James P. Madison will be remembered as a pillar of Morehouse Parish who devoted his life to serving the community he called home for almost 80 years.
Known as “Mister” Madison to friends and colleagues, he expressed his vision for the community in a 1998 paper on economic development:
“I hope that all of us will adopt the concept that Bastrop and Morehouse Parish are better places to live in because we have lived here and done what we could to make it a better place to live.
“There is no Utopia on earth but there is such a thing as doing our very best to improve the quality of life where we live. In other words, we need to bloom where we are planted.”
Those who knew “Mister” agree that he set an example for doing this in his own life.
Madison was born on Nov. 29, 1931 in Bastrop and passed away on Memorial day, May 31, 2010.
He attended Bastrop High School until 1948, after which he enrolled at Augusta Military Academy at Fort Defiance, Va. He then graduated from LSU Law School and returned to Bastrop to practice law in his father’s firm.
“I guess you could say it’s in the family,” said George Madison of his father and older brother’s chosen profession.
George Madison said the Bastrop firm was founded by his grandfather, James Madison and great-uncle, Henry Madison circa 1891. His father was one of three children who all went into law, as did he and his brother, James “Mister” Madison.
The firm -- with offices located in the Morehouse Parish Courthouse Square -- later became the Madison, Garrett, Brandon, Hamaker, Wilson & Tugwell Law Firm.
Merwin Brandon said he practiced with the firm from about 1961 until his election as Bastrop City Judge in 1984. He said “Mister” served as a kind of mentor to him in the early days.
“He’d been practicing several years before I started,” said Brandon. “He was a very hard worker, and a very good lawyer.”
Brandon said Madison often gave free legal services to people in need: “He did a tremendous amount of work on a charity basis that people didn’t know about.”
Judge Woodrow Wilson said he got to know Madison very well over the years, as their legal careers dovetailed in Bastrop. He and Madison shared the same birthday, although Wilson was born eight years earlier.
“We used to send each other birthday cards,” said Wilson. “He was a fine person, and a good friend.”
George Madison said his brother practiced law in Bastrop through several decades, with the exception of time spent in the service as a second lieutenant in Korea.
Madison was a lifelong and active member of Christ Episcopal Church, where he served as senior warden, junior warden, secretary and treasurer.
Father Ned Head, priest in charge, said he recalls Madison’s involvement with the church going all the way back to his childhood.
“From the initial days of my family’s entering Christ Episcopal Church in 1956, ‘Mister’ Madison and his entire family were bedrock members in the church life and ministry,” said Head. “‘Mister’ was a great, loving friend throughout all the years. He was one of the most caring and nurturing men I have ever encountered. He will be sorely missed by countless people, both known and unknown.”
Over the years, Madison served as chairman of the Morehouse Parish Democratic Executive Committee, as president of the parish Board of Election Supervisors, and as a member of the Morehouse Parish Library Board, Morehouse Industrial Foundation and Crisis Assistance Ministries.
He was one of the co-founders of the Morehouse Parish United Fund and was active in the Morehouse Community Coalition, Morehouse Council on Aging and Morehouse Economic Development Corp. at the time of his death.
“He was very concerned for Morehouse Parish,” said Brandon. “Whatever needed to be done, he did it. I think he made a great contribution on those boards.”
George Madison said his brother -- like his father before him -- was active in civic organizations and held a “vision of community service” that focused on lifting up the less fortunate.
“He was really big into trying to advance the parish,” said George. “He always believed that when you help people at the bottom of the ladder, you lift everybody up.”
Concerned about the economic picture in Morehouse Parish, Madison wrote a prescient essay, “Stentorian Tocsin” in May 1998. He explains in the preface that the title means an “extremely loud alarm.”
Madison writes of the need for greater efficiency in government spending, cooperation among the governing bodies and a master plan for future economic development.
“It is not the impossible dream to be living in the number one parish in the state,” he writes. “We can do it but it will take a concentrated, cooperative and concerned effort by all of us.”
Perhaps the best insight into Madison’s life and service is found in a prayer he wrote several years ago, known to friends as “Mister’s Prayer,” which will be read at his memorial services on Thursday:
“Lord Jesus, never let me forget you are first in my life and the purpose for my creation was for union with you. May I be mindful each minute of the day of your great love for me which has no bounds. Help me to realize the unlimited spiritual power which is within me by which I can suppress all selfishness, dishonesty, resentment and fear.
“Give me the vision and insight to do only Thy will in my life and the power to practice love, tolerance, kindness and generosity to others. Amen.”
