Hugh L. Bateman, of Franklinton, Washington parish, La., was born in Washington county, Ga., the sixth of eight children of Jason and Margaret (Thigpen) Bateman, both of whom were natives of Georgia. He was reared in Georgia and educated in the private schools near his father's home. In 1861 he enlisted in Company B., of the Sixteenth Louisiana infantry. He took part in the battle of Shiloh and in several other engagements, and was discharged at Tupelo, Miss., in 1863, and returned home, afterward serving for a short time in the cavalry service. He was paroled at Clinton, La. He was married in 1860 to Miss Gabrielen Ellis, a native of Louisiana, and a daughter of Stephen and Mary Ellis, who has borne him ten children, named as follows: Mary, Jason, Ruth, McCaulay, Vandelia, Willie, Dewitt, Sallie, Wesley and Maurice. Mr. Bateman has during his active life been a planter and he is recognized as one of the most successful ones in this part of the parish. His plantation consists of 700 acres, about 100 acres of which is in a high state of cultivation. In view of the fact that he began life for himself at the age of twenty-one with no capital whatever, and by close application to business and the exercise of those faculties which make a successful man, he has accumulated a considerable property and is certainly entitled to rank among the self-made men of this part of the state. He has been a member of the board of supervisors for two terms, and has otherwise done his full share toward the conduct of public affairs. He and his family are members of the Baptist church, and he is a Mason.
