Flanders, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1816-1896

Benjamin Franklin Flanders was appointed Governor of Louisiana (1867-1868), served as Mayor of New Orleans (1870-1872), and was Assistant Treasurer of the United States in new Orleans (1873-1882).

Benjamin F. Flanders, a native of New Hampshire, studied law in New Orleans, served as Third Municipal District alderman (1848-1852), and was also employed for ten years as secretary/treasurer of the New Orleans, Opelousas and Great Western Railroad Company. An opponent of secession, he fled to the North at the onset of the Civil War after aiding Union prisoners. He returned to New Orleans in 1862 during the city's occupation by Federal troops.

Upon his return, he was appointed city treasurer. After six months he was elected to Congress, serving only a few months before being appointed special agent of the Treasury Department for the Gulf Coast states. In June 1867 he was appointed governor of Louisiana by General Philip Sheridan, a post he resigned when Sheridan was replaced in 1868.

He later served as mayor of New Orleans, 1870-1872, first by appointment and then by election, and as assistant treasurer of the United States in New Orleans, 1873-1882. He lost his last bid for public office in 1888, as the Republican nominee for state treasurer. Flanders died in retirement at his estate in Lafayette Parish, La., March 13, 1896.