(1) Peggy Marie McDowell Ellington (married 1964-1998, divorced, then wed to Chet D. Traylor, former justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, and since deceased) (2) Brenda Anderson Armstrong Ellington (married 2006)
Children
Noble Ellington, III (born 1964) Ryan Ellington (born 1967)
Noble Edward Ellington, II (born May 25, 1942), is a wealthy cottonmerchant from Winnsboro, the seat of government of Franklin Parish in northeastern Louisiana, who is a former member of both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature. He served as a Democrat in the state Senate for District 32 from 1996 to 2008. He was a member of the state House for District 20 from 1988 to 1996 and again from 2008 to 2012. On December 17, 2010, near the end of his legislative career, he switched his affiliation to Republican. He had returned to the House on January 14, 2008, after an absence of a dozen years because he was term-limited from seeking a fourth consecutive state Senate term.
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus Gossypium in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. Under natural conditions, the cotton bolls will increase the dispersal of the seeds.
A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as industry, commerce, and trade have existed. During the 16th-century, in Europe, two different terms for merchants emerged: One term, meerseniers, described local traders such as bakers, grocers, etc.; while a new term, koopman (Dutch: koopman, described merchants who operated on a global stage, importing and exporting goods over vast distances, and offering added-value services such as credit and finance.
Winnsboro is a city in, and the parish seat of Franklin Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 4,910, down from 5,344 in 2000. The city is 59 percent African American. U.S. Highway 425 passes north–south through Winnsboro concurrent with Louisiana Highway 15 and extends northward to Rayville, the seat of neighboring Richland Parish.
Late in 2007, Ellington, as a returning but still freshman member, sought to chair the House Appropriations Committee, but he ran into a bloc of opposition from conservatives, including the statewide radiotalk show host Moon Griffon of Monroe. The conservatives stopped GovernorBobby Jindal from recommending that SpeakerJim Tucker name Ellington as the chairman of the critical committee. They contended that Ellington is an advocate of raising taxes to fund expanded government, rather than a lawmaker committed to reducing taxes and cutting programs. Ellington had asked for the appointment on grounds that no House members from northeastern Louisiana had otherwise been named committee chairmen. Jindal had agreed to the recommendation until Tucker informed him that Ellington does not share Jindal's professed philosophy of limited government.[1]
Radio is the technology of signalling or communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connected to an antenna which radiates the waves, and received by a radio receiver connected to another antenna. Radio is very widely used in modern technology, in radio communication, radar, radio navigation, remote control, remote sensing and other applications. In radio communication, used in radio and television broadcasting, cell phones, two-way radios, wireless networking and satellite communication among numerous other uses, radio waves are used to carry information across space from a transmitter to a receiver, by modulating the radio signal in the transmitter. In radar, used to locate and track objects like aircraft, ships, spacecraft and missiles, a beam of radio waves emitted by a radar transmitter reflects off the target object, and the reflected waves reveal the object's location. In radio navigation systems such as GPS and VOR, a mobile receiver receives radio signals from navigational radio beacons whose position is known, and by precisely measuring the arrival time of the radio waves the receiver can calculate its position on Earth. In wireless remote control devices like drones, garage door openers, and keyless entry systems, radio signals transmitted from a controller device control the actions of a remote device.
A talk show or chat show is a television programming or radio programming genre in which one person discusses various topics put forth by a talk show host.
Blain Michael "Moon" Griffon is an American conservative radio talk show host who broadcasts statewide through station KPEL 96.5 FM in Lafayette in southwestern Louisiana. He was formerly based at KMLB 540 AM in Monroe in Ouachita Parish in the northeastern part of the state.
Education and civic activities
Ellington was born to Mr. and Mrs. Noble Ellington Sr. He graduated in 1960 from Mangham High School in Mangham in Richland Parish. In 1964, he obtained a bachelor's degree from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston in Lincoln Parish. Ellington has been active in such civic organizations as the Farm Bureau, the Northeast Louisiana Agriculture/Business Council, and the Chamber of Commerce. He is a past director of the Winnsboro Economic Development Corporation. He is a former bank director and hospital board member. Ellington is a patron of the restored Princess Theatre in Winnsboro.[2] He and his sons operate Noble Ellington Cotton Company, Inc., in Winnsboro.
Mangham is a village in Richland Parish in northeastern Louisiana, United States. The population was 595 at the 2000 census. Mangham was established in 1890. It is named for Wiley P. Mangham, the publisher of the Richland Beacon-News, a weekly newspaper in Rayville, the seat of Richland Parish.
A bachelor's degree or baccalaureate is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to seven years. In some institutions and educational systems, some bachelor's degrees can only be taken as graduate or postgraduate degrees after a first degree has been completed. In countries with qualifications frameworks, bachelor's degrees are normally one of the major levels in the framework, although some qualifications titled bachelor's degrees may be at other levels and some qualifications with non-bachelor's titles may be classified as bachelor's degrees.
Louisiana Tech University, colloquially referred to as Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or LTU is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is a space grant college, member of the Southeastern Universities Research Association, member of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, and Carnegie Doctoral University with high research activity (R2). It is a member of the University of Louisiana System.
In his earlier years, he was a national director of the Jaycees. He sits on the board of directors of the Louisiana Baptist Children's Home orphanage in Ruston. He is a former co-chairman, now emeritus, of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Ellington is Baptist.[3]
Historically, an orphanage was a residential institution, or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and other children who were separated from their biological families. Examples of what would cause a child to be placed in orphanages are when the biological parents were deceased, the biological family was abusive to the child, there was substance abuse or mental illness in the biological home that was detrimental to the child, or the parents had to leave to work elsewhere and were unable or unwilling to take the child. The role of legal responsibility for the support of children whose parent(s) have died or are otherwise unable to provide care differs internationally.
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a nonprofit organization of conservative state legislators and private sector representatives who draft and share model state-level legislation for distribution among state governments in the United States.
During his first legislative stint in the House, Ellington was named "Legislator of the Month" by the interest group which represents city officials, the Louisiana Municipal Association. Another interest group, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, gave Ellington its "Golden Apple Award" for his support of public schools. Similarly, the Louisiana Association of Educators named him to its "Legislative Honor Roll". He has also been named "Guardian of Small Business".[3]
A bitter divorce
In 1964, Ellington married the former Peggy Marie McDowell (also born 1942) of Winnsboro, a native of Monroe. Their two sons are Noble Ellington, III (born 1964), and Ryan Fred Ellington (born 1967).[4] The Ellingtons divorced on May 11, 1998. In their family-owned company, Noble handled the negotiation of deals with suppliers and customers, while Peggy ran the office, kept the books, and performed paperwork associated with the business. Their sons joined the business, Ryan in 1992 and Noble, III, in 1995. The company buys cotton from farmers, cotton gins, and other producers and sells to textile mills and shippers. The gross profit of the company comes from the margin made from this activity. The Ellington firm made a profit each year from 1979 through 1998.[5]
Divorce, also known as dissolution of marriage, is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the bonds of matrimony between a married couple under the rule of law of the particular country or state. Divorce laws vary considerably around the world, but in most countries divorce requires the sanction of a court or other authority in a legal process, which may involve issues of distribution of property, child custody, alimony, child visitation / access, parenting time, child support, and division of debt. In most countries, monogamy is required by law, so divorce allows each former partner to marry another person; where polygyny is legal but polyandry is not, divorce allows the woman to marry another person.
A cotton gin is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation. The fibers are then processed into various cotton goods such as linens, while any undamaged cotton is used largely for textiles like clothing. The separated seeds may be used to grow more cotton or to produce cottonseed oil.
A textile is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibers. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, hemp, or other materials to produce long strands. Textiles are formed by weaving, knitting, crocheting, knotting or tatting, felting, or braiding.
By August 1996, when the Ellingtons separated, they had made more than $2 million in the cotton business. They used some of their proceeds to purchase apartments, office buildings, and farms. Peggy sued Noble over the division of the company but lost her claim on appeal. After the divorce, Peggy married Chet D. Traylor, a Republican who served on the Louisiana Supreme Court from 1997 to 2009. Traylor, now of Monroe, formerly resided in Winnsboro.[5] Peggy Traylor died on August 22, 2009, and is interred at Columbia Hills Cemetery in Traylor's native Columbia, Louisiana.[6] Noble Ellington, III, and Ryan Ellington sued Chet Traylor in Fifth Judicial District Court in June 2010 for allegedly withholding information about their late mother's estate. Peggy Traylor died without a will. Chet Traylor since became romantically involved with Denise Lively Ellington, the former wife of Ryan Ellington. Noble Ellington, II, has also blamed Traylor as part of the cause of his own divorce from Peggy, his first wife of thirty-four years.[7]
In 2010, Traylor launched an intraparty challenge to U.S. SenatorDavid Vitter. Traylor claimed that Vitter's personal problems may render the incumbent Republican senator vulnerable to the challenge of the Democrat Charlie Melancon of Napoleonville in Assumption Parish.[8] However, Vitter handily defeated Melancon on November 2, 2010.
Controversy over second wife's employment
In 2006, Noble Ellington married his longtime legislative secretary, the former Brenda Anderson Armstrong (born 1961). The second Mrs. Ellington sought to continue as her husband's legislative assistant.[9] A hearing was to have been held in the 19th District Court in Baton Rouge on February 19, 2008, to see if she qualifies under the state's ethics laws. However, the case was postponed.[10]
State District Judge Don Johnson issued a temporary restraining order on January 11, 2008, that Mrs. Ellington could continue in her $54,540-per-year position until a final court decision is rendered.[11] She maintained her position while Ellington served in the Senate because she had worked for him for more than a year before the couple married. In fact, she has been employed by Ellington since he entered the House in 1988. The Louisiana Ethics Board maintains that the Senate and House are separate bodies so the grandfather clause no longer applied after Ellington returned to the House. The Ellingtons maintain that the legislature is a single body and that her employment should stand.
Ellington said that his wife has "tremendous experience and a great understanding about the needs of the constituents." House Clerk Butch Speer said he believes the Ethics Board's opinion should stand. According to Speer, "The House's position is that we have to adhere to the code of ethics. The (Ethics Board) is charged by law with interpreting the code, and it said that (Ellington) can't participate in the employment of his wife. But the House is also bound to follow a lawful order of the court. Under the restraining order issued by the 19th Judicial Court, the House isn't to perform any act that would interrupt her employment. Unless or until that order is lifted, she will remain employed. If the order is ever lifted, the House will follow the dictates of the Ethics Board", and Mrs. Ellington would therefore be terminated from her position.[12]
On May 19, 2008, the state Senate without objection approved an amendment offered by then Senate President Joel Chaisson of Destrehan that would erase the court ruling that Mrs. Ellington must resign as her husband's legislative assistant. Chaisson's amendment states that if a lawmaker's spouse is legally an assistant in one chamber of the legislature, a member then being elected to the other body does not change that assistant's employment status.[13]
Election history
Ellington won the District 20 House seat in the state election held on November 17, 2007. Incumbent Lelon Kenney (1935-2018) of Columbia was term-limited. Ellington defeated his runoff opponent, fellow Democrat Cleveland Webb "Cleve" Womack (1953-2018) of Jonesville in Catahoula Parish,[14] 6,215 (52 percent) to 5,686 (48 percent). The district includes, Franklin, Catahoula, Caldwell, and two precincts of Tensas, the smallest of Louisiana's sixty-four parishes, which is located adjacent to the Mississippi River.[15]
Ellington's former Senate District 32 includes in addition to Caldwell, Catahoula, and Franklin (also in the House district) the parishes of Concordia, La Salle, and small portions of Ouachita and Rapides parishes. The district is now represented by its first ever Republican member, Neil Riser of Columbia. By the time that Ellington left the Senate, the district lines had changed somewhat and included even a few precincts as far south as the northern portion of Avoyelles Parish.
In Ellington's first election to the House in 1987, he and intraparty rival Rodney R. "Rod" Elrod (born 1954) of Winnsboro[16] led a field of seven Democrats and one independent. Ellington polled 3,640 (21 percent), and Elrod 3,063 (17 percent). Ellington then defeated Elrod in the general election, usually called the runoff in Louisiana.[17]
Four years later in 1991, Ellington overwhelmed intraparty rival Dennis Grady Stewart (born 1953) of Rayville in Richland Parish,[18] 13,211 (72 percent) to 5,060 (28 percent).[19] In 1995, Ellington first won his Senate seat, when the incumbent Democrat Steve D. Thompson of Winnsboro, did not seek a third term. He went into a general election with fellow Democrat Roy Eugene Hebron (born 1954) of Ball in northern Rapides Parish,[20] 19,325 (48 percent) to 16,076 (40 percent). Independent candidate Paul A. Nugent received the critical 5,048 remaining votes (12 percent).[21] In the showdown with Hebron on November 18, 1995, Ellington prevailed, 21,703 (53 percent) to 19,180 (47 percent).[22]
Ellington handily won reelection to the Senate on October 23, 1991, when he defeated his first and only Republican opponent, Larry Bruce Minton (born 1945 of Pineville in Rapides Parish),[20] 27,001 (69 percent) to 11,954 (31 percent).[23] In 2003, Ellington won his last Senate term in an easy contest with fellow Democrat James "Jim" Hearns (born 1952) of Columbia, 27,021 (80 percent) to 6,497 (20 percent).[24]
Party bolt
On December 9, 2010, Ellington announced that he was likely to switch to Republican affiliation to seek renewed membership in the state House of Representatives in 2011. Three other Democrats announced that same month that they have switched affiliation, John Alario of Westwego, Fred H. Mills Jr., of St. Martinville, and Simone B. Champagne of Iberia Parish, following the departure of John R. Smith of Leesville two years earlier. Ellington and Smith had been the top recipients of legislative campaign contributions from Koch Industries and its subsidiaries in the state, in the election cycles before their switch.[25] On December 17, 2010, Ellington made the switch official; his move gave the Louisiana Republican Party its first majority in the Louisiana House since the Reconstruction era.[26]
Ellington explained that this party switch is "historically significant, but the truth is I've been a conservative for my entire career, so it won't affect the way I vote. . . . I found myself farther and farther away from what has become the liberal philosophy of the national party. My way of thinking, which falls along a more conservative line, has been shrinking within the party. At least nationally, the Republican Party seems to fit my philosophy more than the current Democratic Party."[27]
Then Speaker Tucker, who had opposed Ellington's committee chairmanship in 2008, said he is "excited to have Noble in the party and ecstatic about holding the majority. We as Republicans can continue to push for smaller, more efficient government, and we have the numbers to pass legislation that can do that if we stick together. . . . It's incredible that when I started in the House [in 2001] that we have more than doubled our numbers and indicative of where the state in going. It's also a tribute to those who preceded us to helped build the party in this state, in particular [Senator] David Vitter."[27]
Louisiana Republican Chairman Roger Villere issued this statement on Ellington's defection: "For more than one hundred years, the Louisiana House of Representatives has remained under Democrat control, but today that has all come to an end. In just three short years a 16-seat Democrat majority has been erased and Representative Ellington's decision to become the 53rd Republican in the House gives the GOP our first controlling majority in that body since Reconstruction. This is a great and historic day for the Republican Party of Louisiana and I'm pleased to welcome Representative Ellington to the new conservative majority in the House."[27]
2011 election
Ellington changed his plans and did not seek reelection to the House in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 22, 2011. Voters chose a Republican successor in the seat, Steve Pylant of Delhi, the sheriff of Franklin Parish. Pylant defeated Ellington's previous opponent, Cleve Womack, 9,119 votes (56.3 percent) to 7,066 ballots (43.7 percent).[28]
In 2012, Ellington was appointed to a $150,000 position in the Louisiana Department of Insurance as the chief deputy commissioner. He serves under elected commissioner Jim Donelon, another Democrat-turned-Republican. Ellington would succeed to the insurance commissioner's position were Donelon to vacate the post that he has held since 2006.[29] Ellington said he will remain deputy commissioner at least until the end of Donelon's current term.
David Bruce Vitter is an American lobbyist, lawyer and politician who served as United States Senator for Louisiana from 2005 to 2017. He was the first Republican elected to the Senate from his state since the Reconstruction Era. Previously, he served in the United States House of Representatives, representing the suburban Louisiana's 1st congressional district. He served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives before entering the U.S. House.
James Allison Hayes is a Republican politician from the state of Louisiana.
James Joseph Donelon, III, known as Jim Donelon, has been since February 15, 2006, the Republican insurance commissioner of the U.S. state of Louisiana.
Jimmy N. Dimos is a retired Louisiana 4th Judicial District Court judge based in Monroe in Ouachita Parish, Ouachita Parish. Dimos is also a Democratic former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, having served from 1976 to 1999. From 1988 to 1992, he was the Speaker of the House, the recommended choice of then Democratic Governor Buddy Roemer.
Lantz Womack was a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives who served mostly Franklin Parish, from 1958, when he won a special election caused by the death of a freshman member, until his retirement in 1976. A banker and farmer from Winnsboro, south of Monroe, he was also a delegate to the 1973 convention which wrote the Louisiana Constitution of 1974. From 1968-1972, Womack and S. S. DeWitt of Tensas Parish were paired in a combined District 47. For his last term, Womack was placed in single-member District 20, having defeated several intraparty rivals, including DeWitt and James H. "Jimbo" Colvin of Winnsboro.
James David Caldwell Sr., known as Buddy Caldwell, is an American politician and lawyer based in Louisiana. Since 2011, when he switched from the Democratic Party, he has been affiliated with the Republican Party. He served as attorney general of the U.S. state of Louisiana from 2008 to 2016, being repeatedly re-elected to office.
Robert Roy Adley is a businessman and politician from Benton, Louisiana, who is a Republican former member of the Louisiana State Senate. In 2011, Adley ran without opposition in his bid for his third and final term in Senate District 36. Louisiana state legislators are term-limited after three terms or twelve years.
Richard Terry Burford, known as Richie Burford, is a beef and dairy farmer from Stonewall, Louisiana, who is a Republican former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 7, which encompasses southern Caddo, DeSoto, and Sabine parishes in the northwestern portion of the state. Burford is the first Republican to represent DeSoto Parish in the state legislature since Reconstruction.
David Ivy Patten was a building contractor who served two terms from 1964 to 1972 as a Democrat in the Louisiana House of Representatives for Catahoula Parish in the northeastern portion of his state.
James Roy Fannin, known as Jim Fannin, is the Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate for District 35, which encompasses the parishes of Grant, Jackson, Lincoln, Ouachita, Rapides, and Winn. He won the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 24, 2015, to succeed the term-limited Republican Robert Kostelka.
Jerry Aroe Thomas is a family practice physician in Franklinton, Louisiana, who served in both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature from 1988 to 2004. In 1979, at the age of twenty-six, Thomas was elected coroner of Washington Parish, the easternmost of the Florida Parishes in the southeastern portion of his state. He remained coroner from 1980 until he took his legislative seat in 1988.
Marcus R. Clark is a Republican member of the Louisiana Supreme Court from West Monroe, Louisiana, United States, who won his current position in a special election held on October 17, 2009, to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Republican Justice Chet D. Traylor of Monroe, formerly of Winnsboro in Franklin Parish. In 2010, Traylor challenged U.S. Senator David Vitter for re-nomination in the Republican closed primary.
Chet D. Traylor is a retired associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court from Monroe, Louisiana, who was defeated in the Republican primary election on August 28, 2010, for the U.S. Senate seat held from 2005 to 2017 by David Vitter of New Orleans. Traylor polled fewer than 10 percent of the ballots cast in a low-turnout election, compared to nearly 90 percent for Vitter.
Ernest Durham Wooton is a former sheriff of Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, and a former Independent member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from the 105th district. He resides in Belle Chasse east of New Orleans. He was an unsuccessful Independent candidate for the U.S. Senate election held on November 2, 2010.
Fred Henry Mills, Jr., is a pharmacist and banker from Parks, Louisiana who is a Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate, having won a special election on January 22, 2011, for the District 22 seat for Iberia and St. Martin parishes, vacated in 2010 by the Independent Troy Hebert of Jeanerette.
Joel Craig Robideaux is a politician and accountant from Lafayette, Louisiana, who is the president of the Lafayette Parish government.
Elbert Lee Guillory is a former member of the Louisiana State Senate. An American Republican, he represented District 24, including his native Opelousas, and several rural precincts, from May 2, 2009, when he won a special election, until January 11, 2016, when his full term to which he was elected in 2011 ended.
Steven Everett Pylant Sr. is a former sheriff of Franklin Parish, Louisiana, who is currently serving his second term as a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 20, which includes all or portions of Franklin, Caldwell, Catahoula, La Salle, and Tensas parishes in the northeastern section of his state.
John Caleb Diez, Sr., known as Juba Diez, is a businessman from Gonzales in Ascension Parish, south of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1976 to 2004. He was first elected as a Democrat in 1975 in the state's first-ever nonpartisan blanket primary. He won re-election in 1979, 1983, 1987, 1991, 1995, and 1999.
Steve D. Thompson is a real estate agent in Winnsboro, Louisiana, who served from 1988 to 1996 in the Louisiana State Senate for District 32, which encompasses all or parts of the seven parishes of Caldwell, Catahoula, Concordia, Franklin, LaSalle, Rapides, and Tensas.
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