Ashton B. Collier

Ashton B. Collier (February 1, 1910 – November 22, 1973)^[1] was a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Atlanta in Winn Parish, Louisiana. He served interrupted terms from 1956 to 1960 and again from 1964 to 1970, when he resigned in the middle of his third term to become, briefly, the Winn Parish tax assessor.^[2]

Allied with Governor Earl Kemp Long, Collier unseated Representative J. Mont Breedlove in the 1956 primary election for the legislative seat, 3,157 to 3,075 votes. He did not seek reelection in 1959 but instead ran unsuccessfully in a runoff election for sheriff of Winn Parish against Sanford Jordan.^[3]

Collier returned to the legislature with a decisive victory in 1964. In 1967, he was pitted in a reconfigured district with Representative Sam Wilbanks of neighboring LaSalle Parish. Collier won that exchange too, 6,958 to 4,253 in the first primary. In 1970, Collier resigned from the state House to become tax assessor but served in that position only for five months.^[4]

Collier died from complications from brain surgery at Winnfield General Hospital in the parish seat of Winnfield. He was survived by his wife, Ida J. Collier; a son, L. R. Collier, M.D., of Winnfield, and two grandchildren. He was a member of the Atlanta Baptist Church. Collier is interred at the Atlanta Cemetery.^[4]

P.K. Smith, later a prominent automobile dealer from Winnfield, held the Winn Parish House seat from 1960 to 1964. Collier’s term was completed by Dr. William P. Floyd, the winner of a special election in 1970.^[2]

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