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Judge Taylor Beattie, of the Twentieth judicial district, is a
native of La Fourche parish, La., horn in 1837, and is one of the popular men of the state. He received his collegiate education in the
University of Virginia, and subsequently returned to his native parish, where be began the study of law, being admitted to the bar in 1859. He
espoused the cause of the confederacy and was an able and fearless defender of Southern rights. He joined the First regiment of Louisiana
infantry as second lieutenant, was mustered into service in April, 1861,
and served as lieutenant until at Pensacola, Fla., when he was promoted to the rank of captain. In 1863 he was made colonel and afterward
served on court martial duty until the cessation of hostilities. He was
in all the campaigns of the western army and was with General Johnston at the time of his surrender.
Returning to La Fourche parish he resumed
the practice of law, frequently employed in important suits involving large amounts and presenting intricate questions of law. In 1871 he was
appointed judge of the Fifteenth district, and in 1872 he was elected and re-elected in 1876 and served until 1880. He was the republican
candidate for governor in 1879 and was a candidate for congress in 1882.
In 1884 he was elected judge of the Twentieth judicial district and re-elected-in 1888. He has been engaged in planting since 1869 and
makes about 1,000 hogsheads of sugar each year. He was married in 1868 to Miss F. Pugh, of an old and prominent family, and they are the
parents of four children. Judge Beattie is public spirited and the willing advocate of every enterprise which promises to promote the
public good and general welfare. He has made an excellent record as a jurist, and as an attorney he has few peers in Louisiana. He has ever
been a prominent social and political and professional factor in Thibodeaux, and the many excellent qualities of himself and his
estimable family are known and appreciated by the citizens thereof. He has
a most beautiful and charming home and is surrounded by everything that makes one cheerful in spirit and in hope.
He owns several plantations, but his residence and office are situated across the La
Fourche bayou and in a perfect forest of oak trees. Judge Beattie's parents, John C. and C. (Reid) Beattie, were both natives of the Blue
Grass regions of Kentucky. The father was an attorney but was also a planter. He was district attorney in La Fourche parish at one time and
was a member of the constitutional convention of 1844. The paternal ancestors were originally from Scotland and settled in this country as
early as 1690. The maternal ancestors were originally from Ireland and immigrated to this country in 1680.
From Biographical and Historical Memoires of Louisiana, volume 2, pp.
271-272.
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