During the years I worked in the Genealogy Section at the Webster Parish Library I often warned patrons who came to do research about the hazards of "climbing" your family tree. While you might find wonderful things about your heritage, there are hazards. Two immediately come to mind -- and I've actually seen both of them, along with some more bizarre findings, be uncovered by researchers.
The first is a problem that I jokingly say I am very much liable to find, since I have family roots in Southern Arkansas and that is the chance your "family tree doesn't branch" -- aka folks go to family reunions to get a date. It's common. I had to tell one patron that the reason his grandfather had been ostracized from the community and left the state was because the ancestor married his 11-year old niece.
A second possiblity is that you will find an ancestor "hanging" in that tree, literally. Most people aren't pleased to find that great-grandfather was a horse thief. My most interesting case of that sort was when a dear lady trying to establish membership in the United Daughters of the Confederacy contacted me to research her ancestor. She had read in one of my columns that her ancestor had been Mayor of Minden during the years just after the war and hoped, since he had such prominence locally, I'd know something about his war service. Sadly for her, I did recognize the name. The man in question was the Carpetbagger mayor who "lost" the election to Chaffe's Bull in 1872 and was appointed Mayor by Gov. Kellogg. He did have Civil War service, but in the Union Army. Not the record she wanted to find. He had also been "run out of town on a rail", as my mother would have said, after his term. So, when you start climbing that family tree, just be aware.
I mentioned in an earlier post Carlton Prothro's presentation at Mt. Lebanon last Sunday. During that talk he mentioned that a few years ago he and I tried to determine if his physician ancestor served in the Confederate Army. I went to one common source, Booth's Confederate Soldiers, and found no record of Dr. Prothro. Apparently, at that point, I "dropped the ball" and went no further. Carlton and I concluded that Dr. Prothro's service had been a family legend and that's where we let the subject lie.
However, during Carlton's talk a "light bulb" went off in my head and I realized that I had bypassed one of the most useful, not to mention interesting of all Louisiana Confederate Sources. The Confederate Pension Applications Database maintained by the Louisiana State Archives. As soon as I returned home from Mt. Lebanon, I got to my computer and searched for Dr. Prothro in the records. Bingo!!! There was an application filed by his widow in 1916, chock full of wonderful interesting information and detailing Dr. Prothro's service in two different Confederate units. In this case, there as also a mini "soap opera" as Olivia Boydstun Prothro's first application for pension was rejected for lack of evidence and she was forced to file a second with more supporting material. I was able to get the request in the mail and give the papers to Carlton yesterday.
So, if you ever wondered about your Confederate ancestor who fought for a Louisiana unit, it is probably worth clicking on that link and checking the Database. Many of the applications have detailed descriptions not only of service, but in the case of proving financial need, details of the post war life of the soldier, especially those who suffered disabiling wounds in service. Good luck in climbing your tree and I hope yours forks and is free of dangling relatives.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
True Progress
On occasion, I have been accused by some folks as being overly focused on the negative aspects of our local history. Usually because so much of my research, largely still unpublished, has centered around the injustices of the past in our area. Tonight, I used some of that research in my National Government class, and during the drive home thought about these numbers for a while:
1960 - Webster Parish Louisiana
Population - 39,701
Registered voters - 12,347
White voters - 12, 217 - 99%
Black voters - 130 - 1%
2010 - Webster Parish Louisiana
Population - est - 40,754
Registered voters - 25,594
White voters - 17,637 - 69%
Black voters - 7,957 - 31%
I am so very proud of the progress we as a people have made toward treating "all men as created equal" during my lifetime.
1960 - Webster Parish Louisiana
Population - 39,701
Registered voters - 12,347
White voters - 12, 217 - 99%
Black voters - 130 - 1%
2010 - Webster Parish Louisiana
Population - est - 40,754
Registered voters - 25,594
White voters - 17,637 - 69%
Black voters - 7,957 - 31%
I am so very proud of the progress we as a people have made toward treating "all men as created equal" during my lifetime.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Dixie Inn: A Chicken or the Egg Problem
I've been writing my column for the Press-Herald for 10 years now and there are several topics I've been requested to address that I've just not gotten done. I don't think it's entirely a problem created by my struggles with procrastination (although I'd like to wait until tomorrow to make up my mind about that), some hangups have been simple research problems. With my second job limiting me to weekend research, it's just tough to find research libraries open on the weekend. That's part of the problem, but in some cases it is simply the absence of good sources still in existence. Tonight at Dorcheat Seafood and Grill I was reminded of perhaps the most-requested column that I've not been able to produce as yet -- the story of Dixie Inn.
Dorcheat Bayou was the "street" that opened the settlement of Overton and then Minden, so the bayou area has a long history. We know that as early as the 1830s the east bank of Dorcheat was a hub of commerce. Known either as Murrell's Point or Minden Upper Landing, it was the site of warehouses and the steamboat landing for Minden. By the early 1850s, the Claiborne Parish Police Jury discussed constructing a bridge across the Bayou at that location. By 1864, not only was that bridge in place, it had been there long enough that it was reported in disrepair by Confederate General Polignac.
(As Polignac and his troops of Walker's Texas Division approached Minden from the west to establish Winter Quarters in the late Fall of 1864, he halted his army at the bridge and was afraid to take his troops across because of the ramshackle condition of the bridge. He even made a sketch of the state of the bridge for his journal. While he hesitated, a carriage of ladies bravely crossed right in front of the troops and the army was "shamed" into crossing. As another aside, all shipments of heavy equipment to Minden during the Civil War did not use the roads or bridges, they came by way of Red River, Loggy Bayou, Lake Bistineau and were unloaded on the east bank of Dorcheat.)
So, the east side of Dorcheat in the area of the two existing Highway 80 bridges was busy. One can only assume that something existed across the bayou on the west bank. But there is little in the record to indicate what might have been there, other than farm land. It is equally clear that the boom for what we know today as Dixie Inn came in the summer of 1941, when the Louisiana Ordnance Plant began construction. Even a casual glance will reveal that the houses that make up the main area of Dixie Inn date from that time as they mirror the style of the subdivisions in Minden built at the same time as the local area responded to a housing crush. The influx of workers, both for constructing the plant and the operating the facility brought thousands of folks to the Minden area and the residential community we call Dixie Inn emerged.
My problem with information arises in the years between 1864 and 1941 and a major problem -- as reflected in the title of this post -- is that name we use today for the community, Dixie Inn. Newspaper clippings clearly indicate that by the time the Dixie-Overland Highway (Highway 80) was constructed (1930-31), the point where that new road intersected the existing road to Springhill was the site of filling stations and other businesses. However, the name "Dixie Inn" for the settlement doesn't appear in those newspaper accounts. That name first appears in print prior to the road construction, around 1924, but it appears as the name of the restaurant/dance hall/nightclub located on the site of today's Dorcheat Seafood and Grill along the west bank of Dorcheat. The restaurant was known as the Dixie Inn, but nowhere can I find, prior to the post World War II years the name used for the community, just for the restaurant.
So, I'm stuck at that point, was the restaurant named because locals already referred to the area as "Dixie Inn", or was the name for the settlement, and eventually the incorporated place created in the 1950s, taken from the name of the restaurant.
Anyone out there with a clue, let me know. Maybe with that behind me, I can go ahead and put together the story of the settlement . . . . unless I find another excuse for "putting it off."
Dorcheat Bayou was the "street" that opened the settlement of Overton and then Minden, so the bayou area has a long history. We know that as early as the 1830s the east bank of Dorcheat was a hub of commerce. Known either as Murrell's Point or Minden Upper Landing, it was the site of warehouses and the steamboat landing for Minden. By the early 1850s, the Claiborne Parish Police Jury discussed constructing a bridge across the Bayou at that location. By 1864, not only was that bridge in place, it had been there long enough that it was reported in disrepair by Confederate General Polignac.
(As Polignac and his troops of Walker's Texas Division approached Minden from the west to establish Winter Quarters in the late Fall of 1864, he halted his army at the bridge and was afraid to take his troops across because of the ramshackle condition of the bridge. He even made a sketch of the state of the bridge for his journal. While he hesitated, a carriage of ladies bravely crossed right in front of the troops and the army was "shamed" into crossing. As another aside, all shipments of heavy equipment to Minden during the Civil War did not use the roads or bridges, they came by way of Red River, Loggy Bayou, Lake Bistineau and were unloaded on the east bank of Dorcheat.)
So, the east side of Dorcheat in the area of the two existing Highway 80 bridges was busy. One can only assume that something existed across the bayou on the west bank. But there is little in the record to indicate what might have been there, other than farm land. It is equally clear that the boom for what we know today as Dixie Inn came in the summer of 1941, when the Louisiana Ordnance Plant began construction. Even a casual glance will reveal that the houses that make up the main area of Dixie Inn date from that time as they mirror the style of the subdivisions in Minden built at the same time as the local area responded to a housing crush. The influx of workers, both for constructing the plant and the operating the facility brought thousands of folks to the Minden area and the residential community we call Dixie Inn emerged.
My problem with information arises in the years between 1864 and 1941 and a major problem -- as reflected in the title of this post -- is that name we use today for the community, Dixie Inn. Newspaper clippings clearly indicate that by the time the Dixie-Overland Highway (Highway 80) was constructed (1930-31), the point where that new road intersected the existing road to Springhill was the site of filling stations and other businesses. However, the name "Dixie Inn" for the settlement doesn't appear in those newspaper accounts. That name first appears in print prior to the road construction, around 1924, but it appears as the name of the restaurant/dance hall/nightclub located on the site of today's Dorcheat Seafood and Grill along the west bank of Dorcheat. The restaurant was known as the Dixie Inn, but nowhere can I find, prior to the post World War II years the name used for the community, just for the restaurant.
So, I'm stuck at that point, was the restaurant named because locals already referred to the area as "Dixie Inn", or was the name for the settlement, and eventually the incorporated place created in the 1950s, taken from the name of the restaurant.
Anyone out there with a clue, let me know. Maybe with that behind me, I can go ahead and put together the story of the settlement . . . . unless I find another excuse for "putting it off."
Sunday, February 21, 2010
One Big Family?
Earlier one of the readers on the blog, Darrell, mentioned the ties between Claiborne Parish and Webster Parish history. This afternoon I went over to Mt. Lebanon to hear Carleton Prothro speak on his family ties to Mt. Lebanon at the Annual Meeting of the Mt. Lebanon Historical Society. Five years ago I spoke at the meeting explaining some of the ties between Minden and Mt. Lebanon. Last year I spoke about Minden and Mt. Lebanon's ties as back-to-back stops on the old stagecoach road across North Louisiana.
For years I had known about the many ties between the Rehoboth Church at Mt. Lebanon (now known as Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church) and Minden Baptist Church (now known as First Baptist Church of Minden). But more and more I've come to realize the many ties between the communities beyond religion. Several of the original settlers of Mt. Lebanon also owned large parts of Minden and many owned business in both settlements. Today, Carlton, explained how his direct ancestor came to Mt. Lebanon after the founding, probably lured by the Prothro who was an original settler at Mt. Lebanon and who owned property locally and is the namesake of Prothro Branch here in Minden.
Probably half of those in attendance at today's meeting "have feet" in both communities and in Gibsland. (Although I'm not sure the old Mt. Lebanon folks have forgiven the Gibsland folks for "stealing" the VS&P railroad in 1884.)
The pictures above is the old Rehoboth Baptist Church, constructed in the 1850s, that still retains much of the charm of old Baptist churches in its interior style. The Louisiana Baptist Convention was of course established at Mt. Lebanon in 1848.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Kennon and Lindsey and Pearce
Noted with interest this morning on Facebook the campaign to have Chris Gorman appointed as Lieutenant Governor for the interim term. It's no secret that my political views don't dovetail with his; however, he came and spoke to my Political Science classes during his campaign for Congress and I was impressed. I think he would be a good choice for Gov. Jindal and I would also be very grateful to have, even if just for the interim, a statewide official from North Louisiana, especially Northwest Louisiana, it's been a while and we could use the representation. My only problem is that this site seems official -- several siblings are members of the group -- and I wonder if they've found a loophole in Gov. Jindal's stated intent to only appoint someone that will not run for the vacancy in the Fall. Perhaps, since it seems the Gov's proposed amendment to abolish the job is DOA in the legislature, he has changed his mind. I can't see the value in a four month stint as Lt. Gov. for Chris, but, I am happy to see this movement.
Now, what the heck does that have to do with local history? If Chris Gorman did become Lieutenant Governor he would have some tenuous family ties to Minden and Webster Parish. In our history we have had three men from the Minden area occupy either the Governor's office or the Lieutenant Governor's office, technically two of them bear an asterisk by their name, but still they held office. Sadly, at present there is no sort of public recognition of any of these men in our parish.
Robert F. Kennon was Mayor of Minden at age 23, District Attorney, Justice of the Court of Appeals,and Governor of Louisiana from 1952 to 1956. Kennon was a graduate of Minden High School and at least three houses that he called home still stand in Minden. Rep. Jean Doerge and I have talked before about the need to have some visible monument to Bob Kennon in Minden. Like Chris Gorman, I don't agree with many of his political stands, but Kennon was a honorable public servant and needs to be recognized in his hometown.
Coleman Lindsey served as Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, but with an asterisk. When Gov. Richard Leche resigned in 1939 prior to indictment and eventual time in Federal prison, Lt. Gov. Earl K. Long moved up to Governor. Lindsey was at that point serving as Louisiana State Senator from Bossier Webster and as President of the Senate. He assumed Long's vacancy as Lieutenant Governor. Lindsey actually lived next door to Bob Kennon on Jefferson Street at the time of his term in office. After leaving the Lieutenant Governor's office he relocated to Baton Rouge and became a rather significant, and at times controversial, District Judge in the Baton Rouge area. Again, his name is largely unknown in Minden.
Our third parish resident to fill one of those two highest offices was Benjamin Pearce, who also has an asterisk by his name and in some ways a second asterisk regarding his Webster Parish ties. Pearce was a member of the family that founded Heflin. He served as the Confederate Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana from 1864 until the end of the war and at the time of his service, Webster Parish did not exist. The Heflin area was part of Bienville Parish at that time, but today Pearce's home would have been in Webster Parish. He, too, escapes notice in discussions of our local history.
So, good luck to Chris Gorman and his supporters in this quest and I hope that in the near future we will see some sort of public remembrance of the service of Bob Kennon, if not Lindsey and Pearce, in our community
Now, what the heck does that have to do with local history? If Chris Gorman did become Lieutenant Governor he would have some tenuous family ties to Minden and Webster Parish. In our history we have had three men from the Minden area occupy either the Governor's office or the Lieutenant Governor's office, technically two of them bear an asterisk by their name, but still they held office. Sadly, at present there is no sort of public recognition of any of these men in our parish.
Robert F. Kennon was Mayor of Minden at age 23, District Attorney, Justice of the Court of Appeals,and Governor of Louisiana from 1952 to 1956. Kennon was a graduate of Minden High School and at least three houses that he called home still stand in Minden. Rep. Jean Doerge and I have talked before about the need to have some visible monument to Bob Kennon in Minden. Like Chris Gorman, I don't agree with many of his political stands, but Kennon was a honorable public servant and needs to be recognized in his hometown.
Coleman Lindsey served as Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, but with an asterisk. When Gov. Richard Leche resigned in 1939 prior to indictment and eventual time in Federal prison, Lt. Gov. Earl K. Long moved up to Governor. Lindsey was at that point serving as Louisiana State Senator from Bossier Webster and as President of the Senate. He assumed Long's vacancy as Lieutenant Governor. Lindsey actually lived next door to Bob Kennon on Jefferson Street at the time of his term in office. After leaving the Lieutenant Governor's office he relocated to Baton Rouge and became a rather significant, and at times controversial, District Judge in the Baton Rouge area. Again, his name is largely unknown in Minden.
Our third parish resident to fill one of those two highest offices was Benjamin Pearce, who also has an asterisk by his name and in some ways a second asterisk regarding his Webster Parish ties. Pearce was a member of the family that founded Heflin. He served as the Confederate Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana from 1864 until the end of the war and at the time of his service, Webster Parish did not exist. The Heflin area was part of Bienville Parish at that time, but today Pearce's home would have been in Webster Parish. He, too, escapes notice in discussions of our local history.
So, good luck to Chris Gorman and his supporters in this quest and I hope that in the near future we will see some sort of public remembrance of the service of Bob Kennon, if not Lindsey and Pearce, in our community
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
If These Walls Could Talk
Well, this didn't start out to be an architectural blog, but it seems everything that's crossed my mind to write about lately has been tied to buildings. Maybe I can apply for extra credit in that American Architecture class from 30+ years ago. LOL!!!
The last few days I've been intrigued as I drove into town from my house watching the progress on a building project. The building in question has been in my lifetime a skating rink, a bowling alley, an office building and a funeral home. Currently, it's nearing use for some other purpose. I'm curious to see what's next.
I had that on my mind last night as we had a Board of Directors meeting for the Dorcheat Historical Association in the back room of the museum, the future home of our Educational Center. The museum building has in its "lifetime" been home to an auto repair shop, a newspaper, a printing company, an office supply store and now, a museum. Just up the street on the corner you have a building I mentioned in an earlier post that has served as a bank, a drug store, a clothing store and is today a beauty shop.
Two blocks down is the Miller Building. It its 90 years of existence with a basement, main floor and upstairs office space, it has been home to so many different enterprises. Today, we have a church on the main floor, as a child I knew that building as TG&Y, earlier generations knew it as a drug store, in the recent past it has also been home to a bank and a photo studio and many other businesses of which I was either unware or I have forgotten. The basement has housed everything from a wrestling arena to beauty shops and health spas. Upstairs has been home to offices of doctors, lawyers and even the local draft board.
In short, old buildings, in addition to architectural character, often have fascinating histories that tell much about growth and change in our community.
The last few days I've been intrigued as I drove into town from my house watching the progress on a building project. The building in question has been in my lifetime a skating rink, a bowling alley, an office building and a funeral home. Currently, it's nearing use for some other purpose. I'm curious to see what's next.
I had that on my mind last night as we had a Board of Directors meeting for the Dorcheat Historical Association in the back room of the museum, the future home of our Educational Center. The museum building has in its "lifetime" been home to an auto repair shop, a newspaper, a printing company, an office supply store and now, a museum. Just up the street on the corner you have a building I mentioned in an earlier post that has served as a bank, a drug store, a clothing store and is today a beauty shop.
Two blocks down is the Miller Building. It its 90 years of existence with a basement, main floor and upstairs office space, it has been home to so many different enterprises. Today, we have a church on the main floor, as a child I knew that building as TG&Y, earlier generations knew it as a drug store, in the recent past it has also been home to a bank and a photo studio and many other businesses of which I was either unware or I have forgotten. The basement has housed everything from a wrestling arena to beauty shops and health spas. Upstairs has been home to offices of doctors, lawyers and even the local draft board.
In short, old buildings, in addition to architectural character, often have fascinating histories that tell much about growth and change in our community.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Losing Landmarks - Update
Well, I finally got the chance to go up to Sarepta and Shongaloo and confirm what I had guessed in my earlier post. The looming destruction of the old Sarepta High School building will remove the final landmark from the years of E. S. Richardson as Superintendent of Webster Parish Schools. (I honestly could not remember if the old Shongaloo building was gone.)
As I said, earlier, I'm not a foe of progress and am so happy that the students in area schools have new facilities, that need for new modern educational structures is one reason the passing of the Sarepta building is worth comment.
When E. S. Richardson came to Webster Parish in 1921, the parish operated 39 separate schools for white children (the issues regarding the black students is another topic for another time.)Many of those 39 schools were ramshackle one-room buildings from the 19th century. By 1928, those 39 schools had been consolidated into 10 campuses -- Cotton Valley, Doyline, Dubberly, Evergreen, Heflin, Minden, Sarepta, Shongaloo, Sibley and Springhill -- each with a state certified high school and each with a new building. In all cases except Evergreen the new buildings were brick structures. At least two of the schools, Sarepta and Sibley, actually had two new buildings as the first new construction at both places was destroyed by fire.
The centralized schools were only one of the many radical changes Richardson brought to Webster Parish. His reforms earned the nickname the “Webster Miracle” and he went all across the country speaking at educational conferences and even the Chicago World’s Fair of 1933, describing how Webster Parish had become a model for rural schools.
In addition to his educational leadership, Richardson’s marketing skills were truly amazing. A reading of the small notebooks he kept during his years as Superintendent reveal the many sophisticated – some might even say devious – methods he used to drum up public support for his school bond issues. Techniques that varied from personally driving the back roads of Webster Parish to speak with parents of students to inviting certain couples to dinner parties because a particularly difficult civic leader was dazzled by the charming wife of a School Board member. That board member was advised to be at the dinner and make sure that his wife appeared. It worked; the skeptical civic leader became a strong booster of the new schools.
So, as the last of his construction projects passes from the scene, I guess it is fitting that the physical legacy of E. S. Richardson continued in the Webster Parish School system for 74 years after he left us to become President of Louisiana Tech. He would probably be more proud of the new building than how long his work had endured, but I did want to tip my hat to his legacy.
As I said, earlier, I'm not a foe of progress and am so happy that the students in area schools have new facilities, that need for new modern educational structures is one reason the passing of the Sarepta building is worth comment.
When E. S. Richardson came to Webster Parish in 1921, the parish operated 39 separate schools for white children (the issues regarding the black students is another topic for another time.)Many of those 39 schools were ramshackle one-room buildings from the 19th century. By 1928, those 39 schools had been consolidated into 10 campuses -- Cotton Valley, Doyline, Dubberly, Evergreen, Heflin, Minden, Sarepta, Shongaloo, Sibley and Springhill -- each with a state certified high school and each with a new building. In all cases except Evergreen the new buildings were brick structures. At least two of the schools, Sarepta and Sibley, actually had two new buildings as the first new construction at both places was destroyed by fire.
The centralized schools were only one of the many radical changes Richardson brought to Webster Parish. His reforms earned the nickname the “Webster Miracle” and he went all across the country speaking at educational conferences and even the Chicago World’s Fair of 1933, describing how Webster Parish had become a model for rural schools.
In addition to his educational leadership, Richardson’s marketing skills were truly amazing. A reading of the small notebooks he kept during his years as Superintendent reveal the many sophisticated – some might even say devious – methods he used to drum up public support for his school bond issues. Techniques that varied from personally driving the back roads of Webster Parish to speak with parents of students to inviting certain couples to dinner parties because a particularly difficult civic leader was dazzled by the charming wife of a School Board member. That board member was advised to be at the dinner and make sure that his wife appeared. It worked; the skeptical civic leader became a strong booster of the new schools.
So, as the last of his construction projects passes from the scene, I guess it is fitting that the physical legacy of E. S. Richardson continued in the Webster Parish School system for 74 years after he left us to become President of Louisiana Tech. He would probably be more proud of the new building than how long his work had endured, but I did want to tip my hat to his legacy.
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