Robert Hardin Marr

Robert Hardin Marr (October 29, 1819 – April 19, 1892) was a justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court from January 9, 1877, to April 5, 1880. He played important roles in two major incidents of mob violence in New Orleans. In 1874, he led a group of thousands of armed men that temporarily overthrew the elected government of Louisiana in an event known as the Battle of Liberty Place.

Life and career Born in Clarksville, Tennessee, Marr was a presidential elector for John Bell in 1860.

A Kellogg staffer told the "Committee of 5" that the governor refused accept the group's message because he regarded a large gathering of armed men "a menace." Marr then returned to the Canal Street rally and asked the crowd to go to their homes, grab their guns, and return at 2:30 p.m. That afternoon, those White Leaguers began a multi-day assault on the state government, forcing Kellogg into seclusion in the federal custom house and declaring Democrat John McEnery the new governor — an event known as the Battle of Liberty Place. The White League maintained control of the state government until President Ulysses S. Grant sent in federal troops on September 19.

"White League Waltz", a song written to celebrate the Battle of Liberty Place and dedicated to MarrMarr was lauded by White Leaguers statewide as a hero. One New Orleans woman wrote a piece of music titled "The White League Waltz" and dedicated it to Marr.

Claimed appointment to U.S. Senate McEnery, though not in actual control of the state government once troops returned, continued to argue that he was governor for the entirety of his "term". In December 1875, McEnery nominated Marr to fill the vacant U.S. Senate seat caused by the resignation of William L. McMillen, who McEnery had similarly "appointed". The Senate took no action to accept Marr's appointment and he did not serve.

Louisiana Supreme Court The next gubernatorial election, in 1876, was also marred by white violence and fraud aimed at installing Democratic nominee Francis Tillou Nicholls. Both Nicholls and Republican opponent Stephen B. Packard claimed victory. As part of the Compromise of 1876 that gave Republican Rutherford B. Hayes as president, Hayes agreed to recognize Nicholls as Louisiana governor. Marr served on the court until 1880, when the state's new constitution allowed Governor Louis A. Wiltz to appoint a new slate of justices, replacing Nicholls'.

On March 13, 1891, a New Orleans jury failed to convict nine Italian men for involvement in the assassination of police chief David Hennessy. Jurors acquitted six of the men and declared a mistrial for the other three. The following day, a mob led by many of New Orleans' most prominent business and political leaders again met at the Henry Clay statue on Canal Street. That mob lynched 11 Italian men, in what some scholars consider the largest single mass lynching in American history.

On March 17, a grand jury convened to investigate the lynchings, with Marr presiding. The grand jury spent most of its time investigating the trial court's verdicts rather than the lynchings that followed.

While the grand jury was convened, Marr told news reporters that indictments against the lynchers would be impossible. "It was impossible to criminally prosecute 5,000 persons, he said, and referred to the famous passage in Burke's oration that there is no law under which a whole country can be indicted. Even if the Grand Jury were to indict the leaders no jury could ever be secured to try them."

Following Marr's lead, in its report, the grand jury found that the lynchings were "directly traceable to the miscarriage of justice as developed in the verdict rendered on the 13th of March" and that the lynch mob "embraced several thousand of the first, best, and even the most law-abiding of the citizens of this city." The grand jury declined to indict any of the lynchers: "The magnitude of this affair makes it a difficult task to fix guilt upon any number of the participants; in fact, the act seemed to involve the entire people of the parish and city of New Orleans, so profuse is their sympathy and extended their connection with the affair."

Plessy v. Ferguson It was in the jurisdiction of Marr's criminal court that Homer Plessy deliberately boarded a whites-only train car in New Orleans in order to challenge Louisiana's Separate Car Act of 1890, which required "equal, but separate" railroad accommodations for white and black passengers. The case — which would go on to be one of the most infamous in Supreme Court history — would have been known as Plessy v. Marr were it not for Marr's death on April 19, 1892. Instead, it was named Plessy v. Ferguson for John Howard Ferguson, who was appointed by Governor Murphy J. Foster to replace Marr. After several days of searching, he was presumed dead. His body was never found.