W. E. Whetstone

William Edwin Whetstone, known as Ed Whetstone (August 29, 1908 - February 28, 1987), was a businessman and civic leader from Monroe, the seat of government of Ouachita Parish in northeastern Louisiana, who served from 1962 to 1974 as the member of the Louisiana State Board of Education, a body now known as the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Background
Whetstone was born in the village of Oak Ridge in Morehouse Parish in northeast Louisiana to Will Whetstone, a farmer, and the former Luta Craig (1883-1967). His formal education was limited to the Oak Ridge public school; he was self-educated thereafter. On October 3, 1931, Whetstone married the former Josephine Elizabeth Hudson (1911-1984), daughter of C. R. Hudson and the former Annie Childres of Shreveport.
Career
From 1928 to 1977, Whetsone was employed by the former South Central Bell Telephone in, first, Shreveport, then New Orleans, Birmingham, Alabama, and Monroe. He was a company district manager for fourteen years. He was a member of the Monroe Utilities Commission from 1975 to 1978.
Whetstone was elected to the state board in the Fifth District in 1962. He defeated the Republican George Snellings, of Monroe, 17,988 (55.6 percent) to 14,352 (44.4 percent). Whetstone lost two parishes in the district, his own Ouachita and Tensas, where Snellings polled 51.5 and 58.2 percent, respectively. Snellings' showing was the best tabulation for a Republican candidate in Louisiana in 1962. Snellings would later become the father-in-law of Democratic former U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu.
In 1970, Whetstone in his primary election turned back his fellow Democrat Orville Earnest Elkin (1924-1982) of Winnsboro, an educator and coach, whose widow, Faye Tarver Elkin (1926-2007), was from 1984 to 2000 the clerk of court for Franklin Parish. Whetstone then defeated the Republican Neil R. McDonald, 26,463 votes (72 percent) to 10,307 (28 percent). In his brief campaign, McDonald spoke of "bridging the gap between politicians and parents" and declared his opposition to policies of the former United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare, which he called "false social doctrines". He urged the state to shun participation in federal programs with "price tags" not readily observed. McDonald's strongest support came in Ouachita Parish, where he finished with 35.3 percent of the ballots. In most of the precincts in northeast Louisiana, the Whetstone-McDonald race was the only contest on the ballot in the general election that year, as U.S. Representative Otto Passman ran without opposition.
Whetstone held other positions impacting education. He was a 16-year member of the Board of Trustees for State Colleges and Universities. He was president of the Scholarship Foundation for the University of Louisiana at Monroe (then Northeast Louisiana University). He served two appointed terms on the Louisiana Educational Television Authority. He also served two elected terms on the Monroe City School Board. in Oak Ridge, along with his parents.<ref name=bio/>

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