The maternal side of my family is from Louisiana, and we are very familiar with Huey Long. He was Governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and was a senator after that until his assassination in 1935. My grandfather was St. Mary Parish Sheriff Chester C. Baudoin, who was sheriff from 1964 to 1984. He was a good friend of Huey Long’s son Russell, who was also a senator, and always supported him. I’m not sure how they met though. One time my grandfather was told by a supporter that he had similarities to Huey Long and my grandfather was flattered by the remark. (Photo above is a photo from 1979 - left to right - my grandfather Chester Baudoin, Senator Russell Long and my grandmother, Iris Schoenstein Baudoin) Even though he was considered by some to be a demagogue, Long did so much good for the state of Louisiana and my family had much respect for him. My Aunt Beverly always stated that “as long as a Long ran for office they would win.”
My great-grandmother Una Frances Ibert Schoenstein owned a bakery in Franklin, Louisiana. Her husband died only two years after their first daughter, Iris Elizabeth Schoenstein Baudoin, was born, who was my grandmother. Their second daughter, Beverly Schoenstein McClernan, was born only a few months before his death in the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918. Beverly later attended Louisiana State University and my great-grandmother wrote a letter to Huey Long, a big supporter of LSU, to see if she could use his influence to get my Aunt Beverly into one of the dormitories at the college. Let’s just say that she was able to acquire a room. My Aunt Beverly dated Burns Bennett, who was drum major for the LSU marching band. Bennett wrote Huey Long telling him that he would be dumb not to hire him.
My Aunt Beverly said that the Long assassination was an inside job. Here is a lengthy quote from a letter written in 1999 in which she writes me about the assassination. “In answer to your question about Huey Long…. yes, I knew one of his bodyguards….who was a friend of Noble’s (Noble Law was my Aunt Beverly’s first husband). It was one of the bodyguards who killed Huey. It is politics motivated since Huey bragged about being the next President of our United States. I do believe he would have made it! Mama and I had great admiration for this man. Before him it was nothing but dirt and gravel roads and ferries to cross (the rivers). No bridges anywhere. To go to Lafayette was thru Charenton, no other way…. and to New Orleans on the ferry in Morgan City and Donaldsonville. It took almost a whole day there. We would have to spend the night in the Jung Hotel and drive home the next day. I even had to get to L.S.U. by way of the ferry. Sometimes I will tell you about the time the lady whose car stalled and Huey was in the car in front of us. (Unfortunately I never followed up with my Aunt Beverly about this story) He was some “hot” potato! But we did go to view Huey’s body in state. Thousands were there trying to get into the Capitol. Anyway, one of the attendants came and brought me to the side where there was an elevator so I got to get into the line. Mama never did get in. She stayed outside. (My Aunt Beverly told me one time that her mother Una wasn’t feeling well the day that they attended Long’s funeral so she stayed outside and sat under a tree.) Huey used to say “there’d be a chicken in every pot”….. because “every man’s a king”!
Thanks for learning!
Chet Wallace
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