Bolivar E. Kemp

Bolivar Edwards Kemp, Sr.
Member of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana's 6th congressional district
In office March 4, 1925 – June 19, 1933
Preceded by	George K. Favrot
Succeeded by	Jared Y. Sanders, Jr.
Personal details
Born	(1871-12-28)December 28, 1871 St. Helena Parish Louisiana, USA
Died	June 19, 1933(1933-06-19) (aged 61) Amite, Tangipahoa Parish Louisiana
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Esther Edwards Connor Kemp, known as Lallie Kemp
Children	Bolivar Edwards Kemp, Jr.
Residence	Amite, Louisiana
Alma mater	Louisiana State University Law Center
Occupation	Attorney
Religion	Episcopalian

Bolivar Edwards Kemp, Sr. (December 28, 1871, St. Helena Parish, Louisiana – June 19, 1933, Amite, Louisiana), was an attorney and a member of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana's 6th congressional district.

In 1897, Kemp earned his legal degree from the Louisiana State University Law Center in Baton Rouge and began his law practice in Amite, the parish seat of Tangipahoa Parish, one of the Florida Parishes. In 1910, he was appointed a member of the influential LSU Board of Supervisors.

A Democrat, Kemp won the 1924 primary election for the 6th District seat and was unopposed in the general election. He also ran unopposed in 1926, 1928, and 1930, and he defeated two primary opponents to win a fifth term in 1932. The legislator worked for passage of Mississippi River flood-control legislation.

On June 19, 1933, Bolivar Kemp died unexpectedly of a heart attack at his home in Amite three weeks after the similar death of his brother and law partner, William Breed Kemp, Jr. His seat ordinarily would have been filled through a special primary and general election in 1934. In early December 1933, however, Governor Oscar K. Allen declared that a special election would be held eight days from the date of his announcement, and named Kemp's widow, the former Esther Edwards Conner, known as "Lallie" Kemp, as the "unopposed" Democratic nominee. Many protested the announcement, and ballots were destroyed or burned in several locations within the district. After state election officials nevertheless declared Lallie Kemp the winner of the special election, a committee of citizens staged a "revolt election", won by Jared Y. Sanders, Jr., supported by district conservatives and anti-Long elements. In January 1934, Mrs. Kemp and Sanders presented their competing claims to the House. The United States House Committee on Elections refused to seat either candidate, and the full House approved the committee report by voice vote. Lallie Kemp declined to run in the subsequent special election in April 1934 in which Sanders defeated Harry D. Wilson, the Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry. Bolivar Kemp and Harry Wilson were in-laws.

Kemp's son, Bolivar Edwards Kemp, Jr., was Attorney General of Louisiana from 1948 to 1952, having served between the two terms of Fred S. LeBlanc of Baton Rouge.

Bolivar E. Kemp was Episcopalian. He is interred beside his wife and son at Amite Cemetery.

External links

• Bolivar E. Kemp at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Obituary, Ponchatoula Enterprise, June 23, 1933
• "Revolting Parishes". Time. 1933-12-18. Retrieved 2008-08-09. , TIME, December 18, 1933
• New York Times obituary, June 20, 1933 (subscription required)
• "Louisiana Contest Up in House Today", New York Times, January 3, 1934 (subscription required)
• "House Upholds Ban on Louisiana Seat", New York Times, January 30, 1934 (subscription required)
• "Quits Louisiana Race", New York Times, March 19, 1934 (subscription required)

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by George K. Favrot	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 6th congressional district 1925–1933	Succeeded by Jared Y. Sanders, Jr.