1. Benjamin Franklin Flanders was a teacher, politician and planter in New Orleans, Louisiana.
19 Facts About Benjamin Flanders
2.
Benjamin Flanders was the second and, as of 2024, the last Republican mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana.
3.
In 1845, Flanders became editor of New Orleans Tropic, a local newspaper.
4.
Benjamin Flanders returned with him to New Orleans, where they had six children together.
5.
Benjamin Flanders became active in politics, elected as a Democratic alderman representing the 3rd Municipal District of New Orleans, serving from 1847 to 1852.
6.
Benjamin Flanders had opposed secession, and sentiment against Unionists was very strong.
7.
Benjamin Flanders made his way to Cairo, Illinois; Columbus, Ohio; and eventually, New York City.
8.
Benjamin Flanders did not return to New Orleans until April 1862, when the city was captured by Union troops.
9.
Benjamin Flanders served until his election to Congress on December 3,1862.
10.
Benjamin Flanders was elected along with Michael Hahn as at-large Representatives of Louisiana, assuming the seat left vacant after J E Bouligny's term expired in 1861.
11.
On July 13,1863, Benjamin Flanders was made the Captain of Company C, 5th Regiment Louisiana Volunteers, a Union Army unit.
12.
Benjamin Flanders was honorably discharged in August 1863, when he was appointed a Special Agent of the United States Treasury Department of the Southern Region by Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P Chase.
13.
In 1864, Benjamin Flanders campaigned for governor and finished in third place behind Michael Hahn and Fellows.
14.
Benjamin Flanders was appointed by Republicans as the first Supervising Special Agent of the Freedmen's Bureau, Department of the Gulf.
15.
Benjamin Flanders formed the 'Friends of Universal Suffrage' with other Louisiana Unionists, as well as free men of color and freedmen; they were working to gain black suffrage and to repeal the Louisiana Black Codes.
16.
Benjamin Flanders was later elected to a full two-year mayoral term, serving until 1873.
17.
Benjamin Flanders ran unsuccessfully in 1888 as a Republican candidate for Louisiana State Treasurer; by that time Democrats were controlling most statewide elected positions.
18.
Benjamin Flanders retired to his Ben Alva plantation in Lafayette Parish.
19.
Benjamin Flanders's remains were interred at Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans.