Phanor Breazeale (December 29, 1858 – April 29, 1934) served three terms as a U.S. representative for Louisiana's 4th congressional district.

Phanor Breazeale
Engraving of Phanor Breazeale
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Louisiana's 4th district
In office
March 4, 1899 – March 3, 1905
Preceded byHenry Warren Ogden
Succeeded byJohn T. Watkins
District Attorney for the 10th Judicial District of Louisiana
In office
1892–1899
Personal details
Born(1858-12-29)December 29, 1858
Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana
DiedApril 29, 1934(1934-04-29) (aged 75)
Natchitoches, Louisiana
Resting placeCatholic Cemetery in Natchitoches
Political partyDemocratic
Alma materTulane University Law School
OccupationLawyer

Early life and education

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Born in Natchitoches Parish in north central Louisiana, Breazeale attended private schools. In 1877, at the close of Reconstruction, he moved to Natchitoches, the parish seat.

He worked in a mercantile establishment for two years and studied law. He relocated to New Orleans, where he was a clerk in the Louisiana Supreme Court. He graduated in 1881 from the d Tulane University Law School in New Orleans and was admitted to the bar that same year.[citation needed]

Early career

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He began his law practice in Natchitoches, the oldest established city in the state. From 1882 to 1884, Breazeale was also engaged in newspaper work.

From 1888 to 1891, he was the president of the Natchitoches Parish School Board. He was elected district attorney for the 10th Judicial District, having served from 1892 to 1899. He was a member of the Louisiana state constitutional convention in 1898, which drew up a document in existence for twenty-three years. Thereafter, he was a member of the state constitutional convention of 1921.[citation needed]

United States House of Representatives

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Breazeale was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-sixth, Fifty-seventh, and Fifty-eighth Congresses (March 4, 1899 – March 3, 1905).[1] He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1904, having been defeated by the attorney John T. Watkins of Minden in Webster Parish.

After Congress

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After leaving the House, he resumed the practice of law in Natchitoches. He was appointed in October 1908 as a member of a commission to codify Louisiana's criminal laws and to prepare a code of criminal procedure.

Breazeale was a member of the Democratic State central committee from 1908 until his death. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1908 and again in 1916.[citation needed]

Death

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Breazeale died in Natchitoches and is interred at the Catholic Cemetery there.

References

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  1. ^ "S. Doc. 58-1 - Fifty-eighth Congress. (Extraordinary session -- beginning November 9, 1903.) Official Congressional Directory for the use of the United States Congress. Compiled under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing by A.J. Halford. Special edition. Corrections made to November 5, 1903". GovInfo.gov. U.S. Government Printing Office. 9 November 1903. p. 41. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Louisiana's 4th congressional district

1899 – 1905
Succeeded by