Quintero, Lamar C.

Submitted by Mike Miller

Quintero, Lamar C., New Orleans, La., born Sept. 7, 1862; son of Joseph A. and Eliza F. (Bournos) Quintero, the former of whom was born in Cuba, July 6, 1831, and died at New Orleans, Sept. 7, 1885. The mother was born at New Orleans, and was a daughter of Joseph Bournos, a native of Bourdeaux, France, and proprietor and director of an institute for young ladies at New Orleans. He became a prominent figure among Southern educators and died about 1861. Joseph A. Quintero, the father, came to America about 1851. He practiced law in Texas, with Gen. M. B. Lamar, and also published a paper in the Spanish language at San Antonio, Tex. During the Civil war he represented the Confederate government at Matamoras, Mexico. After the close of the war the family located at New Orleans, where the son, Lamar C. Quintero, received his education at the Jesuit college. In 1881 he became a member of the staff of the New Orleans Picayune, and has continued his connection with that paper since that time. In that association his principal work has been in the courts and in the capacity of operatic and dramatic critic. Upon the death of Maj. Nathaniel Burbank, the eminent dramatic editor of the Picayune, Mr. Quintero was promoted to his place, and has since held that important commission. He graduated from the law department of Tulane university in 1890, and a few years afterward became associated with Judge John Clegg, under the firm name of Clegg & Quintero. Upon the death of Judge Clegg, in 1908, he formed a partnership with Donelson Caffery and his brother John Marshall Quintero. In 1883 Mr. Quintero was appointed vice-consul for the Republic of Costa Rica at New Orleans and in 1891 was made consul-general of that republic for all the Southern states, with headquarters at the city of New Orleans. Mr. Quintero has enjoyed a close association with Central American affairs and has done much toward promoting the development of trade between New Orleans and those republics. Some years ago Mr. Quintero was tendered an appointment as associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippine Islands, by the late lamented Pres. McKinley, but the commission was declined. In 1910 he was appointed by Pres. Taft as one of the delegates of the United States to the fourth international conference of American states, held at Buenos Aires, and also a special representative of the United States at the centennial of the Republic of Chile. He affiliates with the democratic party. In 1895 Mr. Quintero was married to Miss Emma Peniston, a daughter of Fergus, and Emma (Alain) Peniston, of New Orleans. Mrs. Quintero's mother was a daughter of Sostenes Alain, a prominent Louisiana planter.

Louisiana: Comprising Sketches of Parishes, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form (volume 3), p. 805. Edited by Alcee Fortier, Lit.D. Published in 1914, by Century Historical Association.