I've promised myself I'm not going to use this blog to be political except in rare, significant occasions. I'm not sure if this really qualifies as significant, but it touches on an aspect of politics that has impacted me personally, deeply, in the past few months and an aspect that I have made a new focus of emphasis in my Poli Sci classes. That aspect is the prevalance of hate speech and demonization in our political discourse. More and more we have this mindset developing that anyone who disagrees with us is evil and out to destroy the United States. It's an offshoot off what Hofstader defined as the "paranoid style in American politics" back in the 1960s, but whatever the cause, it is the biggest threat I see to our nation's success. If one defines the "other side" as evil, that makes negotiation and working together impossible. Many "true believers" on both "sides" don't like to admit this, but the true genius of our nation has been our ability to take widely divergent points of views and work together to achieve a solution. I had accepted this concept for many years, one has to while teaching American History and teaching the many compromises that were crafted in that convention at Philadelphia that designed our Constitution. But it was really driven home by that old son of Mississippi, Shelby Foote, in Ken Burns' Civil War, when he drawled that our "real genius" was compromise and it failed us in the time of the Civil War.
I'm not coming from a "holier-than-thou" position, I get fired up at times and have called Dick Cheney, "Satan". But, as a rule I have tried to recognize the fact that people on both sides, almost without exception, in politics think they are doing the right thing. We may disagree with them, but attributing conspiratorial motives or simply calling them names is wrong. I pray every day that I won't fall pray to this again.
What prompted this rant?
This morning I awoke to find a wonderful Facebook message shared by one of my Facebook friends from one of her Facebook friends. This was the message:
"Before you talk about some one...THINK! T-Is it true? H-Is it helpful? I-Is it inspiring? N-Is it necessary? K-Is it kind?"
What a great idea!! Now for the kicker to me.
The person that made that post, was formerly a Facebook friend of mine. I had to delete that person because almost every day they bombarded my Facebook page with "Obama is a Muslim", "Obama hates America", "Pelosi is an idiot", "Democraps hate this country", "Demo-rats are trying to destroy this country."
Would that we all follow that simple warning before we talk or speak -- even on our Facebook pages.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Another One Bites the Dust
Sunday night I learned of another sad event for local historic preservation in Minden. Around 1870, four new homes were built in Minden. The Chaffe home on South Broadway, the Spann home on Pennsylvania Avenue, the Vance home on North Broadway and the Watkins home on College Street. These homes were very similar in style, in fact two of them – the Chaffe and Vance homes -- were almost identical. The Chaffe home was later purchased by the Wiley family. That house stood on the site of today’s Regions Bank in downtown. The home was first pulled back behind the “new” Minden Bank building constructed in the mid 1950s and then later was demolished by the bank. The Watkins home was severely damaged by an explosion and fire in the early 1940s and had to be torn down. Today the Minden Church of Christ is located on that property. The Vance home passed through marriage to the Sugg family and then suffered through years of neglect and vacancy until it was restored by the Christy family. The fourth house, the Sumpter Spann home, went through several owners including the Huckaby family before being owned by the Dickinson family, who still own it today.
So, of those four “post-war” houses, two remain standing. However, soon only one will remain. The First Baptist Church is in the process of purchasing, with plans to demolish, the Dickinson home at 315 Pennsylvania. I am sorry to learn this is happening, to be frank, having gone to First Baptist for almost all my 52 years and having been a member for 43 years, I am sad we are once again going to put the wrecking ball to part of Minden’s history. However, no one even raised a question when the topic was presented at the Church Conference Sunday night, and there’s no point in fighting against the powers that be. I understand the church’s need for room to grow and I also recognize that the house has structural problems that make it a liability risk so long as it stands. The church doesn’t need the house; they need the land and the space. In addition, I probably vacated the moral high ground on this issue when I supported the proposal to sell the property at 100 Homer Road for the site of a Walgreen’s.
Just to explain my “hypocrisy” by supporting that change and opposing this development, I need to explain my reasoning. In the case of the property at 100 Homer Road, the true historical significance of that site was not the current home on the land. That house was built in the first years of the 20th Century, about 40 years after the end of the Civil War. The true historical significance of the land was that it served as the campground for the 61st United States Colored Troops when they occupied Minden from May through December 1865. As part of the proposal of the sale to Walgreen’s, a historic park would have been created on a portion of the land to tell the story of that occupation. So, from a historic standpoint, the gain would have been greater than the loss of the house, since there are quite a few homes from the same period standing in Minden. In the case of the Spann/Dickinson home, the house and the role of Sumpter Spann in local education and politics made the dwelling the most significant history on the site. Even though the house has had substantial alteration over the years, it remains the dwelling of a man who influenced generations of local boys as a teacher at the Minden Male Academy and played a role in some of the most colorful and contentious politics of the Reconstruction and Redemption era in Minden. At times like these I truly wish I had money, or power, or influence to change things. But, I don’t , and progress is necessary, so another old home will disappear from the Minden landscape.
So, of those four “post-war” houses, two remain standing. However, soon only one will remain. The First Baptist Church is in the process of purchasing, with plans to demolish, the Dickinson home at 315 Pennsylvania. I am sorry to learn this is happening, to be frank, having gone to First Baptist for almost all my 52 years and having been a member for 43 years, I am sad we are once again going to put the wrecking ball to part of Minden’s history. However, no one even raised a question when the topic was presented at the Church Conference Sunday night, and there’s no point in fighting against the powers that be. I understand the church’s need for room to grow and I also recognize that the house has structural problems that make it a liability risk so long as it stands. The church doesn’t need the house; they need the land and the space. In addition, I probably vacated the moral high ground on this issue when I supported the proposal to sell the property at 100 Homer Road for the site of a Walgreen’s.
Just to explain my “hypocrisy” by supporting that change and opposing this development, I need to explain my reasoning. In the case of the property at 100 Homer Road, the true historical significance of that site was not the current home on the land. That house was built in the first years of the 20th Century, about 40 years after the end of the Civil War. The true historical significance of the land was that it served as the campground for the 61st United States Colored Troops when they occupied Minden from May through December 1865. As part of the proposal of the sale to Walgreen’s, a historic park would have been created on a portion of the land to tell the story of that occupation. So, from a historic standpoint, the gain would have been greater than the loss of the house, since there are quite a few homes from the same period standing in Minden. In the case of the Spann/Dickinson home, the house and the role of Sumpter Spann in local education and politics made the dwelling the most significant history on the site. Even though the house has had substantial alteration over the years, it remains the dwelling of a man who influenced generations of local boys as a teacher at the Minden Male Academy and played a role in some of the most colorful and contentious politics of the Reconstruction and Redemption era in Minden. At times like these I truly wish I had money, or power, or influence to change things. But, I don’t , and progress is necessary, so another old home will disappear from the Minden landscape.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Back from Commercial Break With Requests
Okay, now that I've gotten my ad for my book out of the way, I want to talk a little bit about a project I'm working on and see if anyone that reads this might have some helpful information. In conjunction with a local artist -- I didn't get permission to use this person's name or talk about the project so I'll be somewhat vague -- I've been researching the construction of the old Community House that stood in Victory Park. Saturday I went to Baton Rouge and completed my newspaper research about the story and will be publishing an upcoming Echo about that building by the first part of September.
In this process I've had several of the usual twists that come in doing research. The first was realizing how I lose track of changes, even though I'm conciously aware of when they take place. When I was first asked about writing this article for a brief moment I had forgotten that the old building was gone. Then, after bringing myself back to reality, it took me a few days to realize just how long it had been gone. At the 80th birthday reception for Blanchard Youngblood I had the chance so speak to an old friend, Blanchard's son Wayne, for the first time in nearly 30 years. Wayne mentioned that when he heard his Dad's reception was being held in the Community House he immediately thought of the old building. He then asked me how long it had been gone. I was stunned when I realized I chaperoned a high school dance at the "new" building over 17 years ago, and the building was not "brand new" at that time. So, it was a little startling to realize not only was the old Community House "gone" but it is "long gone."
That building was the site of so many civic events and particularly dances for teenagers over the years. Many great musicians played at that venue, starting with Joe Stampley and including many others. In researching I also discovered at least two new pieces of information.
First, for years I had repeated a story I had been told by a "reliable" source that the plans for the building had been drawn by Minden's mayor at the time, David Thomas. Mr. Thomas was an amazing man, a lawyer, journalism professor, poet and Bible scholar. But apparently he did not draw up the plans, all contemporary sources give credit to two other people, one of them a local lady.
The second new revelation involved the actual construction of the building. I had always known that the building was partially funded by the NYA (National Youth Administration) of the New Deal. I did not know until the last few days that the construction workers hired on the job were unemployed local teenagers following the New Deal Keynesian strategy of putting the unemployed to work building needed infrastructure projects for the country.
So, for those of you that read this blog, I've got two questions I hope some of you will be able or willing to answer.
The first is I would like to hear any "Community House" memories you have -- particularly memorable bands that played there. I was a "non-dancing" Baptist, who was too shy to date, so I only went to one dance there, but I know many of you had great times you might want to share.
The second is more of a longshot, but it's worth a try. If any of you know of anyone who actually worked on building the project, please let me know. The building was constructed in 1937-38, so the youngest possible workers would be around 86 or 87 years old, most probably older. So, if you know of someone that's told stories about this project, I'd appreciate learning about their experiences.
If you have some input, you can add it in the comments section of the blog or e-mail them to me directly at jaagan@bellsouth.net
Thanks in advance.
In this process I've had several of the usual twists that come in doing research. The first was realizing how I lose track of changes, even though I'm conciously aware of when they take place. When I was first asked about writing this article for a brief moment I had forgotten that the old building was gone. Then, after bringing myself back to reality, it took me a few days to realize just how long it had been gone. At the 80th birthday reception for Blanchard Youngblood I had the chance so speak to an old friend, Blanchard's son Wayne, for the first time in nearly 30 years. Wayne mentioned that when he heard his Dad's reception was being held in the Community House he immediately thought of the old building. He then asked me how long it had been gone. I was stunned when I realized I chaperoned a high school dance at the "new" building over 17 years ago, and the building was not "brand new" at that time. So, it was a little startling to realize not only was the old Community House "gone" but it is "long gone."
That building was the site of so many civic events and particularly dances for teenagers over the years. Many great musicians played at that venue, starting with Joe Stampley and including many others. In researching I also discovered at least two new pieces of information.
First, for years I had repeated a story I had been told by a "reliable" source that the plans for the building had been drawn by Minden's mayor at the time, David Thomas. Mr. Thomas was an amazing man, a lawyer, journalism professor, poet and Bible scholar. But apparently he did not draw up the plans, all contemporary sources give credit to two other people, one of them a local lady.
The second new revelation involved the actual construction of the building. I had always known that the building was partially funded by the NYA (National Youth Administration) of the New Deal. I did not know until the last few days that the construction workers hired on the job were unemployed local teenagers following the New Deal Keynesian strategy of putting the unemployed to work building needed infrastructure projects for the country.
So, for those of you that read this blog, I've got two questions I hope some of you will be able or willing to answer.
The first is I would like to hear any "Community House" memories you have -- particularly memorable bands that played there. I was a "non-dancing" Baptist, who was too shy to date, so I only went to one dance there, but I know many of you had great times you might want to share.
The second is more of a longshot, but it's worth a try. If any of you know of anyone who actually worked on building the project, please let me know. The building was constructed in 1937-38, so the youngest possible workers would be around 86 or 87 years old, most probably older. So, if you know of someone that's told stories about this project, I'd appreciate learning about their experiences.
If you have some input, you can add it in the comments section of the blog or e-mail them to me directly at jaagan@bellsouth.net
Thanks in advance.
Shameless Self-Promotion
Well, my new book is now available for sale on Lulu.com and I will have copies in hand within the next few days. I also will hopefully be setting up some local outlets for sales. I need to add a special thank-you to my nephew, David Jameson. David happened to be in Minden this summer. He just finished three years teaching in Indonesia and is now enrolling to seek a Master's Degree in Counseling at Liberty University in Virginia. Luckily, he hadn't left Minden yet when it came time to design the book cover. Art is definitely not one of my skills, but two of my nephews are amazingly talented. David came up with the cover design and I really appreciate his efforts.
Here's the link to my page on Lulu.
My Author's Spotlight on Lulu
Here's the link to my page on Lulu.
My Author's Spotlight on Lulu
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
New Book
Next week my newest book should be available for purchase through lulu.com, copies will be available locally soon after. This book is a compilation of 24 of my Echoes of the Past columns that deal with the Civil War era in Minden. It's titled: Echoes of Our Past - The Civil War Years in Minden.
The Civil War was the event that hooked me on history. Some of you may be familiar with the story my mother liked to tell about me teaching myself to read. The time I was learning was the early 1960s as the Civil War Centennial was at its peak. For all the reasons that war stories are exciting to little boys, I was hooked by the Civil War. When the folks from the School Board called me into the office to prove I could read as I started 2nd grade. They made a big mistake, for some reason the "reading test" they gave me was to read the caption to the painting -- "Lee and His Generals". I did read the content, but they didn't realize I knew those generals already and could have "faked it."
As I grew older, my interest in the Civil War waned to some degree. I tell my students that I knew more about the Civil War at age eight than I know today. It's probably true. Even though I am still very interested in the war, it is not my passion. However, it does remain a passion for so many folks in our area. I probably get more questions about the Civil War than any other topic. For that reason, I decided my first experiment in self-publishing would put all my published writings on the Civil War into a single volume. I think it will be a good thing locally because after my columns are long forgotten, a copy of this book will contain some of the information I have been able to compile in a more permanent form.
I need to give a big thanks to my talented nephew, David Jameson. He happened to be in Minden this summer in transit from his teaching job in Indonesia en route to graduate school in Virginia this fall. I have no talent for art -- the dirty little secret to the "reading at three" story that Momma loved to tell is that even though I could read at three, I couldn't get my library card until I was five because I found it impossible to write my name, some, after reading my scratching say I still can't write my name -- so me doing any art work was out of the question. David was willing to help me out and created the cover image that makes the book attractive and memorable.
Hope some of you decide to check out this latest work.
The Civil War was the event that hooked me on history. Some of you may be familiar with the story my mother liked to tell about me teaching myself to read. The time I was learning was the early 1960s as the Civil War Centennial was at its peak. For all the reasons that war stories are exciting to little boys, I was hooked by the Civil War. When the folks from the School Board called me into the office to prove I could read as I started 2nd grade. They made a big mistake, for some reason the "reading test" they gave me was to read the caption to the painting -- "Lee and His Generals". I did read the content, but they didn't realize I knew those generals already and could have "faked it."
As I grew older, my interest in the Civil War waned to some degree. I tell my students that I knew more about the Civil War at age eight than I know today. It's probably true. Even though I am still very interested in the war, it is not my passion. However, it does remain a passion for so many folks in our area. I probably get more questions about the Civil War than any other topic. For that reason, I decided my first experiment in self-publishing would put all my published writings on the Civil War into a single volume. I think it will be a good thing locally because after my columns are long forgotten, a copy of this book will contain some of the information I have been able to compile in a more permanent form.
I need to give a big thanks to my talented nephew, David Jameson. He happened to be in Minden this summer in transit from his teaching job in Indonesia en route to graduate school in Virginia this fall. I have no talent for art -- the dirty little secret to the "reading at three" story that Momma loved to tell is that even though I could read at three, I couldn't get my library card until I was five because I found it impossible to write my name, some, after reading my scratching say I still can't write my name -- so me doing any art work was out of the question. David was willing to help me out and created the cover image that makes the book attractive and memorable.
Hope some of you decide to check out this latest work.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
This and That
Been a while since I've made a blog post, so I guess it's time to add something. Yesterday was one of those days when I'm reminded of something I observed years ago while working for the Sears catalog store in college. The same or similar idea seems to hit people's minds at the same time. We would sit for long periods without a customer entering the store and then suddenly, three cars would pull up at the same time. On weekdays you expect this during lunch or during the school year just after school dismissed, but the pattern persisted even during the Summer and on Saturdays. Well, yesterday I had one of those historical inquiry "rushes." It had been a couple of weeks since anyone had gotten in touch with me for historical information, then, in the space of a little over 12 hours, I received five different inquiries.
The first came late Monday night from a gentleman in Shreveport interested in having a historical marker erected regarding some Confederate army movements after the Battle of Mansfield. Then yesterday morning I received two e-mail requests -- one trying to find out the first name of a professor at the Minden Female College and is wife, and another from a descendant seeking information about a divorce in her family years ago. Finally, Schelley Brown from the Dorcheat Museum contacted me with two inquires she had received: one seeking information about a couple that operated a boarding house here in Minden from 1903 - 1939 and another from members of the Monzingo family from Texas who were visiting the Dorcheat Museum. So, it's always interesting how these things seem to come in groups.
I guess the real reason for this post is to promote a book. Thad Andress' When I Was a Little Girl and after, too -- Memoirs of My Life and Family. Now, before some of you are surprised to find that Thad was a little girl, he is actually the editor of these memories written and collected by his mother, Treeby Miller Andress. The book is the story Mrs. Andress wrote down of her memories and the memories of her mother, Treeby Chaffe Miller, of life in Minden from about 1838 on through 1938. The book is available from the Dorcheat Historical Association Museum here in Minden for $15. The proceeds from sales of the book go to the Association.
The first came late Monday night from a gentleman in Shreveport interested in having a historical marker erected regarding some Confederate army movements after the Battle of Mansfield. Then yesterday morning I received two e-mail requests -- one trying to find out the first name of a professor at the Minden Female College and is wife, and another from a descendant seeking information about a divorce in her family years ago. Finally, Schelley Brown from the Dorcheat Museum contacted me with two inquires she had received: one seeking information about a couple that operated a boarding house here in Minden from 1903 - 1939 and another from members of the Monzingo family from Texas who were visiting the Dorcheat Museum. So, it's always interesting how these things seem to come in groups.
I guess the real reason for this post is to promote a book. Thad Andress' When I Was a Little Girl and after, too -- Memoirs of My Life and Family. Now, before some of you are surprised to find that Thad was a little girl, he is actually the editor of these memories written and collected by his mother, Treeby Miller Andress. The book is the story Mrs. Andress wrote down of her memories and the memories of her mother, Treeby Chaffe Miller, of life in Minden from about 1838 on through 1938. The book is available from the Dorcheat Historical Association Museum here in Minden for $15. The proceeds from sales of the book go to the Association.
Now in the sake of full disclosure, I need to explain that my family and the Andress family have had very close ties over the years. My father went to work for Thad's father, Harry Andress, at Andress Motors Company in Minden at age 18 in 1936 and worked for the company for the next 29 years until the dealership was sold. Even more significant was the fact that my mother went to work at Andress in 1941 at age 17 and became, in addition to her bookkeeping duties, sort of a personal secretary for Mr. Andress. Momma had lost her father at age 3, so Mr. Andress in many ways filled the role of a father for her, even giving her away at her wedding to Daddy in 1948. So, over the years, Momma and I were aware of the wonderful memories Mrs. Andress' had preserved. On rare occasions, we were able to pry some of those deeply held memories free from Thad to publish them. The best story I ever used was the "Mayberry moment" when locals celebrating the Armistice at the end of World War I overloaded a Civil War cannon and caused it to explode when fired in honor of peace. But Thad always had plans to publish these stories, so he was really careful that sneaky folks with newspaper columns like Momma and me didn't steal the "good stuff."
The book is now published -- so I can steal anything I want, so long as I give proper credit -- and is a wonderful read for anyone who wants to learn about "Old Minden." Stories of how life was in those days from the games children played to liveried servants carrying death notices door-to-door, this is a delightful account of how one of the "first families" of Minden lived in those years. For me, as a local historian, it is the personal stories that are priceless. Individuals such as R. H. Miller (Thad's grandfather), Aunt Jack Taylor, Captain Alfred Goodwill (Gov. Mike Foster's grandfather) and others were just names I wrote about. All I had as a basis for my writing were cold newspapers articles. Thad's book fleshes out these people giving glimpses of their personalities I might never had know such as Mr. Miller's scholarly background and his love of learning, Aunt Jack's story telling ability and quick wit, and Captain Goodwill's intimidating presence. All in all, even if this book weren't benefiting the museum, I would recommend it to anyone who wants to gain a glimpse of life in "Old Minden."
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Enduring Faith
I think of my six regular readers, about half read this for local history. For y'all, this post is more about faith and family than history, so you are forewarned.
I took a drive this morning to "visit" with my great-grandparents -- Green Berry and Mahala Davis Agan -- at the Buckner Cemetery in Lafayette County, Arkansas. I hadn't been there in over 30 years and it felt like a good time. I didn't know God had a purpose for me in mind.
Green Berry was a Hardshell Baptist Preacher/pulpwooder. He married many of the couples who later moved to Minden when the L & A Railroad came in 1923 and also his share of formerly underage couples from Louisiana who found themselves suddenly of age across the state line in Arkansas. Since he died before my father was born I never knew him. (Sobering dose of personal mortality this morning I realized that of my four great-grandfathers the longest surviving made it to 58, not good news for a 52-year-old.) He survives for me mainly in two sets of circumstances.
The first is his picture. We inherited an image of Green Berry taken about 1900. It is an oval image of a stern-looking man with an impressive handlebar mustache. The picture is stored in a closet and it so frightened one of my nephews that he refused to even sleep in the room where it was stored. Somehow I think that might make the hyper-Calvinist in Green Berry happy.
The second is my mother's story about the "preacher's chair." Today, I have inherited that chair and it sits in my living room. It seems it was a prized possession of Green Berry's that I guess he used in his churches. Any way, the first family occasion my mother visited as the fiance of my daddy led to a funny story. I think it was a Christmas celebration, but I'm not certain. Any way, Momma came into the living room at my grandparents house and the entire room was filled with relatives. No one -- not even Daddy -- made a move to give her a place to sit. She spied an empty chair and quickly walked over and sat down. The expressions of all in the room let her know she had made some awful violation of protocol, as she looked from face to face, someone finally said, "that's the preacher's chair." Momma replied, "oh, when he comes back I'll let him sit here." The answer came back, "He died in 1915" (This would have been in 1947). Momma said: "Oh, then I guess he's not coming." I can't help but think of that every time some one sits in the chair or particularly when one of my cats climbs up there for a nap.
This has been a week to test my faith and frankly, I'm still looking for answers, but God had a way of sending me a message through that old Hardshell preacher.
Here is a picture I snapped of the front of Green Berry's tombstone. (Excuse the iPhone quality of the pictures.
As you can tell, the inscription is barely readable, even in person. However, here is the reverse side of the same stone.
While it's tough to read in the iPhone image, the inscription is of the "I have fought the good fight" passage from 2 Timothy 4.
Well, what was God's message for me, delivered through the tombstone. The front side, giving Green Berry's life details, the earthly things have almost disappeared less than a century after his death. However, his faith, described by the inscription, endures and is still strong and visible.
Now, the logical side of me knows that the stones in the cemetery are on an incline and the fronts face to the north. Thus exposing the front side to the brunt of the weather for the past 95 years and its eroding effects. But somewhere inside I do believe that God intended that message for Green Berry's great-grandchild today, at a time he needed to be reminded of the power of faith.
To end on a lighter note. I also motored over to Magnolia and snapped an image of my grandmother Agan's parents in the City Cemetery. Here's that shot:
What's funny you may ask? Well, this stone is for David Green Emerson and his wife. It never hit me until today with TWO great-grandfathers having Green as a given name, perhaps I'd better start considering the possibility of some Jewish heritage.
I took a drive this morning to "visit" with my great-grandparents -- Green Berry and Mahala Davis Agan -- at the Buckner Cemetery in Lafayette County, Arkansas. I hadn't been there in over 30 years and it felt like a good time. I didn't know God had a purpose for me in mind.
Green Berry was a Hardshell Baptist Preacher/pulpwooder. He married many of the couples who later moved to Minden when the L & A Railroad came in 1923 and also his share of formerly underage couples from Louisiana who found themselves suddenly of age across the state line in Arkansas. Since he died before my father was born I never knew him. (Sobering dose of personal mortality this morning I realized that of my four great-grandfathers the longest surviving made it to 58, not good news for a 52-year-old.) He survives for me mainly in two sets of circumstances.
The first is his picture. We inherited an image of Green Berry taken about 1900. It is an oval image of a stern-looking man with an impressive handlebar mustache. The picture is stored in a closet and it so frightened one of my nephews that he refused to even sleep in the room where it was stored. Somehow I think that might make the hyper-Calvinist in Green Berry happy.
The second is my mother's story about the "preacher's chair." Today, I have inherited that chair and it sits in my living room. It seems it was a prized possession of Green Berry's that I guess he used in his churches. Any way, the first family occasion my mother visited as the fiance of my daddy led to a funny story. I think it was a Christmas celebration, but I'm not certain. Any way, Momma came into the living room at my grandparents house and the entire room was filled with relatives. No one -- not even Daddy -- made a move to give her a place to sit. She spied an empty chair and quickly walked over and sat down. The expressions of all in the room let her know she had made some awful violation of protocol, as she looked from face to face, someone finally said, "that's the preacher's chair." Momma replied, "oh, when he comes back I'll let him sit here." The answer came back, "He died in 1915" (This would have been in 1947). Momma said: "Oh, then I guess he's not coming." I can't help but think of that every time some one sits in the chair or particularly when one of my cats climbs up there for a nap.
This has been a week to test my faith and frankly, I'm still looking for answers, but God had a way of sending me a message through that old Hardshell preacher.
Here is a picture I snapped of the front of Green Berry's tombstone. (Excuse the iPhone quality of the pictures.
As you can tell, the inscription is barely readable, even in person. However, here is the reverse side of the same stone.
While it's tough to read in the iPhone image, the inscription is of the "I have fought the good fight" passage from 2 Timothy 4.
Well, what was God's message for me, delivered through the tombstone. The front side, giving Green Berry's life details, the earthly things have almost disappeared less than a century after his death. However, his faith, described by the inscription, endures and is still strong and visible.
Now, the logical side of me knows that the stones in the cemetery are on an incline and the fronts face to the north. Thus exposing the front side to the brunt of the weather for the past 95 years and its eroding effects. But somewhere inside I do believe that God intended that message for Green Berry's great-grandchild today, at a time he needed to be reminded of the power of faith.
To end on a lighter note. I also motored over to Magnolia and snapped an image of my grandmother Agan's parents in the City Cemetery. Here's that shot:
What's funny you may ask? Well, this stone is for David Green Emerson and his wife. It never hit me until today with TWO great-grandfathers having Green as a given name, perhaps I'd better start considering the possibility of some Jewish heritage.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Profile for Tourists of the Past
I was able to purchase on eBay a copy of the Louisiana edition of A Guide to the States published by the Louisiana Writer’s Project of the Works Progress Administration in 1941. It is a very interesting book, one I wish I could find a contemporary version of today. It gives brief profiles of the largest communities in Louisiana and includes more than two dozen driving tours of the state, listing points of interest on each tour, providing distances and describing the road conditions and accommodations along each route. The Appendices include a glossary of Louisiana terms from armoire to zombie, a chronology of Louisiana History, an extensive bibliography of sources for Louisiana information, a list of places including populations from the 1940 census and five regional maps of the state with points of interest marked. I really wish I had been able to find such a concise, but informative tour book a few weeks back when I went through Plantation Country along the River Road.
Since it seems a little too short to be the basis of a newspaper column, I decided to post the text about Minden to my blog word for word. I hope some of you will find interesting. There are some errors, by 1940, Minden had three movie theaters, not one as listed, and with the coming of the Louisiana Ordnance Plant in the Summer of 1941 we would soon add a drive-in between McIntyre and the Plant. The timing of the emerging oil and gas boom is off by more than a decade and there are other mistakes such as the description of the events of 1933 is hopelessly jumbled. However it is fun to read how our town was described to travelers 70 years ago.
Minden:
Railroad Station: Foot of S. Broadway for Louisiana & Arkansas Railroad
Bus Station: 120 Pearl Street for Tri-State Bus Line
Taxies: Fare $0.25
Traffic Regulations: Speed limit 25 mph. Turn on green light only. Parallel parking; no limit.
Accommodations: Two hotels; boarding houses; tourist camps
Information Service: Courthouse, S. Broadway and Pearl Sts.
Motion Picture Houses: One
Golf: Minden Country Club, 1.6 miles N. on U.S. 79, 9 holes (3,100 yds.), $0.50 a day
Swimming: Municipal Natatorium, Victory Park, northern part of town, adults $0.15, children $0.10
Tennis: Six courts in three city parks
Annual Events: Flower Show, usually in April; Garden Party, May; Fish Fry, first Tuesday in September
MINDEN (181 alt; 5,623 population), is the trading and shipping center of a productive cotton-growing and general farming district in the Northwestern corner of the State. During the late 1930s the town experienced a modest boom brought about by discovery of oil and gas in the vicinity. The presence of a plant which manufactures presses for cotton gins adds to the town’s industrial aspect.
Minden has a wide main street, tree-shade residential sections, parks planted with shrubs and flowers, and a general air of comfort and well-being. Saturday in Minden finds the streets, stores and theaters crowded with farmers and their families in town for their weekly shopping and recreation. In the vicinity are numerous small lakes and streams affording excellent fishing, boating and picnicking sites.
Minden was founded in 1836 as a real estate promotion by a German-American named Charles Hance Veeder; it was named after a town on the Weser River, in northern Germany, the birthplace of Veeder’s parents. The town’s founder deserted it to participate in the California Gold Rush.
Favored by fertile land and transportation facilities by way of Bayou Dauchite, Lake Bistineau, and the Red River, the town grew steadily sharing in the general prosperity that preceded the War Between the States. The Minden Academy, co-educational, was opened in 1838, but divided in 1850 into the Minden Male Academy and the Minden Female Seminary; the latter developed into an outstanding women’s college, but was closed in 1886.
In 1933 Minden suffered a series of disasters. First a cyclone took heavy toll of life and property; a few weeks later a fire destroyed the business district and many homes; finally the funds of the citizens and business establishments were frozen during the Nation-wide bank holiday. The discovery of oil and natural gas in the vicinity shortly afterward aided materially in recouping Minden’s fortunes.
POINTS OF INTEREST
At the MINDEN COMPRESS (visitors admitted), foot of S. Broadway St., opposite the depot, cotton bales pressed at rural gins are further compressed to half t heir original size. In addition to giant steam presses, there are 4 acres of covered warehouse space, enough for 8.500 bales of cotton
CITY PARK, made up of 3 squares in the neutral ground of S. Broadway St., south of the courthouse, has a bandstand about which hundreds gather every Friday evening during the summer to hear free concerts presented by the Municipal Band, and take part in community song-fests. At the south end of the park is a CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL.
WEBSTER PARISH COURTHOUSE, Pearl and S. Broadway Sts., is a two-story stone and buff-colored brick structure with an octagonal white dome. Each side has a small portico with four Ionic columns.
FERGUSON MEMORIAL TABERNACLE (Baptist), Murrell Ave., between N. Broadway and Pennsylvania Sts., is an open-sided structure somewhat resembling an airplane hangar. During revival meetings the floor is usually covered with sawdust, and converts “hit the sawdust trail.”
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, 310 N. Broadway St., S.E. Corner Broadway and 1st Sts., is a three-story cream-colored brick adaptation of Classical Greek architecture, built in 1925. Four embellished Ionic columns frame a recessed pedimented portico on the façade. The auditorium seats 1000 persons.
The ADA JACK CARVER HOME (private), 412 Webb Court, a one-story white frame cottage, is the residence of Mrs. Ada Jack Carver Snell, author of The Cajun, Red Bone and other stories and plays, most of which have as their locale Natchitoches and its vicinity.
MINDEN SANITARIUM (visiting hours 9-11 a.m., 2-4 p.m.), N.W. corner Monroe and Cedar Sts., housed in a four-story red brick structure was established in 1926 as a semipublic institution. There are 18 private rooms and four wards, with facilities for 35 patients.
Since it seems a little too short to be the basis of a newspaper column, I decided to post the text about Minden to my blog word for word. I hope some of you will find interesting. There are some errors, by 1940, Minden had three movie theaters, not one as listed, and with the coming of the Louisiana Ordnance Plant in the Summer of 1941 we would soon add a drive-in between McIntyre and the Plant. The timing of the emerging oil and gas boom is off by more than a decade and there are other mistakes such as the description of the events of 1933 is hopelessly jumbled. However it is fun to read how our town was described to travelers 70 years ago.
Minden:
Railroad Station: Foot of S. Broadway for Louisiana & Arkansas Railroad
Bus Station: 120 Pearl Street for Tri-State Bus Line
Taxies: Fare $0.25
Traffic Regulations: Speed limit 25 mph. Turn on green light only. Parallel parking; no limit.
Accommodations: Two hotels; boarding houses; tourist camps
Information Service: Courthouse, S. Broadway and Pearl Sts.
Motion Picture Houses: One
Golf: Minden Country Club, 1.6 miles N. on U.S. 79, 9 holes (3,100 yds.), $0.50 a day
Swimming: Municipal Natatorium, Victory Park, northern part of town, adults $0.15, children $0.10
Tennis: Six courts in three city parks
Annual Events: Flower Show, usually in April; Garden Party, May; Fish Fry, first Tuesday in September
MINDEN (181 alt; 5,623 population), is the trading and shipping center of a productive cotton-growing and general farming district in the Northwestern corner of the State. During the late 1930s the town experienced a modest boom brought about by discovery of oil and gas in the vicinity. The presence of a plant which manufactures presses for cotton gins adds to the town’s industrial aspect.
Minden has a wide main street, tree-shade residential sections, parks planted with shrubs and flowers, and a general air of comfort and well-being. Saturday in Minden finds the streets, stores and theaters crowded with farmers and their families in town for their weekly shopping and recreation. In the vicinity are numerous small lakes and streams affording excellent fishing, boating and picnicking sites.
Minden was founded in 1836 as a real estate promotion by a German-American named Charles Hance Veeder; it was named after a town on the Weser River, in northern Germany, the birthplace of Veeder’s parents. The town’s founder deserted it to participate in the California Gold Rush.
Favored by fertile land and transportation facilities by way of Bayou Dauchite, Lake Bistineau, and the Red River, the town grew steadily sharing in the general prosperity that preceded the War Between the States. The Minden Academy, co-educational, was opened in 1838, but divided in 1850 into the Minden Male Academy and the Minden Female Seminary; the latter developed into an outstanding women’s college, but was closed in 1886.
In 1933 Minden suffered a series of disasters. First a cyclone took heavy toll of life and property; a few weeks later a fire destroyed the business district and many homes; finally the funds of the citizens and business establishments were frozen during the Nation-wide bank holiday. The discovery of oil and natural gas in the vicinity shortly afterward aided materially in recouping Minden’s fortunes.
POINTS OF INTEREST
At the MINDEN COMPRESS (visitors admitted), foot of S. Broadway St., opposite the depot, cotton bales pressed at rural gins are further compressed to half t heir original size. In addition to giant steam presses, there are 4 acres of covered warehouse space, enough for 8.500 bales of cotton
CITY PARK, made up of 3 squares in the neutral ground of S. Broadway St., south of the courthouse, has a bandstand about which hundreds gather every Friday evening during the summer to hear free concerts presented by the Municipal Band, and take part in community song-fests. At the south end of the park is a CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL.
WEBSTER PARISH COURTHOUSE, Pearl and S. Broadway Sts., is a two-story stone and buff-colored brick structure with an octagonal white dome. Each side has a small portico with four Ionic columns.
FERGUSON MEMORIAL TABERNACLE (Baptist), Murrell Ave., between N. Broadway and Pennsylvania Sts., is an open-sided structure somewhat resembling an airplane hangar. During revival meetings the floor is usually covered with sawdust, and converts “hit the sawdust trail.”
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, 310 N. Broadway St., S.E. Corner Broadway and 1st Sts., is a three-story cream-colored brick adaptation of Classical Greek architecture, built in 1925. Four embellished Ionic columns frame a recessed pedimented portico on the façade. The auditorium seats 1000 persons.
The ADA JACK CARVER HOME (private), 412 Webb Court, a one-story white frame cottage, is the residence of Mrs. Ada Jack Carver Snell, author of The Cajun, Red Bone and other stories and plays, most of which have as their locale Natchitoches and its vicinity.
MINDEN SANITARIUM (visiting hours 9-11 a.m., 2-4 p.m.), N.W. corner Monroe and Cedar Sts., housed in a four-story red brick structure was established in 1926 as a semipublic institution. There are 18 private rooms and four wards, with facilities for 35 patients.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Diamonds are Forever
Sequel to the earlier posts about the diamonds found in North Louisiana in the 1970s. Over the past couple of days I have been contacted by or in touch with Paul Heinrich of the Louisiana Geological Survey, Mike Howard of the Arkansas Geological Survey, Ann Middleton of the Bossier History Center and Clif Cardin the Bossier Parish Historian. To make a long story short, information has been shared among us about the diamond stories. There were at least two diamond finds that seem to have been merged together in local tradition. There was a diamond found at Princeton in 1970 in a driveway. Then, three years later, the diamonds were found at Gifford Hill at Sibley. Mr. Heinrich and Mr. Howard are working on documenting all the diamonds found in Louisiana. Clif has tracked down the lady that found the diamond in 1970 and now Ms. Middleton has information about both stories. So, that's the latest on that story, now if I could just find some Haynesville Shale under my property . . . LOL!!!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Friends of the Germantown Colony Museum
As mentioned in previous blog posts, the Germantown Colony Museum has become part of the Secretary of State’s museum system. This is an exciting development as it provides a chance for the museum to finally have an adequate source of funding for its operations, something that has been lacking for the 35 years the museum has been in existence. In fact, the first project planned for the site by the Secretary of State’s office will involve an expenditure of funds greater than the combined operating budget of the museum for its entire 35 years of life. I’ve also mentioned that perhaps there might be some instability in the future of this funding, as Secretary of State Jay Dardenne, who created the museum system and along with Representative Jean Doerge orchestrated the state takeover of Germantown, is running for Lieutenant Governor. The prospect of Dardenne moving over to the Lt. Gov’s office could leave Germantown and the other museums in his system (including the Eddie Robinson Museum in Grambling, the Delta Music Museum in Ferriday, the Mansfield Female College Museum in Mansfield, among others) as orphans. However, since the Lieutenant Governor also runs his own museum system, the Louisiana State Museum system, I trust that none of the museum will suffer if Dardenne’s is successful in gaining the Lieutenant Governor’s seat. The real threat to these museums is the ongoing budget crisis in the State of Louisiana (one that has many of us “antsy” about our own job futures), so all the skies aren’t blue, but even with the problems, Germantown has the brightest future it has seen since its founding as a settlement, back in 1835.
The reason for my blog post is to make folks aware of a significant meeting tomorrow. Anyone who has worked with a museum knows that the real key to success is gaining support from the public. For private museums, such as the Dorcheat Historical Association Museum, the key is getting capable management and then getting as many members as possible to make the community feel it is “their” museum. At Dorcheat we have been fortunate with leadership from Thad Andress and the wonderful job Schelley Brown has done as Director. In the case of Germantown, the management and the basic funding is not a local task – it comes from the state government; however, it is equally important if not more so, for there to be an outreach arm for the museum. Tomorrow, Cliff Deal, the Director of Museums for the Secretary of State’s office will be in Minden to help set the stage for creating such an arm. He will be present for an organizational meeting of what has been tentatively called the Friends of the Germantown Colony Museum. This will be the group that spread the word in the community and beyond about the museum and provides the volunteer base so necessary for success. Cliff is supposed to bringing the plans for the new visitor center that will be constructed at the Colony. To me, that’s a very important step as physical progress and investment makes it clear that the state is committed to the project.
So, if you have the time and have any inclination toward helping make our underappreciated treasure, the Germantown Colony Museum, a booming success, please consider coming to the meeting. It will be held at 3 p.m., tomorrow, Thursday, June 3 at the Minden Chamber of Commerce Offices in Minden. I hope to see you there.
The reason for my blog post is to make folks aware of a significant meeting tomorrow. Anyone who has worked with a museum knows that the real key to success is gaining support from the public. For private museums, such as the Dorcheat Historical Association Museum, the key is getting capable management and then getting as many members as possible to make the community feel it is “their” museum. At Dorcheat we have been fortunate with leadership from Thad Andress and the wonderful job Schelley Brown has done as Director. In the case of Germantown, the management and the basic funding is not a local task – it comes from the state government; however, it is equally important if not more so, for there to be an outreach arm for the museum. Tomorrow, Cliff Deal, the Director of Museums for the Secretary of State’s office will be in Minden to help set the stage for creating such an arm. He will be present for an organizational meeting of what has been tentatively called the Friends of the Germantown Colony Museum. This will be the group that spread the word in the community and beyond about the museum and provides the volunteer base so necessary for success. Cliff is supposed to bringing the plans for the new visitor center that will be constructed at the Colony. To me, that’s a very important step as physical progress and investment makes it clear that the state is committed to the project.
So, if you have the time and have any inclination toward helping make our underappreciated treasure, the Germantown Colony Museum, a booming success, please consider coming to the meeting. It will be held at 3 p.m., tomorrow, Thursday, June 3 at the Minden Chamber of Commerce Offices in Minden. I hope to see you there.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Random Ramblings from the Road
There’s nothing of any real value in this blog post. It’s really a collection of non-sequiturs from my weekend trip to South Louisiana. Think of it like one of those columns Larry King used to write for USA Today (maybe he still writes them, I haven’t read in a while, I finally reached the point in life where I don’t need color charts to understand articles), where he jumped all around in an incoherent fashion. Remember, I don’t make you read these things. When you go on trips by yourself, there’s no one there when you want to turn and comment on something you see, so this is a collection of the things I would have said to someone with me on the trip. (Let’s be honest, I did turn and say them to my imaginary companion in the car, but if I admit to that, some of y’all might try to have me committed . . . . OOPS.)
Was amazed to see how the Saturday afternoon Mass appears to be outstripping the Sunday morning Mass at many Catholic churches that I passed. Now, since I’m not a Catholic maybe it’s always been that way, but in the smaller towns there were clearly more folks at the Saturday Mass then on Sunday morning.
Again, this may be a warped perception of mine, but this was my first visit to spend any time in New Orleans in over two years, and I felt a different spirit. Not sure if you can credit that to the Saints victory or the time passed since Katrina (or perhaps since I’ve been watching Treme for the last few weeks, maybe my mindset was locked in the late 2005 time period of that show.) I will confess I’m not a big New Orleans fan, but it was good to sense things were back to “abnormal” in the Big Easy. I pray that the oil spoil – as Spud McConnell calls it – doesn’t dampen things (Literally. One topic discussed on the radio was the possibility that the dispersant used by BP might be evaporated into any potential tropical storm and fall on New Orleans and South Louisiana as a sort of “acid rain.”)
I’ve always been a big proponent of microfilming any and all historical records to preserve them, but one experience Saturday has added a new clause to my stance. Microfilm any and all records, BUT, do it right. I went to the New Orleans Public Library Saturday in yet another attempt to try and pin down my peripatetic grandfather through old City Directories. Someone decided to microfilm those things for the NOPL, but made two very bad decisions. First, they decided to film two pages per slide – making the print so tiny that even with my big magnifying reading glasses you had to set the reader at maximum magnification to see the images. Second, they apparently didn’t check their settings and the left hand page was virtually unreadable on all slides. I checked with the librarian to see if perhaps it was just my eyes, but she confirmed that it was a problem. So, Grandpa Jim Murphy once again eluded me. Guess my next step is to save up for a few years and head for Virginia to try and track him down.
This is probably something that has been hashed and rehashed by sociologists and social historians, but as I drove along the River Road I had a sudden brainstorm (well maybe it was just a brain cramp) about an aspect of Louisiana culture. I have to wonder if the use of the French Arpent system of land measurement might have contributed to the close-knit sense of community in parts of Louisiana. If the English township system is used, often the farm houses are land-locked in the center of large farms. But under the Arpent system, with the river or Bayou serving as the “street”, it allowed the houses to be located closer together along the banks of the stream. That proximity might have made it easier for neighbors to bond and bring stronger community ties. Or maybe not – I didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn Express so I could be wrong.
Along Highway 90 just west of Morgan City I saw bear crossing signs in Louisiana for the first time in my life (I think they were bear crossing signs, or else someone really can’t draw a deer.) Didn’t realize they had become so plentiful that the signs were necessary, but it was a new experience.
I’ve worked keeping books for a company involved in the road construction business for nearly 25 years now, but I’m not sure I really appreciated how amazing the skills of our road construction industry are in this country. When you look at the sophisticated roads constructed through swamps and wilderness that seem so unbending as in South Louisiana, it is really stunning. Made me wonder that if we really applied our collective brilliance to other problems we might be able to solve some nagging problems – like oil “spoils” and the like.
So, there you have it “what I did on my weekend vacation” and the random thoughts that danced through my brain.
Was amazed to see how the Saturday afternoon Mass appears to be outstripping the Sunday morning Mass at many Catholic churches that I passed. Now, since I’m not a Catholic maybe it’s always been that way, but in the smaller towns there were clearly more folks at the Saturday Mass then on Sunday morning.
Again, this may be a warped perception of mine, but this was my first visit to spend any time in New Orleans in over two years, and I felt a different spirit. Not sure if you can credit that to the Saints victory or the time passed since Katrina (or perhaps since I’ve been watching Treme for the last few weeks, maybe my mindset was locked in the late 2005 time period of that show.) I will confess I’m not a big New Orleans fan, but it was good to sense things were back to “abnormal” in the Big Easy. I pray that the oil spoil – as Spud McConnell calls it – doesn’t dampen things (Literally. One topic discussed on the radio was the possibility that the dispersant used by BP might be evaporated into any potential tropical storm and fall on New Orleans and South Louisiana as a sort of “acid rain.”)
I’ve always been a big proponent of microfilming any and all historical records to preserve them, but one experience Saturday has added a new clause to my stance. Microfilm any and all records, BUT, do it right. I went to the New Orleans Public Library Saturday in yet another attempt to try and pin down my peripatetic grandfather through old City Directories. Someone decided to microfilm those things for the NOPL, but made two very bad decisions. First, they decided to film two pages per slide – making the print so tiny that even with my big magnifying reading glasses you had to set the reader at maximum magnification to see the images. Second, they apparently didn’t check their settings and the left hand page was virtually unreadable on all slides. I checked with the librarian to see if perhaps it was just my eyes, but she confirmed that it was a problem. So, Grandpa Jim Murphy once again eluded me. Guess my next step is to save up for a few years and head for Virginia to try and track him down.
This is probably something that has been hashed and rehashed by sociologists and social historians, but as I drove along the River Road I had a sudden brainstorm (well maybe it was just a brain cramp) about an aspect of Louisiana culture. I have to wonder if the use of the French Arpent system of land measurement might have contributed to the close-knit sense of community in parts of Louisiana. If the English township system is used, often the farm houses are land-locked in the center of large farms. But under the Arpent system, with the river or Bayou serving as the “street”, it allowed the houses to be located closer together along the banks of the stream. That proximity might have made it easier for neighbors to bond and bring stronger community ties. Or maybe not – I didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn Express so I could be wrong.
Along Highway 90 just west of Morgan City I saw bear crossing signs in Louisiana for the first time in my life (I think they were bear crossing signs, or else someone really can’t draw a deer.) Didn’t realize they had become so plentiful that the signs were necessary, but it was a new experience.
I’ve worked keeping books for a company involved in the road construction business for nearly 25 years now, but I’m not sure I really appreciated how amazing the skills of our road construction industry are in this country. When you look at the sophisticated roads constructed through swamps and wilderness that seem so unbending as in South Louisiana, it is really stunning. Made me wonder that if we really applied our collective brilliance to other problems we might be able to solve some nagging problems – like oil “spoils” and the like.
So, there you have it “what I did on my weekend vacation” and the random thoughts that danced through my brain.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Bridges to the Past
An earlier post discussed the various steamboat wrecks on Bayou Dorcheat and how low water made them visible. Well, today Dorcheat is at as low a level as I can recall seeing and that low water has "exposed" another piece of our past.
During the Steamboat Era, Minden was served by three landings on the east bank of Bayou Dorcheat. The Minden Lower Landing at Overton, the Middle Landing and the Minden Upper Landing, known as Murrell's Point. Murrell's Point was located just across the Bayou from today's Dorcheat Seafood and Grill in the area surrounding the two Highway 80 bridges. The old bridge was built in 1929-1930 as the Dixie Overland Highway, the old name for Highway 80, was constructed across the country. The newer bridge was built in the late 1950s when Highway 80 was rerouted and widened.
The low water has revealed the pilings for earlier bridges apparently on the same site as the old bridge. Based on what can be seen there seem to have been earlier bridges at that point. We know that in 1854-55, the Claiborne Parish Police Jury appropriated funds for a bridge at Murrell's Point. We also know that this bridge was not particularly well built. About a decade later, as General Polignac brought his troops to Minden for winter quarters in 1864, he was uncertain about trying to cross the bridge because of its dilapidated condition. He even included a sketch of the condition of the bridge in his personal journal. The army only crossed after being shamed when a buggy of women from Minden struck out across the bridge. The army followed. (The heavy equipment of the army was always shipped on the bayou, rather than overland because of the poor condition of the roads.)
I have always assumed that the original bridge was probably in the same location as that old Highway 80 bridge. However, it now seems that another possibility exists. The current low water has revealed the following just north of that old 80 bridge.
These piers have emerged for the first time in my memory and clearly show that at some point in the past, a bridge was located across Dorcheat at this point. I had noticed these piers over the weekend and this morning I received a call from Henry Laurence, asking me if I had noticed them. After his call I went out and snapped this picture. (I apologize for the quality, but the iPhone isn't a "world class" camera.) Not visible in the image -- at least not to my failing eyes -- are the piers over against the east bank. Another point that Henry mentioned and I noticed is that the projected path of any road using a bridge at this point is blocked by large, old Cypress trees. To me, that suggests that this may well be the crossing point of the oldest road, the one used by General Polignac and that these piers supported that old creaky bridge that held those Confederate troops briefly at bay.
During the Steamboat Era, Minden was served by three landings on the east bank of Bayou Dorcheat. The Minden Lower Landing at Overton, the Middle Landing and the Minden Upper Landing, known as Murrell's Point. Murrell's Point was located just across the Bayou from today's Dorcheat Seafood and Grill in the area surrounding the two Highway 80 bridges. The old bridge was built in 1929-1930 as the Dixie Overland Highway, the old name for Highway 80, was constructed across the country. The newer bridge was built in the late 1950s when Highway 80 was rerouted and widened.
The low water has revealed the pilings for earlier bridges apparently on the same site as the old bridge. Based on what can be seen there seem to have been earlier bridges at that point. We know that in 1854-55, the Claiborne Parish Police Jury appropriated funds for a bridge at Murrell's Point. We also know that this bridge was not particularly well built. About a decade later, as General Polignac brought his troops to Minden for winter quarters in 1864, he was uncertain about trying to cross the bridge because of its dilapidated condition. He even included a sketch of the condition of the bridge in his personal journal. The army only crossed after being shamed when a buggy of women from Minden struck out across the bridge. The army followed. (The heavy equipment of the army was always shipped on the bayou, rather than overland because of the poor condition of the roads.)
I have always assumed that the original bridge was probably in the same location as that old Highway 80 bridge. However, it now seems that another possibility exists. The current low water has revealed the following just north of that old 80 bridge.
These piers have emerged for the first time in my memory and clearly show that at some point in the past, a bridge was located across Dorcheat at this point. I had noticed these piers over the weekend and this morning I received a call from Henry Laurence, asking me if I had noticed them. After his call I went out and snapped this picture. (I apologize for the quality, but the iPhone isn't a "world class" camera.) Not visible in the image -- at least not to my failing eyes -- are the piers over against the east bank. Another point that Henry mentioned and I noticed is that the projected path of any road using a bridge at this point is blocked by large, old Cypress trees. To me, that suggests that this may well be the crossing point of the oldest road, the one used by General Polignac and that these piers supported that old creaky bridge that held those Confederate troops briefly at bay.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Diamond in the Rough - Follow Up
Many thanks to Darrell for confirming the story of diamonds at Sibley with his mother. My vague memory was that a diamond had been found at some point in the gravel pits around Sibley and Bayou Dorcheat. After Darrell's comment on the earlier post, I went ahead and took a chance on the combination of the 1973 date given by the clipping at the Bossier History Center and Darrell's mother's memories and went to the microfilm of the Minden Press-Herald.
I found that in fact, the discovery of diamonds was the #6 local news story of 1973 as ranked by the Press-Herald. But, I also found that the story had no mention of a little girl finding the gem in her driveway. The Webster Parish story involved excavations by Gifford-Hill between Sibley and Doyline along Highway 164. In August 1973, several gem quality diamonds, between six and eight, were found in the gravel diggings. The company kept things quiet until October when they gave the story to the Press-Herald. At that point the company sealed access to the pits where the diamonds had been found and was actually exploring to see if they had discovered a viable commercial cache of diamonds.
Obviously, since 37 years have passed and we don't have diamond mines at Sibley, nothing came of this brief excitement. I've passed the clippings on to the Bossier History Center and will let them coordinate the two stories and see if they revolve around the same set of circumstances. With both taking place in 1973, that seems likely. Again, thanks to Darrell.
I found that in fact, the discovery of diamonds was the #6 local news story of 1973 as ranked by the Press-Herald. But, I also found that the story had no mention of a little girl finding the gem in her driveway. The Webster Parish story involved excavations by Gifford-Hill between Sibley and Doyline along Highway 164. In August 1973, several gem quality diamonds, between six and eight, were found in the gravel diggings. The company kept things quiet until October when they gave the story to the Press-Herald. At that point the company sealed access to the pits where the diamonds had been found and was actually exploring to see if they had discovered a viable commercial cache of diamonds.
Obviously, since 37 years have passed and we don't have diamond mines at Sibley, nothing came of this brief excitement. I've passed the clippings on to the Bossier History Center and will let them coordinate the two stories and see if they revolve around the same set of circumstances. With both taking place in 1973, that seems likely. Again, thanks to Darrell.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Diamond in the Rough?
I'm wondering if this story will ring a bell with anyone reading this blog. I received a call this week from Ann Middleton of the Bossier History Center. She was trying to track down a story about a little girl somewhere in North Louisiana finding a rather large diamond while playing in her gravel driveway. Someone had inquired about the story at the History Center and there were conflicting accounts. One placed the event in Princeton and the other placed it in Minden. The History Center staff eventually found an account in their files that placed the event in 1973 but there was no indication of where the account originated. They went through the files of the Bossier Banner for 1973, but found no clues. Their next step will be to examine the back issues of the Shreveport Times for that year and then on to the Shreveport Journal.
The story didn't spark any memories for me. It seemed I vaguely remembered an anecdotal tale of a diamond being found while gravel was being excavated from the bar pits along Dorcheat, but not the "little girl" account. I'm going to check the 1973 editions of the Press-Herald, but thought it wouldn't hurt to post this on the blog and see if someone remembers the story.
The story didn't spark any memories for me. It seemed I vaguely remembered an anecdotal tale of a diamond being found while gravel was being excavated from the bar pits along Dorcheat, but not the "little girl" account. I'm going to check the 1973 editions of the Press-Herald, but thought it wouldn't hurt to post this on the blog and see if someone remembers the story.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Separate But Equal . . . . Problems
Got a phone call tonight from Mrs. Noella Bostick, my 8th Grade Louisiana History teacher more years ago than I care to remember. The problem she wanted to discuss with me sounded very familiar. She was working with the Board of the Sheppard Street Cemetery -- the largest black cemetery in Minden -- and was hoping to find information about who were the earliest burials in the cemetery and perhaps a little about those people. As I've indicated before, in the written sources of local history, black residents are essentially non-existent prior to the 1970s. So, I had to tell her I really had no information and no real sources to consult. The cemetery association has the records of land ownership and dedication. I told her I will be on the lookout for any tidbits I can find, but I'm not hopeful.
The point of this title is the problems she described are so similar to the problems we have with the Minden Cemetery. Missing records and the biggest problem -- lost graves either from the land "settling" or from the terrible damage of the 1933 tornado. While I was considering that I realized another sad legacy from the years of segregation. By duplicating facilities, whatever problems were inherent in those facilities were also duplicated. A "double trouble" of sorts. We can't change history, but I can certainly wish our forefathers had used a little more wisdom in their choices.
The point of this title is the problems she described are so similar to the problems we have with the Minden Cemetery. Missing records and the biggest problem -- lost graves either from the land "settling" or from the terrible damage of the 1933 tornado. While I was considering that I realized another sad legacy from the years of segregation. By duplicating facilities, whatever problems were inherent in those facilities were also duplicated. A "double trouble" of sorts. We can't change history, but I can certainly wish our forefathers had used a little more wisdom in their choices.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Cameo Book
I received an inquiry from a "non-friend" on Facebook today about the possibility of publishing a book of my mother's Cameo columns from the Minden Press-Herald. Since even a "non-friend" was interested, I felt like I would share the status of that project on my blog. Been a week since I posted so it seemed like good timing. Plus this is sort of a Mother's Day present to Momma, it's something she would have wanted.
My mother's columns are of course now jointly owned by my sister and myself. That's not a problem, but I want to make it clear that she is a full and enthusiastic partner in this plan. We both have wanted to produce a book for years and I'll share a little of that story.
We first planned to publish a book as a birthday suprise for Momma in about 1999, when she had been doing the column for about five years. At that time it would have cost more than $25,000 to have it published by a reputable company and we would have needed to charge over $40 per book to pay for printing. It just did not seem feasible unless we cut out some columns. So, with that the option we discussed it with Momma and she didn't want to cut any columns. At that point we set the project aside.
As time moved forward and self-publishing became so affordable, I should have moved on the project and got out a book before Momma's death. She would have enjoyed having that on the market so much. However, I had no experience with self-publishing and was wary of the process. I had been blessed in that my books were solicited by the publisher, and the two or three submissions rejected by publishers I took as a sign those books didn't need to see the light of day. Plus, if you are familiar with the "publish or perish" rules of academia, you know that self-published books or vanity press books don't count in the academic world. So I hadn't used that process and I guess in some ways was too arrogant to consider going that way.
When I signed my contract for my most recent book, I had a verbal agreement with my editor that she would "pitch" a Cameo book to the publisher. I tried to get her to take on the Cameo book before my Echo book, but the marketing strategy of the company made them reluctant to publish a book by a deceased author. Then, my book did not sell very well, so the chance to get Momma's book commercially published, at least by that company, died.
After Brother Bill Ichter self-published his book, I decided it was time to tackle getting Momma's columns published. Suzanne and I have been sorting out which columns to include in the book. When we gave Momma her surprise 85th birthday party (of course we didn't dream when we gave that party it would be her last, but were so glad we made it an occasion) we asked the guests to tell us their favorite Cameo. So, we have a tentative list in mind. Suzanne is a talented artist and she will come up with a cover design.
I wanted to test the self-publishing first, so I am about half-way through a small project I will publish first, to "test the ropes." With my semester ending this week, I hope to have it wrapped before the end of May. At that point, I will move full force into the Cameo project. Many of Momma's columns are already in the computer, and the others will just need to be scanned in and formatted. So, the process won't take much time. Currently, I hope to have the book out in time for this Christmas.
I know that so many people loved Momma's columns. We used to joke about that, people loved and nearly memorized her columns, while mine basically put most folks to sleep. (My favorite story was the well-meaning gentleman who we saw in the Doctor's office after my first two pictoral histories were published. He told me he had received my book for Christmas, but had not yet been able to finish reading the book. This was in April and, of course, the punch line is that those first two books were just 125 pages of pictures with captions. No text. I had to wonder if he had even opened the book. LOL!!!) My eventual hope is to get most of Momma's columns published in book form with subsequent volumes to follow the first. The key will be to find out the "magic number" of columns to include in each book where there will be enough material but not so much to make it too expensive.
But for Momma's Cameo fans, a book is coming, I promise.
My mother's columns are of course now jointly owned by my sister and myself. That's not a problem, but I want to make it clear that she is a full and enthusiastic partner in this plan. We both have wanted to produce a book for years and I'll share a little of that story.
We first planned to publish a book as a birthday suprise for Momma in about 1999, when she had been doing the column for about five years. At that time it would have cost more than $25,000 to have it published by a reputable company and we would have needed to charge over $40 per book to pay for printing. It just did not seem feasible unless we cut out some columns. So, with that the option we discussed it with Momma and she didn't want to cut any columns. At that point we set the project aside.
As time moved forward and self-publishing became so affordable, I should have moved on the project and got out a book before Momma's death. She would have enjoyed having that on the market so much. However, I had no experience with self-publishing and was wary of the process. I had been blessed in that my books were solicited by the publisher, and the two or three submissions rejected by publishers I took as a sign those books didn't need to see the light of day. Plus, if you are familiar with the "publish or perish" rules of academia, you know that self-published books or vanity press books don't count in the academic world. So I hadn't used that process and I guess in some ways was too arrogant to consider going that way.
When I signed my contract for my most recent book, I had a verbal agreement with my editor that she would "pitch" a Cameo book to the publisher. I tried to get her to take on the Cameo book before my Echo book, but the marketing strategy of the company made them reluctant to publish a book by a deceased author. Then, my book did not sell very well, so the chance to get Momma's book commercially published, at least by that company, died.
After Brother Bill Ichter self-published his book, I decided it was time to tackle getting Momma's columns published. Suzanne and I have been sorting out which columns to include in the book. When we gave Momma her surprise 85th birthday party (of course we didn't dream when we gave that party it would be her last, but were so glad we made it an occasion) we asked the guests to tell us their favorite Cameo. So, we have a tentative list in mind. Suzanne is a talented artist and she will come up with a cover design.
I wanted to test the self-publishing first, so I am about half-way through a small project I will publish first, to "test the ropes." With my semester ending this week, I hope to have it wrapped before the end of May. At that point, I will move full force into the Cameo project. Many of Momma's columns are already in the computer, and the others will just need to be scanned in and formatted. So, the process won't take much time. Currently, I hope to have the book out in time for this Christmas.
I know that so many people loved Momma's columns. We used to joke about that, people loved and nearly memorized her columns, while mine basically put most folks to sleep. (My favorite story was the well-meaning gentleman who we saw in the Doctor's office after my first two pictoral histories were published. He told me he had received my book for Christmas, but had not yet been able to finish reading the book. This was in April and, of course, the punch line is that those first two books were just 125 pages of pictures with captions. No text. I had to wonder if he had even opened the book. LOL!!!) My eventual hope is to get most of Momma's columns published in book form with subsequent volumes to follow the first. The key will be to find out the "magic number" of columns to include in each book where there will be enough material but not so much to make it too expensive.
But for Momma's Cameo fans, a book is coming, I promise.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Questions, questions, questions.
Another new batch of questions, I'm not so much looking for answers this time, because I really haven't worked on these, but it's amazing how one conversation on local history can produce so many questions as it moves forward.
At Tuesday night's meeting of the Dorcheat Historical Association Board the question came up if we had a photo of one of the actual steamboats that were used on Bayou Dorcheat during the roughly 75 years of the local steamboat era. Most people associate the word steamboat with images of the massive ornate boats like those used by modern-day casinos or in the movies. The reality is that the packet boats that frequented streams like Dorcheat were much smaller, simply because of the shallow draft necessary to travel in such streams, and not nearly so attractive. While so far as I know there is not an existing image of a boat that definitely was used on Dorcheat, there are images of similar boats. In fact Eric Brock and Gary Joiner compiled a photo book on Red River Steamboats for Arcadia Press a few years ago. It is no longer in print, but I'm sure Gary still has access to the images. So, that question is answered; however, it led to so many others.
The discussion turned to steamboat wrecks on Dorcheat and if any are still visible at times, like now, of low water. We know there was one wreck in the area of the old Highway 80 bridge on Dorcheat, extremely visible as late as the 1940s. The general consensus of those involved in the discussion -- Richard Campbell whose mother saved so much Webster Parish history and Larry Milford, who grew up in the McIntyre Community -- was that some of the remains of that wreck are still visible, just south of the "new" Highway 80 bridge. Moving on, we talked about another group of wood debris visible just south of the Interstate 20 bridge over the Bayou. We were not so sure about that one, Richard, who has much more experience with the Bayou than I, thinks that is merely tree stumps.
That led to another interesting discussion about an old bridge that formerly crossed Bayou Dorcheat. In the years prior to the digging of the bar pits and the creation of the Louisiana Ordnance Plant there was another road that ran in the area south of the Interstate and north of Highway 164 that bridged Bayou Dorcheat. I've heard about this for years, but have not yet found a map that indicates where the road started and where it ended, but the bridge is long gone.
That idea turned us to a discussion of the Overton Cemetery and the sad destruction of so much of the cemetery over the last 50+ years. The interesting question raised was one I had never fully considered. We know where the cemetery is located, but where was the town in relation to the cemetery? Clearly it sat on the Bayou, but north or south of the cemetery? My educated guess would be south, as if it were located much north of the cemetery it would leave very little room for the old Middle Landing on Dorcheat. Overton was the lower landing, then there was the middle landing which stood at the terminus of the extended route of today's Middle Landing Street, and finally the upper landing at Murrell's Point, which was on the east bank of Dorcheat at approximately the site of the "old" Highway 80 bridge. (Of course another question is precisely where was that landing?)
So, it is pretty amazing to see so many historical questions arise out of a casual conversation. Just another reminder of how much history there remains to learn. (Which is a wonderful job assurance for a history teacher . . . .)
At Tuesday night's meeting of the Dorcheat Historical Association Board the question came up if we had a photo of one of the actual steamboats that were used on Bayou Dorcheat during the roughly 75 years of the local steamboat era. Most people associate the word steamboat with images of the massive ornate boats like those used by modern-day casinos or in the movies. The reality is that the packet boats that frequented streams like Dorcheat were much smaller, simply because of the shallow draft necessary to travel in such streams, and not nearly so attractive. While so far as I know there is not an existing image of a boat that definitely was used on Dorcheat, there are images of similar boats. In fact Eric Brock and Gary Joiner compiled a photo book on Red River Steamboats for Arcadia Press a few years ago. It is no longer in print, but I'm sure Gary still has access to the images. So, that question is answered; however, it led to so many others.
The discussion turned to steamboat wrecks on Dorcheat and if any are still visible at times, like now, of low water. We know there was one wreck in the area of the old Highway 80 bridge on Dorcheat, extremely visible as late as the 1940s. The general consensus of those involved in the discussion -- Richard Campbell whose mother saved so much Webster Parish history and Larry Milford, who grew up in the McIntyre Community -- was that some of the remains of that wreck are still visible, just south of the "new" Highway 80 bridge. Moving on, we talked about another group of wood debris visible just south of the Interstate 20 bridge over the Bayou. We were not so sure about that one, Richard, who has much more experience with the Bayou than I, thinks that is merely tree stumps.
That led to another interesting discussion about an old bridge that formerly crossed Bayou Dorcheat. In the years prior to the digging of the bar pits and the creation of the Louisiana Ordnance Plant there was another road that ran in the area south of the Interstate and north of Highway 164 that bridged Bayou Dorcheat. I've heard about this for years, but have not yet found a map that indicates where the road started and where it ended, but the bridge is long gone.
That idea turned us to a discussion of the Overton Cemetery and the sad destruction of so much of the cemetery over the last 50+ years. The interesting question raised was one I had never fully considered. We know where the cemetery is located, but where was the town in relation to the cemetery? Clearly it sat on the Bayou, but north or south of the cemetery? My educated guess would be south, as if it were located much north of the cemetery it would leave very little room for the old Middle Landing on Dorcheat. Overton was the lower landing, then there was the middle landing which stood at the terminus of the extended route of today's Middle Landing Street, and finally the upper landing at Murrell's Point, which was on the east bank of Dorcheat at approximately the site of the "old" Highway 80 bridge. (Of course another question is precisely where was that landing?)
So, it is pretty amazing to see so many historical questions arise out of a casual conversation. Just another reminder of how much history there remains to learn. (Which is a wonderful job assurance for a history teacher . . . .)
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Disturbing Numbers
Yesterday I "taught out" of my semester's notes for my State and Local Government class; so, in order to fill the remaining time I used them as guinea pigs for an activity I'm adding this fall to my National Government classes. By August it would seem that immigration reform will most likely be the "front burner" issue and I decided it would be a good idea to give the students a glimpse of the legal process to become a citizen that is being abused by illegal immigrants. One activity I had planned was to give the class some sample questions from the test required for gaining U.S. citizenship.
I went ahead and gave 20 of those questions to my 14 students in State and Local Government yesterday. Now, to be fair, not all of these students have taken National Government and we did not directly discuss many of these topics in State and Local Government as the U.S. Constitution and government only enters the class peripherally. Still some of the results were VERY disturbing. Below I'm going to list each question and beside the question provide the number of students in the class who answered the question correctly out of the 14 who completed the exercise.
1. What is the supreme law of the land? - 9 out of 14
2. The idea of self-government is in the first three words of the Constituion. What are these words? - 9 out of 14
3. What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution? - 12 out of 14
4. What is one right or freedom from the First Amendment? - 13 out of 14
5. What are two rights in the Declaration of Independence - 0 out of 14
6. Name one branch of the government. - 13 out of 14
7. Who is in charge of the Exeuctive Branch? - 7 out of 14
8. What are the two parts of the U. S. Congress? - 6 out of 14
9. How many U. S. Senators are there? - 3 out of 14
10. We elect a U.S. Representative for how many years? - 5 out of 14
11. In what month do we vote for President? - 8 out of 14
12. What are two Cabinet positions? - 6 out of 14
13. Who is the Chief Justice of the United States? - 2 out of 14
14. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence - 9 out of 14
15. There were 13 original states. Name three. - 10 out of 14
16. Who was the first President? - 13 out of 14
17. Name one war fought by the United States in the 1800s. 9 out of 14
18. Name one war fought by the United States in the 1900s - 14 out of 14
19. Name one American Indian tribe in the United States. 12 out of 14
20. Name one state that borders Canada. - 11 out of 14
Now I guess the one that disturbed me the most was question #5. To me, the Declaration of Independence is the single most important document in our history. The phrases in question -- among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" -- defines what it means to be an American citizen. I'm a little unclear how from the nine students who knew that Jefferson was the principle author of the document, none knew those key words. That result along is causing me to change slightly how I teach the Declaration in American History. Those inalienable rights are the one thing I want to make sure my students recognize.
All-in-all, it was a sobering experience to see how little the students really know about our nation and a challenge to do a better job of teaching. (By the way, I didn't provide the answers in the blog -- sort of tease to perhaps make some folks uncomfortable . . . . LOL!!!)
I went ahead and gave 20 of those questions to my 14 students in State and Local Government yesterday. Now, to be fair, not all of these students have taken National Government and we did not directly discuss many of these topics in State and Local Government as the U.S. Constitution and government only enters the class peripherally. Still some of the results were VERY disturbing. Below I'm going to list each question and beside the question provide the number of students in the class who answered the question correctly out of the 14 who completed the exercise.
1. What is the supreme law of the land? - 9 out of 14
2. The idea of self-government is in the first three words of the Constituion. What are these words? - 9 out of 14
3. What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution? - 12 out of 14
4. What is one right or freedom from the First Amendment? - 13 out of 14
5. What are two rights in the Declaration of Independence - 0 out of 14
6. Name one branch of the government. - 13 out of 14
7. Who is in charge of the Exeuctive Branch? - 7 out of 14
8. What are the two parts of the U. S. Congress? - 6 out of 14
9. How many U. S. Senators are there? - 3 out of 14
10. We elect a U.S. Representative for how many years? - 5 out of 14
11. In what month do we vote for President? - 8 out of 14
12. What are two Cabinet positions? - 6 out of 14
13. Who is the Chief Justice of the United States? - 2 out of 14
14. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence - 9 out of 14
15. There were 13 original states. Name three. - 10 out of 14
16. Who was the first President? - 13 out of 14
17. Name one war fought by the United States in the 1800s. 9 out of 14
18. Name one war fought by the United States in the 1900s - 14 out of 14
19. Name one American Indian tribe in the United States. 12 out of 14
20. Name one state that borders Canada. - 11 out of 14
Now I guess the one that disturbed me the most was question #5. To me, the Declaration of Independence is the single most important document in our history. The phrases in question -- among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" -- defines what it means to be an American citizen. I'm a little unclear how from the nine students who knew that Jefferson was the principle author of the document, none knew those key words. That result along is causing me to change slightly how I teach the Declaration in American History. Those inalienable rights are the one thing I want to make sure my students recognize.
All-in-all, it was a sobering experience to see how little the students really know about our nation and a challenge to do a better job of teaching. (By the way, I didn't provide the answers in the blog -- sort of tease to perhaps make some folks uncomfortable . . . . LOL!!!)
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Hidden History
I'm reminded of the Ray Stevens' song, It's Me Again Margaret, because once again the urge to blog has struck and the topic is the history right under our noses that escapes notice. Seems like the only thing I blog about.
Monday night I presented a program on the Civil War in Minden at the Dorcheat Historical Association's A Night for the Museum. As almost always happens when I present a program, history and historical information just seems to crawl out of the woodwork. Three different people came forward and spoke to me either about historical topics of which I was not aware or with artifacts of our past.
One man told me of being shown a huge collection of Civil War artifacts found by a man spading up his garden in Sibley. The fellow speaking to me was shown all the items over 40 years ago, and the man who owned them is long dead and I would imagine the articles were scattered. However, the quantity of artifacts described indicate that there was some sort of sizeable presence of Confederate forces in that area at some point during the war. I've never seen that documented before, so it adds a little to the knowledge of Confederate activity in our area.
A second man showed me and actually gave me a plain paper copy of a photograph of his grandfather and grandmother. The grandfather in question served as Sheriff of Webster Parish for 12 years during the early 20th Century and although I have written about him on several occasions, I had never before seen his picture. It was good to put a face to the name I knew so well. A few years ago, while Ted Riser was still Sheriff, we were trying to put together pictures of all the Webster Parish Sheriffs. I don't know if Gary Sexton continued the project but at least I now know where one image can be obtained.
The third man brought the original letters filed by his grandfather to apply for a Confederate Pension from the State of Louisiana. The grandfather was not from this part of the state, so it really wasn't local history, but this was the first time I had been shown the actual letters. I've used many of those files and seen the microfilm copies of pension files, but it was fun to see the "real thing."
These are examples of the reasons I am so glad we finally have a first-class museum in Minden, and, as I've said before, I still have faith that some of those artifacts stowed away in the attics of Minden might yet be revealed and eventually be on display at the Dorcheat Museum.
Monday night I presented a program on the Civil War in Minden at the Dorcheat Historical Association's A Night for the Museum. As almost always happens when I present a program, history and historical information just seems to crawl out of the woodwork. Three different people came forward and spoke to me either about historical topics of which I was not aware or with artifacts of our past.
One man told me of being shown a huge collection of Civil War artifacts found by a man spading up his garden in Sibley. The fellow speaking to me was shown all the items over 40 years ago, and the man who owned them is long dead and I would imagine the articles were scattered. However, the quantity of artifacts described indicate that there was some sort of sizeable presence of Confederate forces in that area at some point during the war. I've never seen that documented before, so it adds a little to the knowledge of Confederate activity in our area.
A second man showed me and actually gave me a plain paper copy of a photograph of his grandfather and grandmother. The grandfather in question served as Sheriff of Webster Parish for 12 years during the early 20th Century and although I have written about him on several occasions, I had never before seen his picture. It was good to put a face to the name I knew so well. A few years ago, while Ted Riser was still Sheriff, we were trying to put together pictures of all the Webster Parish Sheriffs. I don't know if Gary Sexton continued the project but at least I now know where one image can be obtained.
The third man brought the original letters filed by his grandfather to apply for a Confederate Pension from the State of Louisiana. The grandfather was not from this part of the state, so it really wasn't local history, but this was the first time I had been shown the actual letters. I've used many of those files and seen the microfilm copies of pension files, but it was fun to see the "real thing."
These are examples of the reasons I am so glad we finally have a first-class museum in Minden, and, as I've said before, I still have faith that some of those artifacts stowed away in the attics of Minden might yet be revealed and eventually be on display at the Dorcheat Museum.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Taking Secrets to the Grave
If you've read this blog before you know I "love" to complain about lost history because those who lived the history don't record or share their memories. Well, I'm back at it tonight as I prepare for this week's classes.
Right now I'm in the midst of the "HueyLongathon" I have every semester. In my Louisiana History, Louisiana Government and American Government classes I have my students watch Ken Burns' "Huey Long" and write an essay on Huey's career. I sincerely believe that one cannot understand the history of Louisiana and its government without spending some serious time learning about Huey. He is the most transformational political figure in any state in American History. For my American Government students, the stated political goals that Long was advancing cut to the core of one of the two most consistently divisive issues in American politics -- the role of the state in the lives of individuals. We are seeing that battle played out in the streets today with the Tea Party movement and Huey's programs provide a wonderful chance to look at that issue in context. So, each semester I see the video at least four times. This semester I've seen it four times and this week will see it for a fifth time with my Louisiana History students.
Each time I "teach" Huey, I am reminded of probably the greatest single frustration in my local research. Starting in 1983, I began seeking to interview someone who was present on Thursday night, November 9, 1933, when Huey made a speech outside the Webster Parish Courthouse (the 1905 courthouse that was torn down in 1970) here in Minden. Huey was in the middle of a speaking tour attacking FDR and the programs of the New Deal, throughout the state he had been making charges about our local Judge Harmon Drew in each speech. According to T. Harry Williams, a plot had been hatched here in Minden to kill Long on that night. The plan was that when Long attacked Drew, the Judge would stand to answer the charges. Williams claimed that when Drew stood, there were armed men placed throughout the crowd who would open fire on Long.
Williams never identified his sources and the Drew family has long objected and labeled the story as false. Harmon Drew actually studied under T. Harry at LSU and discussed the issue with the Professor. Harmon believes that Williams only talked to those in the Long camp and also strongly believes his grandfather would not have been involved in such a plot. Having done my Master's Thesis on John Sandlin, a contemporary politician to Drew and Long, I agree with Harmon. I find it unthinkable that the Harmon Drew I came to know through research would have been involved in such a plot.
On the other hand, I think Williams was correct in one way. I think there was a plot hatched by local anti-Longites who were friends of Judge Drew to assassinate Senator Long on that night. I think the presence of Long aide, Louie Jones of Minden, at that speech was precisely as Williams' believed, to allow Long's bodyguards to be able to locate the men in the plot and neutralize them before they could take action. That is basically what happened as the events unfolded.
Anyway, over my 27 years of seeking I came up with precisely one person who remembered that night and was willing to discuss the events. She told me in detail about what made a great impression on her that evening. Her parents had bought her an ice cream cone at the drug store and just as Huey started to speak, the top scoop on her cone fell to the ground. She was crushed. I guess that's what one can expect from the memory of a 10-year old. Now, nearly 77 years after the speech, I am convinced I'll never get a first hand account, I can only hope that someone shared with their family and the story emerges one day.
On a positive note, I'm looking forward to tonight's premiere of "Treme" on HBO. I was impressed by the clip I have seen where John Goodman's character is so angered by the journalist who suggest New Orleans should not be rebuilt. It reminds me of how we discuss in my Louisiana History class the role New Orleans filled as the 2nd most important city in this country in the Antebellum years and how ridiculous it was to suggest it not be rebuilt. Can't wait to see this Louisiana story.
Right now I'm in the midst of the "HueyLongathon" I have every semester. In my Louisiana History, Louisiana Government and American Government classes I have my students watch Ken Burns' "Huey Long" and write an essay on Huey's career. I sincerely believe that one cannot understand the history of Louisiana and its government without spending some serious time learning about Huey. He is the most transformational political figure in any state in American History. For my American Government students, the stated political goals that Long was advancing cut to the core of one of the two most consistently divisive issues in American politics -- the role of the state in the lives of individuals. We are seeing that battle played out in the streets today with the Tea Party movement and Huey's programs provide a wonderful chance to look at that issue in context. So, each semester I see the video at least four times. This semester I've seen it four times and this week will see it for a fifth time with my Louisiana History students.
Each time I "teach" Huey, I am reminded of probably the greatest single frustration in my local research. Starting in 1983, I began seeking to interview someone who was present on Thursday night, November 9, 1933, when Huey made a speech outside the Webster Parish Courthouse (the 1905 courthouse that was torn down in 1970) here in Minden. Huey was in the middle of a speaking tour attacking FDR and the programs of the New Deal, throughout the state he had been making charges about our local Judge Harmon Drew in each speech. According to T. Harry Williams, a plot had been hatched here in Minden to kill Long on that night. The plan was that when Long attacked Drew, the Judge would stand to answer the charges. Williams claimed that when Drew stood, there were armed men placed throughout the crowd who would open fire on Long.
Williams never identified his sources and the Drew family has long objected and labeled the story as false. Harmon Drew actually studied under T. Harry at LSU and discussed the issue with the Professor. Harmon believes that Williams only talked to those in the Long camp and also strongly believes his grandfather would not have been involved in such a plot. Having done my Master's Thesis on John Sandlin, a contemporary politician to Drew and Long, I agree with Harmon. I find it unthinkable that the Harmon Drew I came to know through research would have been involved in such a plot.
On the other hand, I think Williams was correct in one way. I think there was a plot hatched by local anti-Longites who were friends of Judge Drew to assassinate Senator Long on that night. I think the presence of Long aide, Louie Jones of Minden, at that speech was precisely as Williams' believed, to allow Long's bodyguards to be able to locate the men in the plot and neutralize them before they could take action. That is basically what happened as the events unfolded.
Anyway, over my 27 years of seeking I came up with precisely one person who remembered that night and was willing to discuss the events. She told me in detail about what made a great impression on her that evening. Her parents had bought her an ice cream cone at the drug store and just as Huey started to speak, the top scoop on her cone fell to the ground. She was crushed. I guess that's what one can expect from the memory of a 10-year old. Now, nearly 77 years after the speech, I am convinced I'll never get a first hand account, I can only hope that someone shared with their family and the story emerges one day.
On a positive note, I'm looking forward to tonight's premiere of "Treme" on HBO. I was impressed by the clip I have seen where John Goodman's character is so angered by the journalist who suggest New Orleans should not be rebuilt. It reminds me of how we discuss in my Louisiana History class the role New Orleans filled as the 2nd most important city in this country in the Antebellum years and how ridiculous it was to suggest it not be rebuilt. Can't wait to see this Louisiana story.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Healing Wounds to Tell the Story
I can still remember 42 years ago tonight, as I sat watching Gomer Pyle USMC the dreaded "special report" interruption of the conclusion of the show. One of my first clear memories is that of Walter Cronkite interrupting Momma watching As The World Turns to announce the Kennedy Assassination while I sat in front of the TV playing. Since that time, any interruption of programming -- even in this day of the 24-hour news cycle -- chillls me because of that first memory. Of course, on that night 42 years ago the announcement was the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
In light of that anniversary and the death of Rodney Seamster, I felt I needed to express a problem that has bothered me for a long time. Perhaps this is a problem I shouldn't air publicly, but clearly I've not learned yet when to shut up. That problem is preserving the local record of the Civil Rights Era from the viewpoint of the black community.
I am a child of the Civil Rights Era. I grew up during the desegregation battles -- Blaine A. Gilbert et al v. Webster Parish School Board was filed during November of my 2nd grade year. As a result, in January, two months later, Beverly Hampton came to Mrs. Hortman's room at Richardson and sat across the aisle from me as one of the eight black children to first desegregate an all-white school in Webster Parish. (I even caught the Chicken Pox from her as a present for my 8th birthday.) More than 8 years later, as my 11th grade year at MHS began, we saw the merger of Minden High and Webster High as part of the "final act" of that law suit. My chosen field in graduate studies was the Civil Rights Era. Although I have shied away from writing about it much in the newspaper -- a mixture of cowardice and not wanting to "rock the boat" for the newspaper -- I have continued the research and am still wrestling with the process of writing a "real book" on the subject. Even if I never complete that project, the notes will be available for someone else to tackle that chore after I'm gone.
During my years of research I have become more and more troubled about how we will preserve the entire story locally. The "white" side can be written easily from the newspaper stories of the day, but the other side, the side of those fighting for their rights is not as easily ascertained. Until the late 1950s, the only mention of any news from the black community was Robert Tobin's column, "Negro News" that ran periodically in the local newspaper. I was made very aware of the total vaccuum of "black" news by two different situations that took place when I worked for the Webster Parish Library. The first was the problem that arose when contacted by descendants of black local residents seeking obituaries -- they simply didn't exist in local news until the 1970s. The second involved the athletic successes of Webster High School. I had a relative of Wilbert Frazier, the star Webster High basketball player who went on to Grambling and the ABA, contact me seeking information about Webster's back-to-back appearances in what was considered the national championship game for black high schools in 1961 and 1962. Scouring the Minden and Shreveport newspapers I was disappointed to tell him the only mention was a one-paragraph article in the local paper headlined -- "Wolves lose in Houston tournament."
Beyond the news blackout is another problem. Many of the senior citizens in the black community can still not bring themselves to trust a white researcher and black researchers have not really focused on our area. I understand the roots of that distrust. Personally I have run into problems because I have not taken a strong enough stance in my newspaper columns regarding those years. That creates doubts as to whether I will give the story a "fair shake" and whether it is worth sharing with me. Along with that is the idea that the "past is the past" and leave it buried. As a historian I cannot support that idea, all history, good or bad, if told fairly and factually is useful.
The depth of the problem was really driven home to me about three years ago when a historian from San Francisco State University contacted me as he researched a tragic historic event that took place here in Minden in 1946. At that time he planned to make a book-length manuscript totally about the Minden incident. I contacted several members of the black community and got them to agree to talk with the researcher. He came to town, talked to all of them, and essentially was given nothing to work with. Minden ended up being about a two-page discussion in his eventual book.
Every time I talked with Rodney Seamster, we discussed putting the past behind us and working toward combining local black and white history to tell the whole story. But Rodney had so many projects and I was frankly too lazy to push the issue. Now Rodney is gone. I am proud to report that through the work of Schelley Brown and the Dorcheat Museum we have made great strides in this area. Dr. Roy Phillips and Mr. James Smith worked for months compiling a black history project for the museum. Part of their research has already been used in exhibits at the musuem and more is to come. That project has done much to fill the void, but there is so much more that can be done.
The part that is most troubling is that we have a success story here in Minden. I know that many have felt I was being a trouble maker by wanting to discuss the subject. But in Minden we moved from a city that saw that horrible lynching in 1946, from being a commuity at the forefront of the investigations of the United States Civil Rights Commission, from being in a parish that was one of the first to be sued by the United States government for intentional voting discrimination, to becoming a community where today we have a "majority minority" City Council in a community without a "majority minority" population. Are we color-blind? Not yet, but we have made a quantum leap just in my lifetime.
Again, as I think of Rodney's death, I can't help but chide myself for not working harder and hoping that before I go I'll be able to help make progress in preserving the stories of our past in those pivotal years before all those who know the stories are gone.
In light of that anniversary and the death of Rodney Seamster, I felt I needed to express a problem that has bothered me for a long time. Perhaps this is a problem I shouldn't air publicly, but clearly I've not learned yet when to shut up. That problem is preserving the local record of the Civil Rights Era from the viewpoint of the black community.
I am a child of the Civil Rights Era. I grew up during the desegregation battles -- Blaine A. Gilbert et al v. Webster Parish School Board was filed during November of my 2nd grade year. As a result, in January, two months later, Beverly Hampton came to Mrs. Hortman's room at Richardson and sat across the aisle from me as one of the eight black children to first desegregate an all-white school in Webster Parish. (I even caught the Chicken Pox from her as a present for my 8th birthday.) More than 8 years later, as my 11th grade year at MHS began, we saw the merger of Minden High and Webster High as part of the "final act" of that law suit. My chosen field in graduate studies was the Civil Rights Era. Although I have shied away from writing about it much in the newspaper -- a mixture of cowardice and not wanting to "rock the boat" for the newspaper -- I have continued the research and am still wrestling with the process of writing a "real book" on the subject. Even if I never complete that project, the notes will be available for someone else to tackle that chore after I'm gone.
During my years of research I have become more and more troubled about how we will preserve the entire story locally. The "white" side can be written easily from the newspaper stories of the day, but the other side, the side of those fighting for their rights is not as easily ascertained. Until the late 1950s, the only mention of any news from the black community was Robert Tobin's column, "Negro News" that ran periodically in the local newspaper. I was made very aware of the total vaccuum of "black" news by two different situations that took place when I worked for the Webster Parish Library. The first was the problem that arose when contacted by descendants of black local residents seeking obituaries -- they simply didn't exist in local news until the 1970s. The second involved the athletic successes of Webster High School. I had a relative of Wilbert Frazier, the star Webster High basketball player who went on to Grambling and the ABA, contact me seeking information about Webster's back-to-back appearances in what was considered the national championship game for black high schools in 1961 and 1962. Scouring the Minden and Shreveport newspapers I was disappointed to tell him the only mention was a one-paragraph article in the local paper headlined -- "Wolves lose in Houston tournament."
Beyond the news blackout is another problem. Many of the senior citizens in the black community can still not bring themselves to trust a white researcher and black researchers have not really focused on our area. I understand the roots of that distrust. Personally I have run into problems because I have not taken a strong enough stance in my newspaper columns regarding those years. That creates doubts as to whether I will give the story a "fair shake" and whether it is worth sharing with me. Along with that is the idea that the "past is the past" and leave it buried. As a historian I cannot support that idea, all history, good or bad, if told fairly and factually is useful.
The depth of the problem was really driven home to me about three years ago when a historian from San Francisco State University contacted me as he researched a tragic historic event that took place here in Minden in 1946. At that time he planned to make a book-length manuscript totally about the Minden incident. I contacted several members of the black community and got them to agree to talk with the researcher. He came to town, talked to all of them, and essentially was given nothing to work with. Minden ended up being about a two-page discussion in his eventual book.
Every time I talked with Rodney Seamster, we discussed putting the past behind us and working toward combining local black and white history to tell the whole story. But Rodney had so many projects and I was frankly too lazy to push the issue. Now Rodney is gone. I am proud to report that through the work of Schelley Brown and the Dorcheat Museum we have made great strides in this area. Dr. Roy Phillips and Mr. James Smith worked for months compiling a black history project for the museum. Part of their research has already been used in exhibits at the musuem and more is to come. That project has done much to fill the void, but there is so much more that can be done.
The part that is most troubling is that we have a success story here in Minden. I know that many have felt I was being a trouble maker by wanting to discuss the subject. But in Minden we moved from a city that saw that horrible lynching in 1946, from being a commuity at the forefront of the investigations of the United States Civil Rights Commission, from being in a parish that was one of the first to be sued by the United States government for intentional voting discrimination, to becoming a community where today we have a "majority minority" City Council in a community without a "majority minority" population. Are we color-blind? Not yet, but we have made a quantum leap just in my lifetime.
Again, as I think of Rodney's death, I can't help but chide myself for not working harder and hoping that before I go I'll be able to help make progress in preserving the stories of our past in those pivotal years before all those who know the stories are gone.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
LSU Libraries to Digitize Selected Louisiana Newspapers
While I am disappointed that no Minden newspapers made the grade, I am very excited to see this project underway. As I've mentioned before the only thing that partially makes up for the loss of almost all Minden newspapers from the 19th Century is the occasions when other newspapers quoted Minden papers. Nearly every paper in those years had a page for news from other areas and I am certain many "lost" events in Minden history will now be easier to find. I look forward to the one paper from Homer, the several papers from Shreveport and all the other Louisiana papers that will soon be available in a digital form. Particularly as I grow older and my eyes get worse, having a search engine makes using these resources so much easier and you can't beat the ease of searching from your own home computer. Can't wait until next year when this project is finished.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Dead Ends and Dead Links
In preparation for next month's program at the Dorcheat Historical Association's Night for the Museum, I've been playing with Civil War topics. The Civil War is a "lost love" of sorts for me. I actually taught myself to read as a child reading about the war during those days of the Civil War Centennial celebration. However, as I tell my students, I probably knew more about the war at age 10 than I do today. My interests shifted to the 20th Century South and the Civil Rights Era and my knowledge of the Civil War years didn't keep up and as I get older I forget things I once knew.
Going back to that research reminded me of so many nagging questions and the realization that many answers are truly "gone with the wind." This morning, as I was preparing to teach the first part of Reconstruction to my Louisiana History classes, I decided to see if anything "new" had popped up on the Internet about the troops that occupied Shreveport, Minden and Northwest Louisiana at the close of the war, beginning in late May 1865. Sadly, what I found was no new sources and one very good source that had disappeared.
To make a long story short -- which is something I am VERY poor at doing -- our area was occupied by the 61st United States Colored Troops commanded by Lt. Col. John Foley of Illinois. The detachment of troops in Minden, most likely Company I of the 61st, were commanded by Capt. Charles Graff, also of Illinois, who had been a Sgt. serving under Foley, when Foley was a Major in the Illinois Infantry. When Foley was offered the command of the 61st he brought Graff along and steered him to an officer's commission.
The troops arrived in Minden during the last week of May 1865 and remained until December of that year. Based on local tradition and the few written accounts that survived it was an interesting time. The black troops were camped along the area surrounding the Berry Plantation, basically the north side of the first couple of blocks of the Homer Road. There were clashes between the local residents and the black troops, at least two trials of white citizens for insulting black soldiers and two court martials of black soldiers for disturbances among the troops took place. In the end, some of the black troops, most notably Private Eli Bobo, remained in Minden. (Bobo became a Minden town Alderman in the 1870s.)
The historical record of those times has always been sketchy at best. The regimental histories of the 61st actually don't show the unit ever coming to Northwest Louisiana, yet I have in hand court martial papers that prove that as local accounts indicated, the 61st did occupy our area. Lt. Col. Foley moved to Kansas after the war and died before reaching the age of 50, never writing about his time in North Louisiana. Graff went to Little Rock after the war and was killed in his early 30s. A few years back when I last checked, there was a wonderful web site established by a researcher who was descended from Eli Bobo's sister. He had so much history about his ancestor's (and Eli's) journey from slavery to freedom. This morning when I checked, the web site is gone. I do have the researcher's e-mail address on my home computer, so I can be in touch. But, once again, I am so frustrated in seeing our history being lost or untraceable.
Bringing me back to my recurrent theme in this blog. Please, write down what you know and let it be saved for future generations.
UPDATE: The web page I mentioned about the family of Eli Bobo's sister has not disappeared. Mr. Collier, the researcher, merely finished his book and relocated his website under a new URL that reflected the name of his book.
http://www.mississippitoafrica.com/blackrootsseeker/
Going back to that research reminded me of so many nagging questions and the realization that many answers are truly "gone with the wind." This morning, as I was preparing to teach the first part of Reconstruction to my Louisiana History classes, I decided to see if anything "new" had popped up on the Internet about the troops that occupied Shreveport, Minden and Northwest Louisiana at the close of the war, beginning in late May 1865. Sadly, what I found was no new sources and one very good source that had disappeared.
To make a long story short -- which is something I am VERY poor at doing -- our area was occupied by the 61st United States Colored Troops commanded by Lt. Col. John Foley of Illinois. The detachment of troops in Minden, most likely Company I of the 61st, were commanded by Capt. Charles Graff, also of Illinois, who had been a Sgt. serving under Foley, when Foley was a Major in the Illinois Infantry. When Foley was offered the command of the 61st he brought Graff along and steered him to an officer's commission.
The troops arrived in Minden during the last week of May 1865 and remained until December of that year. Based on local tradition and the few written accounts that survived it was an interesting time. The black troops were camped along the area surrounding the Berry Plantation, basically the north side of the first couple of blocks of the Homer Road. There were clashes between the local residents and the black troops, at least two trials of white citizens for insulting black soldiers and two court martials of black soldiers for disturbances among the troops took place. In the end, some of the black troops, most notably Private Eli Bobo, remained in Minden. (Bobo became a Minden town Alderman in the 1870s.)
The historical record of those times has always been sketchy at best. The regimental histories of the 61st actually don't show the unit ever coming to Northwest Louisiana, yet I have in hand court martial papers that prove that as local accounts indicated, the 61st did occupy our area. Lt. Col. Foley moved to Kansas after the war and died before reaching the age of 50, never writing about his time in North Louisiana. Graff went to Little Rock after the war and was killed in his early 30s. A few years back when I last checked, there was a wonderful web site established by a researcher who was descended from Eli Bobo's sister. He had so much history about his ancestor's (and Eli's) journey from slavery to freedom. This morning when I checked, the web site is gone. I do have the researcher's e-mail address on my home computer, so I can be in touch. But, once again, I am so frustrated in seeing our history being lost or untraceable.
Bringing me back to my recurrent theme in this blog. Please, write down what you know and let it be saved for future generations.
UPDATE: The web page I mentioned about the family of Eli Bobo's sister has not disappeared. Mr. Collier, the researcher, merely finished his book and relocated his website under a new URL that reflected the name of his book.
http://www.mississippitoafrica.com/blackrootsseeker/
Sunday, March 21, 2010
MHS Football "Wall of Honor"
On Facebook, in the light of the death of Raymond Tate, a 3-time All-State and Parade All-American football player at Minden High School in the early 1980s, about a proper way to remember the most outstanding players at MHS over its football history.
As a first step I'm going to post here a list of the All-State players from Minden High School between 1916 and 2000, taken from Jerry Byrd's book: Louisiana's Best in High School Football.
Some of the players lack first names. I am going to get out the old Grigs and research the names for some of them, I work with a relative of the McCollum who was twice All-State during the 1920s and I'll get his first name from that co-worker.
I'd like anyone who reads this to offer suggestions and corrections. Jerry might have missed some and I might have missed some from Jerry's list. We need some parameters as to which players we honor and it seems All-State selection might be a good first step in the process. (Although it is true, particularly years ago, an amazing player on a losing team got skipped.) Someone may have a better idea for deciding a qualifying standard.
Here's the list:
All-State Football Players from Minden High School
1916 – John Dutton T
1917 – Prentiss Hough QB
1920 – Connell G
1921 – Charlie Dutton FB
1923 – Simpson T
1924 – Connell C
1925 – McCollum G
1926 – McCollum T
1938 – Charles Lewis G
1939 – Charles Lewis G
1940 – Sam Harper G
1941 – Luke Grigsby G
1949 – Marvin Selby G
1952 – Ken Beck T
1954 – Bobby Hudson T James McCabe QB
1955 – Roger Reeves T
1956 – Paul Robinson E Ken McMichael RB
1958 – Sammy Odom T
1960 – David Lee E Ed Greer QB
1963 – Mike Brewer E Dennis McClure C - Outstanding Lineman Fred Haynes RB* (Played QB but lost that vote to Bobby Duhon and was added as a RB)
1977 – James Britt DB – Outstanding Defensive Player
1979 – Raymond Tate RB
1980 – Raymond Tate RB Anthony Douglas LB
1981 – Raymond Tate RB Anthony Douglas LB
1985 – Roger West DB
1986 – Darryl Moore – T Taurus Williams G Sammy Seamster RB – Outstanding Offensive Player Marc Woods NG Billy Flournoy KR
As a first step I'm going to post here a list of the All-State players from Minden High School between 1916 and 2000, taken from Jerry Byrd's book: Louisiana's Best in High School Football.
Some of the players lack first names. I am going to get out the old Grigs and research the names for some of them, I work with a relative of the McCollum who was twice All-State during the 1920s and I'll get his first name from that co-worker.
I'd like anyone who reads this to offer suggestions and corrections. Jerry might have missed some and I might have missed some from Jerry's list. We need some parameters as to which players we honor and it seems All-State selection might be a good first step in the process. (Although it is true, particularly years ago, an amazing player on a losing team got skipped.) Someone may have a better idea for deciding a qualifying standard.
Here's the list:
All-State Football Players from Minden High School
1916 – John Dutton T
1917 – Prentiss Hough QB
1920 – Connell G
1921 – Charlie Dutton FB
1923 – Simpson T
1924 – Connell C
1925 – McCollum G
1926 – McCollum T
1938 – Charles Lewis G
1939 – Charles Lewis G
1940 – Sam Harper G
1941 – Luke Grigsby G
1949 – Marvin Selby G
1952 – Ken Beck T
1954 – Bobby Hudson T James McCabe QB
1955 – Roger Reeves T
1956 – Paul Robinson E Ken McMichael RB
1958 – Sammy Odom T
1960 – David Lee E Ed Greer QB
1963 – Mike Brewer E Dennis McClure C - Outstanding Lineman Fred Haynes RB* (Played QB but lost that vote to Bobby Duhon and was added as a RB)
1977 – James Britt DB – Outstanding Defensive Player
1979 – Raymond Tate RB
1980 – Raymond Tate RB Anthony Douglas LB
1981 – Raymond Tate RB Anthony Douglas LB
1985 – Roger West DB
1986 – Darryl Moore – T Taurus Williams G Sammy Seamster RB – Outstanding Offensive Player Marc Woods NG Billy Flournoy KR
Saturday, March 20, 2010
What a Country!
This weekend as we hear so many negative things and so much bloviation from both ends of the political spectrum I had a momentary flash that made me realize how true Yakov Smirnoff's punch line is when used to describe our nation.
I drove up this morning to make sure some of my Southern Arkansas relatives had "stayed put" and are still buried where they are supposed to be buried. (Came across some contradictory information online this week.) They were in place, hadn't moved on me, so I headed back home.
I guess several things were fresh in my mind, lots of basketball all over the television. The thoughts of lost potential sparked by the death of Raymond Tate. But for whatever reason as I was headed south on Highway 167, I came through the Lillie community and my mind flashed to Madison Square Garden and the 7th game of the 1970 NBA Championships. That amazing moment when Lillie's own Willis Reed limped onto the floor to start that game and how his appearance stunned that famed arena in the heart of our nation's largest city. He became the focus of so much media attention as his mere presence seemed to spark the Knicks to victory over the Lakers. My, what a long way to come for a black child reared in a tiny North Louisiana community during the heart of segregation all the way to the center of the spotlight in New York City.
Where else but the United States can someone based on their talent, intelligence or just plain hard work rise from Lillie to Madison Square Garden?
What a country!!!
I drove up this morning to make sure some of my Southern Arkansas relatives had "stayed put" and are still buried where they are supposed to be buried. (Came across some contradictory information online this week.) They were in place, hadn't moved on me, so I headed back home.
I guess several things were fresh in my mind, lots of basketball all over the television. The thoughts of lost potential sparked by the death of Raymond Tate. But for whatever reason as I was headed south on Highway 167, I came through the Lillie community and my mind flashed to Madison Square Garden and the 7th game of the 1970 NBA Championships. That amazing moment when Lillie's own Willis Reed limped onto the floor to start that game and how his appearance stunned that famed arena in the heart of our nation's largest city. He became the focus of so much media attention as his mere presence seemed to spark the Knicks to victory over the Lakers. My, what a long way to come for a black child reared in a tiny North Louisiana community during the heart of segregation all the way to the center of the spotlight in New York City.
Where else but the United States can someone based on their talent, intelligence or just plain hard work rise from Lillie to Madison Square Garden?
What a country!!!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Footnote to Local History - Updated
Received my copy of Hounded a few moments ago and was plesantly suprised about the local aspect of the book. The story is told in a series of e-mails sent by the author, a South Texas pastor, to a friend of his in California telling the story of Truman Mahoney. There are several chapters, totalling nearly 40 pages of the 300 or so page book, dealing with the Minden robbery. The planning, set-up and execution of the robbery are fully discussed. I found it particularly interesting to see the places where the robbers "side" of the story matched in detail the "side" of the story I had heard from victims of the crime. One story about a female employee who found rolls of nickels left behind by the robbers in her purse had a slightly different spin in Truman Mahoney's account of events.
There are a few details of actions taken by the local Sheriff's office in this case that have some bearing on a story I've been working on behind the scenes for years. I will need to apply those facts to that other story as it gives a better perspective to explain some things that took place about 8-years later in Webster Parish. The new details in this story complete part of the picture in that later story.
All-in-all, it seems to be a worthwhile read including details of an event in local history. I will have to set it aside for a while before I read the whole story, but I'm going to recommend that the Webster Parish Library add this book to their collection since the mentions of Minden are so frequent and the local story is given such detailed treatment.
There are a few details of actions taken by the local Sheriff's office in this case that have some bearing on a story I've been working on behind the scenes for years. I will need to apply those facts to that other story as it gives a better perspective to explain some things that took place about 8-years later in Webster Parish. The new details in this story complete part of the picture in that later story.
All-in-all, it seems to be a worthwhile read including details of an event in local history. I will have to set it aside for a while before I read the whole story, but I'm going to recommend that the Webster Parish Library add this book to their collection since the mentions of Minden are so frequent and the local story is given such detailed treatment.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Footnote to Local History
One of my favorite quotes by Harry Truman is, "the only thing new in the world is history you don't know." Well, this morning I became aware of some "history I didn't know."
A few years ago I devoted one of my newspaper columns to the story of the 1938 robbery of the Minden Bank and Trust. The gist of that story was that the bank was robbed by a gang from Indiana who worked with a local family that helped hide them after the robbery.
This morning I received an invitation to take part in a seminar being held in Houston in April, about a biography that has been written about one of the main particpants in that bank robbery, Truman Mahoney. It seems that Mahoney had an infamous career as bank robbers. He was a prolific and deadly robber and ended up spending many years in Federal prison.
Later in life Mahoney found Jesus Christ as his savior and changed his way of life. The biography, Hounded: Truman's Story, was written by the minister who helped lead Mahoney to Christ.
Not sure about attending this seminar, I really don't have much to offer, other than the story of the local robbery, but I am ordering a copy of the book. It found it fascinating to learn the "rest of the story" about this criminal who has a small place in local history and look forward to reading his story.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Census Time
Yesterday I spoke to the meeting of the Dorcheat Bistineau Chapter of the DAR on the topic, "The 1900 Census of Minden." The point of my talk was about how the Population Schedules of the Census provide a wonderful snapshot of life in a community at a given moment at time. By examining the information contained on those schedules one can gain great insight into the life of a community. The demographic profile -- age, race, national origin -- allows you to get an idea of "who" the people of the town were. The economic information, including the various types of jobs and the number in each field, can give you an idea of how the people lived and in the older schedules that included measures of personal wealth a gauge of the prosperity of the town and its residents.
However, part of my talk dealt with the upcoming 2010 Census -- actually the blanks are "in the mail" so I guess upcoming is an incorrect characterization -- and the slight air of controversy surrounding the process among some conservatives. Within the past two weeks I have seen comments posted on the Internet by several conservatives from this area indicating they are not going to return their Census blanks. I have heard Moon Griffon suggest to his listeners that they just tell how many people live in their home and no more. (I don't have my blank in hand, but from what I can gather the form really asks little more than that basic information.)
I'm not here to fight that political battle, my view of government and its role gives me no problem with supplying information to my goverment; however, I do understand how those who are fearful or distrust government might not want to provide such data. The interesting thing to me is how the information collected by the Census has varied over time, and not necessarily in line with the seeming political trends of the nation. As I tell my American History students, no one can deny that the power and the instrusion of the Federal government into the life of its citizens has dramatically increased over time. I suggest that prior to the 20th Century, outside of the U.S. Mail, few Americans ever dealt directly with the Federal Government or its agents. Today, if one merely goes to work as a wage earner, the IRS is withholding potential taxes from you every second of your working day. The increased contact with the Federal government saw its beginnings with the Progressive movement of the early 20th century that led to the income tax, waxed with the coming of the New Deal and in the last half of the 20th Century mushroomed.
Yet, the Census didn't exactly follow that pattern. From 1790 through 1840, the Census Population Schedules worked at the household level, rather than the individual level. In the Schedules one finds the name of the head of household and the other members are merely identified by numbers in a chart categorized according to age and gender. Slaves are also counted merely by number.
In 1850, still in the era of "small" Federal Government, the Census switched to the individual level. All household members are listed by name and much more personal information is included. During the years from 1850 - 1930 at various times the schedule will tell you age, gender, race, marital status, years married, number of children born, number of children who are still alive, place of birth, place of parents birth, occupation, employer, home ownership, years of schooling, literacy, whether or not the person fought for the Confederacy, amount of personal property, amount of real estate, number of slaves, street address of residence, and -- in the 1930 Census -- whether or not the household owned a radio. It is true that in the recent past, as our concerns about privacy have grown, the Census more and more only requires the bare minimums on the form that contains personal information. The other data is obtained from scientific data methods that do not include names.
As we prepare to answer the Census this year, and I hear folks objecting to even providing their name and household members, I wonder how was it possible that once citizens willingly provided details of their personal wealth on the Census, with apparently little question of how the government might use that information. So. as a historical researcher who has spent hundreds or perhaps thousands of hours straining to read Census schedules and who is anxiously awating the 2012 release of the 1940 Census (Population Schedules are sealed for 72 years) to see what info it will reveal, I hope all of you will at least include the basic information requested by the Census this year, for the sake of the researchers of 2110.
However, part of my talk dealt with the upcoming 2010 Census -- actually the blanks are "in the mail" so I guess upcoming is an incorrect characterization -- and the slight air of controversy surrounding the process among some conservatives. Within the past two weeks I have seen comments posted on the Internet by several conservatives from this area indicating they are not going to return their Census blanks. I have heard Moon Griffon suggest to his listeners that they just tell how many people live in their home and no more. (I don't have my blank in hand, but from what I can gather the form really asks little more than that basic information.)
I'm not here to fight that political battle, my view of government and its role gives me no problem with supplying information to my goverment; however, I do understand how those who are fearful or distrust government might not want to provide such data. The interesting thing to me is how the information collected by the Census has varied over time, and not necessarily in line with the seeming political trends of the nation. As I tell my American History students, no one can deny that the power and the instrusion of the Federal government into the life of its citizens has dramatically increased over time. I suggest that prior to the 20th Century, outside of the U.S. Mail, few Americans ever dealt directly with the Federal Government or its agents. Today, if one merely goes to work as a wage earner, the IRS is withholding potential taxes from you every second of your working day. The increased contact with the Federal government saw its beginnings with the Progressive movement of the early 20th century that led to the income tax, waxed with the coming of the New Deal and in the last half of the 20th Century mushroomed.
Yet, the Census didn't exactly follow that pattern. From 1790 through 1840, the Census Population Schedules worked at the household level, rather than the individual level. In the Schedules one finds the name of the head of household and the other members are merely identified by numbers in a chart categorized according to age and gender. Slaves are also counted merely by number.
In 1850, still in the era of "small" Federal Government, the Census switched to the individual level. All household members are listed by name and much more personal information is included. During the years from 1850 - 1930 at various times the schedule will tell you age, gender, race, marital status, years married, number of children born, number of children who are still alive, place of birth, place of parents birth, occupation, employer, home ownership, years of schooling, literacy, whether or not the person fought for the Confederacy, amount of personal property, amount of real estate, number of slaves, street address of residence, and -- in the 1930 Census -- whether or not the household owned a radio. It is true that in the recent past, as our concerns about privacy have grown, the Census more and more only requires the bare minimums on the form that contains personal information. The other data is obtained from scientific data methods that do not include names.
As we prepare to answer the Census this year, and I hear folks objecting to even providing their name and household members, I wonder how was it possible that once citizens willingly provided details of their personal wealth on the Census, with apparently little question of how the government might use that information. So. as a historical researcher who has spent hundreds or perhaps thousands of hours straining to read Census schedules and who is anxiously awating the 2012 release of the 1940 Census (Population Schedules are sealed for 72 years) to see what info it will reveal, I hope all of you will at least include the basic information requested by the Census this year, for the sake of the researchers of 2110.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Another Puzzler - Updated
I finally got a chance to work with those images of the Minden Democrat from September 11, 1868. I learned that I was not yet completely senile; the images could not have been in possession of Hill Library when I last visited in early July 2008, or at the least could not have been available to researchers. The date of creation on the TIFF files was June 26, 2008. So the images are relatively new to the LSU Libraries collections.
I had hoped that there would be some news of great significance in the newspaper, but from what I can tell it seems to be just "run of the mill" news. There were some interesting tidbits that actually will help in other projects. A front-page editorial about the looming threat of integrated schools in light of the new Louisiana Constitution of 1868 -- ironically I taught about that this morning in Louisiana government and will be coming to that point within a couple of weeks in Louisiana History.
There were also at least three or four notices of business closing or changing hands. One of those was the store of Nicholas J. Floyd, who will be mentioned in my program on Confederate Minden for the Dorcheat Museum in April. Floyd was leaving Louisiana to return to Virginia. He turned his business over to his father-in-law, J. W. Morrow.
But perhaps the most interesting tidbit to me was a brief mention of the death of a child, and a public mention of tragedy I had observed years ago. Along the eastern edge of the old Minden Cemetery, there is the Loye family plot. The Loyes, along with the Chaffes and Goodwills, were among the British émigré community in antebellum Minden. The families had intermarried and were prominent in local affairs. Long ago I looked at that plot and was stunned by the presence of so many graves of children from the family -- none of which survived beyond childhood. Just "guesstimating" from the spacing of the children, I wondered if any of the Loye offspring lived to be adults, as they were so closely spaced in birth I could not see how any other children could have reached maturity and I also knew that the Loye name disappeared from local records.
The September 11, 1868, Minden Democrat discussed the tragedy of the death of little Johnnie Loye and confirmed what I has suspected. Sadly this family lost seven children to death. A truly tragic situation indeed; but unfortunately, not unprecedented in those “frontier” days of primitive medicine. I know Schelley is probably reading this and I guess now that I know, I'd better start getting a Ghost Walk script ready . . . . LOL!!! What follows is the Democrat's account of Johnnie Loye's passing:
"It is seldom that the death of a little child saddens a whole community. When we think of the many trials and troubles through which we have to pass the verdict is universal that the little one is better off, but little Johnnie was the last child out of seven interesting children. We had helped to bury them one by one, and it was in this way that we all felt a special interest in this dear little boy who was the idol of his parents and around whom all their earthly hopes seem to cluster."
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