Louis Alfred Wiltz

author

Louis Alfred Wiltz

1843–1881

A New Orleans political climber, he moved from city hall to the governor’s office in just over a decade. His short life spanned the Civil War, Reconstruction, and one of the most turbulent periods in Louisiana history.

1 Audiobook

The Great Mississippi Flood of 1874: Its Extent, Duration, and Effects

by Louis Alfred Wiltz

About the author

Louis Alfred Wiltz was born in New Orleans on January 21, 1843, and spent nearly his whole life in the city. He left school young, worked in business and the courts, and then served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, rising from private to captain.

After the war, he entered public life quickly. He served in the Louisiana House of Representatives, became mayor of New Orleans from 1872 to 1874, then lieutenant governor, and finally governor of Louisiana in 1880. His career reflects how much power and instability shaped Louisiana politics in the Reconstruction era and just after it.

Wiltz died in office in New Orleans on October 16, 1881, at only thirty-eight years old. Accounts of his governorship often note both his rapid rise and the troubled political world around him, including the influence of the Louisiana Lottery and broader corruption in state government.