1925 Biography - Henry J. Feltus

Henry James Feltus, D. D. S., president of the Louisiana State Board of Dental Examiners, and numbered among the foremost representatives of his profession in his native commonwealth, has been established in the successful practice of his profession in the City of Baton Rouge for a period of nearly twenty-eight years, and his finely equipped and appointed offices are in the Roumain Building. Doctor Feltus is vice president of the National Association of Dental Examiners of the United States.

Doctor Feltus was born on "Oakland" Plantation, in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, July 27, 1869, and is a scion of the fourth generation of the Feltus family in the United States. His paternal grandfather, Abram Morrell Feltus, was born in New York City, and passed the major part of his adult life in Wilkinson County, Mississippi, where he became an extensive planter and influential banker. He was a most zealous communicant of the Protestant Episcopal Church, of which his father had been a distinguished clergyman, and at Woodville, Wilkinson County, Mississippi, he organized what is now the Oldest Episcopal Church east of the Mississippi River in that state. He gave to this church a hue organ, and was one of its most liberal and revered communicants until the time of his death. His wife, whose maiden name was Eliza Ventress, was of royal English lineage. Abram M. Feltus was a son of Rev. Henry James Feltus, D. D., who was born in the City of Dublin, Ireland, and who was for many years rector of St. Stephen's Church, Protestant Episcopal, New York City, he having continued his residence in the national metropolis until his death.

Henry James Feltus, father of Doctor Feltus of this review, was named in honor of his grandfather and eventually gave to his son, the Doctor, the same honored personal names. He was born at Woodville, Mississippi, in October, 1829, and died at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, September 20, 1899. He was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and incidentally it is to be noted that he was one of the founders and charter members of the Delta Phi college fraternity. After his graduation he returned to "Deer Park," the old home plantation in Mississippi, and there, as a young man, he wedded his first wife. He continued his activities as a planter in that locality until the inception of the Civil war, when he enlisted in the Sixteenth Mississippi Infantry and went forth in defense of the cause of the Confederate States. Several of his brothers likewise entered the Confederate service, and one of the number was Col. Abram Morrell Feltus, who was in command of the Sixteenth Mississippi Infantry at the time when he was killed, at the Battle of the Wilderness. In the Hall of Fame in the capital city of Mississippi the name of Feltus is several times prominently recorded, in recognition of the gallant service rendered by these brothers. After the death of his eldest brother, William, in 1864, Henry J. Feltus found it necessary to retire from military service and assume the management of the old home plantation. After the close of the war he finally removed to a plantation owned by his first wife, in Wilkinson County, Mississippi, and in 1867 he became a representative of plantation enterprises in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. In the '70s he removed to Washington County, Mississippi, and after there remaining several years he sold his plantation and, in 1881, came to Baton Rouge and established the first ice- manufacturing plant in Louisiana's capital city. He had the management of this business until his retirement, about ten years prior to his death, and in all of the relations of life he well upheld the prestige of the honored family name. He was a democrat, was affiliated with the Masonic Fraternities, and was a devout communicant of the Protestant Episcopal Church. The family name of his first wife was McNair, and she was a niece of the gallant Confederate admiral and Commodore Sims. She was born in Mississippi, and in that state her death occurred, all of the children of this marriage having died in infancy.

For his second wife Henry J. Feltus married Miss Mary Esther Brown, who was born on "Manchac" Plantation, Iberville Parish, Louisiana, in 1843, and whose death occurred at Baton Rouge in 1903. Of the children of the second marriage the following brief data are available: Dr. Henry J., immediate subject of this sketch, is the first-born; A. Morrell is a representative merchant in Baton Rouge; Mamie E., who resides at Clinton, this state, first became the wife of Lee Lambert, and after his death she married Thomas Sadler, who likewise is deceased; Miss Martha R. is Dean of the College for Women at the Louisiana State Normal College at Natchitoches, she having received from the University of Louisiana the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Arts; Kate A. is the wife of Joseph L. Powers, who is a successful cotton factor at Fort Worth, Texas; and John W. is associated with a business enterprise in Baton Rouge.

Dr. Henry J. Feltus gained his earlier education under the direction of private tutors, and thereafter was for three years a student in the, Louisiana State University. He left this university in 1887, and for the ensuing five years held a clerkship in the mercantile establishment of Murrell & Feltus at Bayou Goula. Thereafter he was for two years a student in the dental department of Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, and he then entered the School of Dentistry of the great Northwestern University in the City of Chicago, where he was graduated as a member of the class of 1896 and with the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. At the Louisiana State University he is affiliated with the chapter of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, besides which he is a member of the national dental fraternity, the Psi Omega. After his graduation Doctor Feltus established himself in practice at Baton Rouge, where his professional business has long been one of major scope and representative order.

In 1916 Doctor Feltus was appointed a member of the Louisiana State Board of Dental Examiners, and his service in this connection has since been consecutive, under the successive administrations of Governors Hall, Pleasants, Parker and Fuqua. He is now president of the board, a position to which he was elected in January, 1923. The Doctor is chairman of the Sixth District (Louisiana) Dental Society, and chairman of its executive committee, is an influential member of the Louisiana State Dental Society, of which he has served as president, and is a member also of the American Dental Association. In the National Association of Dental Examiners he is chairman of the committee on constitution and bylaws.

Doctor Feltus is a staunch democrat and has been active in the ranks of the party. He served, three years as a member of the Board of Education of East Baton Rouge Parish. He is a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and he is prominently affiliated with various fraternal organizations. His basic Masonic affiliation is with Baton Rouge Lodge No. 372, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, a member of Plains Commandery No. 11, of Baton Rouge, and in the Scottish Rite Consistory in New Orleans he has received the thirty-second degree, besides being there a Noble of Jerusalem Temple of the Mystic Shrine and a member of Adib Ahmar Grotto No. 98, Veiled Prophets. He is a past grand of Victor Lodge No. 158, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and in Louisiana Grand Lodge of the Improved Order of Red Men he is past great sachem. He is a past chancellor of Capital Lodge No. 29, Knights of Pythias; is a past counsellor of Myrtle Camp No. 30, Woodmen of the World; and was formerly a member of Baton Rouge Lodge No. 490, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of which he was one of the organizers and of which he served as exalted ruler. He is a member of the Baton Rouge Golf and Country Club and also is a member of the Westdale Country Club.

In the spring of 1924 Doctor Feltus completed the erection of his beautiful home on University Walk, and he is the owner also of an apartment building on Middle Street and valuable real estate in Catahoula Parish. In the World war period the Doctor was secretary of the Third Louisiana Advisory Board, and devoted much time to this work, without pecuniary compensation. He was also chairman of the Dental Preparedness League of the Sixth Congressional District, and was instant in other patriotic service, in which connection he received a certificate of appreciation, signed by General Crowder.

January 17, 1904, recorded the marriage of Doctor Feltus and Miss Lota A. Arbour, daughter of Oscar and Julia (Granary) Arbour, both now deceased, Mr. Arbour having been prominently identified with the lumber industry in Louisiana. Mrs. Feltus attended St. Joseph's Convent at Baton Rouge, and is a graduate of the Institute of Progressive Series of Music, she being a specially talented pianist Doctor and Mrs. Feltus have no children.

Note: The referenced source contains an autographed portrait of the subject.

Contributed 2021 Nov 04 by Mike Miller, from A History of Louisiana, by Henry E. Chambers, published in 1925, volume 2, pages 147-148.