A while back, someone asked for a list of all of Monroe’s mayors. I quickly realized that wasn’t as easy to find as I thought. There is nothing to be found online and outside of Dr. Williams’ book on the Founding Families of the Ouachita Valley, very little. West Monroe, forget about it! Here is what I found.
The earliest we have found were not called mayors. They were called, “President of the Town Council”. We don’t know all of them. We know five by name: Robert Forbes McGuire (1825), William Trent (1836), Thomas C. Scarborough (1841) Frances B. Richardson (1845) and William Mullins (1846).
The very first popularly elected mayor was Arthur Hamilton Harris in 1855. Here they are in list order:
Arthur Hamilton Harris (1855)
Joseph Forbes McGuire (1856)
Robert James Caldwell (1857)
James Gunn Richardson (1858)
Dr. Christopher Hunt Dabbs (1858)
Paul McEnery (1859)
Bernard Bollenhagen Hemkin, Jr. (1860 – 1861)
Robert Ray (1861 – 1864)
Richard Daniel Blossman, Jr. (1865)
Robert James Caldwell (1865)
George William McCranie (1866 – 1867)
Joseph Forbes McGuire (1868)
Jay Levin Hunsiker (1869 – 1873)
George Byron Hamlet (1873) (Our first African-American mayor!)
Frederick L. Endom (1874-1882)
Lewis D. Allen, Jr. (1884 – 1885)
Frederick L. Endom (1886-1889)
Andrew Jackson Herring (1889 – 1894)
Dr. Thomas Young Aby (1894 – 1895)
Andrew Jackson Herring (1896 – 1898)
Dr. Andrew Alexander Forsythe (1898 – 1914)
Charles A. Downey (1914 – 1915)
Harvey Dewit Apgar (1915 – 1918)
Arnold Bernstein (1919 – 1937) (Our first Jewish Mayor!)
Harvey Herron Benoit (1937 – 1948)
George Olan Breece (1948 – 1949)
John Elton Coon (1949 – 1956)
William Lorenzo “Jack” Howard (1956 – 1972)
Ralph Talbot Troy, Sr. (1972 – 1978)
William Durwood Cann (1978 – 1979)
Robert E. “Bob” Powell (1979 – 1996)
Abe Edward Pierce III (1996 – 2000)
Melvin Leo Rambin (2000 – 2001)
James Earl Mayo (2001 – 2020)
Oliver Friday Ellis, Jr. (2020 – Present)*
*Edited on July 12, 2020 to add Monroe’s new mayor. I will update this list as new mayors are elected.
Ouachita Parish History Tidbits 
Good job! Just a little nit-picking — Ramblin should be spelled Rambin.
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Done! Thanks for the correction. Didn’t even see it!
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Who was in the “gap”? 1956-1976
John Elton Coon (1949 – 1956)
William Lorenzo “Jack” Howard (1976 – 1978)
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That was a typo. The 7 should have been a 5. Corrected. Thanks for the catch!
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Hi, I have a photo of Mayor J Levinus Hunsicker and was wondering if there is a local historical society or library I could donate it to.
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Yes! The Ouachita Parish Public Library’s Special Collections Department would love it! The address is: 1800 Stubbs Ave. Monroe, LA 71203. Just put Attention Cyndy Robertson.
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