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{{Short description|American politician (1816–1896)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Benjamin Flanders
|image = Benjamin Franklin Flanders.jpg
|caption =
|order1 = [[Mayor of New Orleans|24th Mayor]] of [[New Orleans]]
|term_start1 = April 4, 1870
|term_end1 = November 29, 1872
|predecessor1 = [[John R. Conway]]
|successor1 = [[Louis A. Wiltz]]
|order2 = [[List of Governors of Louisiana|21st Governor of Louisiana]]
|term_start2 = June 8, 1867
|term_end2 = January 8, 1868
|lieutenant2 = [[Albert Voorhies]]
|predecessor2 = [[James Madison Wells|James M. Wells]]
|successor2 = [[Joshua Baker]]
|state3 = [[Louisiana]]
|district3 = [[Louisiana's 1st congressional district|1st]]
|term_start3 = February 17, 1863
|term_end3 = March 3, 1863
|preceded3 = [[John Edward Bouligny]] (1861)
|succeeded3 = [[J. Hale Sypher]] (1868)
|birth_name = Benjamin Franklin Flanders
|birth_date = {{birth date|1816|1|26|mf=y}}
|birth_place = [[Bristol, New Hampshire]], U.S.
|death_date = {{death date and age|1896|3|13|1816|1|26|mf=y}}
|death_place = [[Lafayette Parish, Louisiana]], U.S.
|party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|spouse = Susan H. Sawyer
}}

'''Benjamin Franklin Flanders''' (January 26, 1816 – March 13, 1896) was a teacher, politician and planter in [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]]. In 1867, he was appointed by the military commander as the [[List of Governors of Louisiana|21st Governor of Louisiana]] during [[Reconstruction Era|Reconstruction]], a position which he held for some six months. He was the second and, as of 2025, the last [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] mayor of [[New Orleans, Louisiana]].

==Early life==
Flanders was born in [[Bristol, New Hampshire|Bristol]], New Hampshire. At the age of twenty-six, he graduated from [[Dartmouth College]] in [[Dartmouth, New Hampshire|Dartmouth]], New Hampshire.

In January 1843 he moved to New Orleans and [[reading law|read law]] under Charles M. Emerson. The following year he left this study to become a schoolteacher and principal. In 1845, Flanders became editor of ''New Orleans Tropic'', a local newspaper. In 1847 he married Susan H. Sawyer in [[Bristol, New Hampshire]]. She returned with him to New Orleans, where they had six children together.

==Political career==
Flanders became active in politics, elected as a Democratic [[alderman]] representing the 3rd Municipal District of New Orleans, serving from 1847 to 1852. In 1852, he was selected as the secretary and treasurer of the [[New Orleans, Opelousas and Great Western Railroad]], a position he held until 1862. In 1861, he fled New Orleans, leaving his family behind. He had opposed [[secession in the United States|secession]], and sentiment against [[Union (American Civil War)|Unionists]] was very strong.

Flanders made his way to [[Cairo, Illinois|Cairo]], [[Illinois]]; [[Columbus, Ohio|Columbus]], [[Ohio]]; and eventually, [[New York City]]. He did not return to New Orleans until April 1862, when the city was captured by Union troops. On July 20, he was appointed by the military government as New Orleans City Treasurer. He served until his election to [[United States Congress|Congress]] on December 3, 1862.<ref>{{cite news|title=Important from New-Orleans: Result of the Congressional Elections|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=December 12, 1862|url=https://nyti.ms/34GwhHf|access-date=February 7, 2022}}</ref> He was elected along with [[Michael Hahn]] as [[at-large]] Representatives of Louisiana, assuming the seat left vacant after [[John Edward Bouligny|J. E. Bouligny]]'s term expired in 1861. Flanders and Hahn were not seated in Congress until the last fifteen days of their terms on February 17, 1863.<ref>[[John D. Winters]], ''The Civil War in Louisiana'', Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1963, {{ISBN|0-8071-0834-0}}, pp. 133-134</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1863-02-18 |title=The Proceedings of Congress: House of Representatives |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1863/02/18/80273990.html |access-date=2024-07-10 |work=The New York Times |pages=8 |language=en |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

On July 13, 1863, Flanders was made the Captain of Company C, [[5th Regiment Louisiana Volunteers]], a Union Army unit. He was honorably discharged in August 1863, when he was appointed a Special Agent of the [[United States Treasury Department]] of the Southern Region by [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Secretary of the Treasury]] [[Salmon P. Chase]]. He held this position until 1866. While in office, he generated commissions for the government by selling confiscated cotton from Confederate plantations. The Department of Treasury controlled licensing of cotton brokers, trying to regulate the market, but a black market flourished for the lucrative sale of cotton.

In 1864, Flanders campaigned for governor and finished in third place behind [[Michael Hahn]] and Fellows. He was appointed by Republicans as the first Supervising Special Agent of the [[Freedmen’s Bureau]], Department of the Gulf. At the same time, he led the movement to create a local [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] in Louisiana. He formed the 'Friends of Universal Suffrage' with other Louisiana Unionists (known as [[scalawag]]s to opponents), as well as [[free people of color|free men of color]] (who had been free before the war) and [[freedman|freedmen]]; they were working to gain black suffrage and to repeal the Louisiana [[Black Codes (United States)|Black Codes]]. These laws had been passed to control the movement of freedmen. Fearful of the black majority in many Louisiana districts, most white [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] opposed giving freedmen suffrage, especially after Confederate veterans were temporarily disenfranchised unless they took a loyalty oath. The tension over the rights of freed slaves escalated into [[New Orleans riot]] of 1866, in which [[white people|whites]] attacked [[black people|blacks]].

In 1867, General [[Philip Sheridan]], Commander of the 5th Military District, which included Louisiana and Texas, removed elected Governor [[James Madison Wells]] for not responding to the riots appropriately and for not advancing the rights of freedmen. Sheridan appointed Flanders as Governor of Louisiana. About six months later, on January 1, 1868, [[Major general (United States)|Major General]] [[Winfield Scott Hancock]], as the new military commander of Louisiana, removed all radical Republicans from state offices. Governor Flanders resigned on January 8 and was replaced by General Hancock's appointee, [[Joshua Baker]].

In 1867, he appointed [[Monroe Baker]] as mayor of [[St. Martinville, Louisiana]] who may have been the first African-American to serve as mayor in the United States.<ref name=Grissom>{{Cite news|first=Ken |last= Grissom|authorlink= |title=Baker First Black Mayor |newspaper=[[Teche News]]|date=July 12, 2006 |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108091942/teche-news/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

In 1870, Governor [[Henry C. Warmoth]], elected as part of the [[Reconstruction Era|Reconstruction]]-era civil government, appointed Flanders as [[Mayor of New Orleans]]. He was later elected to a full two-year mayoral term, serving until 1873. That year, President [[Ulysses S. Grant]] appointed Flanders as Assistant Treasurer of the United States. Flanders ran unsuccessfully in 1888 as a Republican candidate for Louisiana State Treasurer; by that time Democrats were controlling most statewide elected positions.

Flanders retired to his Ben Alva plantation in [[Lafayette Parish, Louisiana|Lafayette Parish]]. He died there in 1896. His remains were interred at [[Metairie Cemetery]] in New Orleans.

==Legacy==
Flanders remains the most recent Republican mayor of the city of New Orleans.

==References==
{{reflist}}
* [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=F000189 Biography] at the ''[[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]]''
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110521193557/http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=377d224971c81010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=4b18f074f0d9ff00VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD National Governor's Association biography]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080221035408/http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/tabid/379/Default.aspx State of Louisiana - Biography]

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{{s-ttl|title=[[Radical Republicans|Radical Republican]] nominee for [[List of Governors of Louisiana|Governor of Louisiana]]|years=[[1864 Louisiana gubernatorial election (Union)|1864]]}}
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{{US House succession box | state=Louisiana | district=1 | district_ord=1st | before=(Vacant 1861–1862)<br>[[John Edward Bouligny|J. E. Bouligny]] | after=(Vacant 1863–1867)<br>[[J. Hale Sypher]] | years=1862–1863}}
{{s-bef|before=[[James Madison Wells|James M. Wells]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Governors of Louisiana|Governor of Louisiana]]|years=1867–1868}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Joshua Baker]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[John R. Conway]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of mayors of New Orleans|Mayor of New Orleans]]|years=1870–1872}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Louis A. Wiltz]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Governors of Louisiana}}
{{NOLAMayors}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Flanders, Benjamin}}
[[Category:Governors of Louisiana]]
[[Category:1816 births]]
[[Category:1896 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century mayors of places in Louisiana]]
[[Category:People from Bristol, New Hampshire]]
[[Category:Louisiana Republicans]]
[[Category:19th-century American Episcopalians]]
[[Category:Dartmouth College alumni]]
[[Category:Union army officers]]
[[Category:People of Louisiana in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Mayors of New Orleans]]
[[Category:Louisiana Unionists]]
[[Category:Unionist Party members of the United States House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Republican Party governors of Louisiana]]
[[Category:American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law]]
[[Category:Louisiana Democrats]]
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana]]
[[Category:19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives]]

Benjamin Flanders - Revision history

2600:1700:DED0:8210:49F6:1521:FE8C:E6C2 at 04:21, 8 May 2025