John Edward Bouligny
John Edward Bouligny was a member of the U. S. House of Representatives representing the state of Louisiana. He served one term as a member of the Know-Nothing movement's anti-immigrant, pro-Protestant American Party.Biography
Bouligny was born in New Orleans. He was son of Louisiana state Representative Louis Bouligny and the nephew of Charles Dominique Joseph Bouligny, a U.S. Senator from Louisiana. His grandfather, Francisco Bouligny, was a high-ranking Spanish colonial official and military governor in the late 18th century in Spanish Louisiana.
Bouligny was strongly opposed to Louisiana's secession to join the Confederate States of America, and retained his seat in Congress after Louisiana withdrew from the Union on January 26, 1861 until the expiry of his term on March 3, 1861. He remained in the North and died in Washington, D.C., during the American Civil War.
In 1862, following the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, President Lincoln sent Bouligny to Union-occupied New Orleans to determine if the state could reintegrate with the Union and send representatives to Congress.
His great-granddaughter, Odette Le Fontenay, was an opera singer in the 20th century.
