Maginnis, Arthur Ambrose

Submitted by Mike Miller

Maginnis, Arthur Ambrose. The first of the name ennobled after the English manner, was Sir Art., or Arthur Maginnis, who was married to Sarah, daughter of Hugh McNeil and was created by James I in 1623 Lord Viscount Iveah. By the result of the Civil war of 1641-53, the Maginnises were greatly shattered in their fortunes, but Arthur Maginnis had also been minister for Great Britain and Ireland at the courts of Stockholm, Naples and Lisbon. This grand old family sent its representatives to America also, and one of its sons gave his young life in defense of American interests even before the days of 1776. France then claimed North America from Labrador to New Orleans. The colonies fought often against this claim before it was abandoned. The campaign of 1755 began with 3 expeditions against the French forts. In the one against Crown Point on Lake George, Capt. Arthur Maginnis at the head of 200 men fell on the French and completely routed them. After turning the fortunes of the day, he was mortally wounded and was buried with military honors. Arthur Ambrose Maginnis, the subject of this sketch, was the son of Daniel Maginnis and Jane Reed, who were married in County Antrim, Ireland, in 1807. Arthur Ambrose Maginnis (the father of all the Maginnises living in New Orleans) was born in Baltimore, Md., July 17, 1815; married in that city in Aug., 1839 to Elizabeth Jane Armstrong (born at New Castle on the Tyne, England), daughter of John Armstrong and Sarah Donkin Affleck; died Aug. 19, 1877, at his summer home in Ocean Springs, Miss. Mr. Maginnis early in life cast his lot in New Orleans, first as a shipbuilder, then as a very successful sugar planter with several plantations on Bayou Lafourche, near Donaldsonville, and at the time of his death, as chief inaugurator of the manufacture of cotton seed oil and other products of that plant. He developed an industry which in importance is second to none in the South. During the 36 years of his useful life as a citizen of New Orleans, Mr. Maginnis had been prime mover in enterprises of nearly every character. He was dearly loved by all of his employes [sic], and it was known in several instances when their health broke down from old age, he looked after his help in their declining years and found homes for them on one of his plantations. A clipping from the Democrat of Aug. 19, 1877, says: "New Orleans loses by the death of Mr. Arthur Ambrose Maginnis, Sr., one of her most useful and most beloved citizens. In social life, his invariable courtesy, his earnest and ready sympathies and his genial and attractive bearings secured for him a friendship unusually extended and warm. In business his perfect integrity, his indomitable energy and his remarkable enterprise triumphed over all obstacles and placed the firm of A. A. Maginnis & Sons in the front rank of southern manufacturers. Perhaps no establishment of the kind in this country has ever surpassed the economic efficiency of his system. Mr. Maginnis was also distinguished for his patriotism and his public spirit. Although not a politician in the ordinary acceptation of the term, he took a deep interest in the political welfare of his section and was a hearty supporter of the Conservative Cause. He was elected to the legislature of 1875 and 1876, and in that capacity rendered the state good service as a working member. At his death he left a wife and 9 children to cherish a noble memory, four others having died in early infancy."

Source: Louisiana: Comprising Sketches of Parishes, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form (volume 3), pp. 544-545. Edited by Alcée Fortier, Lit.D. Published in 1914, by Century Historical Association.