EWELL, John. Evergreen, Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by Randy DeCuir




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John Ewell, planter, Evergreen, La. Mr. Ewell is a gentleman who has been
exceptionally successful in his career as a planter, and owing to his desire
to keep out of the old ruts, and to his ready adoption of new and improved
methods, together with energy and shrewd business tactics, he has acquired an
extensive land area, embracing at least 2,000 acres, with 650 acres under
cultivation. The principal part of his broad acres are devoted to the culture
of sugar cane, and his plantations one of the finest in the State. He was born
in Bedford County, Tenn. August 14, 1814, grew to mature years in that state,
and there received his education. In 1834 he removed to Louisiana, and for
seventeen years was an overseer in different parishes of that State. In 1843
he removed permanently to Avoyelles Parish, and in 1849 purchased the
plantation where he now resides. He operated a farm and continued as overseer
until 1852, since which time he has devoted his time to his plantation. In
1853 he was married to Mrs. Martha Lewis, daughter of Jonathan Koen, a native
of Georgia, and two children were the fruits of this union: Penelope (now Mrs.
Y. T. Heard) and Virginia. Mrs. Ewell died in 1860. Mr. Ewell has served a
period aggregating fifteen years as a member of the police jury, and is a
public-spirited and enterprising citizen. He and family are members of the
Baptist Church, in which they are active workers and esteemed members. He was
for many years president of the board of trustees of Evergreen Home Institute,
and was one of the founders of the same. He is a Blue Lodge Mason at Evergreen
Lodge. His parents, John and Mary (Kennerly) Ewell, were both natives of
Virginia, in which state they grew to mature years, and in which State they
were married. In 1798 he removed to Tennessee, and there the father's death
occurred in 1827 when fifty-six years of age, and the mother's in 1862 at the
age of eighty-three years. The father was a farmer and was quite a prominent
man. Grandfather Ewell came to Virginia from Wales, and Grandfather Kennerly
came to Virginia from Germany.