HISTORY OF GRANT, Allen Parish, Louisiana Contributed April Brent for a Fairview High School English Class assignment in March 24, 1983 for Mrs. Beard. Typed by Kim Stracener Zapalac Copyright (c) 1998 by April Brent. ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ GRANT TODAY Many new families have moved into this area through the years, but it seems that everyone is still kin to each other. Though Grant is not sheltered from the outside world and all its fast changes, the people here have managed to preserve many beautiful forests and creeks, which serve to remind us of how things used to be, when our forefathers and neighbors began this community. SETTLEMENT BEGINS One of the first settlers in the community, which is known as Grant, was a man by the name of "Saddler" Johnson. He received this nickname because of his profession as a saddlemaker. His given name was Frank Johnson. Frank Johnson moved his family from Mississippi and built a log cabin on the banks of the "Whiskey Chitto Creek near the present day site of Palestine Baptist Church. Frank Johnson was the grandfather of Mrs. Minnie Clanton. His son was the first person to be buried in the Hamilton's Cemetery. Soon after the Johnsons were settled, many families began to move into the Grant area. A few of the first families were the Siglers, Singletarys, Hamiltons, Baggetts, Youngs, and Perkins. They were later followed by the Calvins, Dowies, and Mahaffeys. Though many families were scattered throughout the area, they never got together to give a real name to their community. J. ALBERT GRANT The person given credit for the naming of Grant was Albert Grant. Albert Grant was a small old man less than five feet tall. A dwarf, weighing only 60 to 70 pounds. While selling Bibles through the countryside, he became acquainted with some people in the "Whiskey" Chitto area and decided to settle down there. He took part in many activities, such as teaching a Sunday School class at the Spring Hill Methodist Church. "All the children loved him," remarked Miss Jean Baggett, who was one of his students. "Young boys liked to try on his shoes."1 Mr. Grant began to see the need for a post office. So he decided to establish the first post office, named it after himself, and he served as postmaster for a few years. This small man was often asked how it felt to be so little. And to that he would reply, "Fine, just fine. Like a dime in a hand full of nickels, half the size, but worth twice as much."2 Albert Grant disappeared in a few years as mysteriously as he had came. No one really knows where he went or what happened to him. GRANT POST OFFICE Grant Post Office was established about 1890 but it was not officially named until 1894. At that time the post office was located in a store. In 1926, it was moved to its present site. After Mr. Grant resigned from being Postmaster, Jim Baggett took over the job. Miss Emma Calvin was the Postmistress for a few years also. Esler Johnson who was Mrs. Irma Tramel's father later became Postmaster and the office was put in his store. After being moved around a few more times, the post office settled into its present home. Miss Minnie Clanton was the Postmistress for many years until she handed the job down to her daughter, Myra Thibodeaux. Mrs. Thibodeaux is still the Postmistress in Grant and can be seen each morning proudly raising the American flag, which adorns the post office. PUBLIC SERVICE Grant is located on Highway 377 which connects Highways 112 and 26. This road officially became a highway in 1926 when it was widened and a large wooden bridge was built over the "Whiskey" Chitto Creek. When people passed over the great wood structure, they could be heard a mile away. Some years later, the parish decided to construct a cement bridge to replace the old wooden one. But the people from the big cities of Oberlin and Kinder were upset with that idea. "They couldn't understand why the parish was going to put up a fancy cement bridge way out in the stick," said Miss Jean Bagget. Telephones came to many Grant homes in 1930. The Central Stations was located at Sugartown. Miss Minnie Clanton worked there for some time. During the Summer of 1940, electricity came to the Palestine Baptist Church. Money was donated for the wiring and the meter. Later in 1942, many Grant residents began to install electricity into their homes. Light bulbs soon took the place of oil lamps. In 1970, Howard Sigler and his wife, Maple, saw the need for a public water system. So they began a survey to see how many people would be interested in making a Co-op. Seventy-five people signed up. So they borrowed Ninety-five thousand dollars from the Federal Housing Administration to build the system. The loan was made for forty years at 5% interest. There are presently about ninety members on the Fairview water line. HOMELIFE Wages and prices have changed greatly over the years. Mrs. Annie Cloud said her father worked for a man all day famring and was paid a good salary of 65 cents a day. She also remembers paying 6 cents a dozen for eggs and twenty-nine cents for twenty-five pounds of cornmeal. Every family used to have their own garden from which most of their food came from. This meant that the whole family had to work very hard in the fields all day, during the planting and harvesting. The youngest children in the family were usually the only ones to finish school. The older children had a big responsibility at home and many only went through the sixth grade. Work was hard and lasted Monday through Saturday. But on Saturday night, there were often parties or dances. Church socials were the only other entertainment available to the hard working families. When harvest time came, goods were sold at the market in Elizabeth. Leroy Lavitivus "Bid" Tramel would load up his hack with as much produce as it would haul and carry it to the market for himself as well as for his neighbors around Six Mile Creek. Mr. "Bid" Tramel was the father of Cordie and Ruby Dowies. Clothes were made out of any kind of material available. And many times, feed sacks were used to make dresses for young girls. Flower sacks, which were a little softer, were used to make under clothing and pillowcases. Many old pillow cases were beautifully decorated with embroidery. PALESTINE BAPTIST CHURCH Saturday before the first Lord's Day in November, the Palestine Baptist Church was organized near Sugartown, Louisiana. It had eight charter members: 1. Mr. & Mrs. John Winburn 4. Mr. & Mrs. Jack Watson 2. Emily Perkins 5. John Perkins 3. Lucy Trull 6. Lydia Hamilton In 1866 the church was moved to its present site. The first church building was used both as a church and a school. Later a new church was built and at that time, an Oak tree was planted and was used as a meeting place for the deacons to have prayer. Because of that, the tree was named the "Prayer Oak." It was hoped that as the tree grew, the church would also. And it did! The church has grown from a membership of eight to a standing membership of nearly two hundred. The church pastors are listed below in which order they served: 1. Rev. Isaac Hamilton 1868 - 1895 2. Rev. D.T. O'Quin 1896 - 1908 3. Rev. N. Loften 1909 - 1910 4. Rev. D.T. O'Quin 1911 - 1914 5. Rev. J.H. Winberry 1916 - 1918 6. Rev. Eddie Cole 1919 - 1925 7. Rev. C. S. Miers 1926 - 1931 8. Rev. Leon Williamson 1931 - 1935 9. Rev. F.E. Broyles 1936 - 1937 10. Rev. B.N. Simmons 1937 - 1937 11. Rev. M.L. Delk 1938 - 1939 12. Rev. Leon Williamson 1939 - 1942 13. Rev. E. McGee 1942 - 1944 14. Rev. R.L. Parham 1944 - 1945 15. Rev. R. Green 1945 - 1945 16. Rev. Leon Williamson 1945 - 1974 17. Rev. Woodrow Ballard 1975 - present pastor In 1866 when the church was organized, John Winburn was appointed deacon. Through the years, many other Christian men have served faithfully as deacons. Listed below are all the men who have been deacons at Palestine. 1. John Winburn 8. Addison Mahaffey 2. W.J. Dowies 9. Clint Simmons 3. T.G. Singletary 10. Howard Sigler 4. L.V. Sing 11. Ebb Mahaffey 5. G.O. Young 12. Jeptha Hamilton 6. J.I. Dowies 13. Larry Marler 7. C.L. Hamilton 14. Richard Earl 15. Kirby McCollough When the church was formed, the members appointed John H. Perkins as clerk to keep records of their activities. Many different people have held this job over the years. In 1964, Mrs. Minnie Clanton was elected as clerk and she still holds the position. PALESTINE SCHOOL Very near the site of Burl Maddox's old dairy barn, there was once a one-room schoolhouse. It was named Palestine School because the church donated the school building. The first teacher at the school was Sam Iles, followed by Mattie Iles, and then Frank Iles. Frank Iles was the grandfather of Curt Iles, who is also a teacher. It must be in their blood. Each teacher lived in the home of a nearby farmer during the time he or she taught at the school. FAIRVIEW HIGH SCHOOL BEGINS Consolidation came to the county in 1914. Cherry Grove, Rockie Hill, Ten Mile, Mt. Fair, Black Jack, and the Palestine schools were all combined to form Fairview High School. A two-room school house was built in a neutral location. Monroe Sigler donated the land for the school grounds. Mr. Corley was the first principal. The first graduation was not held until 1921. It was held in the Palestine Baptist Church because the school was not large enough. The class was a small one, having only seven graduates, and they shared the motto: "Build for character, not for fame." The seven graduates were: 1. Ann Baggett 2. Mildred Hamiliton 3. Hayes Hanchey 4. Alpha Houston 5. Abner Sigler 6. Belle Sigler 7. Valery Young Mr. K.C. Smith was the principal during the first graduation. TEACHER Ann Baggett attended Northwestern after graduation, then called Normal College, during the summer. The very next fall, she began teaching. She continued teaching while attending college during the summers until she had completed four years of college. Miss Baggett taught a total of forty-one years at various schools, and over the thirty years at Fairview High School. Fairview High School has produced many great teachers. Mr. Othel Johnson and Ollie Houston each taught close to forty years there. Nearly half of he staff graduated from Fairview. Many more of its graduates have moved on to teach at other schools. THE APPEARANCE OF BUSES For years and years, children had to walk to school, rain or shine. And surprisingly, many students never missed a day of school for two or three years in a row. The very first buses were merely covered wagons. But with the arrival of the automobile, trucks with a canvas covering were used to take the children to school. But they were only for kids who lived many miles away. Fred Hamilton was said to be the first bus driver in this area. He lived at Mt. Fair (Doodlefork) and picked up all the children there and carried them to Fairview. Fred Hamilton was soon followed by Boss Reeves and Jim Smith. PARISH SCHOOL BOARD Before all the parishes were divided up, our area was part of the Calcasieu School District. Instead of a school board and members, there were trustees. The men with the most children were the ones named as trustees. Fairview's first trustees were Jim Baggett, Bid Tramel, and Dimsie Andrews. Their main job was to set dates for when the school would be held and closed. Then they had to make sure all the other people knew the dates. BASKETBALL Basketball was the only athletic sport available for a small country school long ago. And it became a very big part of the school's activities. Fairview began competing against other schools and won many of their games. Both the boy's and the girl's teams have won district and regional through the years. But it was the girl's team that won the STATE CHAMPIONSHIP in 1933. Lead by Coach Alma Pepper, the ladies went to Baton Rouge and won the State Championship over all the teams in Louisiana. The members of the team were: 1. Minnie Clanton 2. Ollie Houston 3. Alice Garlington 4. Ruby Smith 5. Edith Price 6. Fern Ford 7. Edith Hanchey Many loyal basketball fans have been heard to say that Mrs. Minnie Clanton was the greatest girl basketball player to come out of Fairview, closely followed by her daughter, Mira Thibodeaux. Now all eyes are turned to her granddaughter, Ginger Thibodeaux, as she moves into the spotlight of high school basketball. The Lady Panthers almost reached the great goal again as they played in the Sweet Sixteen Tournament. 1983 was the fiftieth anniversary of Fairview's first and only state victory. Now all eyes are on the future team of 1983 - 84 to see if they can do what was done in 1933. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Baggett, Jean; resident of Grant, Louisiana, 86 years old. 2. Baggett, L.D.; retired teacher from Grant, is now a substitute teacher. 3. Cloud, Annie; resident of Grant. Attended Northwestern State University. Graduated 1924. And now 75 years of age. 4. Bouge, Eva; resident of Elizabeth, Louisiana, reporter for the "Oakdale Beacon." 5. Centennial Edition, History of Palestine Baptist Church, Grant, Louisiana, 1966. 6. Sigler, Howard; resident of Grant.