Curtis Pollard | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Louisiana State Senate | |
| In office 1868–1870 | |
| Louisiana State Senate | |
| In office 1872–1876 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1806/7 Virginia |
| Political party | Republican |
Curtis Pollard was a minister,farmer,store keeper and state legislator who served in the Louisiana State Senate during the Reconstruction era. [1]
Pollard was born in Virginia and in the 1870 United States census Pollard was listed as being aged 63. [2] He was a Baptist preacher who travelled to Madison Parish,Louisiana in 1864 to start a farm. [2] He was successful at farming and obtained recognition in the local community leading to his selection as convention delegate and then his senatorial nomination. [2]
He was a delegate to the Louisiana constitutional conventions in 1867 [3] and 1868 representing Franklin Parish and Madison Parish and in 1867 he served on the Committee on the Executive Department. [2] [1]
Pollard was nominated to run for the state senate by the Republicans [4] and was elected to the Louisiana State Senate for the 1868 to 1870 session. [1] He was almost the nomination for the United States senator for Louisiana which he lost to Oscar James Dunn after interrupting his own potential nominator. [5] At the time Pollard was described as "a black man,uncompromisingly and a Republican equally uncompromising". [5] In his first senatorial session he served on a Committee for Auditing and Supervising the Expenses of the Senate as well as one for charitable and public institutions. [2]
For the 1870 to 1872 senatorial session he lost the nomination to William L. McMillen [6] but Pollard decided to run as an independent Republican candidate, [7] but lost to McMillen. He was living in Delta,Louisiana at the time. [8]
Pollard was then again elected to serve in the Louisiana State Senate in 1872 representing the 17th senatorial district [9] and he served until 1876. [1]
Pollard was a partner in the Mississippi River Packet Company which was a black-owned enterprise. [1] He had also been a parish police jury and ran a grocery store until 1872. [1] He was a founder of the Bank of Delta in February 1874. [10]
He left his wife and children unwillingly when he was forced by armed men onto a steamboat in 1879 whilst helping emigrants leave to Kansas. [1]
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