- A. C. Clemons
Infobox Senator |name=A.C. "Ace" Clemons, Jr.
nationality=American
office= Louisiana State Senate
party=Republican (1970-1992)
term_begin=1960
term_end=1972
preceded=Arsene Stewart
succeeded=Robert Gambrell "Bob" Jones
date of birth=birth date |1921|04|16
place of birth=Harris County, Texas
dead=dead
date of death=death date|1992|10|19
place of death=Houston, Texas
law school=none
occupation=Business
religion=Methodist
spouse=Mai Patterson ClemonsA.C. "Ace" Clemons, Jr. (April 16, 1921 - October 19, 1992), was the first Republican to have served in the Louisiana State Senate since Reconstruction. Clemons was elected as a Democrat in 1960, 1964, and 1968 from what is now District 14 in southwestern
Louisiana , which then included portions of five parishes: Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, and Jefferson Davis. He switched his political affiliation in 1970 in his final two years in the state Senate.Early years and business
Clemons was born to A.C., Sr., and Ance Clemons in the area known as "Hobby" because of its proximity to the
Hobby Airport in Harris County,Houston, Texas . He moved to Vinton near Lake Charles in Calcasieu (pronounced CAL CAH SHEW) Parish, where he graduated from VintonHigh School .During
World War II , Clemons attained the rank ofcaptain in theUnited States Air Force .In 1947, Clemons founded Service Truck Lines in Jennings, the seat of Jefferson Davis Parish. He was a past president of the Louisiana Motor Transportation Association and a regional vice president of the American Trucking Association. He served on the national advisory council of the Salk Institute. He was a member of the
Masonic lodge .tate senate service
At the time of his defection, Clemons and State Representative
James Satterfield , the winner of aspecial election inNew Orleans for a two-year term, were the only Republicans among the 144 members of both legislative chambers.During his second and third terms, Clemons served with the
conservative Democrat Jesse Monroe Knowles (1919-2006) of Lake Charles, the seat of Calcasieu Parish. Clemons' successor was Robert Gambrell "Bob" Jones, the son of formerGovernor Sam Houston Jones . Knowles and Jones later switched to the GOP but after they had ended their political careers.As a senator, Clemons, along with a Louisiana House of Representatives colleague, William Boyd of Lake Charles, was an early leader in the fight to bring official recognition and licensing for
chiropractors in Louisiana. Boyd was himself a chiropractor.Cemons did not seek reelection in the 1971-1972 cycle, and Satterfield was defeated for a full term in the state House. Clemons considered becoming a
gubernatorial candidate but instead deferred toJefferson Parish attorney David C. Treen , the choice of GOP leaders. Treen polled nearly 43 percent of the vote in the 1972general election against the successful Democrat, thenU.S. Representative Edwin Washington Edwards of Crowley, the seat ofAcadia Parish . Edwards would ultimately serve four nonconsecutive terms as governor, and Treen held the highest position from 1980 to 1984.The first Republican actually elected to the Louisiana State Senate since Reconstruction was
Edwards Barham of Oak Ridge inMorehouse Parish north of Monroe in northeastern Louisiana, who served a single term from 1976-1980.Death in Houston
Clemons was a member of the St. Luke United
Methodist Church of Houston, where he and his wife, the former Mai Patterson (born 1930), resided at the time of his death. Clemons died in a Houstonhospital . There were two daughters who were then residing inCalifornia . Services were held in the First United Methodist Church of Jennings. Clemons is interred in GreenwoodCemetery in Jennings.References
"A.C. Clemons, Jr. obituary", "Lake Charles American Press", October 20, 1992
http://www.legis.state.la.us/members/s1880-2004.pdf#search='c.c.%20taddy%20aycock'
http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi
http://216.109.125.130/search/cache?p=A.C.+Clemons+of+Lake+Charles%2C+Louisiana&ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-501&x=wrt&u=www.chiro.org/Plus/History/Persons/Louisiana/England_Case_Chronology.PDF&w=c+clemons+lake+charles+louisiana&d=CtBykvmdOd8_&icp=1&.intl=us
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