| 1804 November 18 |
Born in the Attakapas District (Lafayette Parish), a descendant of Acadian exiles . He is the 6th child of Jean Mouton the family’s plantation on Bayou Carencro. Jean Mouton was the founder of Vermilionville (Lafayette) Alexander graduates from Georgetown College in Washington, D. C. and reads law in the office of Charles Antoine and Edward Simon in St. Martinville. |
| 1825 | Admitted to the bar and opens his practice in Vermilionville. |
| 1826 | Serves in the Louisiana House from 1826 to 1832. Marries Zelia Rousseau, grand daughter of Dupre, wealthy cattleman of Opelousas and governor from 1830-1831. After his marriage he abandons his law practice and become a sugar planter on Ile Copal Plantation, given to him by his father as a wedding present. They will have five children before her death. |
| 1828 |
Supporter of Jacksonian Democrats despite being from Whig country. Mouton becomes a Democratic elector. He repeats this function in 1832 and 1836 and will go to the Democratic National Conventions of 1856 and 1860. |
| 1829 | Marries Emma Kitchell Gardner. This marriage has six children. |
| 1830 | Speaker of the Louisiana House in 1830 to 1832. |
| 1832 | Mouton’s tie breaking vote charters the Union Bank of Louisiana which makes credit available to rural areas through eight branches. |
| 1834 | Becomes president of Union Bank of Louisiana at Vermilionville branch. |
| 1836 | Returns to Louisiana House for one more term. |
| 1837 | Chosen to complete U. S. Senate term of Alexander Porter by the state legislature, serving until 1842. In the senate he supports better mail service, rapid sale of federal lands in Louisiana, distribution of a portion of proceeds to the state, support of internal improvements by federal government. Opposes recharter of the Bank of the United States and protective tariffs. |
| 1842 |
State Democratic leaders ask him to resign from the senate and run for governor. Hardships from the Panic of 1837 increase in 1842. The Bank Act of 1842 sends 9 of 14 Louisiana banks into liquidation, resulting in a shortage of money and credit. Wins the election as governor with 60% of the vote. |
| 1842 | This year he also chairs a Southwestern Railroad Convention |
| 1843 January 30 |
Takes office as governor of Louisiana. He balances the budget. Andre Bienvenu Roman had been frugal and urged tax increases but Mouton further reduces expenditures and liquidates state assets to balance the budget and meet bond obligations without raising taxes. He sells steamboats, equipment and slaves used by the state to remove the Red River Raft in 1834 under Roman. As governor he opposes all expenditures for internal improvements. He leases out state penitentiary labor and equipment. He supports the call for a constitutional convention, removal of property qualifications for suffrage and office holding and the election of all local officials and most judges. |
| 1845 | The New Constitution is a radical departure from the original 1812 document. It sets the pace for frequent conventions. The state is precluded from partnerships with banks. The governor is now directly elected by the people, not legislators. The offices of Lt. Governor, State Librarian and State Superintendent of Education are created. The 1845 constitution provides for a system of established public schools, which previous constitutions had not. The University of Louisiana, now Tulane University is established and located in New Orleans. |
| 1846 | Mouton retires and is interested in railroad development. |
| 1851 | Vice President of New Orleans, Algiers, Attakapas, and Opelousas Railroad Co. |
| 1860 | At the National Democratic Convention Mouton walks out with other Deep South Democrats when the motion to allow slave owners to any state is rejected. |
| 1861 | Chairman of Louisiana Secession Convention. Defeated in a race for the Confederate Senate. |
| 1862 | Mouton’s son is killed while serving as a Brigadier General of the CSA at the Battle of Mansfield. Union troops use his plantation Ile Copal as a headquarters building. They burn the sugar mill and other buildings and free 120 slaves. Mouton will be allowed to keep his plantation, but loses his wealth |
| 1885 Febuary 12 |
Dies and is buried in Lafayette. |