Who was King Bienville in Biloxi’s 1908 Mardi Gras?

This photograph of John Carraway appeared in the booklet “Biographical and Historical review of Biloxi, Miss.,” which was published by the Biloxi Herald (presently the Sun Herald) newspaper in 1902.

Carraway was one of the several businessmen of Biloxi and Gulfport that were profiled. The booklet said that “he is a model that any young man may pattern after...”

His high regard in the community is undoubtedly why he was chosen to be King Bienville in Biloxi’s 1908 Mardi Gras celebrations.

Contrary to what some believe and what has been written, not all of the kings of the Biloxi Carnival Association (which evolved into the Gulf Coast Carnival Association) have been called d’Iberville. Actually, Biloxi’s first carnival parades, sponsored by Biloxi’s fire companies, were held in 1891 and 1892. Those first kings were called Rex, probably because so many people from the Coast went by train to see the Rex parades in New Orleans and they emulated what they saw there.

It was actually a matter of economics that Biloxi businessmen and city officials tried to keep the people, and their money, home by holding a Mardi Gras parade and ball in Biloxi in 1908.

Actually the scheme worked. The newspaper reported that the people who left town was reduced to about 30 percent. The next parade in 1912 began the reign of Kings Aurgius, a figure in Greek mythology. Aurgius I through Aurgius VII ruled through 1918.

Due to War I and the influenza epidemic and its aftermath, the Biloxi Carnival Association disbanded from 1919 through 1924. When it reorganized, the association introduced the first King d’Iberville in 1925. But in 1926, King Bienville ruled again. And then in 1927, King d’Iberville began his continuous reign, and is still on the throne today.

Newspaper articles in 1891 and 1892 did not mention a queen of carnival in those years. Queen Ixolib (Biloxi spelled backward) has worn the crown from 1908 to the present.

The 1902 booklet mentioned above can be seen at the LH&G dept. of the Biloxi Library.

This story was originally published February 26, 2017 at 12:00 AM.