Louisiana AHGP

Part of the American History and Genealogy Project

Benjamin Ryan Coleman

Benjamin Ryan Coleman, parish surveyor and planter, was born on May 12, 1832, in Edgefield District, S. C , and is descended from Revolutionary ancestry, his great-grandfather, Benjamin Ryan, a native of Virginia, being a captain under Gen. Marion. His father, W. G. Coleman, was a captain in the Mexican War from Alabama, and was at one time a member of the Legislature of Louisiana. The latter was married to Miss Frances A. Johnson, of South Carolina, a daughter of William S. Johnson, whose parents were Virginians. He was a learned man, very intelligent, and was a contributor to Nicholson's Encyclopedia and the secular press of South Carolina. Mrs. Coleman, the mother of the subject of this sketch, died when he was but eight years old, leaving three younger children.

He was educated in Edgefield Academy until he was thirteen years of age, then moved with his father to Perry County, Louisiana, where he labored on the farm, and attended the best schools in the county for seven years. In 1850 he moved to Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, and was married three years later to Miss Fidelia N. Melton, of Perry County, Louisiana, a daughter of William Allen Melton, a native of South Carolina, and one of the first families of the State of Alabama. They have lived thirty-seven years together, and the issue of their marriage has been eleven children, six of whom are living.

In his twenty-first year he was elected school director from his ward, and from that time until 1859 he was engaged in school teaching and planting, being then appointed clerk of the district court, to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Enoch B. Whitson. At the end of four years he was re-elected, but at the close of the war was removed from office by J. Madison Wells, radical, governor of Louisiana. He was then appointed notary public in partnership with J. R. Ramsey, was enabled to support his family for twelve months. The loss of his slave property and position as clerk left him poor indeed, but he soon turned to his first occupation of teaching and farming, at which he made a fair living.

In 1872 he was appointed parish surveyor, which position he is holding at the present time. In 1876 he was elected minute clerk of the Legislature, which position he filled three years, and in 1882 was appointed assistant engineer on the fifth residence of the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific Railroad, and helped to build twelve miles west of Arcadia, and in 1880 and 1890 he was census enumerator. He is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church, a Council Mason, a member of the I. O. O. F, and in his political views is a Democrat of the Jeffersonian stamp. He is a clear and rapid penman, is skillful with his pencil, is a tine amateur musician, and is well versed in parliamentary usages.

One of his greatest gifts is his knowledge of woodcraft and surveying, being one of the most, competent of North Louisiana, where he is universally and favorably known. He is the possessor of an abundance of humor and good nature, and has for a number of years been a contributor to the newspapers of his parish and State. He has been successful in the accumulation of worldly goods, and now has a beautiful home and a fine plantation. He holds commissions from every governor of Louisiana for thirty-five years past. He has lived a very active life, and with the assistance of a splendid library which he possesses, and the newspapers that he reads, he keeps fully apace with this progressive age. Possessing the proverbial hospitality of those of his nativity, he is loved by all, and has the esteem and respect of the community at large.

Biographical Sketches| Claiborne Parish

Source: Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northwest Louisiana, Southern Publishing Company, 1890