St. Mary Parish
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John N MURPHY CAFFERY, manager of the Columbia Sugar Company, planters and
refiners at Franklin, represents a very distinguished family of Louisiana, his
father having represented the state in the United States Senate, and he and two
of his brothers having made creditable records in military affairs.
Mr.
Caffery was born on Bethia plantation near Franklin, Louisiana, September 14,
1877. The Caffery family came from Scotland to Virginia in Colonial times. His
grandfather, Donelson Caffery, was born in Tennessee and was a descendant of the
Donelson family which also came from Scotland. His great-great grandfather was
John Donelson, who served as an officer in the Revolutionary army and whose
daughter Rachel married Andrew Jackson. Donelson Caffery as a young man bought
Bethia plantation, situated a mile west of Franklin, Louisiana, and operated it
until his death in 1836. He married Lydia Murphy, who was born at Edenton, North
Carolina, and died on Bethia plantation in 1884.
The late Senator
Donelson Caffery was born on Bethia plantation in 1834, was reared there,
attended St. Mary’s College in Baltimore, studied law, and for several years was
engaged in sugar planting in the Cypremort section of St. Mary Parish. He was a
Confederate soldier throughout practically the entire period of the war between
the states, being on the staff of General Walker. After the war he returned to
Louisiana, was admitted to the bar and during subsequent years earned a high
place as a lawyer. He served one term as state senator and as United States
senator two terms, being first appointed in 1892 to fill an unexpired term,
while in 1894 he was elected for the full term of six years. After leaving the
Senate he practiced law until his death, on December 26, 1906. He was a staunch
democrat, and was a member of the Presbyterian Church and the Masonic
fraternity. Senator Caffery married Miss Bethia Richardson, who was born on
Bayside plantation, near Jeanerette, in 1846, and died at New Orleans in May,
1917. They had a family of nine children: Donelson, a practicing attorney at New
Orleans; Frank R., a sugar planter who died near Franklin in 1910; R. Earl a
cattle dealer and raiser near Franklin; Gertrude, wife of Henry H. Glassie, a
member of the United States Tariff Commission, living at Chevy Chase, Maryland;
John M.; Liddell, who became a lieutenant in the United States Marines and died
at Pensacola, Florida, in 1901; Miss Bethia R., of Chevy Chase, Maryland;
Charles S., who is a major of infantry in the United States Army and served
three years in France; and Edward, who is United States vice-consul at
Bucharest, Roumania.
John Murphy Caffery entered the United States Naval
Academy at Annapolis, graduating with the class of 1901. He was commissioned an
ensign, and remained in the service six years, resigning in 1907. During the
next three years he was an oil operator at Jennings, Louisiana, and in 1910 took
the position of manager of the Columbia Sugar Company, operating the plantation
of thirty-five hundred acres three miles north of Franklin and also the refinery
owned by the company. The company has in its employ about one hundred hands.
These responsibilities make Mr. Caffery an important factor in the sugar
industry of Louisiana. In addition he is vice-president of the St. Mary Bank and
Trust Company, and vice-president of the St. Mary Hardware Company at Franklin.
Mr. Caffery is a democrat, a member of the Unitarian Church, is affiliated
with Franklin Lodge No. 57, F. and A. M., Cyrus Chapter No. 12, Royal Arch
Masons, at Franklin, the Consistory of the Scottish Rite at New Orleans, and
Jerusalem Temple of the Mystic Shrine at New Orleans. He is a life member of
Franklin Lodge No. 1387, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
In May,
1917, soon after America declared war on Germany, Mr. Caffery volunteered his
services to the government, was commissioned a lieutenant in the United States
Navy, and throughout the war acted as captain of the yard at the naval station
at Algiers, Louisiana. receiving his honorable discharge November 11, 1918, the
day after the signing of the armistice.
Mr. Caffery married at Franklin,
October 26, 1909, Miss Mary Frere, daughter of Alexander G. and Lulu (Clegg)
Frere. Her father, who died at Franklin, was a druggist and was sheriff of St.
Mary Parish several terms. Mrs. Caffery completed her education at Newcomb
College, New Orleans, and at the State Normal College. Their four children are
John, Donelson, Mary and Clegg.
Contributed 2021 Nov 04 by Mike Miller, from A History of Louisiana, by Henry E. Chambers, published in 1925, volume 3, page 7.
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