History of Sugartown, Beauregard Parish, Louisiana Submitter: Kim Stracener Zapalac from written permission from source. Source: Don McFatter Date: June 16, 1996 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ History of Sugartown Presented by Don McFatter June 18, 1996 Copyrighted 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 Typed by Kim Stracener Zapalac Mrs. Terry, I want to thank you and the members of the Beauregard Museum for inviting me to speak about the history of Sugartown - a community that is known to be the oldest permanent settlement in Beauregard Parish a community once called the "Queen of the Frontier" - the community where I was born and reared. My being born there doesn't add any importance to the community's history but it does help to explain why I was the one invited to make this presentation. The information contained in this presentation came from three sources - that which has been written about Sugartown. I need to give Nancy Iles a lot of credit in furnishing me with certain materials she has put together in her family research. Another source is what I heard from the old timers when I was growing up and, the third source would be my own memory that would go back about 65 years. The Sugartown area was first surveyed in 1807, which was shortly after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Prior to the Louisiana Purchase, the Spanish laid claim to and ruled all that territory between the Calcasieu River and the Sabine River. When the Louisiana Purchase was signed, the papers were not clear on just where the western boundary was. Because of this, the area between the two rivers became a disputed territory resulting in little or no law enforcement. Almost immediately the area became a refuge for outlaws, outcasts, and other undesirables. However, in spite of little protection, indications are that a few permanent settlers began moving into the area about 1816 to 1818. Although never incorporated, the general consensus is that Sugartown became what could be called a permanent settlement in about 1825. Many people helped to bring this about but here is a sampling - but by no means complete - of the family names found in Sugartown's past and present: Andrews, Baggett, Bailey, Boggs, Caraway, Cole, Dickens, Gill, Jones, Holoway, Iles, Kemp, McDonald, McFatter, Moore, Officer, Sanders, Seamon, Singleton, Smith, Spears, Stracener, Watson, Welch, Weldon, Young - and the one black family in Sugartown, Cooper. People have asked how did Sugartown get its name. I have heard two stories. The first story is that back in those days, freight was shipped in by wagon from the Alexandria-Lecompte area. One wagon loaded with very precious sugar turned over while fording a small stream that became known as Sugar Creek. When the community developed, it was called Sugartown. The second story that has been told through the years is one that an earlier settler was making syrup from sugarcane. The settler neglected the cooking vat too long and allowed the contents to overcook and turn to sugar rather than syrup. I lean toward the first story as being the true one. Sugartown is not nearly so large today as it was years ago. In the event it is every completely wiped from the map, let me confirm its exact location. Legally speaking, it is located in Section 31, Township 2 South, Range 6 West at the intersection of State Highway 112 and 113, in the extreme northeast corner of Beauregard Parish. Allen Parish is two miles east on Highway 112 and Vernon Parish is 3 miles north on Highway 113. Because of its location, Sugartown became a way station for travelers from the southwest areas who were going to the Alexandria and Lecompte area. Cattle drives were also being made through the community from the Marked Tree Pens just west of DeRidder to a rail shipping point in Lecompte. Like all other pioneer communities, the people were very self-sufficient and imported very little, if anything. This condition existed pretty much until after the Civil War. Cooking was done over open fireplaces, candlelight at night, wooden shake roofing (told of watching old men in Williamsburg, Virginia, make round roof pegs by driving a small square block of wood through a round hole drilled in a piece of iron. Very little manufacturing equipment back then and the people were not too educated but they were smart!). These were the days of "dog trot" houses. For the younger ones, a "dog trot" house is a house constructed with an open breezeway all the way through the middle of the house with rooms on either side. This allowed the cool air to flow through, helping to keep the house cooler during the summertime. It also allowed the family dog to "trot" up the front steps, through the breezeway, and on out the back side of the house. These were also the days of split rail fences. The fence zigzagged so the rails could be built on top of each other. Lots of labor was involved in splitting the rails, but most of the early settlers either didn't have or couldn't afford the wire and nails to build any other kind of fence. But gradually a few enterprising people began putting in businesses at Sugartown. A tanning yard was established, a rope works, gristmills for grinding grain into meal, and syrup mills for making syrup. Both the gristmill and syrup mill were operated by "horsepower" in the truest sense! The first post office was established in Sugartown in 1841. Prior to that, the mail had to be picked up at Belgrade, Texas, which was a boat landing on the Sabine River just south of the present town of Merryville. Sugartown has had a post office ever since. The first ones were located in such places as a one-room school, the local store, and later in the Masonic lodge building. And finally, it was located in its own freestanding building that measured 8 feet by 10 feet. Because of its ize, Ripley carried it in his "Ripley's Believe It or Not" as the smallest post office in the world! But today, the post office has come full circle and is once again located in one of the local stores. It is recorded that in 1861, there were 150 families living within a ten- mile radius of Sugartown. These families didn't have many of what we refer to as conveniences, but they had a good life nevertheless. They did a lot of fishing and hunting which was a pleasure but also a necessity for putting food on the table. Other forms of recreation included swimming in Sugar Creek and Whiskey Chitto. The "Whiskey Chitto" spelling is the way the local people pronounced the name, but the real name is an Indian spelling of the name as "Ouiska Chitto." The locals will tell you that the water is might tasty where Sugar Creek runs into Whiskey Chitto! And Sugar Creek - It's a wonder all the boys didn't die from a broken neck from diving into such a shallow stream or from some strange disease. The creek is spring fed and extremely cold! And this reminds me of the lady who lived near the old swimming hole who used to have an awful lot of fun out of the young fellows! She will go unnamed since she still has close relatives living in the vicinity. But she would come down to the hole and catch all the fellows in swimming without swimsuits. I believe that is called "skinny dipping." She would sit upon the bluff overlooking the swimming hole and wouldn't let anyone come out of the water. We would be about to freeze! We would beg her, threaten to come out anyway, and nothing would move her until she tired of the fun and leave on her own. Dancing was held monthly in various homes in the community with the music furnished by two black fiddlers named Uncle Rube and Joe who came over from the Ten Mile community which was located to the east of Sugartown. Campground meetings and religious gatherings were quite common back then. Many of them lasted for days and were as much a social gathering as they were religious. These early pioneers couldn't run down to the supermarket (grocery store) and pick up a frozen dinner, but they still had a wide selection of foods for the table. They used a lot of wild fruits such as the Muscatine grape, wild huckleberry, blackberries, mayhaws, wild plums, and various edible nuts. They grew domestically other fruits such as figs, blueberries, and peaches. Other foods that were being grown included corn, potatoes, greens, beans, and peas. In 1877, Sugartown was a bustling little town. Surveyors in the area recorded the following, "Sugartown is a thriving little place with two cotton gins, a sawmill, and a gristmill that is steam driven." Stores handling a general line of merchandise had been opened during the 1860's and by 1870, they were stocking yard goods for dresses and rough jean material for men's work clothes. By the 1880's, the stores were carrying ready- made clothes. At this particular time in the history of Sugartown, I had two of my four great-grandfathers living - both on my mother's side of the family - George W. Richardson and Joseph W. Moore. Richardson had been living in the general area since the 1860's. When he first married, he was living at the community of Bundicks, was a member of the Shiloh Baptist Church, and was living there when his first wife, my great- grandmother, died. Her maiden name was Mary Ann Harper and she is buried in the Shiloh Cemetery. Richardson was quite active in the Sugartown community and I'll get back to him a bit later. Let me talk a moment about my great-grandfather Moore and how he came to be living in Sugartown. He was a native of County Mayo, Ireland, and came to this country in 1853 at the age of 18. He came into New Orleans, worked a while on a riverboat, migrated over to Rapides Parish where he taught school a couple of years at the Spring Hill Academy, served as a Recorder of Deeds for Rapides Parish and then moved over to the western part of Rapides Parish which is now Vernon Parish. There he married Eliza Cavanaugh in 1858. When Vernon Parish was carved out of Rapides Parish, they were searching for a name, and decided to name the parish Vernon after great-grandfather Moore's racehorse, Vernon. In John Cupit's history of Vernon parish, he could find no one who had served as Tax Assessor prior to Grandfather Moore who served in 1871. Soon after he moved to an area in southwest Rapides Parish known as Cherry Winche. It is still referred to today as Cherry Winche. Along with a friend of his, a Doctor Hamilton, he opened a store in the community that became known as Westport. There has been quite a lot of animosity in the area between the earliest setters - I'll refer to them as Ten Milers - and the more recent settlers such as Moore, Hamilton, and others. During December of 1881, there had been a horse race and the outcome of the race had been in dispute. On Christmas Eve of that year, a number of the Ten Milers had gathered at the store along with a number of new settlers. I suppose they were buying supplies for Christmas and killing time in general. A fight broke out from an argument about the disputed horse race. The Ten Milers went home for their guns and returned to the store where a gunfight took place. Note: The "Westport Fight" information is taken from several publications. One in particular is from a person who was an eyewitness to the actual fight. It is titled "The Cherry Winche Country" by Don C. Marler and Jane P. McManus of the Dogwood Press.) Following the big fight, Moore moved his family to Sugartown where he established another store. Sugartown was never incorporated but for many years was recognized as the center of organized community life, a recognized center of trade and business in general and a leader in the fight to bring law and order to the frontier. The first Mason lodge west of the Calcasieu River was established in Sugartown in 1867. It was named the "Sam Todd Lodge #182" in honor of the Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana, and a past Grand Master. At this time in history, it was formed not only for a Masonic lodge but for protection for its members because of the turbulent times following the Civil War. George W. Richardson served as Master of the Lodge twenty-seven times from his first term in 1871 until his last term in 1912. Joseph Moore served as master in 1882. Several members of the Miller family served as master including Frank Miller who served in 1940-41 and is in the audience today. Sugartown was the home of the first legislator for that newly formed district, George W Richardson. Sugartown was the home of the first female school teacher in the area - Richardson's daughter, Mary Jane - "Aunt Mollie" to all of us who were fortunate enough to have known her. She received her teacher's certificate by attending school in New Orleans while her father was attending legislative sessions in New Orleans. Sugartown was the home of the first cotton gin west of the Calcasieu River and it operated for over 40 years. A gin still operated there when I was growing up. The owner, "one armed" Mr. Tom Hughes, got a lot of free labor out of the kids in town. The cotton would be brought to the mill by either wagon or truck and the cotton would be unloaded into the gin by suction or vacuum through a metal tube that the kids enjoyed using. Several caps and hats went up that vacuum tube into the mill! The people of Sugartown have made many contributions through the years but many people consider the most important contribution made by this community to be the establishment of the Male and Female Academy in 1880. This academy was felt to be the beginning of the educational system in Southwest Louisiana. The first professor was W.H. Baldwin out of Columbia University, New York. He was quite a recruiter and drew students from eight or nine surrounding parishes and even students from East Texas. Quoting from the Lake Charles American Press of August 1880, "There has been a meeting held at Sugartown to organize an academy. Dr. G. Meyer acted as chairman, H.G. Peninger as secretary. The committee appointed to draw a plan for the building and let the contract consist of Dempsey Iles, H.C. Lyles, J.D. Sigler, G.W. Richardson, and J.P. Penniger." Again quoting from the American Press of October 1881, "W.H. Baldwin, Principal of Sugartown Academy, passed through Lake Charles on his way to visit friends in South Carolina. The academy is known as the Male and Female School. It stands about half mile from Sugartown, on commodious grounds, surrounded by a good plank fence. It has a convenient water supply. The schoolroom is large and comfortable, with a wash room at each end for the young men and young ladies. The principal is W.H. Baldwin. He has had 15 years experience as a teacher so the discipline is excellent. The second term will begin Monday, October 31, and will continue six months. Tuition runs from two dollars to four dollars a month, with one dollar for incidental fee. Miss Mollie Richardson is assistant principal. Board may be had by the pupils in the best families. There are 45 pupils applied for enrollment, with as many as 75 expected." After Professor Baldwin left - some say because of heavy drinking - M.W. Shaddock was the professor with S.J. Iles as his assistant. The school that replaced the Male and Female Academy was build in the western edge of Sugartown sometime after the turn of the century, and educated children from a large surrounding area including Shiloh, Kipling, Cole Central, etc. Some of the earliest principals included T.L. Harvey, John Cupit, Bill Shirley, James Simmons, and Frank Hennigan. In 1962, the Sugartown and Dry Creek Schools were consolidated into East Beauregard and located one mile south of the Wye. For the students, I think this was a great move. For the two communities involved, it was an emotional moment. There was always a friendly rivalry between Sugartown and Dry Creek that sort of faded away after the consolidation. I don't believe anything demonstrates this rivalry and loyalty to the individual communities as does the following. While Bobbie and I were living in Baton Rouge, and shortly after I had been appointed head of the Office of Forestry, I was out on the L.S.U. campus visiting with Dr. Tom Hansbrough, head of the School of Forestry. After a bit, Tom said, "Why don't we go over and visit with Dr. Howard Hanchey?" a native of Beauregard Parish, and head of the Horticulture Department at L.S.U. After a bit of conversation, Tom said, "Howard, I had forgotten. Don't you and Mac come from the same town?" and Howard raised up his chair and very emphatically said, "No! Don's from ugartown. I'm from Dry Creek!" The Sugartown Baptist Church was organized in 1878. For several years, services were held in one of the stores, for a while in the Masonic lodge building, and finally, a frame church was constructed. This old frame church was replaced in 1953 with the present church building. Reading the church minutes of July 1915, leaves a person with the feeling that some mighty high-powered preaching went on back in those days. These minutes covered a 10-day revival during which 65 people joined the church. Baptized in Whiskey Chitto Creek were several members of my family including a grandfather, my father, 4 uncles, and a couple of aunts. The Nathan A. Jones family lived in Sugartown at that time and it appears the entire family joined the church during this revival - Nathan Jones, his wife, Martha McFatter Jones, daughters Blanche, Ollie and her husband Perry Seale, Bertha and a son, Wilbur. Mr. Jones was a circuit judge for the area. Just a side note about so many joining at one time in July - Whiskey Chitto Creek is mighty cold during the winter months and warms up along about July! The cemetery adjacent to the church was established sometime prior to 1890, but I am not sure of he exact date. Two older cemeteries are located about one mile east of Sugartown and are known as the Old Campground Cemeteries. This location was originally an Indian campsite, then the Methodists used it for outdoor religious meetings. The older of the two cemeteries is down adjacent to Sugar Creek. Typical, I suppose, of the time that cemetery was being used, are four headstones located together of four children that were born to the M.T. Nolen family. Two boys, two girls, and all died in a ten-year period - three born and died on the same day that each was born. There is a double headstone for the grandfather and grandmother of Louisiana's former Governor, Sam Jones. However, only is grandfather is actually buried there. His grandmother died in New Orleans at a time when the city was under quarantine and the family could not move the body, so she was buried in New Orleans. Later, when Governor Jones couldn't locate her burial site in New Orleans, he put up a double headstone where his grandfather is buried. I suppose during the winter months, the oldest cemetery down near the creek was difficult to get to so the people established a new cemetery near the old one but on higher ground. My great-grandfather, Joseph W. Moore was buried in the new cemetery in 1914 - 61 years after arriving from County Mayo, Ireland, and 33 years after surviving the "Westport Gunfight" in Rapides Parish. Dr. Henry Ray Officer was the doctor who delivered me in 1926. He had arrived in Sugartown shortly after the turn of the century. He taught school for a couple of years and then started his medical practice. He married the daughter of a previous doctor, M.E. Singleton. Dr. Officer did something back then that you don't find today - his office was open on Sunday. In fact, Sunday was one of his better days with two busloads of patients coming in from East Texas and remaining there most of the day while he checked everyone out. Each one leaving his office would be carrying one small bottle and one large bottle! But these bottles made him a rich man. At this same time, my father, John McFatter, owned a store in Sugartown. Later, my Uncle Paul Moore opened a store so you might way we had business sorta' sewed up. My father in about 1927 leased the store to Mr. George Iles. My father then took over the store in Leesville where he was in business until he died in 1934. Our family then took over the store again in Sugartown and Mr. George Iles moved to DeRidder where he established a grocery store. At this point I show the audience the photo of Sugartown that I made in 1954 from the front porch of my mother's house. I identified each building and remarked that the sad thing about the photo is that not a single building in the photo is still standing. Note: The photo is not included with this file! Other tidbits: All female teachers were single, as were most of the male teachers. Most stayed with Mr. & Mrs. Bob Baggett. Few teachers had cars so people in the community invited them out over the weekend for candy making, popcorn, etc. and playing dominoes, checkers, etc. The oiled floors at school and how they smelled. Outside dirt basketball courts. End of the school year class trips. While classes today make trips to Disneyland, Washington D.C., etc., we were lucky if we got to go as far as Calcasieu River for a picnic. The old local telephone office with its operator and party lines. Swimming in Sugar Creek - spring fed and cold. Wives coming to the store with the husbands to buy feed so the wives could pick out the feed sacks they needed to make a blouse, shirt, or skirt. The hookworm bench at the front of the store, and the tall tales told there. How flour, rice, sugar, beans, etc. were stored in bins, weighed, placed in paper bags and tied with string when sold to a customer. What you couldn't buy from the local store was ordered from Sears, Roebuck and Co. The army maneuvers of 1941. Conclusion - In summary, let me say that at the turn of the century, Sugartown had a racetrack, saloons, Masonic lodge, school, churches, boarding houses, several stores, and a doctor's office. It was a bustling community and truly, at that time, was the "Queen of the Frontier." But also at the turn of the century, the virgin timber was being harvested to run the large sawmills that were moving into Southwest Louisiana. Along with and preceding the sawmills in most cases were the railroads. But these railroads did not come through Sugartown. They came south through the community of DeRidder and east through Pitkin to the Oakdale area. And, because of transportation needs, the sawmills built along these railroads. I recall joking in the past about Sugartown no amounting to as much as Pitkin because the small two-car passenger train we called the "doodle bug" came through Pitkin instead of Sugartown. There was more truth in that than fiction! As the community of DeRidder, located on the Kansas City Southern railroad, began to grow into a well established town and, finally, become the parish seat of government (Beauregard), Sugartown began a slow decline to its present status of being remembered for what it once was more than for what it is today.