural District 33 from 1976 to 1980. Barham was narrowly unseated in the 1979 nonpartisan blanket[[ primary]] by a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], David "Bo" Ginn of Bastrop, who held the seat until 1988.<ref>David 'Bo' Ginn announced his candidacy in 1987 for Louisiana Secretary of State but withdrew from that race, and victory went to then Democrat, later Republican convert, Walter Fox McKeithen (1946-2005).</ref>
'''Erle Edwards Barham'', known as '''Edwards Barham''' (July 10, 1937 – October 17, 2014,) was an [[United States|American]] [[business]]man, [[farmer]], and conservationist from Oak Ridge, a [[village]] in Morehouse Parish in northeastern [[Louisiana]]. He was the first [[Republican Party|Republican]] elected — by a 29-vote margin — to the Louisiana State Senate since the era of [[Reconstruction|Reconstruction]]. Barham represented the agricultural District 33 from 1976 to 1980. Barham was narrowly unseated in the 1979 nonpartisan blanket[[ primary]] by a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], David "Bo" Ginn of Bastrop, who held the seat until 1988.<ref>David 'Bo' Ginn announced his candidacy in 1987 for Louisiana Secretary of State but withdrew from that race, and victory went to then Democrat, later Republican convert, Walter Fox McKeithen (1946-2005).</ref>
==Background==
==Background==
Barham was born to Erle McKoin "Ninety" Barham (1916–1976), a Louisiana native, and the former Rosalie Smith (1913–1999), originally from [[Missouri]]. He graduated in 1955 from Oak Ridge High School and received a bachelor's degree from [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]], where he was a member of Sigma Chi] fraternity. He subsequently obtained a master's degree in [[ornithology]] from the [[University of Louisiana at Monroe]] (then Northeast Louisiana State College).<ref name=obit/> In the early 1970s, [[U.S. President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]] named Barham to head a [[White House]] conservation initiative.<ref name=farmandfowl/>
Barham was born to Erle McKoin "Ninety" Barham (1916–1976), a Louisiana native, and the former Rosalie Smith (1913–1999), originally from [[Missouri]]. He graduated in 1955 from Oak Ridge High School and received a bachelor's degree from [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]], where he was a member of Sigma Chi] fraternity. He subsequently obtained a master's degree in ornithology from the [[University of Louisiana at Monroe]] (then Northeast Louisiana State College).<ref name=obit/> In the early 1970s, [[U.S. President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]] named Barham to head a [[White House]] conservation initiative.<ref name=farmandfowl/>
Until his death, Barham was married to the former Bennie Faye Berry (born September 1935). There are three living Barham children. These include youngest son Robert Berry Barham (born October 1971) and his wife, Camille Robichaux Barham, and their children, Graham Edwards Barham, Bailey Anne McKoin Barham, and Robert Collier Barham, and daughter Amy Barham Westbrook and her husband, Scott Hamilton Westbrook (both born January 1962), and their daughters, Margaret Benjamin Westbrook and Anna Claire Swearingen Westbrook.<ref name=benebobit/>
Until his death, Barham was married to the former Bennie Faye Berry (born September 1935). There are three living Barham children. These include youngest son Robert Berry Barham (born October 1971) and his wife, Camille Robichaux Barham, and their children, Graham Edwards Barham, Bailey Anne McKoin Barham, and Robert Collier Barham, and daughter Amy Barham Westbrook and her husband, Scott Hamilton Westbrook (both born January 1962), and their daughters, Margaret Benjamin Westbrook and Anna Claire Swearingen Westbrook.<ref name=benebobit/>
Another son, Erle West Barham (born 1964), known as West, farms a large area about the family's Ingleside Plantation in Leflore and Carroll counties in [[Mississippi]]. West Barham, as he is known, claims residences in Sidon and Greenwood, Mississippi. He grows cotton, rice, corn, and soybeans. He is married to the former Trudy Bridges (born 1963), and the couple has two children, Laten Edwards Barham and Nathaniel West Barham. West Barham is also a conservationist who has made a name for himself trying to preserve the habitat and survival of the bobtail [[quail]]. He is sometimes called the "quail man." The conservationist thrust of the family was actually set by the senior Erle Barham. There is a wildlife refuge on Barham properties in Morehouse Parish near the parish seat of Bastrop, and the Tensas Wildlife Refuge near Delhi in Richland Parish came to fruition with the help of the senior Barham.<ref name=farmandfowl>{{cite web|url=http://deltafarmpress.com/mag/farming_farming_fowl_go/index.html|title=Farming and fowl can go together|date=January 23, 2004|author=Eva Ann Dorris|publisher=''Delta Farm Press'' (Pontotoc, Mississippi)|accessdate=October 20, 2014}}</ref>
Another son, Erle West Barham (born 1964), known as West, farms a large area about the family's Ingleside Plantation in Leflore and Carroll counties in [[Mississippi]]. West Barham, as he is known, claims residences in Sidon and Greenwood, Mississippi. He grows cotton, rice, corn, and soybeans. He is married to the former Trudy Bridges (born 1963), and the couple has two children, Laten Edwards Barham and Nathaniel West Barham. West Barham is also a conservationist who has made a name for himself trying to preserve the habitat and survival of the bobtail quail. He is sometimes called the "quail man." The conservationist thrust of the family was actually set by the senior Erle Barham. There is a wildlife refuge on Barham properties in Morehouse Parish near the parish seat of Bastrop, and the Tensas Wildlife Refuge near Delhi in Richland Parish came to fruition with the help of the senior Barham.<ref name=farmandfowl>{{cite web|url=http://deltafarmpress.com/mag/farming_farming_fowl_go/index.html|title=Farming and fowl can go together|date=January 23, 2004|author=Eva Ann Dorris|publisher=''Delta Farm Press'' (Pontotoc, Mississippi)|accessdate=October 20, 2014}}</ref>
On September 18, 1976, Erle "Ninety" Barham was killed in the crash of the light plane that he was piloting near Oak Ridge. Barham and four friends were returning to Morehouse Parish from Baton Rouge, where they had attended the 1976 [[football]] game between LSU and [[Oregon State University]] at Corvallis. Barham and three of the men were killed, but another, John S. Barr, III, survived.<ref>Erle M. Barham obituary, ''The Monroe News-Star,'' September 20, 1976.</ref>
On September 18, 1976, Erle "Ninety" Barham was killed in the crash of the light plane that he was piloting near Oak Ridge. Barham and four friends were returning to Morehouse Parish from Baton Rouge, where they had attended the 1976 [[football]] game between LSU and [[Oregon State University]] at Corvallis. Barham and three of the men were killed, but another, John S. Barr, III, survived.<ref>Erle M. Barham obituary, ''The Monroe News-Star,'' September 20, 1976.</ref>
==Political life==
==Political life==
On February 6, 1968, Barham ran unsuccessfully in a race for state representative. He polled 44 percent as the Republican nominee and the third candidate in a two-seat district. The winners were the Democrats T. T. Fields and James Peyton Smith. In that election, all 105 state House seats were won by Democrats.<ref>''Monroe News-Star,'' February 7, 1968.</ref>
On February 6, 1968, Barham ran unsuccessfully in a race for state representative. He polled 44 percent as the Republican nominee and the third candidate in a two-seat district. The winners were the Democrats T. T. Fields and James Peyton Smith. In that election, all 105 state House seats were won by Democrats.<ref>''Monroe News-Star,'' February 7, 1968.</ref>