Andre B. Roman

André Bienvenue Roman (March 5, 1795 – January 26, 1866) was an American planter and politician who served as Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives and the Governor of Louisiana. A member of the Whig Party, he served as a state representative, Speaker of the House twice, a Parish judge, and as governor from 1831 until 1835 and again from 1839 to 1843. He also served as a delegate to the states constitutional conventions of 1845 and 1852 and was chosen as a representative to the Louisiana Secession Convention in 1861.

Early life André Bienvenue Roman was born on March 5, 1795 in Opelousas, Louisiana, the son of Jacques Étienne Roman and Marie-Louise Patin. Roman's family moved to a sugar cane plantation in St. James Parish soon after his birth. In 1815, Roman graduated from St. Mary's University in Baltimore and soon after bought his own sugar plantation, Cabahanoce, located in St. James Parish. The following year he married Aimée Françoise Parent with whom he had eight children.

Career

In 1818, Roman was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives at the age of 23 and was elected Speaker of the House in 1822, serving until 1826. He was elected as a Judge in St. James Parish before being elected to the State House in 1828. He was again elected as Speaker during the constitutional crisis following the death of Governor Pierre Derbigny in 1828. In the aftermath of Derbigny's unexpected death in office, then State Senate President Arnaud Beauvais was made acting Governor. Beauvais resigned several months later at which point the new Senate President, Jacques Dupré, was made acting governor. The state legislature then called for a special gubernatorial election set for July 1830. The Convention voted 113-17 in favor of secession and Governor Roman was selected along with John Forsyth and Martin J. Crawford to negotiate a peaceable separation from the United States, but United States Secretary of State William H. Seward refused to meet with them.

During the war Roman lost all his wealth and property. On January 26, 1866, Roman died while walking down Dumaine Street. He had just accepted an appointment to the office of City Recorder of Deeds and Mortgages from Governor James Madison Wells.