Fortune Riard

Alexander Fortune Riard (1832/3 – February 28, 1889), was a carpenter, merchant, lawyer and state legislator who served in the Louisiana State Senate from 1876 until 1878. He was educated in France where he also served as a naval officer.

He was a Republican and was also the Lafayette agent for the New Orleans Republican newspaper which was the official journal of the Republican party.

Riard first unsuccessfully ran for the Louisiana State Senate in 1868 contesting the seat for the 10th senatorial district. In 1872 the Republican party nominated Riard again to run for the Senate against T. C. Anderson who ran as an independent and again was unsuccessful.

He was a delegate to the Louisiana Constitutional Convention in 1868 representing Lafayette Parish, Louisiana Also in 1868 he had received threats and was forced to flee from the Lafayette Parish for a while. The agency was located at 184 Poydras Street, New Orleans and became the biggest in Louisiana. He was admitted to practice law in Louisiana in May 1876 and as a lawyer his agency then qualified as a United States Claim Agency.

Riard was elected to serve on the Louisiana State Senate in 1876 and served until 1878. The vote went to Perry 25 yays to 5 nays and Perry was sworn in and seated.