Ashton Joseph Mouton, Sr. (October 16, 1916 - January 31, 1988), was a businessman and politician who became, at thirty-one, the youngest mayor in the history of Lafayette, Louisiana. A Democrat, Mouton was elected mayor in 1948. He served two four-year terms and left office in 1956. In 1963, Mouton was an unsuccessful contender for lieutenant governor on an intraparty ticket with the winning gubernatorial candidate, John Julian McKeithen of tiny Columbia, the seat of Caldwell Parish, in northeastern Louisiana. October 16 is the 289th day of the year (290th in leap years). ... Year 1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... January 31 is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A businessperson with some of the typical accoutrements of her or his profession: briefcase and mobile phone. ... A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning larger, greater) is the modern title of the highest ranking municipal officer. ... Lafayette is a city on the Vermilion River in Lafayette Parish, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. ... The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States; the other being the Republican Party. ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... A Lieutenant Governor is a government official who is the subordinate or deputy of a Governor or Governor-General. ... A governor is an official who heads the government of a colony, state or other sub-national state unit. ... John Julian McKeithen (May 28, 1918 -- June 4, 1999), a Democrat from the tiny town of Columbia in Caldwell Parish in northeastern Louisiana, was the first governor of his state to serve two consecutive terms. ... Caldwell Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ...

Mouton was born in Lafayette (also Lafayette Parish) to Edwin Mouton, Sr., and the former Georgie McBride. He was educated at Mount Carmel Elementary School and Cathedral High School in Lafayette. In 1939, he obtained a degree in business administration from Southwestern Louisiana Institute, now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He married the former Stella Rose Dupuis, the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. J.W. Dupuis, Sr., of Youngsville in Lafayette Parish. They had four children: Stella Rose, Ashton J. Mouton, Jr. (born 1947), Carolyn Anne, and John Mouton. There is also a namesake grandson, Ashton J. Mouton, III, of Lafayette (born 1983). Lafayette Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a tertiary degree in business management. ... The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, or UL Lafayette[1], is a coeducational public research university located in Lafayette, Louisiana, in the heart of Acadiana. ... Youngsville is a town located in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana. ... Lafayette Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. ... Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

From 1939-1941, Mouton was the administrative assistant in the Lafayette municipal finance office. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II from 1941-1945. After the war, Mouton started a career in life insurance. 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... For the movie, see 1941 (film). ... A municipality or general-purpose district (compare with: special-purpose district) is an administrative local area generally composed of a clearly defined territory and commonly referring to a city, town, or village government. ... The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... Life insurance or life assurance is a contract between the policy owner and the insurer, where the insurer agrees to pay a sum of money upon the occurrence of the insureds death. ...

Mouton succeeded Claude C. Colomb (July 19, 1889 - December 1973) as mayor. He was recognized widely for his mayoral success, even being honored on March 10, 1955, by the Louisiana Municipal Association and its trade publication, the Louisiana Municipal Review, as one of the outstanding mayors in Louisiana at the time. Over the next several decades, Lafayette became the fourth largest city in the state. At the time of Mouton's service, Lafayette, as did many other Louisiana communities, had a commission form of government. He was succeeded as mayor by Jerome E. Domengeaux (March 3, 1919 - May 27, 1999). July 19 is the 200th day (201st in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 165 days remaining. ... Year 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... This does not cite its references or sources. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... March 10 is the 69th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (70th in leap years). ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... March 3 is the 62nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (63rd in leap years). ... Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... May 27 is the 147th day (148th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 218 days remaining. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

After his mayoral years, Mouton became an independent oil and gas lease broker. He held various state-level appointments too, including the Mineral Board (1950-1952), Board of Tax Appeals (1956-1958, commissioner of conservation (1958-1960, collector of revenues, (1964-1970), director of hospitals (1970-1971), and administrative assistant to the director of the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement in 1972. The three former appointments were in the administration of Governor Earl Kemp Long, and the three later positions were under his mentor John McKeithen. Mouton was affiliated with the powerful Long faction of Louisiana politics. 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Conservation may refer to the following: Conservation ethic in relation to preserving ecosystems Conservationist Conservation movement Conservation ecology Conservation biology Energy conservation in reducing non-renewable energy consumption Conservation law of physics Conservation of energy Conservation of mass Conservation (genetics) in genetics Conservation (botany) in botanical nomenclature Conservation (psychology) in... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Earl Kemp Long (26 August 1895 - 5 September 1960) was an American politician and three-time Governor of Louisiana. ... Earl Kemp Long (August 26, 1895 – September 5, 1960) was an American politician and three-time Governor of Louisiana. ... A faction is a special interest group. ...

In 1965, Mouton sued the Schwegmann Brothers Giant Super Martkets, Inc., to collect for the state sales, use and occupational license taxes plus interest in the amount of $62,517.98. Schwegmann appealed the assessments to the Louisiana Board of Tax Appeals. Ten years later, the tax board ruled in Mouton's favor, some five years after he had left the collector's position. The former super market was owned in part by then state Representative John G. Schwegmann of Jefferson Parish. Thereafter, Mouton sued to collect another $103,290.59. Schwegmann answered and denied liability. The two cases were consolidated in the trial court by consent of the parties. In the trial, Mouton was upheld in both cases. In 1971, Schwegmann unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for governor on a platform to cut government spending. 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... The Louisiana State Legislature is the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Louisiana. ... Jefferson Parish is a parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday. ...

Mouton began selling real estate in 1976 and was associated with an agency in Lafayette from 1978 until his death ten years later. Real estate is a legal term that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ...

In his lieutenant governor's race, Mouton failed to make the Democratic runoff primary, which was won by the incumbent Clarence C. "Taddy" Aycock of Franklin, the seat of St. Mary Parish. Aycock defeated future state Senator Claude B. Duval of Houma in Terrebonne Parish. Also running on the McKeithen-Mouton ticket for the new position of insurance commissioner was future U.S. Representative and then state Senator Speedy O. Long (1928-2006) of Jena, the seat of La Salle Parish. Long was defeated by Dudley A. Guglielmo, an Italian-American politician in Louisiana. The incumbent, in politics, is the current holder of a political office. ... Franklin is a small city located in St. ... St. ... The city of Houma (pronounced ) is the parish seat of Terrebonne Parish, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. ... Terrebonne Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ... Insurance commissioner is a state office held by an elected official in the United States. ... The House of Representatives is the larger of two houses that make up the U.S. Congress, the other being the United States Senate. ... The Louisiana State Legislature is the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Louisiana. ... Speedy Oteria Long was a Democratic congressman from central Louisiana between 1965 and 1973 and a prominent member of the popular Long political dynasty. ... Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... The town of Jena is the parish seat of La Salle Parish, in the US state of Louisiana. ... La Salle Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ...

Mouton was a member of the American Legion, the Knights of Columbus (a Catholic men's organization), and Mardi Gras Krewe of Gabriel. The American Legion is an organization of veterans of the United States armed forces who served in wartime. ... Knights of Columbus emblem The Order of the Knights of Columbus is the worlds largest Catholic fraternal service organization. ...

Mouton is interred in the Lafayette Memorial Park Cemetery.

References

"Ashton J. Mouton", A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography (1988), p. 588

Mouton obituary, Lafayette Daily Advertiser, February 2, 1988; March 7, 1948; March 11, 1955; November 17, 1963; June 27, 1970

https://www.fastcase.com/Yahoo/Start.aspx?C=65423d4d77a8b12e0a5a8edd40320d49a823a1047be507f2&D=10792c96699fcb81910f929b8d8c25d83fe96b50f98118d3&AffiliateConst=Yahoo