1925 Biography - Hillyer R. Speed

Hillyer Rolston Speed. The very qualifications that make men successful in the insurance business make them also successful and natural leaders in citizenship. One of the ablest insurance men in the state is Hillyer Rolston Speed, of Monroe. While building up an extensive insurance agency in this city, he has kept in close touch with the best interests of the community and has been twice chosen to the post of Commissioner of finance and utilities.

Mr. Speed was born at Vicksburg, Mississippi, October 4, 1873, son of Judge Frederic and Esther A. (Hillyer) Speed. On both sides he represents families long prominent in the State of Mississippi, his parents being well known in the social, professional and business life of the historic town on the Mississippi.

Hillyer R. Speed attended public schools at Vicksburg, and after completing the work of grammar school was sent north, completing a high school course at LaCrosse, Wisconsin, and a course in the Cayuga Lake Military Academy at Aurora, New York.

His early business training was acquired in New Orleans and New York, where he Learned the fundamentals of the insurance business. In 1897 he located at Monroe, and in 1900 engaged in the insurance business on his own account. In a quarter of a century he has built up one of the largest insurance agencies in the state. In the course of this work he has come in touch with many individuals and communities outside of his own city, and has a wide acquaintance all over Louisiana. He knows personally nearly every citizen of Monroe.

In 1918 Mr. Speed was first elected commissioner of finance and utilities in the City of Monroe, and the efficiency he displayed in that office brought his reelection by a large majority. In this office he has shown that devotion to the public welfare which had characterized his general civic attitude in years before he took office. At all times he has been active in movements for the advancement of the city's best welfare.

Mr. Speed was a Louisiana delegate to the National Democratic Convention of New York in 1924, participating in the historic deadlock there. He is a man of special tastes, is active in clubs and other organizations, being affiliated with the Masonic order, Knights of Pythias, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Riverside and Lotus clubs in Monroe, the Coastal Club, the Lake Arthur Club, the Newark, New Jersey, Athletic Club, and the Chess, Checkers and Whist Club of New Orleans.

Mr. Speed married April 19, 1899, Miss Anna Lee, daughter of John Martin and Vada (Burch) Lee. They have two daughters, Vada Lee Speed and Layton Speed, the latter the wife of E. T. Lamkin.

Note: The sketch is accompanied by a 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 317-318.