Parish History: Historic Claiborne '77, Claiborne Parish, Louisiana Submitted for the LAGenWeb Archives by: Claiborne Parish Historical Association File Preparer: Jerry Gallagher Date: Apr. 2000 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** TABLE OF CONTENTS Politics, Secession, and War...........................................1 The Merrell Monk Family, by EdwardSeeliger(illus)...............................................5 The Iron-Clad Oath, by Stanford P.Dyer(illus).........................11 Letters (illus).......................................................15 Spring Lake Plantation, by Irene Shields Moreland (illus)...............................................................18 Remembering a One-Room Schoolhouse, by Marie Owens Bridwell...............................................22 Singing Schools, by W. D. Gorden......................................23 Bridgeman Schoolhouse Dots, by James Ringgold Keener..............................................24 History of the Homer School, by Mrs. Ruth McCranie Baker (illus)..................................25 Colonel James William Nicholson, by Susan Seeliger (illus).............................................29 History of Coal Springs Church, by Mary Prather Ford..................................................33 Bull In The Store, by Bertha Baker....................................34 Shreveport to Homer First Airmail Flight in The South, by Phil Cate (illus)..................................................36 Razzle-Dazzle Barefoot Baseball, by B. Touchstone Hardaway.............................................39 Conversations With Granny, by Jack and Catherine Smith...........................................43 A New Look At Some Old Schools, by Mary Torbet and S. Jane Tenery.....................................49 Mt. Paran Primitive Baptist Church(illus).............................66 Homer Lions Club......................................................76 Claiborne Parish Library..............................................77 Memories of Oil Boom Days, by Ed Seeliger(illus)......................78 St. John School, by John S. Davis and Mrs. Annie Mae Cooper (illus).....................................82 Trivia (illus)........................................................84 ******************** Page 1 Politics, Secession, and War By James Hatch The following essay is Chapter Two of Life and Labor in Ante Rellum Claiborne Parish, a Master's thesis for the department of History, Louisiana Tech University, by James Hatch, Mr. Hatch, a Ruston native now attending the LSU Law School, researched his thesis in Claiborne Parish and upon completion of the work kindly donated a copy to the Claihorne Parish Library. It is well worth a full reading. For several years preceding the Civil War, Claiborne Parish was a well known Democratic stronghold.1 In the fall of 1850, a number of Claiborne Parish citizens attended the Southern Rights meeting at Mt. Lebanon. Several resolutions were adopted expressing opposition to the provisions of the Compromise of 1850 and one supporting the Nashville Convention was also approved. 2 The most significant resolution called for". . . a determination to stand firm in demanding the extension of the line of 36 degrees 30' to the Pacific ...." 3 The citizens who attended the Southern Rights meeting were evidently pro-slavery Two years later, the Presidential election returns of 1852 for Claiborne Parish showed that the Democratic candidate, Franklin Pierce, outpolled Winnfield Scott, the Whig candidate, by a vote of 506 to 330. In 1856 James Buchanan carried Claiborne Parish by 852 votes. Millard Filmore, the Whig candidate received 678 votes. 4 The Presidential election of 1860 further revealed the strength of the Democrats in Claiborne Parish. Out of a total vote of 1,790 the Democrats collected 1,064 or 59 per cent of the total votes cast. John C.Breckinridge, the Southern Democratic candidate, received 898 votes or 50 per cent of the total count. Stephen A. Douglas, the Northern Democratic candidate, received the remaining 166 Democratic votes. The only other presidential candidate to receive votes from Claiborne Parish in 1860 was John Bell, who represented the Constitutional Union Party. 5 He received 726 votes or 41 per cent of the popular vote. The results of the Claiborne Parish election returns in 1860 compared favorably with the returns for the state. In the state at large Breckinridge received 22,681, Bell and Douglas received 7,725 votes.6 The vote for sucession was held on January 7, 1861. The returns for Claihorne Parish show 658 for secession and 896 for cooperation.7 The results of the Secession election showed that the majority of the residents of Claiborne parish understood the need for unity of action among the Southern states.8 The complete state returns showed 20,448 for secession and 17,296 for cooperation. 9 Throughout the state there were 25 per cent less people voting in the 1861 Secession election than in the 1860 Presidential election. In the Secession election a study of the entire state revealed that "The majority of non-slaveholders were either unable or unwilling to vote." 10 This conclusion does not hold true for Claiborne Parish. The returns in Claiborne Parish show that only 13 per cent fewer votes were cast in the Secession election than in the Presidential election. A total of 1,790 votes were cast in 1860 compared with the 1,554 votes recorded in the Secession election. In 1860 the total white male population 20 years old or older was 2,103. The number of males included in this group not yet 21 was about 90.12 Including immigrants who had not yet fulfilled the two year residential requirement,l3the total possible number of voters was around 2,013 men. This deduction is substantiated by J. W. Dorr, who, in 1860, states that "The vote of the parish is about two thousand. 14 With 1,790 votes cast in the 1860 election, about 85 per cent of the voters in the parish voted in the Presidential election. 15 There were 771 male slaveholders in Claiborne in 1860 representing about 38 percent of the total voters. Sixty-two per cent of the voters were non-slaveholders. It is obvious that a decidedly large majority of adult white males in Claiborne Parish voted for secession-one way or another. When the secession convention met later that year, Claiborne had three delegates at that convention.17 The Claiborne Parish delegates to the Secession convention were: John J. Lewis, a 52 year old Georgia born farmer with 9 slaves; Nelson J. Scott, a 40 year old Mississippi born lawyer with 2 slaves; and James M. Thomasson, a 40 year old Tennessee born lawyer with 11 slaves. Lewis was a known cooperationist, but Scott and Thomasson were undecided between immediate secession and cooperation. 8 When the convention met in late January, 1861, the senatorial delegate, Lewis, was appointed to the Committee of Fifteen which was responsible for drawing up an ordianance of secession. All three delegates voted in favor of a resolution supporting Governor Thomas 0 Moore's action in confiscating Federal property in Louisiana. The Claiborne delegates voted against a proposed resolution to remain in the Union if Congress met certain conditions. In an effort to prevent secession, a resolution supported by the Claiborne delegates was proposed to prevent Louisiana from leaving the Union until Cooperation with other Southern states could be established. By a vote of 74 to 47 this resolution was also defeated. 19 When the Secession resolution, backed by the immediate secessionest, came up for a vote, John L. Lewis asked that the cooperationist delegates be given time to consult with each other. After a twenty-minute recess Lewis requested that the cooperation delegates be allowed to tell why they cast their vote as they did when called upon to vote. No objections were raised. The three delegates from Claiborne Parish voted for secession. The Ordinance of Secession passed by a vote of 113 to 17. The Claiborne delegates supported a resolution proposing that before the Ordinance of Secession became effective that it be submitted to the people for their vote. The resolution failed by a vote of 84 to 45. 20 During the latter portion of the convention, a resolution was presented which instructed the Louisiana delegates to the Southern states convention to make every effort to prevent the re-opening of the African Slave Trade. In the course of the debates a substitute resolution was proposed by James M. Thomasson. It read as follows: Resolved, That the Delegates from the State of Louisiana to the Convention of Seceding States to be convened at Montgomery, in the State of Alabama,on the 4th day of February, 1861, be and they are hereby instructed to use all their influence to inhibit by Constitutional provisions any re-opening of the African Slave trade. 21 An earlier resolution was finally accepted that declared no instruction should be given to the delegates to the Montgomery convention.2 Even though Thomasson's resolution was not carried, it is significant because the reopening of the African Slave trade would have reduced the price of slaves in the south. The Claiborne delegates to the secession convention acted in the interest of the people they represented. When the cooperation resolution failed there was no other alternative but immediate secession. After Louisiana seceded, Claihorne Parish enthusiastically supported the Confederate war effort. Evidence of this support given to the Confederate cause is seen in the resolutions issued by the Claiborne Parish Police Jury in January, 1863. Resolutions - January Term, 1863 Owning to the untiring efforts and pressure of a malignant and diabolical foe, aiming at our subjugation and the robbing and plundering of our dearest rights and property, we are called upon, and should, by every lawful and prudent means, oppose him. Our parish has thus far proven true to the glorious cause, and sent of eighteen hundred of her best men into the field; she has made liberal appropriations to them in bounties, and still larger ones for the support of their families, and she will ever prove as ready to contribute, whatever may be necessary, for her defence at home; therefore, Be it resolved by The Police Jury of Claiborne parish, That we are pleased to express our implicit confidence in the action of our Chief Executive and Generals in command, and believe they will at all times be prepared to meet the enemy in North Louisiana as he deserves. Be it further resolved, That while we do not desire to prejudice the efforts of any of our sister parishes in making public defences independently of any call made by our Governor or Generals, we are compelled to feel a reluctance in agreeing with them in some of their plans, or co-operating with them in their call, while they act independent of the orders of those who control our forces. Be it furthur resolved, That Claiborne parish, through her Police Jury, now, and for all time, assures her sister parishes, her Governor, and commanding officers, that she is now, and will always be found, ready to send her men and slaves, on any call made by her Governor or commanding Generals, for the defense of the State, with such appropriations as lie in her to accomplish the object aimed at. 23 Even more significant is the fact that these resolutions were issued during the same time it was necessary to send Confederate troops into neighboring parishes to gather deserters and draft-dodgers, and capture Jayhawkers. 24 Claiborne Parish gave more than its share toward the war effort of the Confederacy. The Claiborne citizens had good reasons for supporting the onfederacy. In their opinion they were fighting to protect their democratic rights, their homes, their slaves, and their economic interests. Footnotes: 1 M. J. White, "Louisiana and the Secession Movement of the Early Fifties" Proceedings of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association for the Year 1914-15, VIII,279. 2 J. G. Randall and David Donald have briefly described the provisions of the Compromise of 1850 as follows: ".....California come in as a free state; pass a severe fugitive slave law to please the South; organize the new territories of the Southwest without the Wilmot proviso; abolish the slave trade in the District of Columbia; give compensation to Texas for territory added to New Mexico." The Nashville convention met to plan the necessary steps to he taken in case congress prohibited slavery from the territories. The Civil War and Reconstruction (Boston: D. C. Heath and company, 1961), 86. 3 White, "Louisiana and the Secession Movement," 283. 4 The Tribune Almanac and Political Register for 1857 (New York: Dreely & McElrath, 1857), 53. 5 The returns do not show any votes for the Republican candidate, Abraham Lincoln. It is doubtful any were cast. 6 Based on Greer, "Louisiana Politics," 641, passim. 7 ibid. 8 Both secessionist and cooperationist wanted to secede from the Union. The secessionist favored immediate secession on an mdependent basis, while the cooperationist favored secession from the Union in a United Southern action. Ralph A.Wooster, The Secession Conventions of The South (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1962), 104; hereinafter cited as Wooster, Secession Conventions. 9 Greer, "Louisiana Politics," 641. 10 Roger W. Shugg, Class Struggle, 130,164. 11 Based on Greer, "Louisiana Politics", 64. 12 Based on Eight Census, 1860, Population, 188-189. 13 Roger Wallace Shugg, "Suffrage and Representation in Ante-Bellum Louisiana," Louisiano Historical Quarterly, MX (April, 1936), 393, 396. 14 Prichard, "Tourist's Description," 1186. 15 Based on Greer, "Louisiana Politics," 641. 16. US Census, 1860, Population, Slave Schedule, Manuscript Returns, passim. 17 Proceedings of the Louisiana State Convention, Together with the Ordinances Passed by Said Convention and the Constitution of the State as Ammended (NewOrleans. 1861), 3-4; hereinafter cited as Proceedings of the State Convention, 18 Ralph Wooster, "The Louisiana Secession Convention," Louisiana Historical Quarterly, XXXIV (April, 1951), 126, Greer, "Louisiana Politics, " 634. 19 Procedings of the State Convention, 14-16; Wooster, Secession Conventions, 110 20 Proceedings of the State Convention, 17; Wooster, Secession Conventions, 110. 21 Proceedings of the State Convention, 28. 22 ibid., 30. 23 Claiborne Parish, Book of Reference Acts of the Police Jury of Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, From November 12th, 1549, 184; hereinafter cited as Claihorne Parish, Police Jury 24 John D. Winters, The Ciud War in Louisiana (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1963(, 306. ********** Page 5 The Merrell Monk Family By Edward Seeliger One of the prominent families of early Claihorne was the Merrell Monk family. The foflowing articles and pictures, tracing as they do the fortunes of this family, offer a particular insight into life in the Civil War South. Merrell Monk moved his family from Alabama to Louisiana in the early 1850's. Merrell's original home was South Carolina. His wife, Nancy Gray Monk, came from Georgia. In the 1860 census Merrell is listed as a farmer with a real estate value of $15,000 and a personal estate of $70,000. The first deed for his property is dated March 12, 1853. Merrell employed an overseer from Alabama and a carpenter from Mississippi. The family Bible contains a list of twenty-three slaves born in the years from 1832 to 1855. The total number of slaves owned by Merrell is unknown. The family Bible gives Merrell's birth date as March 9,1805. His wife was born March 22, 1812. They were married December 23, 1829. Merrell and Nancy were the parents of thirteen children, as follows: Christian Elizabeth 7 Feb. 1832 James Robert 2 Aug. 1833 Thomas Jefferson 15 July 1835 Martha Ann 17 July 1837 Merrell 13 April 1839 Rebecca Jane 7 Feb 1841 Mary Frances 18 April 1843 Pierce Bright 14 Jan. 1845 John Humpres 19 June 1848 Daniel Robertson 29 March 1850 The oldest son, James Robert Monk, married Mary Griffin Robertson of Opelika, Alabama. The 1860 census shows James as an attorney-at-law with a real estate value of $3,000 and a personal estate of $8,000. At the time of the census, the James Monks had one child, Lloyd, who was six months old. I have heard grandmother say that the Merrell Monk house was built from the plans of her parents' house in Opelika, Alabama. Evidently the carpenter listed in the 1860 census was the man brought to build the new home in Louisiana. The house was built of native lumber by slave labor just before the Civil War. It is located on a gently rolling hilltop about eight or ten miles from Homer in the central northeast part of Claiborne Parish. I can remember the large grove of enormous oaks that were in front of the house like a park. Several years ago an oak tree close to the house was killed by lightening. It was estimated to be about three hundred years old, and other trees in the area are of the same age. The two-story house follows the conventional plan of a wide central hall with rooms on each side and porches across the front and back. The rooms were about twenty feet square, and the hallway was in the same proportion. The second story was reached by stairs from the back porch. Since the house was not completed as designed, there were no pillars Sn the front and the upstairs was incomplete. One of the unique factors of the house was the cellar dining room. It was used in warm weather because it was so cool and shady and there were less flies to be bothered with. This dining room was also reached by stairs leading down from the tear porch. As in all plantation homes of this era, the kitchen was a separate building located in the rear of the big house. This separation served as fire protection for the big house. Servants brought hot food to the dining room. During the Reconstruction Period, Merrell Monk was one of the stockholders in the company that built the "cotton factory" at Arizona, Louisiana. This was probably the first manufacturing enterprise in North Louisiana. It was a very complete plant that produced thread and cloth from the cotton grown locally. Because of the lack of transportation and a market for the finished cloth, the factory failed, but it was an important step in the rehabilitation of a shattered world. After Merrell's death in 1888, the heirs sold the property, with the exception of the family cemetery, to J. K. Barrow, the father of J. Wiltz Barrow. For some years it belonged to Mr. Tom Richardson and now belongs to his son, Mr. Clarence Richardson. {Also see "Page 6-Merrell Monk", "Page 7-Monk Home", "Page 8-Cotton Factory at Arizona, LA", "Page 9-Clarence Richardson Home", and "Page 10-Richardson Log Outhouse" in the corresponding photo album located in the Claiborne Parish LA GenWeb Archives.} ********** Page 11 The Iron-Clad Oath By Stanford P. Dyer These Amnesty Oaths were signed by Merrell and J. R. Monk in 1868. In the following article, Mr. Stan Dyer, of the Department of Ristorv of Texas A&M, explains the significance of the oaths and the events leading up to them. Editor One of the first things that even the most casual visitor to Louisiana notices is the state's respect for its heritage, particularly the interest most Southerners have in the Civil War and the ante-bellum period. One visible product of this interest is the Confederate monument, those intense stone soldiers which dot courthouse lawns, often facing North, gun in hand. These monuments, many of which are inscribed with the epitaph "Lest We Forget," symbolize to today's Southerners the romantic quest for Southern independence. Although the Civil War did produce its heroic moments and its romantic leaders, it was in reality a bloody and tragic event. There were more Americans killed in the Civil War than the combined total of all of our other wars from the Revolution in 1776 to the Korean War of the 1950's This single fact explains more about the reasons for Radical Reconstruction than any other. In the aftermath of the Civil War, the North believed it had paid a terribly high price to maintain the Union and free the slaves. Most Northerners viewed their sacrifices as giving meaning and purpose to their lives. Thus, when President Andrew Johnson began pardoning thousands of ex-Confederate leaders, when the same men who had led the South into rebellion were reelected to the national Congress, the North feared that they had won the war only to lose the peace. President Johnson had sorely misjudged Northern public opinion. He hoped that he could follow Abraham Lincoln's plan for a humane and just peace. Most Northerners, however, wanted the South punished and turned to Republicans like Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner to serve as there instruments for vengeance. With the support of the majority of Northern voters, the Radical Republicans gained control of the United States Congress in 1867. They were so successful in the previous year's Congressional elections that they passed all the Reconstruction Acts over President Johnson's vetoes. These acts divided the South into military districts, each of which was commanded by a General of the United States Army. These Union Generals were instructed by congress to establish loyal governments in the "states lately in rebellion." What better way to insure loyal, i.e. Republican, governments in the South than to disfranchise those Southern Democrats who had led Confederacy? To this end, Congress required that before any Southerner could vote or hold office he would have to take an iron-clad oath. In this oath the prospective registrant was to swear that he had never been a member of any legislature, nor held any executive or judicial office and afterward engaged in rebellion against the United States, nor had he given aid or comfort to the nation's enemies. The United States Attorney General interpreted this oath to include even those Southerners who had contributed food and clothing for the general welfare of Confederate soldiers. The Attorney General also ruled that voluntary contributions to the Confederacy in the form of loans or the purchase of its bonds and securities likewise meant disqualification. These stringent requirements in effect disqualified most of the prominent and influential white Southerners, for there were few of that class who had not at some time aided the Confederacy. 1 Faced with these rigid suffrage requirements,the South feared disaster. If effectively enforced, the iron-clad oath would have disqualified most of the South's white voters. This was exactly what the Radical Republicans had in mind. Southerners who had led the South into rebellion were to be punished by prohibiting their return to positions of leadership. Only those white Southerners who had remained loyal to the Union during the war, Northerners who had come to the South after the war, and former slaves could vote and hold office. These three groups could be counted on to govern the South in the right-or Radical Rupublican-manner. At least, this is what the Radical Republicans envisioned. What they did not foresee was that many white Southerners, faced with the prospect of radical or inept rule, were more concerned with maintaining their vote than their honesty. When faced with the choice of denying their participation or losing their votes, they chose the expedient of a white lie. It may truthfully be said that the iron-clad oath forced Southerners to affirm their innocence in the rebellion while at the same time hoping that the federal registrar would not notice that they had their fingers crossed. Besides this subterfuge on the South's part, there was another factor which helped undermine Radical Republican plans. As an incentive to increase black registration, the Reconstruction Acts of 1867 provided that for each man registered under the iron~clad oath the federal registrar would receive from 15 to 40 cents. The fee was determined by the distance traveled to secure the enrolle. In addition, travel pay was fixed at five cents per mfle on railroad and steamboats and ten cents per miJe for country terrain in which no regular transportation facilities existed. Although this system encouraged registrars to list as many blacks as possible, it also provided an incentive to register whites who could not honestly take the iron-clad oath.2 When greedy federal registrars came face to face with Southerners who wanted to retain their vote, the results were obvious. Registrars blinked; white Southerners crossed their fingers; and the voter rolls swelled with the names of former rebels. The 150,000 Southern whites who did not vote during Reconstruction chose not to participate in what they believed were illegal Republican governments. These, however, were the minority; in the South most former Confederates had the votes, despite the view, then and now, to the contrary.3 James R. and Merril Monk of Claiborne Parish were almost certainly no exception to this rule. Their registration in early October, 1868, was probably a part of the last-minute effort to sign up as many voters as possible before that year's Presidential election. The Democratic candidate, Horatio Seymour, had promised to end Radical Reconstruction in the South, while his party's platform criticized the Republicans for subjecting the South to "military despotism and negro supremacy."4 Seymour's Republican op- ponent, U. S. Grant, was a supporter of Radical Reconstruction and Southerns worked hard in hopes of his deteat. Although we have no way of knowing how the Monks voted in 1868, they were probably pleased that Seymour carried Louisiana. Nationwide, however, Grant was elected by a slim margin of 310,000 votes, and the South prepared to endure at least four years of Republican rule. Although national Republican rule lasted until 1885, Radical Reconstruction ended in 1877. By that time Northerners had lost their zeal for revenge and were willing to allow their former enemies home rule. Congress had also passed the General Amnesty Act of 1872, which restored political privileges to all but a few hundred Confederates.5 Reconstruction, the era of the iron-clad oath, has generally been depicted as a black scar on Southern history, but it did make important to the development of the region. Republican legislators established the first systematic program for public education in the South. They also rebuilt roads and buildings that were destroyed by the Civil War. They drafted state constitutions that were more democratic than the South had ever known. Finally, they expanded social services by building institutions for the care of the blind and the deaf. Still, most Southerners today feel little emotional attachment for Radical Rupublicans. For many, the soldier on the courthouse lawn remains the symbol of an unforgotten era. Footnotes: 1 James Wilford Garner, Reconstruction in Mississippi (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1968), pp.173-174. 2 Rembert W. Patrick, rhe Reconstruction of the Nation (New York: Oxford University Press, 1967), p.104. 3 Ibid., John Hope Franklin, "Election of 1868," History of American Presidential Elections 1789-1968, H, ed. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (New York: McGraw- Hill Book Co., 1971), p.1265+ 4 "The Democratic Platform of 1868" cited in Schlesinger, History of American Presidential Elections, II, p.1268. 5 Eric L. McKitrick, Andrew Johnson and Reconstruction (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1960), p.144. ********** Page 15 Letters The current boom in nostalgia and fond remembrance of the "good old days" includes a tendency to gloss over the essential harshness of frontier life. The following letters from a Claiborne farmer in 1854 are not, in many ways, removed from the concerns a more recent writer might express-the weather, health, the cost of living, crop conditions, and so on. As the opening of each letter makes clear, however, such things were to the 1854 farmer more than a matter of casual conversation-tney were survival itself. - Editor Claiborne Parish La. April 30, 1854 Dear Father and Mother It is through the merceys of God that I am this one time more favored with the oppertunity of dropping you a few lines which lines us all in tolerable health with the exception of the hooping cough both of our children has it and Laceys it has been very light on mine though Margarets baby is right bad with it now. Wits family is all well and we hope when these lines comes to hand they may find you all in good health. We are mightly behind with our We have had a mighty cool backward spring. We had a Right smart frost yesterday morning and it is cool this morning though I dont think that any thing is injured by the frost we have plenty of fruit yet I have not got any corn or cotten up yet. I finished planting 8 acres of corn the second time yesterday. I finished my cotton last monday. I onley planted about 5 acres in cotten. I have 8 or 9 acres of corn to plant yet. People generly is mightley behind with thear crops this spring. The spring opened earley through it has been the most of the time verry cool and dry. We neede rain verry mutch now. Wit Received aletter from B David dated some 3 and 9 April which gave us grate satisfaction to hear that you was all well. He also stated that he had not herd from Texas in some time. We have not herd since people(?) left here. We had never herd any thing a bout Vineys baby being dead until we Red his letter nor as mutch as she had one. I will give you the priŁe of produce and grocreys. Corn is worth from 75 to $1.00. bacon I no of none selling. Molasses is worth 22 cents per galleon by the barrel. Salt cosse $2.00 per sack. Shoogar 5 cts per pound, coffey 14 cts. Our Navigation was berry late. The boats has not made but some 4 or 5 trips to minden yet and it thought that it cannot make more than 2 more trips. The cotten is not half from the landing yet though ours is all in the citty. Cotten is worth nothing here now scarcely. I expect that you want to no some thing about our land we all have good land on the last surrveyy some 41/2 to 5 Miles from Homer. I have some 30 acres of open land. Some Red and some sandy. Father you no whare my place is it is the Grigsby place East of Lacey's. We yet hop that is the Home sted has not passed that it will pass. Some say it is a law and some say it is not. I Recken we will now after a while wheather it is or not. We have all Registered our land which will hold good till the land wheather the home sted passes or not. May 7 we have had a Splended Rain 4 & 5 inct. My oats is though mighty low. I am done clearing up my ground with the exception of about 3 hours work. My cotten is coming up very nice. Horses is very high. Cows and calves is worth from 15 to $25. Hogs is tolerable low. Chickens is worth 15 to 20 cts. butter is worth 15 cts eggs 10 cts. I have some Sweete potatoes slips set out. I ad no More, but Remain you affechonet children. J M McKinzie I M McKinzie * * * Claiborne Parish La. May the 13th, 1854 Dear Father and Mother It is through the merceys of God that I am blessed with the oppertunity of dropping you a few lines which lines us all in common health and we hope when these lines comes to your hands they may find you all enjoying the same blessings of Gods mercys. I have nothing verry strange to Rite to you we have all had the worst colds that we ever had though we have had the most changeable weather I ever saw and the nicest weather for work that I ever saw. There are corn in my neighborhcod that is waste high and has been hit 3 times with frost. People has there crops in fine fix to grow though we neede Rain now very bad but I think we will have some in a day or so for it has been cloudey for better than a weeke. Lacey and Wit has been done planting some time and I finished yesterday. I have ten acres of new ground planted down where I was clearing when you was here and I think that if I have seasons I will make corn aplenty and I hope to share. I have 6 acers of third year land in corn that Reyley looks fine. it has been some time since we Red any letter from any of you. I Red a letter from Mother and David dated 16 of March wich was the last scratch of a pen we have got and I Recon that you have tought long of the time of us not Riting. I should have Rote Sooner but I though it would never do to Rite and say that I had no corn planted at home yet but as soon as I was done I thought that that was good news to me and wold be to you all too. Lacey got in no new ground this spring he intended to take in some 6 or 8 acres and had it all most cleaned off and was taken sick with a disease of his liver and Lungs though I think it was something about such a spell as he had once before of influenzy cold. He was sick some 3 weeks. Our little girl is verry pretty and smart and can sit alone and as good a child as common. Melissey is in prittey good health. She has made a verry good hand in my new ground picking up brush and dropping corn. She can bee a help. I have got her a whe&e and timber to make aloom. Brother David Rote to us if we wase likely to suffer for provissions for the want of means to let him no and if his credit was good in old he wold helpus for which I Return him my most hastey thanks for his kind offer for it is more than I could think of him offering as far from us as he is through he has alwayes showed to me the Respect that one brother ought to have for another and I will never for get him while my head is above the ground I wold just say to you all that I have corn and fadder Bacon and flour enought to do me and some bacon to share not boasting I thought that you wold want to no. We have a beautiful Irish potatoe patch though it is small. Father it is before the north door and potatoes as large as a hens egg. We have some 8 hundred slips set out of yams. Alexander talks of you all and says that he will come and see you when he gets large like me. I will ad no more but Remain your affectionet children untill death. J M & I M MeKinzie ********** Page 18 Spring Lake Plantation By Irene Shields Moreland The roads were winding, narrow, hot and dusty in summer, and muddy and cold in winter. They went by everyone's house, and each landowner worked the portion that belonged to him. The traveler could pinpoint the financial status of a planter by the way he kept his portion of the road. Often it ran across a creek and sometimes it ran down a creek-bed for quite a distance. In wet weather, the traveler was often stranded, having to wait for the water to go down before going in either direction. Visitors to the country plantations were few and far between, and even passing strangers were usually welcome. When relatives came, they brought all the children, usually ten or twelve and a week or two was the average stay. All in all, the roads were the only means of communication, and human nature was eager to hear what was going on outside the plantation. Such was the case as late as 1915 at Spring take Plantation. When Claiborne Parish was opened to settlers, with land grants and cheap acreage, the great covered-wagon trains from Georgia and Alabama, coming from north in Arkansas, began to stop, and some of the people who were on their way to Texas, because of a severe seven years drought and epidemics of sickness, stopped to recuperate and settled here for good. It was one such rest-stop that began Spring Lake Plantation. Between 1850 and 1852, Mr. Ambrose Augustus Phillips, formerly of Georgia and then of Alabama, brought his family to Claiborne Parish. This family group at that time included Phillips, who was 48 when he came to Louisiana, his wife Elizabeth Frances Grimmett Phillips, 45, their children, William, 18, Mary Amanda, 16, Susan, 15, Emily, 11, Hope, 9, Seaborn, 7, and Henry Addison 6 months. Along with the group was Mr. Phillips' twin brother, Henry R. Phillips, and three brothers of Mrs. Phillips, Thomas Grimmett, age 13, William Grimmett, age 11, and Henry Grimmett, age 9. All these, along with 100 slaves and the livestock Mr. Phillips brought from Alabama, settled at Spring Lake, and by 1852 they were well on the way to building the big house and clearing the plantation. The house, planned by a Mr. Golden, consisted of eight large rooms and a central hall downstairs, repeated on the second floor, with a small balcony above the front door on the second floor. The third floor was never finished, but was sealed and floored and was livable. Quite often the boys in the family slept there. On the top was a widow's walk which commanded a view of the fields surrounding the house. The kitchen was at first separated from the main house, as was common in houses of that time to lessen the fire hazard but by 1888 it had been joined to the rest. There were porches on the front and back, and long windows with shutters. The house was of lumber cut and finished on the place; and the hand-fluted columns across the front were two stories high. The house was never completely finished, for the builder joined the Confederate Army and never came back. The house was surrounded by large oak trees and faced the main road, which ran at the edge of the front yard. The present Spring Lake was not formed until the railroad was built and the road-bed formed a dam. The first lake was nearer the house and was not as large as the present lake, nor so deep. 1852 until the war in 1865, Mr. Phillips worked the plantation with his slaves. When the war was over, he found himself, as did so many others, financially and physically unable to run the place. In 1866 he was making plans to sell when his wife died on July 12. He placed her in a metal coffin, preserved the body in alcohol, and made plans to carry it back to Alabama; after some months, however, he sold the plantation to the Kerr family, buried his wife on the home grounds, and moved his family to New Orleans, then to New Iberia. He died in 1869 and is buried in New Iberia. Mr. Phillips had employed a tutor for his family, but in 1867 the Kerr family established the first public school in the community and called it the Kerr School. Parents of the children contributed to the salary and took turns boarding the teacher. The children and teacher walked to school, and all grades were taught, from the first on up. Mr. J. B. McFarland bought the plantation from the Kerr family in 1888, the year the railroad first made regular runs. At this time the Phillips and Kerr family cemetery was moved to the Old Homer Cemetery. The McFarlands lived at Spring Lake from 1888 to 1912, and during these years, with the coming of the railroad, Spring Lake Camp Meeting was born. The train from both North and South made special trips in the late afternoon to bring crowds. There were also many families who came and camped the two or three weeks of the meeting, usually in August after the crops were laid by. The family cottages were lattice, usually with dirt and sawdust floors, and the whole family, young and old, came to the meeting. Provisions were brought, and the family cow and sometimes the calf came along, tied to the back of the wagon. Camp Meeting was a time of spirit renewal. The tabernacle had a mourner's bench, and testifying, shouting, and much rejoicing took place. It was also a time to relax and visit with neighbors and friends one seldom saw at any other time. There were at least two services a day and often they lasted two or three hours. The floor was covered with sawdust, and the babies and small children slept on the outside edge on quilts. This was handy in case they cried or needed to be carried out. The lake was used for baptizing and bathing water, but the drinking water was brought out from town and sold by the glass or gallon. Camp meeting was a time when men and women experienced salvation, but it was also a time when many romances started, and occasionally a wedding took place. In 1912, Mr. McFarland having died, the plantation was sold to the J. W. Allison famfly. Mr. and Mrs. Allison, their son Alec, Alec's son, a widowed daughter and her son and daughter, Rebecca, who later became an envoy to Italy, were in residence. The Allisons sold stock in the plantation to the Great Northern Land Company and developed the place into more or less an experimental station. Many experimental plants and animals were tested. This included blooded horses, holstein and jersey cows, Mexican pigs, chickens, geese, turkeys, rabbits, peacocks, pigeons, canaries, bermuda grass, all kinds of feed grains and vegetables. Mr. Atkins Bailey and Mr. M. P. Wyatt were the overseers. A Mr. Young was the dairy expert; Mr. Flanigan was in charge of the beef stock, and a Mr. Bolsy was the horticulturist. These last three were brought over from Germany and could hardly speak English. The house was redecorated and running water was piped from the spring. A brick house was built over the spring and is the only building left on the place today. A large dairy was built, as well as many barns, tenant houses, and houses for the overseers. A large orchard was planted, and the pecan trees from this orchard remain. This was a time of great hospitality, when the young people from homer were invited out for parties and week-end visits. Mr. Allison had business interests in Dallas, and while there in 1918, he was electrocuted. On December 6, 1918, the wife and heirs sold the plantation to Mr. J. R. Kennedy . The Kennedy family lived at Spring Lake until some time in the 1920's. The Camp Meeting tabernacle was floored and used for a dance pavillion. Several dry years made for financial loss, and much of the beautiful furniture was sold. About 1924 the house burned to the ground, and the Kennedy family moved into the dairy house until they sold the place to a Mr. Thrash and moved to California. Since then the Spring Lake Plantation has had a number of owners. At present it is owned by the Yandell Wideman estate and is a tree farm. All through the years there has been a legend of buried treasure on the home grounds, and quite often in the morning a large hole will be found which was not there the night before. I never heard of anything any one found, but once saw a hole large enough to put a car in. Of course the house was supposedly haunted from the time Mrs. Phillips was kept there before burial, and many shivery tales are told about those events. Spring Lake was used by the L&NW Railroad for water for the engines, and they still own the lake itself. Where the big house stood, only pine trees, thick and shady, still stand, and only the tile spring-house remains of all the buildings that were on the place. We think of those as the "good old days." Just for the moment, we should remember the Phillips family-husband, wife, brothers, children- and the problems they faced in getting to Claiborne and setting up here. Food, clothing, housing, medicine, and hundreds of other things were lacking when they came. How they brought homes and fields out of the forest and made this a good life is staggering. They have passed on, but we all owe them a debt of gratitude for their part in making Claiborne Parish the pleasant place it is today. {Also see "Page 19-Spring Lake Plantation House" in the corresponding photo album located in the Claiborne Parish LA GenWeb Archives.} ********** Page 22 Remembering a One-Room Schoolhouse By Marie Owens Bridwell There were once a number of one-room schools in the rural areas of Claiborne Parish-Walnut Grove, Gronner School, Baugh School, Alabama, Rocky Ridge, Hood, Colquit, and State Line. Consolida-tion of these schools began in the 1920's and was completed in the 1940's. The Walnut Grove school, which I attended as a child, was fairly typical of these schools. Most of the people in this rural area were farmers. Many of their children helped with the crops and could not start to school early in the fall. Some of the larger boys had to drop out early in the spring to help begin the crops; therefore our school year for a long time consisted of only six months, and we could not complete a grade in one school year as children are able to do now. Some of the children walked two or three miles to school. A few rode horseback or came in buggies, for there were no cars then, and certainly no hard-surfaced roads, nor even gravel roads. Many who walked used little paths through the woods and fields. Cattle ran outside during the winter months, and as I was particularly afraid of the bulls, I kept in mind a large tree, a little cotton house, or a bridge I could run to in case one should chase me. Fortunately, none ever did. The teachers boarded in the community, and they too walked to school. Walnut Grove was located on a large hill with a wagon road on either side. It was an unpainted wooden structure about sixty by thirty feet. There were eight medium-sized windows and one double door. The room was heated by means of a large iron heater in which wood was burned. It was located toward the rear of the building, and long handmade wooden benches were placed around the heater for pupils when they became uncomfortable at their desks. The men in the community met and sawed and cut wood for heating . The larger boys built fires and added fuel during the day. Waste paper was used to light the fires. There were no electric lights; in case of a program at night, wall oil lamps were used. Two rows of homemade wooden desks were on either side of the room, and there were two pupils to each desk. Some of the smaller children sat on long wooden benches in the center of the room. The teacher's desk was in the center beyond the heater, and there were long homemade wooden benches near her desk which were known as recitation benches. The teacher would announce that a certain class was to rise and pass when she was ready for them. There were grades one through seven and sometimes even more. The number of pUpils in school varied, but there were often over fifty. rnackboards were on the rear wall, and one little bookcase with a few books served as the library. We had an organ pumped by foot for music to sing by. One of the large boys sharpened pencils for the children with his pocket knife. Just inside the door there were nails in the wall of either side for coats and hats, one side for boys and one for girls. We had an outdoor toilet once, which was not very adequate. Water was obtained from a well by means of a rope and bucket, and each pupil had his cup, often the folding type. Some schools used water from a spring. The pupils brought lunches in buckets or boxes, lunches somewhat different from ones we would pack now. Biscuits and crackers were used for bread; if we had light bread, it was homemade. Frequently there was a small bottle of homemade ribbon cane syrup to eat with the biscuit. As we had no janitor, the pupils took turns sweeping and cleaning the school room. It was customary for each family to pay a one dollar incidental fee to buy chalk, erasers, brooms, well buckets, and ropes. There were no free books or other such supplies, so many of the students used slates and slate pencils for writing. At recess and noon we played numerous games involving plenty of physical exercise. When it was time to return to classes, the teacher rang a small bell. After all this, the Walnut Grove building was used as a church on Sunday and for revival meetings during the summer. In those days, persons completing high school could take a teacher's examination, and if they passed they could teach before going on to college. We usually had such teachers, and I taught for three years in two such schools. ********** Page 23 Singing Schools By W. D. Gorden In a "singing school," where lessons are taught by recitation, the teacher writes on a blackboard the lesson copied from a book. He then explains it to the students, who are required to recite the lesson on the board repeatedly, thus learning it in the manner of learning a song. Much practice and repetition is required of every lesson, with the students also learning songs from their song books in much the same manner. Each group of lessons usually continued for ten or twenty days. ********** Page 24 Bridgemon Schoolhouse Dots By James Ringgold Keener "Dots" is a term for news or gossip. The following article, contributed by Ruth Tait Keener, was written by her father-in-law, James Ringgold Keener, and published in the Homer Guardian Journal about 1895. Though the incident recorded is of minor importance, the article itself is valuable as an example of the prose style of the period. -Editor Editor Guardian Journal: This history of our neighborhood will never record a more enjoyable school picnic than that which was the occasion of the 7th of June. The day was bright and beautiful, a gentle breeze came forth, the birds of the forest seemed to sing their songs more sweetly, the sweet little girls and boys were never happier, the gray-haired veteran of ante-bellum days stepped proudly along and everything combined was convincing that the day would be a perfect one. We are proud of our school and neighborhood; brave and noble- hearted men and women; when sad, trying circumstances befall us and others desert, they have never been found wanting. The crank can never frighten them from us in our saddest trials and deepest grief. No, never! The dinner was all the heart could desire, from a baked turkey to a dish of delicious honey; and on this occasion, the performance of your correspondent was remarkable. No greater tribute could have been paid to the popularity of Miss Fannie Ward than the immense throng that assembled to witness and listen to the exercises of the school of this talented young, lady; beauty was there in all its fascinating charms, while learning held sway and intelligence paid tribute to oratory and elevated thought. An elegant stage was erected in the open air, and rare plants and blossoms lent their beauty to the attractive scene. The recitations by the Misses Rena and Mattie Awbrey, Sue Willie and Lora Knighten, Annie Baugh, Estelle Keener, Irma Cooksey, Bessie and Mable Torbet, Nannie and Clara Brooks, Iva Harris, Sallie Anderson and Katie Brantley were most gracefully and sweetly rendered. The essays of Misses Rena Aubrey, "The Poetry of Life," and Estelle Keener, "Education," were each well presented, while the latter closed with an eloquent tribute to the intelligence of woman, that elicited approval from the audience. Our young friend, Mr. Otto Webb, was never in a happier mood, and presented his subject with remarkable ability for one of his age. Young Brutus Morgan did credit to himself in his recitation; and, last but not least, the recitation of the talented Miss Fannie Ward was never more gracefully and perfectly rendered. The exercise was interspersed with the sweetest of music by the string band, which contributed largely to the entertainment of the day. On the evening of the same date, Mr. and Mrs. P. Baugh, who seem to find more pleasure in giving happiness to others than most people, threw open the gates of their pretty country home to their many friends, where the young ladies and gentlemen chatted the hours away to the entrancing music. It is very touching to hear the word farewell to your teacher, farewell to your classmates as they come from an honest heart; but so will it ever be with our meeting and parting. Youth knows naught of the cares of mature years, for "our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought." ********** Page 25 History of the Homer School By Mrs. Ruth MeCranie Baker A former student of the Homer Masonic Female College The first school ever taught in Homer was in about 1850, and was taught by Mrs. Jane C. Smith, sister of the late Rev. S. T. Davidson and a great aunt of our Miss Belle Davidson. This school was taught in a little log house on what is now known as Lyon's Hill. In 1855 the State Legislature passed an act chartering the Homer Male College, under the supervision of a board of trustees appointed by the Louisiana Methodist conference. In the following year the Corner stone of the college building was laid. The site chosen was where our grammar school building now stands. A massive brick building of the colonial style was erected. The college was formally opened in 1859 with Rev. Baxter Clegg as the first president. Owing to embarrassments in consequence of the civil war, college exercises were suspended for a number of years. In 1870 Rev. Jas. E. Cobb became president. He was assisted by Prof. A. C, Calhoun, S. W. Nicholson and E. M. Corry. For two years the college had quite a renewal of prosperity. The conference had appointed Rev. T. S. Upton as its agent. He obtained for it, increased facilities in the way of a library, and our $40,000 in endorsement notes, the interest to be used in defraying running expenses. But owing to the unprosperous conditions of the country, it was difficult to collect the interest, and the college was left without support and began again to decline. In 1878 the college was sued for debt. From this date until 1885 the principals and assistants were: Prof. Spann, Dr. Gordon, Judge S. E. Moore, S. W. Hoibert and Prof. R. A. Smith. Although Homer Male College had a brief and troubled existence it was not altogether an uneventful existence. From this old institution of learning have gone some of the leading men, not only of our state but of other states. Among them: Dr. Sydney T. Moreland, Professor of Natural Science at Washington & Lee University for a period of 18 years. The late Judge John A. Richardson and Judge S. B. Moore and S. W. Holbert. S. B. Hulse, editor and owner of the Guardian-Journal, Col. James G. Meadors, Superintendent New Mexico Military Institute. Judge W. F. Blackman of Alexandria, Louisiana; Quinn Bugg Moreland, prominent lawyer of Fort Worth, Texas and afterwards of Los Angeles, California and our own Dr. Philip Gibson and C. 0. Ferguson, and numbers of others. In 1859 the Homer Female Institute was purchased by the Masonic lodge and renamed to the Homer Masonic Female Institute and placed under the fostering care of this fraternity. Under the long and able administration of Prof. Wilcox, and then of Prof. Sligh and his energetic and accomplished wife, this school flourished many years and set forth from its walls many of the most brilliant and thoroughly educated women of North Louisiana. Mrs. Ella Aycock, who has taught in this section of the state for over thirty years and Mrs. Ella Richardson, mother of our distinguished Judge John S. Richardson are graduates from this old institution under Prof. Wilcox. Mrs. Hattie Richardson Price, Mrs. W. W. Moreland, Mrs. Lela Meadors, the late Mrs. John Dorman, and Mrs. A. E. Wilder, and Mrs. Tom Longino were graduates during Prof. Sligh's administration. It was a custom of his to present each graduate on the day of her graduation with a Bible. The curriculum of this institution was high and in two instances, where students from the Masonic Female Institute sought admission into young ladies schools of other states, the Athenium of Tennessee, Ward's Seminary of Nashville, they found they were one year in advance of the senior course taught in those schools. Both the Male College and the Masonic Female Institute were boarding schools and attended by young men and women from all parts of North Louisiana and South Arkansas. The terms were For tuition, board and lodging, washing and lights payable in advance. $15.00 per month For day pupils-primary department per month 2.50 For Academic per month 3.50 For Collegiate per month 4.50 Daughters of deceased Masons were exempt from tuition. There were no written tests as we have them today. When reciting the class were seated on a long bench in front of the teacher and the students quizzed or sent to the board one at a time and were graded according to their answers. Examinations were public and conducted in the same way. The great assembly room of the College was often full of people on examination day and one of the visitors, by request of the teacher, sometimes conducted the examinations. We had but few holidays, Christmas, the first of May, when the Sunday School always gave a union picnic and commencement day. As a social feature to commencement, the graduates from both schools, with the second seniors were given a promenade party, the last night of school by the faculty. The citizens of Homer and the Masonic fraternity became favorably impressed with the pean of coeducation and believed it would be to the interest of both their schools to unite them, so about 1885 the Homer Male College and Homer Masonic Female Institute were combined under the name of Male and Female College. The new institution was placed in the charge of Prof. John H Davidson, a gentleman of ability and culture. His assistants were Prof. Walker and his daughter, Miss Sallie Walker and Miss Emma Traylor. Among the graduates from this new institution were Mrs. Alice Gladden of Monroe, Mrs. Carrie Levy of Greenwood, La., the late Miss Nattie Gleason, aunt of our present teacher Miss Mary Tooke, Mrs. Kate Bryant of Monroe, Mrs. Grace Poche, Kaplan, La., Mrs. Ida Stone, Shreveport, La., Mrs. Ida Hathews, Greerivile, Texas, Mrs. J. L. Ferguson, Homer, La., Mrs. J C. Allen, Shreveport, La., Mrs. Stella Harrison Gleason, Dorcheal, La., the late Mrs. Lillian Jamerson of New Mexico, the late Mrs. Helen Ferguson Jordan, Mrs. Mattie Longino, Magnolia, Ark. and Mrs. Onic Bryan, Center, Texas. Prof. Spann and Mrs. Hattie Lawrence were the next principal and assistant. With the coming of the railroad came Prof. John Nelson who built the house now occupied by Mr Jesse Brooke and family for a school house and conducted a private school for two or three years. In In 1891 Prof. Dayton Harris came to Homer from Arizona and taught at the Homer Male and Female College, assisted by Prof. Huddle and Mrs. Minne Cutlaw fo New Orleans, and our present State Superintindent of Education. T H Harris. Under the administration of these capable men the school flourished and was well attended About 1897 Mr Seborn Johnson and wife and Mr Lonan Johnson had charge of the school. Prof Harris, assisted by Miss Annie Meadors, now Mrs. Hugh Taylor, taught at the Nelson schoolhouse, Homer, having two schools at that time. {Also see "Page 26-Homer High & Female College" in the corresponding photo album located in the Claiborne Parish LA GenWeb Archives.} ********** Page 29 Colonel James William Nicholson By Susan Seeliger Perhaps one of the most eminent Louisianians that Claiborne Parish has produced was Colonel James William Nicholson. He was born in Macon County, Alabama, June 16, 1844, to Washington Biddle Nicholson and Martha Wafer Nicholson. Six months later the Nicholson family moved to Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, and settled at Forest Grove near Homer. He received his early education in the small schools near his home. At the age of fourteen, he entered the Homer Male College, a Methodist-sponsored institution. There he studied Latin, Greek, and other subjects, but mathematics was his favorite. He became dubbed "the college mathemetician." One story well-remembered about Colonel Nicholson is related in his book Stories of Dixie. The professor of mathematics once gave the class three days to solve a certain hard problem (the problem of the 'three points' in trigonometry). He asked the class not get any help or hints from the book or otherwise, and related such things about its use, history, and so forth, as to cause the boys to think it would be a great honor to the whole class if any one of them should solve it. All eyes and hopes now turned to Nick, and to encourage him to do his best the boys promised him ever so many presents if he succeeded. "Nick," said Hines (Hon. H. C. Mitchell of Homer), "if you solve that problem I'll pay for your license when you get married." Well, to make a long story short, Nick solved the problem and received all the promised presents. Sixteen years after that he was married, and Hines, then a state senator, made good his promise also.1 His education was interrupted in 1861 when he joined Company B, Twelfth Louisiana Infantry of the Confederate Army, as a private. He served four years and returned home in 1865 as a sergeant. Upon his return home, he began the study of law under the guidance of Judge W. B. Eagan of Homer. This ended abruptly when he accepted the chair of the professor of mathematics at Homer College. While teaching he continued his education, and in 1867 he was awarded the Master's degree. Colonel Nicholson and Austin Harris (father of T. H. Harris, who served as State Superintendent of Public Education from 1908-1940) opened a private academy at Arizona, Louisiana, and it proved to be an immense success. In his Memoirs of T. H. Harris, Superintendent Harris wrote, "The institution enjoyed an enviable reputation and merited it. There was no better school of its type in North Louisiana, if we are to judge it by its product; for it gave to the world many fine, cultured women and a host of professional men representing the best brains in the State."2 In 1877 upon the reorganization of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Colonel Nicholson was offered the chair of mathematics which he accepted and continued to fill for forty years. In 1883 he was elected President of Louisiana State University and served in this capacity from 1883-1884 and again from 1887-1896. With his accession to the presidency, Governor McEnery made him a colonel on his staff. Colonel Nicholson continued to teach even while serving as president. It is as a teacher and scholar that he is best remembered. Colonel Nicholson was the author of a series of mathematical textbooks that were used in Louisiana. He contributed to most of the mathematical journals of the country. He is well known for his "trigonometric circle", a device for learning the functions of sine, cosine, tangent, etc. A representation of its design was made a part of his burial monument.The degree of LL.D. was conferred on Colonel Nicholson by the A and M College, Alabama, in 1893. In 1876, Colonel Nicholson married Sallied D. Baker, also a native of Claiborne Parish. They had five children. The daughter Lilburne, later Mrs. A. P. Daspit, taught Mathematics at Louisiana State University. Stories of Dixie was published by Colonel Nicholson in 1915. The book originated from two suggestions: A northern one from Dr.W.T.H. Howe of Cincinnati, and a southern one from the New Orleans Daily Picayune. It is both autobiographical and historical.The biography of Nick (Colonel Nicholson) serves as a frame around which various humorous and entertaining stories are built.Colonel Nicholson relates the story of his family's journey to North Louisiana from Alabama, and their subsequent settlement at Forest Grove. He describes in realistic detail stories of his father (Uncle Wash) and the Negro slave Uncle Nathan as they work to carve a prosperous farm out of the rich wilderness. His experiences at the Forest Grove school and Homer College are very typical of any fun loving boy. One of the most interesting sections of the book concerns his years spent in the Confederate Army. Colonel Nicholson brings out the human side of the war by relating various anecdotes about his friends and fellow soldiers. The one thing that stands out most clearly is the courage and good spirits of the Confederate soldiers despite hardships and defeat. Colonel Nicholson wrote in the speech of the characters, and this fact adds to the enjoyability of the book. Stories of Dixie was written mainly for young people and with the idea that one doesn't have a clear picture of the people of Dixie without knowing about their jokes and sport. Nowhere can one find a better account of life in North Louisiana during the pre- Civil War period. Footnotes: 1 James W. Nicholson, Stories of Dixie (Baton Rouge, 1966). pp.130-131. 2 T. H. Harris, The Memoirs of T. H. Harris (New Orleans, 1963), pp.20-21. ********** Page 33 History of Coal Springs Church By Mary Prather Ford, 1914 Among the fast-growing pines of the forest in a partially obscure portion of Claiborne Parish there stands a lonely, deserted Baptist meeting house. This house was built in 1870. The church itself was organized in 1862 and was first called Bethel. In 1865, the name of the church was changed to Coal Springs because there was thought to he a vein of coal in the nearby hills from which the little spring branch that filled the baptizing pool arose. The first pastor was named David Wise Some of the pages of the record are lost but in July 1865 J. A. Davids became pastor, followed by J. Short in 1866. J. W. Melton became pastor in 1871 and served fifteen years: he is always mentioned in the minutes as "our beloved pastor" According to the records he baptized only ninety five including this scribe in 1875. J. F. Hinton became pastor in 1866. P. B. Monk was pastor in 1890, and J. W. Melton again became pastor in 1891 serving two more years. C. B. Hollis became pastor in November 1893, and B. R. Neal followed in 1894. T.C. Moreland became pastor in 1866. In 1898, M. W. DeLoach,who was born and reared in the vicinity of the church and baptized by J. W. Melton, became the last pastor of the church, which was dissolved in 1900. Among the clerks of the church were Peter Curry, W. J. Smith, William DeLoach, W. S. Bonner, Melto DeLoach, Frank C.Norman, M. S. Ford and M.E. Ruple. The deacons included Peter Curry, James Eagram,David Pearson, W. S. Bonner, Milo C. Curry, Pick Aubrey, and Frank C. Norman. The church built a new house in 1876,the one that now stands. The last sermon that was preached in the old house was on the last day of the of the meeting of the last month of the year 1875. J. W. Melton preached from the text "The harvest is passed, summer is ended, and I am I am not saved." Two weeks later, the heavy snow crushed the old building to ground. The new church building was at that time nearly finished, and we it at the January meeting. For a short while there was a semi-monthly Sunday school in the church, but since the membership was so widely scattered, this did not last long. In the records of the church, there are about 190 baptisms and 75 exclusions. There were also many restorations of the exclusions, but it was often the same person in and out, in and out. In the early part of the ministry of Elder J. W. Melton there came up a case of a brother who had been drunk. He denied it, and some of the members were in favor of retaining him in the church. Then one sister arose and said, "My little boy saw him lying by the roadside dead drunk-too drunk to know anyone," whereupon an old deacon made a motion to exclude the man on the statement of the sister and evidence of her boy, who was known to be truthful. The church excluded the drunken member, and he "went to his own company." Once during a regular church conference, the subject of paying the pastor was discussed, and one brother said that six bits a day was what he paid his hired hand; he thought six bits a day would do for the preacher. J. W. Melton was pastor at that time, and he rode twenty miles across the country in cold and heat, over rough roads and creeks, to preach the gospel to us. At one time the church bore patiently seven years with a member for non-attendance from the day he was baptised. He was called for a letter and could give no excuse for this treatment of the church, since he lived in the vicinity of the church throughout this period. Finally, he was excluded. Another excluded member kept his letter of dismissal twelve years, living all that time within two miles of the church, then came back to the church; afterwards, he was ordained to the ministry, though he did not practice. Yet another brother was disciplined on a charge of dishonesty, and a member objected to the recording of this dishonesty on the church records. "It will go down to posterity," he said, "and they will be ashamed of it". The church clerk then objected that it was his duty to keep a correct record, and so the episode was properly recorded. These exclusions were often tempered with mercy. When a young man was once charged with dancing, his mother rose to plead for the purity of the church. "You can't keep him in the church without injury to the cause of Christ," she said. "He is my child, but he does wrong. Still, after consideration, the church decided not to exclude the young man at that time. ********** Page 34 Bull In The Store By Bertha Baker Mr. Henry Steinau once owned and operated a very fine general merchandise establishment located on the north side of the square in Homer about fifty years ago. My sister, Miss Ethel Bross, and Mr. Chris Lay (C. A. Lay) were in their early twenties and were employed as clerks in this beautiful store. One hot sultry day, my sister and Chris were standing near the entrance of the store trying as best they could to coax a breeze into the establishment since electric fans and air cooling systems were at this time unknown. At this time of the afternoon business was dull and the clerks were perhaps tired, hot, and waiting for the six o'clock quitting time. Chief Kelly, Marshall of Homer at this time. was having some colored boys drive a herd of cattle through the unpaved square getting them ready to ship to market. My sister and Chris were watching the cattle being prodded along by the horsemen when all at once one of the big bulls, evidently the leader of the pack, became frightened, broke away from the herd, and for some unknown reason, vaulted across the sidewalk and entered the Steinau store. Chris gave out an impassioned yell "Look what is cumin" and mounted the shoe ladder which was used to select the shoes to show the lady customers. My sister was scared out of her wits and rushed to the rear door closed it behind her and stood on the loading platform in the rear of the store feeling very secure from the bellowing, snorting, pawing animal cavorting in the beautiful store, pushing aside displayed haberdashery and ladies apparel which was so artistically displayed and of which this said bovine had no immediate use. Chris climbed the highest rung of the ladder and froze there Just as my sister heard the loud bellowing of the bull, someone made it to the back door and opened it. In alarm she jumped off the loading platform, landed on her poor knees, bruising both knees as she struck the ground. Her hose were tattered and she positively flew up the alley, looking back over her shoulder as she was expecting this immense animal to pierce her back with his big horns. Her description of this animal, the biggest and fattest of any holy cow of India or one that, had just received the blue ribbon at a fat stock show. At any rate, in her mad dash for freedom she rounded the corner and sought refuge in the Homer Drug Store, collapsed, and exhausted from fright. The employees of the drug store administered a sedative and bound up her poor bleeding knees. However, she afterward told me, no one ever replaced her cherished silk stockings which she loved. Just after this occurred Mr. Stinean arrived at the store a few minutes after Mr. Hull had departed via the front door. He was certainly surprised to find his young clerk hanging desperately to the shoe ladder and the young lady clerk out of the store, and his beautiful store in shambles. The store was cleaned up after calling in some good colored folk to assist and after my sister was able to return all freshened up, but still in comparative shock, Mr. Lay comes down from his safe perch, they began to relate their rather unexpected and harrowing experience. This is my version of a funny experience almost like an old Charley Chaplain movie film. ********** Page 36 Shreveport to Homer First Airmail Flight in The South By Phil Cate, Shreveport Times July 14, 1968 Although on any given day the Shreveport Post Office would think little of dispatching as much as 7,000 pounds of mail via air, there was a day when 25 pounds was a big load. Almost 50 years ago, Wednesday, July 21, 1920, Shreveport and Homer were the host cities for what was hailed as the first air mail flight in the South. The flight was held about two years after the nation's first air mail flight May 15,1918 between Washing ton D C and New York City. That flights takeoff was witnessed by President Woodrow Wilson and the polot that took off from Washington flew in the wrrong direction and crashed in a field in Maryland. A New York to Washinton flight on the same day was successful, however. The announcement of the Shreveport-Homer flightcame on July 1,1920, when Shreveport Postmaster Nathan Ratcliffe said that the city would be the first in the South to have authorized air mail service. The flight would be made at no cost to the post office in a Curtiss plane. According to a news story in The Times, Postmaster Ratclife requested "everyone interested to find it necessary to write someone in Homer Wednesday. He wants the first trip to carry at least 4,000 pieces of mail." A special stamp was offered and all envelopes were stamped as a souvenir of the first Southern delivery of mail by airplane. It is not known what people wrote in the letrers,but they could have mentioned that Palm Beach suits were selling for $16.50 in Shreveport. Also Douglas Fairbanks was starring in "A Good Bad Man" at the Queen Theater and the Saenger was featuring the Harold Lloyd comedy, "Haunted Spooks," and as an extra was showing the latest edition of Pathe News. The flight was promoted by the Gulf States Aircraft Corp. of Shreveport. Gulf States had written the Shreveport postmaster stating the firm's intentions to put on regular mail service between Shreveport and Homer and also to Dallas, Fort Worth and other points. The letter promised to "put on more planes and aviators just as fast as the business will justify." In one advertisement, Gulf States addressed itself "To pleasure lovers everywhere: Take a flight. See your town and the earth from the Sky! It is worth while. It will he the most wonderful experience of your life. Lieutenant Henry F. Toncray offers you this opportunity." Toncray was also president of Gulf States. The Times reported that Homer was chosen because of the "heavy volume of mail handled between the two towns due to the oil husiness," but adding weight to the decision for the fact that Homer had provided a landing field. Air fields were apparently somewhat rare since The Times reported that Alexandria, Monroe, Marshall, Tex., El Dorado and other Arkansas points "are figuring on landing fields or have them under construction." On the day of the flight, 25 pounds of mail was taken to the Fair Grounds. It included ordinary, first class, registered and special delivery letters. The temperature at the time was close to 90 degrees. Postmaster Ratcliffe said a number of Shreveport citizens witnessed the exciting takeoff, and after the flight he wrote a letter of thanks to W.H. Smith of Shreveport thanking Smith for making "moving pictures" of the historic event. The Times reported that the flight left at 2:45 p.m. piloted by Lin G. Pittman and carried A. E. Ford, Shreveport Post Office Superintendent of Mails. The report said that 'shortly afterward many (if the addressees in Homer were reading their letters." The return flight left the Homer Fair Grounds at 5:25 p.m. Mail was back in the Shreveport Post Office and was being distributed at 6:25 p.m. The return flight reportedly carried 35 pounds of mail. The Times said, "Homer was very much excited over the flight. Postmaster Fulmer, chamber of commerce and city officials and a great crowd of citizens being at the landing field to watch the arrival and departure of the plane." Postal officials figured the two-way delivery time at about six hours and said that by train the very quickest service "is a full day or day and a half." The flight attracted the attention of the "Oil World," an independent weekly newspaper devoted to the oil industry, puhlished in Shreveport and Lexington, Ky. The Oil World sent numerous copies of its latest edition on the flight and in reporting on the trip said, "Several motion pictures were taken. No stops were made by the airship either going or coming." The flight also attracted the attention of the DeSoto Parish Chamber of Commerce at Mansfield, and soon after the flight Ratcliffe received a letter from F. W. DeCroix, Chamber secretary-treasurer. DeCroix challenged a reference "that Mansfield has a sort of piece of land that could be used for a landing place" calling this an indifferent description. He wrote, "We have the best field in any part of Louisiana and can prove so." He said there were no holes, stumps, trees or any foreign debris to mar a perfect landing. He said Mansfield had "an excellent flying aviationfield, carpeted with grass, enlarged to land from any compass point and take off in any direction." Also at that time Mansfield boasted a female college of over 50 years standing, 100 per cent graveled roads thoughout the parish on the Jefferson Highway and the cheapest fuel for industries in the world. Contrasting with the first flight in 1920 is the current air mail volume on a typical day from the Shreveport Post Office. A recent check showed that in one day there were 42 air mail flights leaving Shreveport. They carried 293 sacks of air mail weighing 2,579 pounds. On the same day the post office also dispatched via air 251 sacks of first class mail weighing 4,315 pounds. ********** Page 39 Razzle-Dazzle Barefoot Baseball By B. Touchstone Hardaway Shreveport Times May 6, 1973 Some 60 miles northeast of Shreveport just off U.S. 79 between Homer and Haynesville, there was at one time a thriving community called Stand Pipe. It was so named because the trains took on water for their boilers there from a pipe standing near the L&NW Railroad. This pipe ran to a pond fed by two big springs. That same pond was the community's ole swimming hole with a sand and gravel bottom. And on the Fourth of July everyone for miles around gathered at the pond for the annual picnic and baseball game. According to Claiborne Parish records, at the turn of the century there were two general stores, a post office, school, blacksmith shop, cotton gin, a doctor's office, Masonic meeting hall and scores of houses. Now only one or two old houses and the dilapidated ruins of the post office remain. Not even the pipe to the pond stands anymore. The name and fond memories are about all that's left. Officially, the community is now known as Camp. But it is still by some Claiborne residents remembered as Stand Pipe, home of as rugged a baseball team as ever swung a red elm bat. They called themselves the D'Arbonne Yellow Jackets because they all came from up and down the creek named D'Arbonne which flows through Stand Pipe and over much of Claiborne Parish. The eyes of the old timers in the parish light up at the very mention of the team. Doy Adkins, a retired oilfield worker and now a resident of Haynesville, is the son of the organizer of that well-known team. And he cautioned that the D'Arbonne Yellow Jackets are not to be confused with a later team by the same name. "They were good too," he said, "but couldn't hold a pine knot torch to the first ones." Adkins and others said that the players switched positions frequently and were all good no matter where they chose to play. However, they recalled that the lineup was usually something like this: Pitchers - Gus Adkins and George McKenzie. Catchers - Bud Adkins, Big John Adkins and Frank Gentry. First Base - Craton Adkins and Elijah Kendrick. Second Base - Menzo Adkins. Third Base - Ike Adkins and Tom Camp. Short Stops - Jim Camp and Will Harris. Left Field- Willie Prestridge. Center Field - Fred Camp and Big John Adkins. Right Field - McLendon Lewis. Also playing outfield was "Dock" DeLoach, a medical doctor at Stand Pipe. The year was 1905; the place, up and down the creek. It was hot summertime and Menzo Adkins whittled on a red elm bat he was making. It would withstand all kinds of hits, even the hard ones by Craton Adkins, who, according to everyone interviewed, could "almost knock the cover off a ball." It seems to be common knowlege among the oldsters in the community that the Yellow Jackets were men who could plow a mule all day and then walk several miles to practice for the big game until dark. Lula Adkins, a spry little woman in spite of having lived 80 odd years, smiled broadly when asked about the players. "I'm positive that if there had been scouts then like there are today, some of those boys would have gone on to the big leagues," she said. Eyes bright with happiness as she spoke of the time of her youth, she said, "The young fellows were all kin to each other in some way, either brothers or cousins or what have you. They were farmers or sawmill workers during the week, but let it come Saturday afternoon, and they were ball players from inside to outside." When asked where they played their games, she pointed a hand slightly gnarled with arthritis and answered, "Oh, they had several diamonds around town and took turns at them. I think the Dick Lewis Diamond must have been the popular one though." Doy Adkins told how he remembered his father, Menzo: "Why, 'Poppa' could just raise his arm and the muscle looked like it was going to bust through his shirt sleeve. He wasn't a very tall man, but powerful. They all worked hard; it was a way of life for them --walked, most everwhere they went and didn't mind doing it neither. You chop wood with an ax every day and walk a few miles and you can't help but have strong arms and legs, I reckon." Jehu Adkins, who has lived all his 70 or so years in and around Stand Pipe, beamed when the Yellow Jackets were mentioned."The D'Arbonne Nine, as the team was sometimes called, was organized by Menzo Adkins just a few years after I was born," he said. "I had older brothers who played with them. Menzo and his brothers, Craton, Rud and Ike,had always loved the game, just like their folks before them. Why, baseball's been played up and down this creek by Adkins, Kendricks, McKenzies and Camps for a hundred years. He straightened his overall strap and asked, "Did you know that?" Then eyes aglow, he continued, "Those D'Arbonne Yellow Jackets were tough. Had to be to stand the sting of a hard ball caught against the naked flesh." He shook his head and straightened his felt hat. "Can you imagine playing baseball without gloves?" he asked. "Well, there was one glove, an old fielder's glove used by the catcher. For several seasons, they played barehanded and barefooted. Oh, some of 'em had shoes they could run in, but most of 'em had those old brogans and couldn't run in them. Why, they played ball like they was gettin' a thousand dollars a game". He laughed and leaned against a big pile of fireplace wood. "But they weren't gettin' a single dime for it. Just played their hearts out, they did." Doy Adkins recalls that his father was an easygoing fellow with an even temper, who played ball as he later raised his family, with kindness and humor. He knew how to make everybody feel good. He played ball like his life depended on it and for the 21 years he played, he was never struck out. The son said, "it was quite a record, and opponents, like guns of the old West trying to outdraw a fast gun reputation, came from far and near to try and strike him out, but none ever did." He told of a time, not too many years before his father died, when some young men were having a game. Menzo, now long past his ball-playing prime, was confronted by the pitcher, who asked if it were true that he had never been struck out. Menzo told him he had not and asked if he would like to try. Adkins laughed as he remembered. "The young fellow grinned and the old baseball veteran walked to the batter's plate flexing his shoulders. Then he asked the pitcher a question which brought laughter from the crowd. 'Where you want it, son?' Poppa always asked that of the pitcher. The ball went far into out field. "He kept pitching and Poppa kept hitting.' The young fellow shook his head. He couldn't believe his own eyes. Finally Poppa put his arm around the young fellow's shoulder and said, "Don't feel too bad, son, but you could throw at me till black dark and not fan me out." Poppa reured with his record." Naomi Adkins Zimmerman, a retired railroad employee and daughter of Craton Adkins, said, "At that time, Claiborne Parish had a lot of little towns and villages which all had pretty good baseball teams; there was Homer and Haynesville, Athens, Summerfield, Lisbon, Tulip, Terryville, Kimbalville, Arizona, Colquitt and Gordon. Don't know how many of them played the boys but nearly all that did were beat." She laughed as her mother, sitting across the room, heartily agreed. Naomi said the Yellow Jackets also played the "faraway places" -Arcadia, Gibsland, Dubach - all within a 30-mile radius of town. She said they used to leave one day and come back the next, going either by train or wagon. She said that finally, after several unbeaten seasons, they were invited to play the "All Stars," who are remembered as a loose association of players, a team comprised of two or three of the best players from teams of various communities. Legend has it they they beat the All Stars, and then went on to win a series of similar playoff games around the state - the particulars of which have grown dim with the passing of time. But whether they traveled or the opponents came to Stand Pipe, Naomi said it was nearly always the same - the D'Arbonne Yellow Jackets were the winners. It was as though they couldn't be beaten and they became a golden legend in own time all over the parish. There were no official records available, but team descendents and oldtimers in and around Stand Pipe boast of high scores and rollicking good times. The way they tell it, Willie Prestridge could outrun any rabbit; Craton Adkins could hit a ball the hardest of all - as Doy Adlims said, "Craton could knock it one - of a long way." The Jackets' brand of baseball was not always serious. LuIn Adkins said there was always "funning" going on when they played and Ike Adkins was the comic of the bunch. She said he would even stand on his head on top of a rail fence to make the spectators laugh. Doy Adkins, an avid baseball fan, said when the team played it seemed easy for some of them to catch a hard ball coming straight at them with bare hands. And the outfielders just scooped up the ball "easy as taking hold a baby's hand," he recalled. He said he had never seen big league ball played with such gusto and ease of motion. People talk about Bob Feller's fast ball, once timed at 145 feet per second,and Doy Adkins said that if somebody had timed Gus Adkins' fast ball, it might have gone one better, because he could throw a ball so fast, you could actually hear it whistle. Nobody taught him about curves, he just practiced and it seemed to come naturally to him, or so they say. Adkins said Craton could hit a ball so far that there was "no use to get in a hurry to go after it." They say no ball escaped the steady hands of Jim Camp or Will Harris when they reached for it from short stop position, and that big, double-jointed, slow-moving Mctendon Lewis could reach up and take a fast ball out of the air like picking an apple off a tree. Adkins recalled hearing this story about his father many times: Once while playing an important game with a tied-up score, Menzo was playing in the outfield. Re backed up against a barbed wire fence and bent over backwards to catch a long fly that would have gone into an abandoned well in its path had he not caught it. Some free spender in the crowd was so excited over the catch that he ran out on the field, holding up the game, and gave Menzo $10 for his dexterity. Did any of these unique players go on to play professional ball? No, but the oldtimers are convinced that they could have had they been discovered in time. Recently a visitor walked through the cemetery on top of the hill near Stand Pipe, gathering dates from the tombstones of six of the D'Arbonne Yellow Jackets buried there. She stopped by the grave of Menzo and listened. At first, she heard only the wind in the giant hickory trees lining the rusting fence. But then she listened again and shut her eyes. She thought for a moment that she heard Menzo say in his booming voice, 'Knock the cover off it, Craton! And maybe she did! ********** Page 43 Conversations With Granny By Jack and Catherine Smith "Granny" was Sallie Pearl Fortson, the sixth Of seven children issue of the marriage between William Richard Vortson and Elizabeth Jane Brown. She was born in the Antioch community of Claiborne Parish Louisiana, on March 13th, 1876, and died June 9th, 1970, at Meadowview Nursing Home, Minden. Louisiana. Her 94 years, 2 months and 27 days covered the period from reconstruction until the space age. She married James Patrick Smith, of Summerfield, Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, on January 17th, 1906, and he died September l8th, 1944. These tales were written by one of her sons and his wife from personal memories and notes of conversations taken during her lifetime. Granny was blessed with a clear mind and memory until shortly hefore her death and her command of the Engligh language made a minimum of editing necessary. We have tried to organize and avoid repetition, always incident to a person of her years, and present them "the way she talked." They would become burdensome if detailed genealogical references were made to the many persons mentioned. Interested parties are referred to a definitive work covering her paternal ancestory: A Family History. Lt. Thomas Fortson [1742-1824] and some of His Descendants. John Wright Boyd. Heritage Papers, Danielsville, Georgia 30633. NUMBER I My earliest recollection of childhood is that I was my daddy's shadow followed him everywhere he went, even while he plowed our old mare mule named "Molly." I would follow him in the field and make "frog-stools" over my bare feet in damp earth. I remember how good and cool it felt. I always wore a sun bonnet. Papa kept telling me that Molly would run over me if I did not keep out of her way, but I did not believe him. One day I had my back turned and felt something nibbling at my head. Molly had pulled off my bonnet and was chewing on it. I was about four years old at the time. I started to school when I was five years old. I took my brother Frank's place. He had fallen out of a tree and broken his leg. To get "public money" in those days for our community school in Antioch we had to have at least twenty-one pupils. I took my brother's place to make our quota. Public money, provided by the Police Jury, was rarely enough to pay for our school. It helped, but the bulk of the costs were paid by parents of the students. Those who were able paid tuition; others provided room and board for the teachers or labor and moral support. My first teacher was "Wash" Nicholson. I think he was a relative of the famous mathematician and author, James William Nicholson, who later became President of Louisiana State University. Mr. Wash lived with us and would take me by the hand each morning and lead me to school. At night I sat on his lap while he taught me my lessons. The only books I had during my first year were a "Blue-Back" speller and "McGuffy's First Reader." From these we learned our A-B-C's and how to read and spell. We also learned a little arithmetic. Our parents taught us honesty and hard work and our teachers did the same. My mother roomed and boarded the Antioch teachers. She packed lunches each morning and would place them in small covered wicker baskets. She would fix buttered biscuits with homemade jelly or preserves inside. There was usually a small jar of ribbon cane syrup and a baked sweet potato. Sometimes she included a piece of cake or cookies. Fried puffs, which were apple or peach fried pies, were often in the lunches and we enjoyed them. There was fried chicken, ham, sausage or beef. Never bacon. We thought was tacky in those days and used it only for seasoning. We had plenty of meat in our community. One farmer would kill a beef on Friday or Saturday and share it with his neighbors. The next week another would do the same. This way we kept a fresh supply the year around. There was no way to preserve beef in those days but to suspend it in a big tub let down on a windlass into a well. This would keep it cool until used. We also had lots of pork. Hogs were killed in November or December, or anytime when the weather was cold enough. The back-bones and spare-ribs were shared with neighbors and eaten fresh. The hams, shoulders and sides were salted, cured and smoked. Salt and smoke were the only things we had to preserve pork. Smoking over a slow hickory fire in the smoke-house cured the meat and gave it a wonderful aroma. Salt kept it from spoiling. Cured ham and red-eye gravy with hot biscuits made a fine breakfast in those days. Much of the pork was ground into sausage. It was higHy seasoned with sage and pepper. We sometimes stuffed it in the "chittlings" and made links, but mostly into patties. Mama made souse meat or "hog-head-cheese" out of parts of the head and jowls. This was seasoned with red and black pepper and onions. It was cooked, pressed and placed in earthen jars. We kept it cool the same way we did our beef, in wells. A slice of souse meat between two pieces of salt rising bread was a sandwich of our day. The fatty scraps of the hog were rendered into lard and the left-over crackings, mixed with meal, made fine corn bread. We also cooled our milk in wells. We would pour it in a covered bucket and suspend it by a rope. People who were lucky enough to have a spring on their farm cooled their milk in "spring houses." But most of us used our wells. Much of the fresh milk was made into butter and buttermilk. We would fill a churn and place it near the fireplace. The warmth would curdle it just enough. We would churn it and skim the fresh butter off the top and mould it in butter moulds. We had both round and oblong ones. They usually had a design on the press which would make a flower or some other impression on top. Cold buttermilk with apple pie was mighty good. NUMBER II I knew Mrs. Larkin Randolph Lay. Her maiden name was Margaret Garrett and she was the daughter of John L. Garrett, who at one time farmed over one time farmed over one thousand acres in our community. My mother and Mrs. Lay were good friends. Mama called her Mag." She was a sister of Patrick F. "Pat': Garrett, the famous New Mexico Sheriff who killed Billy-the-Kid. Pat Garrett lived in Claiborne Parish for about ten years before he went West. He was an overseer on his father's plantation during part of this time. The Lays, Garretts and Fortsons all lived within two miles of each other in the Antioch Community. In those days we all walked to school. Our first building was a one room log house with a huge fireplace, wooden shutters on the windows, home- made benches and one long desk, extending the entire width of the room. This was latter rebuilt to hold sixty students. At one time the entire staff of the Antioch School consisted of two teachers. Mrs. Hattie Lawrence and her daughter, Carrie Bell. Carrie Bell taught grades one through five and Miss Hattie taught grades six through nine. The school lasted for nine months for all but the first grade, which lasted three months. Both teachers, along with Miss Hattie's other daughter Ernie, roomed and boarded with us. Hillary W. Garrett, Pat Garrett's youngest brother, attended this school. We used to have "Public Fridays." Parents and friends were invited to attend and see for themselves the progress we had made in our studies. I well remember Hillary Garrett reciting the following piece wit great gestures: "We must educate, We must educate, Or sad will be our plight-From the cradle to the grave!" This must have been sometime during the middle eighteen-eighties. About once each year during those times Pat Garrett and his wife, Negra, would visit his sister in Antioch. Pat's wife was of dark complexion, with jet black hair and eyes. She seemed younger than Pat and I remember her as most kind and courteous. Pat was of medium size, dark hair, eyes and skin. They would visit the Antioch school and sit in the one large classroom on Public Fridays and watch us preform. Special attention was given brother Hillary. NUMBER III My maternal grandfather was Nathaniel "Nathan" Brown. I was told that he was born in Kentucky on November 3rd, 1804. He was a farmer and woodsman. He would walk through the woods and pick out the trees suitable for cutting and estimate the board feet in each. Grandpa Brown and his family moved to Claiborne Parish from Giles County, TN, in the 1830's. They traveled overland by covered wagon, forged the streams and rivers and camped out at night. They brought all their possessions with them, including twenty-five slaves. They entered land several miles northeast of the present town of Homer and built a four room log house with slave quarters behind. They later built a larger house of hand-hewn lumber put together with pegs and used the old one for a kitchen and dining room. Grandpa Brown's wife was Elizabeth Weeks, a woman of Welsh descent, horn in South Carolina on July 9th, 1810. She was a mid-wife and homeopathic physician. She grew her own herbs and plants and made medicines from them. The herbs were planted in a small bed, about twelve by fifteen feet, behind her house. The larger ones along the fence rows. For years after she died I remember some of them continued to come up each spring. There was ydlow dock, golden rod, black berry, may apple and crab apple, among others. Her doses were usually a tea brewed from the roots, leaves or berries of one or more of the plants and she carried extracts of them in a little black bag. Medical knowledge was limited in those days and many of the diseases were called fever, flux or cramp colic. Fever could be caused by many things. Flux and cramp colic were usually upset stomach with mild to sever diarrhea. Yellow dock and black berry root were used for flux and colic and golden rod, crab and may apple for fever. Grandma road horseback to visit her patients and always carried a rifle. Legend has it that she was once attacked late at night by a "painter" (panther) while returning from a call and shot it dead through its head. Grandpa and grandma Brown bad sixteen children: Eleven boys and five girls. One little girl died in infancy; one boy died at the age of eight years and the rest survived. Some of them past the age of ninety years. Five of the sons served in the Confederacy. On of them died of measles, one had the side of his face shot off and another lost his arm in that conflict. All but the one who died came home to live out their lives. Uncle John Brown, the one who lost his arm, was wounded near Atlanta. The hospitals had no chloroform, other than the little they could steal from the yankees, and Uncle John bad his arm amputated while under the influence of whiskey. After the surgeons had cut it off they laid it on a table near his cot and left the room. They returned and found him sitting up with his severed arm on his lap trying to cut out the bullet with his pocket knife. He said he wanted to take it home as a souvenier. Uncle George Brown died of measles. Mama told me that he was a great reader and that his body was sent home by wagon from Trenton. Trenton was a cotton port town of the Ounchita river near the present city of Monroe. Several of his books were placed in his coffin and she remembered that they never fully lost their odor. He was the first person buried in the private cemetery on the old Brown place. A grave had been dug for him at old Mount Zion, but the weather was so bad the family could not get there for the funeral. Grandpa Brown had a grave dug in a cedar grove above their house and Uncle George was buried there. I well remember my grandmother Elizabeth Weeks Brown's funeral. I was quite young when she died. She too was buried in the private Brown cemetery. My mother held me by one hand and my brother Edgar by her other and led us past the end of the grave. The memory of dirt being thrown on her coffin stayed with me for many years. NUMBER IV Papa told us that his father, James Thomas Fortson, was born in Elbert County, Georgia, in 1818, and that he married his first cousin, Martha Angeline Almand, daughter of Isaac Almand and Elizabeth Fortson. The ceremony was performed at her father's home in Harris County, Georgia, in 1837. They had twelve children. Nine survived infancy and my father was their eldest. He was born in Harris County, Georgia, in 1839 and was named William Richard Fortson. Grandpa Fortson and his family moved to Claiborne Parish in the early 1850's and settled on a farm in the Antioch community. My grandmother, Martha Angie, died before 1 was born and I heard little about her other than she was a good musician. Papa played the fiddle, uncle Ben the flute and grandma the melodian. All the children could read "shape- notes" and would join vocally with the instrumentalists at family musicals. Hymns were usually sung. After grandma died grandpa married her sister, Georgia Almand Seals, widow of Capuin A. B. Seals, and they had one child. When we were little papa used to sit at night and tell us about the war. He enlisted in October of 1861 as a private in Company U, Seventeenth Louisiana Infantry, at Camp Moore. I have been told that Camp Moore was near Monroe, Louisiana. It took his group several days to travel by wagon from Homer to that point. I've read a letter he wrote to his aunt, Ann Almand Kidd, while they were on their way to duty. It was in the flowery language of the day. with the usual apologies for spelling and writing. Written from Vienna, a town near the present city of Ruston, it told of the wonderful welcome they had received along their way. There were over one hundred and ten men in the company and all had been given a supper at Lisbon and breakfast the next day. There was also a reception where a ' Miss Creer" presented a flag and made an address. My father's service included First Mannassas. Shiloh, Corinth, Port Gibson and Vicksburg. He came home on furlough early in 1863 to help with the crop. When he returned to duty at Vickshurg his father loaned him a body servant. It was a common practice in those days for soldiers to have servants with them. They were usually freed slaves with no place to go or who chose to continue to serve their ex-masters. He also took a supply of "stingy-green," which was home-grown tobacco. He used it to trade for coffee with the yankees during lulls in the fighting. We grew tobacco on our farm and would hang it on the fence and in the barn to dry. I've seen papa make cigars out of it and smoke it in his pipe. Papa was captured and paroled during the seige at Vicksburg, and told us that the last time he saw his body-servant was when he was trying to swim the Mississippi river and head toward home. After his parole papa returned home and married my mother, Elizabeth Jane "Bettie" Brown, in December of 1863. He was finally discharged from the Confederate service in May of 1865. ********** Page 49 A New Look At Some Old Schools By Mary Torbet and S. Jane Tenery. with assistance of Catherine Smith Supreme Court decisions of the last decade and a half have embroiled the South in an educational controversy which to many seems a problem peculiar to their own generation. As the furor over public versus private schools settles down to the prosaic practice of small academies operating side-by-side or in conjunction with public schools in order to educate the youth of their respective communities, one is reminded of the past. There is an irony in the way present day practices recapitulate the history of our section a hundred years or more ago. The repetition of history is particularly true in Claiborne Parish,There are those living in the Parish who remember their early education as the academy gave way to the public school system. Some have treasured anecdotes that were told by their parents of their experiences when the schools were held in their own home or in the home of a nearby neighbor. These schools were called community or field schools. There is an understandable nostalgia in the recollections of their schools by these Claiborne residences. Difficult as it was then to acquire an education, in retrospect these difficulties appear to be but a period of growing up. The memories which have endured are mostly of light-hearted, happy times. One is inclined to theorize about present day youth and their future memories in light of those memories preseryed from another time to our day. It would seem that the future reminiscences will not depend upon the excellence of the facilities or the superiority of the instructor, but rather upon the involvement of the individual in the processes of their own education. SUMMERFIELD After an acceptable government survey was made of the Summerfield region in 1822, the way was open for pioneers to begin to settle the area In 1835 steamboats navigated the Ouachita River as well as lower parts of D'Arbonne and Corney Bayou. The people who came were motivated by a desire for land or for trade which the water transportation made possible. Churches were founded as soon as shelter for the family had been provided. Schools were next in importance. They were often held in the church buildings. The first record of a school was at Hebron Church in about 1847. After that, another private school was taught in Weldon in 1857. At that time the building and benches were of split logs. There was a dirt floor and outside the eighteen foot square building was a peeled stump where pegs were driven to serve as a locker and cloak room. New log buildings were used in 1867 and 1870. In 1870 Mr. Jim Richardson taught for two years. Then, in 1872, a two story frame building was built on the site of the present Summerfield High School. Mr. E. M. (Milton) Corry Was the first teacher in this new building. The Louisiana Weekly Journal, published in Homer in January 11, 1888, carried an advertisement for a Mrs. Dr. Hickerson's School at Summerfield. The school was to open for its regular term on January 9,1888. The late Mrs. Bennie Kerlin Bragdon of Homer, Louisiana, was born in 1884, about three miles from the Summerfield Community. Her grandfather was Benjamin T. Ledbetter, a "leading politician of Northwest Louisiana, and his influence was plainly felt throughout this region. At his death, he was surveyor-general of the State of Louisiana, having been appointed by President Cleveland" (Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northwest Louisiana 3:432). Mrs. Bragdon remembers that he taught the Negroes on his place to read and write. They in turn would go out and teach others. Their primary interest in reading was to read the Bibles. The first school that Bennie attended was in her Aunt Teressa Ledbetter-Martin's home, where other nearby children were also taught. In 1891 Mrs. Bragdon and her brother, Dr. Sam Kerlin of Shreveport, entered the Summerfield Academy. Their teacher, Mr. E. M. Corry, Mrs. Bragdon remembers as a fine man, a good principal but strict, especially in math.2 An advertisement in the Homer Guardian Journal in 1894 lists Mr. Corry principal and the teachers as Miss Alma O'Bannon, Miss Alice Henry, and Miss Pearl Barrow. Miss Bennie and Sam had to walk the three miles to school at first. The family moved to Summerfield, about two blocks from the school, when Bennie was nearly sixteen. School began at seven o'clock in the morning and ended for the day at four o'clock. There was a music room behind the school building. The Kerlin family moved to Homer in 1900, and Mrs. Bragdon entered the first public high school in Homer. Her Senior Class of 1903 was the second to graduate from the Homer Public School. Later, Bennie was to continue her education due to the effors of Dr. Thomas N. Nix.3 Dr. Nix was a dentist at Summerfield. He acquired a name for himself among professional men of North Louisiana. Probably his public spiritedness as well as his profession led to his good name, for he, being aware that there were no pianos in the rural areas of Arizona, Lisbon and Summerfield, became a piano salesman. He asked Mrs. Bragdon to teach piano and voice to prospective buyers. In doing this she earned enough money to pay her fare to the Conservatory of Music in Cinncinnati, Ohio. She went on a scholarship to Cinneinnati and later to Indianapolis, Indiana. In Indiana her voice teacher was a famous opera singer from Norway. When she could no longer afford to pay for her voice lessons, he offered to continue to teach her in exchange for breathing lessons to his younger students. He even offered to train her for opera, but she wanted to return to Claiborne Parish and teach. Bennie taught generations of Claiborne Parish children, and prior to her death, at the age of 89 she was still teaching piano. ARIZONA The Arizona Academy, or Nicholson School as it was often called, was organized in 1870 by Colonel J. W. Nicholson of Civil War fame and Austin Harris, father of Dayton and T. H. Harris. The school was an immediate success and was patronized by boys from various parishes of the State and by a few from nearby states. In 1865, when J. W. Nicholson returned from the war, he re-entered the Homer Male Academy where he had been a student before leaving to fight at the age of sixteen. This time he was a teacher as well as a student. He was awarded his Masters degree in 1867. He felt there was a need for a school in the Arizona community and resigned at Homer to begin the Arizona Academy with Mr. Harris.The school opened with forty-five pupils but the number rapidly increased to 125. The school facilities had to be enlarged. The original building was only one storied but later available pictures of the Nicholson school show it grew to be a two-storied wood frame building. The success of the Arizona school began to draw students from the Homer Male College. The trustees in Homer offered Nicholson the chair of mathematics at a salary of $1,500 to return to Homer. This was a princely sum for the times, since Louisiana probably suffered more from the evils of reconstruction than any other Southern state and money was scarce. Turmoil and confusion in political matters as well as misappropriation of school funds were some of the difficulties facing the schools. Although he accepted the position, he continued to operate the Arizona Academy. His partner, Austin Harris, had returned to full time ministerial work and after two years of divided interest, Nicholson was convinced the Academy would fail unless he assumed active leadership. He devoted the next five years to the Arizona Academy. His ability to inspire his students endeared him to them. The close ties between the Academy, church, and the community is recounted by Dr. Longino. At a protracted meeting, two local boys decided to liven things up a bit by flipping green grapes at the ceiling and watching them fall to the floor and roll around. A complaint was made to Mr. Nicholson the next day. He questioned the boys separately about throwing sloes, which were thought to be the offending missals, during the church services. The boys truthfully answered, 'No." The faculty lost its case, and the boys were acquitted to the delight of all the school. It was considered a great joke that the faculty did not know the difference between a sloe and a green grape. In 1877 he was offered the chair of mathematics at Louisiana State University. Others took charge of the Academy after his departure, but the school declined and became one of the small schools in the parish. In 1906 J. W. Nicholson deeded the Arizona school lot for the sum of $800.00 to a board of trustees comprised of W. A. Melton, J. S. Pryor, M.F. Robinson, A. B. Tooke, S. M. Bullock and W. W.Nicholson. The building was still being used during World War I. In 1928, the Arizona school was consolidated with Lisbon. Mrs. Bessie Murrell Gray of Homer remembers her mother, Eliza Bridgeman Murrell, telling of riding behind her brother, Jim Bridgeman, on an old mule every Monday morning to school at Arizona. They boarded with a family during the week, then rode the mule home on Friday afternoon. The late Minnie Murrell Malone, a sister of Mrs. Gray, married Lascum Malone. Lascum's mother was Sally Nicholson Malone, a sister of Colonel Nicholson. There were five children in the Lascum Malone family. One daughter, Lillian Malone, married Horrace Robinson, Executive Secretary for the Louisiana Teachers Association. There is a Nicholson Hall at Louisiana State University and also a Nicholson School in Baton Rouge. The Robinsons sent their son, John Murrell Robinson, all the way across the city to attend the school named for his great, great uncle, Colonel J. W. Nicholson. In a letter from Mrs. Gertrude Corry there is a description of the community as she remembers having heard of it from her husband and relatives from Arizona. At one time the Arizona Community was a textile manufacturing town. There was an old boarding school out there near the factory. I think that the boarding school was in connection with the Chautaugua Schools, which up all over the country about that time. J. W. Nicholson was the math teacher at one time in the boarding school. There was an agricultural school and farm there at one time, too. LISBON The first school at Lisbon was built by a Mr. Sandford. Like other schools of its day it was a one-room building, financed by the pupils' monthly tuition. Mr. Brooks was the first teacher. The building later housed the Lisbon Academy described by T. H. Harris, whose brother Dayton Harris was principal of the school in 1890 when Tom Harris began his schooling. Laurice Patton Robinson, Homer, Louisiana, is the daughter of C. S. L. Patton, one of Mr. Harris's classmates at the Academy. Mr. Harris referred to Lee as being one of the best students in school, especially apt at Latin and higher mathematics. Mrs. Robinson said that as long as he could afford to do so, her father went to Tulane University. He returned to Claiborne Parish and taught at some of the one-room school houses in the parish until his marriage to Kate Henry of Arcadia. He then settled down to farm the Patton family land which he had inherited. There were six children in the family, all helped with the farm and household chores. Mrs. Robinson attended the Lisbon Academy in 1899. The building was located across the street from the Lee Caruthers house. By this time the building had two rooms. The main room had a stage and was used when all the children were in attendance. At certain times of the year many of the children were needed at home to help with the farm work. Behind the stage was a blackboard on legs, and the partition between the two rooms was movable to allow for extra space when it was needed. Mr. Allen Jones was principal when Mrs. Robinson began school in Lisbon. Mrs. Ella Kulgore was his assistant. The schoolyard had two springs boxed in for drinking water. One was for the children, and the other was for the horses. One year Earl Kilgore caught the mumps. Everyone in the school used the same dipper at the spring and as a result the pupils took Earl's mumps. The Robinson children lived four miles from the school. They left home before daylight and rarely returned before dark. They carried their lunches in syrup buckets. Cold steak with tallow on it was a common meal, consequently, Mrs. Robinson has a definite dislike for cold steak to this day. At the Lisbon Academy, the desks were crude, homemade ones which accommodated two pupils. Carving named on the desk was a favorite pastime the male students. The blackboard was of wood, painted black. Sheepskins were used for erasers. Each day the first fifteen minutes was set aside for Bible reading, prayer, and a song service. On Fridays, at recess there were programs for speeches, spelling bees, and music. There was always a big program on the closing night of school before the Christmas holidays. A second school building was built on the same site while Mrs. Robinson was still in school. It was also one long room hut the desks were bought, not handmade. Miss Dolly Aycock was the first principal, and Eustis Killgore was a student assistant. Two more rooms were added later. The school had been on a non-graded basis. Mr. F. G. Phillips was hired to organize the grades. His first assistant was Miss Alec Simmons. Other assistants under him were Agnes Meadows, Ethel Manry, Itonia Bard and Euphie Odom. Mr. Phillips was a very civic-minded man. He dismissed classes for the students to attend funerals of local people. They often sang for the services. One outstanding event of Mrs. Robinson's memory is the day school was dismissed for the young people to watch Mr. Ragland driving the first automobile they had ever seen. There were years when there were no graduating seniors. The first Baccalureate service, Mrs. Robinson remembers, was held in 1914. In 1915 she took a teaching examination and was given a school the following fall at Sugar Creek. She also taught at Union Grove, which was a mile from Camp. Every Friday afternoon she and her assistant, Kathy Beene, had to rearrange the seats for the Church of Christ services on Sunday. Monday morning the seats were put back in order for the school week. Mahon was Mrs. Robinson's last school where she taught for two years. She boarded with the Tandy McElwees. Rosa Wilder and Mary Lee McElwee went to school there. 6 ATHENS Among the first schools to receive legislative santion was Claiborne in Homer, Louisiana. The Academy was incorporated on March 12, 1836, by David Pratt, Newel Drew, Willim Hobby, John Davidson, S. D. Long. Thaddeus W. Byas, R. Jones, Hugh Walker, James Dyer, Thomas Wafer, John M. Frouts, William Ashbrook, James Lee, James Ambrose, Alexander Nelson, James Bryce, John Wilson and Robert Henderson. On March 13, 1837, an appropriation of $1,000.00 annually for five years was granted, provided free instruction was given ten indigent children. Difficulty was experienced in getting a building ready, and in 1838 an additional appropriation of $1,500.00 was made to assist in building the school. However, it was stipulated that no part of the monies was to be paid until it was properly certified that the school was completed. is not definitely known where this Academy was first located. Treasurers records do not show that the school ever operated. The State report shows that $6,500.00 was paid by the State to its Board of Trustees.The Claiborne Parish seat was moved from Overton to Athens in 1846. According to Dr. Luther Longino, the move was not due to the unhealthy situation at Overton as much as it was due to the contention for sites for courthouse honors. On November 27, 1849, the courthouse and records were burned, According to Harris and Hulse, this work was believed to be the work of an incendiary. After the fire, the Police Jury determined to locate the courthouse centrally and permanently, and Homer was chosen for the site. Police Jury minutes shed some light on the activities of the Claiborne Adademy and of the lands which had been connected with the venture. In the 1868 there were two old deeds put on record for the first time which dated back to various land transactions carried on by the trustees of the defunct academy. One such deed delivered back to John Wilson eighteen lots, ten of which were not accounted for in the Police Jury minutes of September, 1850. These lots were given the academy in 1830 by Mr. Wilson. The date of return of the land was March 1, 1945. To Willima Ashbrooks was reconveyed eighteen lots which he had donated to the Claiborne Academy in 1836. Records in the Claiborne Parish Clerks office show other schools in and around Athens. The Sand Hill Academy was charted February 20,1879. A partial description of the land given by W. A. Adkins to T. B. Wafer, President of the Board of Incorporation is as follows: Starting gum (meant tree) which is fore and aft tree on the section line between section 34 and 35, which is on west bank of said branch running 100 yards west to public road. There were three acres more or less in this land. The Sand Hill School was a large rectangular structure. Two desks extended the length of the building and were divided by a partition. Boys sat on one side of the desks; girls sat on the other side. The seats were long bare planks without backs. There were no outside buildings, nature provided the necessary places of recluse. A nearby spring, more often than not inhabited by crawfish, frogs, and an occasional turtle or snake, furnished the school water supply. November 9,1878, W. A. Atkins deeded land to the Atkins School Association, J. F. Mooty, President, for school purposes. In April, 1879, there was an Act of Incorporation of Athens School Association. The trustees for this organization were T. A. Aubry, J. F.Mooty, R. J. Bridges, W. F. Bridges, and H. A. McFarland(Records 5:219). In August of 1891 an Athens Academy was chartered. The purpose of the corporation, as stated in the Charter, was to establish and maintain a school for the education of both sexes of white children. A deed filed June 9,1904, returned land to Mrs. Ella Atkins which her late husband, A. L. Atkins had donated for the Clampitt Academy of Athens. It is interesting to note that Mr. A. L. Atkins was elected to the Legislature from Claiborne Parish in the election of 1879, which resulted from the Constitutional Convention of 1878. Mrs. Atkins was a resident of Bienville Parish at the time Mr. J. F. Gandy, acting for the Clampitt Academy and Louisiana Presbytery, delivered the lands to her. The reason given for the return was the land not having been used for school purposes as intended. The Clampitt school was to have been an outgrowth of the First Presbyterian Church which was organized in 1858. Originally the church was as Salem Church. The land for the church and Salem cemetery was donated by Judge J. L. Kilgore. The school was built on land across from the cemetery. It was a private school run by the Presbyterians. Tuition was charged. EUREKA There is a difference of opinion about the name of the one room schoolhouse which was in the present day community of Harris. Mrs. Nannie Brooks King, Homer, La., said that the school she attended there was called Eureka. Other former students in that area call the school Eureka. There was only a grocery store, not a school, at Langston, according to the J. W. Torbet, Seniors. However, Mr. T.H. Harris refers to the school and community as Langston in his memoirs. Mr. Harris had been a student at the Lisbon Academy for a year when he had the opportunity to teach there for two months in the summer of 1891 His assistant, Miss Nolie Moore, the late Mrs. W. L. Barrow, was also a student at Lisbon. When they received their first checks, his check was for fifty dollars and hers was only twenty-five dollars. He felt so badly about the discrimination against Nolie, and too, she was good-looking, so he offered her ten of his salary to compensate the inequality. She readily accepted his offer. What Miss Nolie felt about this is difficult to say. The researchers used her personal copy of Harris's Memoirs, but she never talked about the incident to her children. Her daughter, Mrs. Mary B. King, and her son, Wiltz Barrow, said that their mother had a shy retiring nature. When asked how she spent the ten dollars that Mr. Harris had given her, she replied that she did not recall and she refused to elaborate.7 Mr. John Crow of Minden, Louisiana, also remembers the school near the Langston school as Eureka. Mr. Crow was horn in 1881, and began his schooling in 1893 at Flat Lick Lodge, which was located near what is now known as Weller Tank Farm. Mr. Crow also went to school for a while at Bethlehem School. The community was first known as Currys, and later the name was changed to Bethlehem. He still has vivid memories of a teacher, Miss Winnie (or Willie) Camp at Bethlehem. She was from old Haynesville and not only Mr. Crow, but another student, Mrs. Bessie Murrell Gray. remembers her for her ability to teach in such an interesting way that the lessons became a part of their lives. After Mr Langston's death, Mr. and Mrs. Crow bought the Langston store and house and moved to the Eureka community. At this time a new school building was under construction and the Crows boarded the men who were working on it. When the building was completed in 1924, Mr. John S. Patton, Parish superintendent, suggested that the Eureka School be named for Mr. T. H. Harris. It was said that Mr. Harris was a little dubious about accepting the honor, since he believed that such acclaim should only be given posthumously. However, he really was pleased to be singled out in this manner. For years Harris had outstanding basketball teams. The year they went to State for play-offs, Mr. Harris could be seen on the sidelines rooting for his "boys". For six years, beginning in 1923, Mr. Crow drove a Model T school bus; one year to Eureka, and five years to Harris with no accidents or injuries. The roads at that time were unpaved and little more than "cow tracks." The usual load was forty-two children.8 Bethlehem School, Eureka and the Pine Grove Academy, which was chartered on December 6, 1891, were consolidated with Harris. Mr. V. M. Robert of Homer was principal at Harris for seventeen years. After Mr. Robert retired, Mr. Henry A. Smith of Homer was principal until Harris consolidated with The Homer school system.9 HOMER The town of Homer had, during a considerable portion of its history, not one, but two colleges at the same time. Homer Male College was contemporary during most of its existence to the Homer Female College Institute, also known as the Homer Masonic Female College. For a short but undetermined period, there was also a rural school which was contemporary with the Male and Female Colleges. This was located in what was to be know later as the Homer Oil Field. An Act of Incorporation was filed December 27, 1877, for the Moreland and Gladney School Association. It affirmed that: J. B. Moreland, J. R. Gladney, R. G. Enous, W. A. Moreland, S.Y. Gladney and E. H. tangford, all residents of said Parish who declared that availing themselves of the power and authority conferred by the statues of the State of Louisiana granting authority for the extablishing of bodies corporate for Scientific, Literary, Religious, Charitable, and other purposes they have this day organized themselves into a Moreland Gladney School. A deed dated January 1, 1878, shows the transfer of three acres of land from Mrs. Pernielia A. Kerr, wife of James D. Kerr, to James P. Gladney, President of the Moreland and Gladney School Association. The land was in the northeast corner of the W. C. Murrell estate et al. In the Story of Public Education in Louisiana, T. H. Harris writes of the 1870's as a time when graft was the most distingushing characteristic of the school system. Nowhere, he said, was there any support for the public school system, which was a farce and a delusion. The situation described by Harris must have been especially true of Claiborne Parish. It is easy to understand why men of good will in the Parish would employ any and all means to support the private schools of the period, as a means of education for the youth of the community. Struggling just as hard for public education at this time was W. Jasper Blackburn. He was a delegate from Claiborne to the first teacher's convention in New Orleans in 1872. Dr. Luther Longino, in his Thoughts, Visions and Sketches of North Louisiana, gives an interesting account of Blackburn. His poitical opinions were so unpopular in Minden, where he published a newspaper, that it was necessary for him to remove himself to Homer. A radical Republican, he was probably chosen to the teacher's convention on basis of party, not popularity. Nevertheless, W. Jasper "told it like it was" and offended the convention. "Public schools", he stated, "were utterly worthless, serving no purpose whatever except to provide salaries for the higher-ups". He went on to say that there was one public school in Claiborne Parish and it amounted to nothing. Mr. Harris wondered how W. Jasper ever found his way to the council table, but his brother, Dayton, recorded that Blackburn was elected to the Kellogg Senate that same year. HOMER MALE COLLEGE The Homer Male College was charted in 1855, developing perhaps from the influence of a one-room school started by Mrs. Jane C Smith in 1850. It was given authority to confer the degree of B.A., B.S., M.A. and M.S. and was to be under the supervision of the Methodist Conference. Its capital stock was limited to $300,000. Among those interested in its orgin were the Reverend Mr. Richard Handle, J. C Blackman, and Joseph T. Wafer. The School was located on one acre land site lying East of lot number 96 of the town of Homer. The land was donated by Zachariah Ragland in 1856. The school remained until consolidation with the Homer Female Collegiate Institute in 1885. Authority for the organization did not mean that the Homer College would begin operations at once. It was not until the following year that ground was broken and the corner stone laid. Construction could not be hurried since the building depended upon private funds and subscriptions to materials and pay the workmen. It was three years before the massive brick, colonial style building was ready for occupancy. Following an impressive dedicatory ceremony in 1859, the school began. Members of the faculty were the Reverend Baster Clegg, President; J. S. Stacy, languages; and J. B. Cutten, mathematics. The first year 115 students were enrolled. Some of these were below the college level, for elementary grades had not yet been organized in the parish. The College closed for several years during the Civil War. In 1867 the school reopened. R. S. Jackson was principal, and J. W. Nicholson headed the mathematics department. In 1870 James E.Cobb was President, and J. W. Nicholson, A. C. Calhoun and E. M. Corry were teachers. Under Cobb as President, the school began a unique way to attempt to finance the school. Would-he benefactors without ready cash were persuaded to sign notes for $40,000. The notes were to collect eight per cent interest and this was to provide an annual income of $3.OO0. The plan was not successful. The subscribers did not pay, and the property of the College was sold for debt in 1878. It would have been useless to have tried to get state funds to aid the school at this time, for in 1878, a legislative investigation showed that school funds amounting to $2,137,000 were misapplied during reconstruction. The Peabody Fund did appropriate $1,225 during Cobb's incumbency. However, this amount was divided between the two colleges operating at this time. The 1878 sale was the second of such sales but not the last. In 1876, G.G. and George Gill purchased, reparied and prepared to operate the school as nondenominational. The local paper hailed this as the dawning of a new day since the editors felt the connection with the Methodist Conference had been a hindrance to the school's progress. There are records of several transactions of the college property to private individuals for the years 1877 and 1878. It was sold, purchased by others at a Sheriff's sale, and deeded, in turn, back to the College. This evidently was another way the College managed to survive through the years. Despite hardships, Homer Male College performed a valuable service for Claiborne parish and the State. Within its walls were educated some of the state's most prominent men: Professor R. A. Smith and Colonel Nicholson, educators; Dr. Sydney T. Moreland of Washington and Lee, the first person on record to use X-ray; James C. Meadors, the first Superintendent of New Mexico Military Institute, and many others. The type of leadership it developed in those who came under its influence justified its existence and its place in the history of Louisiana. HOMER MASONIC FEMALE INSTITUTE The Homer Female Collegiate Institute was incorporated in 1857 with the authority to confer such honors atid degrees as were usually conferred by seminaries for ladies. A deed filed August 11, 1856, for a half acre of land from Littleton Joyner also includes a right of way to the old privy house south of the female academy. Although the school must have been very unpretentious, it was in financial difficulties from the first. On December 7, 1859, the Homer Lodge bought at a Sheriff's sale, all the property of the Homer Female Collegiate Institute, a boarding school for girls located in the area or vicinity of McCasland Street in the town of Homer, for the sum of $300.00 and continued to operate the school until 1892, when the Homer Masonic Female College was sold to Mrs. Gertrude Vaughn, reserving the main college building to be moved from the campus. The sale was made for $500.00, evidenced by a note due three months later on January 15,1893 (Homer Lodge 14:2). Under the Masons, the school was successful until it was forced to close by the war. When it first reopened, it suffered financial difficulties. Later, under the able leadership of T. S. Sligh, for a period of about seven years, the school enjoyed a favorable press and patronage. Mrs. Sarah Meadors Thompson, Homer, Louisiana, has a wealth of anecdotes handed down by her mother, Lela Moreland Meadors, and her aunt, F. Kate Moreland, who went to the College when Sligh was President. F. Kate Moreland was very brilliant and lovely. We were extremely proud of her. Right after she graduated, Grandpa, who was in the Legislature in New Orleans, took her with him to one of the sessions. She was so lovely he liked to show her off. At a hotel where they stayed there was a bar where ladies could go. Grandpa ordered her a drink. She took a sip and did not like it. "Papa," she asked, "how much did you say this cost?" When he told her the price. . . something like seventy-five cents, she said resolutely, "I'll drink it". About five years after graduation F. Kate was badly burned; the family was never able to determine how the accident occurred. She was disfigured for life. There were day students at the Masonic College, but the Moreland sisters were boarding students. Their home was about ten miles out of Homer toward Coiquit. The girls were only about eighteen when they graduated. Their education was probably comparable to our high school education now. However, it was classical: Latin, Greek, mathematics, geometry, history, and other subjects. Aunt Kate knew it. I'm not so sure Mama. Mama's dissertations were mostly about Kate Simmons. I never knew whom she married, but I felt like I knew her. Mama would tell how Kate would take her finger and run it down her throat to make herself vomit and how sick she could look, or how she would rip her uniform just before service to get out of going to church. Church was compulsory then. Mardi Gras, then, was celebrated all over Louisiana, rather than just in New Orleans as it is today. The young people would mask and go visiting. The girls at Homer Masonic were forbidden to open the door or go outside, or in any way acknowledge the presence of young men. However, the girls did manage to let various objects down from the second floor, by rope, to the young men who were masked and on horseback. At one time, they had a cake they were just getting ready to let out the window when they heard Mrs. Sligh coming in. They hastily hid the cake under the bed covers. Mrs. Sligh picked this spot to sit. Lela Moreland had a brother home visiting from Wasington and Lee. He was very brillint at physics. While he was at home he visited the College on what was known as examination day. This was a day in which the public was invited to come and listen while the students were orally examined as to the subjects in which they were matriculated. Often a guest was invited to question the students. Brother Sidney sent Lela to the board to work a math problem. While this may have been a typical brotherly trick, it may be assumed that her reactions were just as typical. "Mama says they had an address, diploma awards and probably singing by town people who performed on all occasions." The diplomas had ribbons on the left side. Long colorful ribbons streamed from the manuscripts which the graduates held as they read their essays.10 In 1885 the s&hool consolidated with the Homer Male College. It was then known as the Homer Male and Female College. Professor J. H. Davidson was charge. To sort out the maze of name changes and Lessees would be an almost impossible undertaking. Eventually, land owned by the combined corporate bodies north of North Main street began to be laid off in divisions. Evidently, this was in order to sell the land. The land south of North Main Street which had the school building on it was leased to various individuals and to the town of Homer, usually for a year at a time until about 1900. HOMER TRAINING SCHOOL A brochure for the Homer Training School, 1897-98, the property of Mrs. Melba Gill Nelson, Homer, Louisiana, lists the names of 190 students for that school year. A number of the students are still living in Homer. It was difficult to find a former student who recalled the school. The researchers developed the following premise: (1) the school probably was only operated for a year under its original faculty; (2) the school underwent another name change; (3) the students who are still living at this time were so young that they never realized when the school ceased to be private and became a part of the public school system; (4) those asked about the Homer Training School should have been asked about the Johnston School, for as the researchers later learned, the schools usually were called after the name of the President of the school. Mr. John A. Wilder, Homer, was the only former student contacted who had a vivid recollection of the Homer Training School. He remembers it was a paying school, but he believes it was built with Parish funds on Parish lands. The building and grounds were later known as the Old Grammar School and grounds. Today, appropriately enough, the Jaycees have built a children's park there. At that time, the school faced what is now North Main Street. The property which had not been divided by South Main Street extended back for several acres, and the National Guard held rifle practice there. The building was a two-storied brick structure with wooden buildings in the back used as study rooms. Mr. Wilder remembers it was two-storied so well because of an incident which took place after the school had become a public one. One day he and his buddy, Bill Kelly, had to stay after school as punishment. The teacher who kept them in was "down" on Bill. They exchanged some heated words, and the teacher began to hit Bill with a feather duster. Bill tried to jump out the window, and John had to pull him back in by the suspenders. After they were finally dismissed they planned their revenge. They waited until the teacher left school, and from a concealed position, pelted him with rotten eggs left from the nest of an old setting hen of Bill's mother.Still not satisfied, they hung around the teacher's house to have another "go" at him if possible. They were rewarded when a Negro wood peddler came to the teacher's door. He came to the door with a lamp in his hand. This time the boys used rocks since their egg supply had run out. A lucky throw broke the lamp. Thoroughly alarmed, the teacher ran for help crying, "Some goop is trying to kill me. The boys took to their heels. The seriousness of their actions began to dawn on them, and they did not know what to do next. Their first hiding place was under a bridge, near where Pearson Motors is today. As they lay there with their hearts pounding and their breath coming in gasps, a prominent man in the town kept a tryst with his lady fair, a married woman, also well known in town. This terrible secret put the youths in even more of a dilemma. At this time the Methodists and Baptists were having a feud. The teacher was a Baptist and he blamed the acts on the Methodists. Mr. Wilder recounts that there were actually fist-fights in the streets over the accusations. Community meetings were called to try and solve the problems. The boys were drawn to the meetings, while at the same time they were afraid of what might be disclosed. At a meeting at the Homer Courthouse, opinions as to what to do when the culprits were caught ranged from, "Run 'em out of town" to "Hang 'em". A Mr. Bridgeman stood up and said that, in his opinion, the guilty parties were sitting within seven rows of where he was. John and Bill were standing in the back of the room so they heaved a sigh of relief. Nevertheless, their consciences would not let them have any peace. They decided to run away. This action pointed the finger of guilt at them. They were soon caught by a detective the town had hired.The families were so glad to have their sons back that they forgave them. Their official sentence was somewhat light, too. Bill's father was Chief of Police in Homer, and when the runaways were fined one dollar each for their misdeeds, he forfeited half of the fine. Two other local boys enjoyed the episode so much they tried a similar trick the following year. The same teacher was the victim. The teacher owned a prize horse and buggy. Clyde Brown and Dolph Baker slipped off one night from their homes about midnight. They had with them clippers, razor and shaving cream. They drove the horse up in a corner of his lot. They clipped his tail, then lathered it and shaved it. Mr. Hendon fed his horse three times a day. That morning he did not notice anything unusual. At lunch he saw the tail, rather the lock of it. He was so furious he came back and turned school out for the rest of the day.A few days later he had a meeting with what he thought was the good boys in the school. He asked them to help him find out who had clipped his horse's tail. Dolph and Clyde were two he selected to ask for special help. He thought a boy named Earl Kinnebrew was the culprit. Dolph and Clyde were to stay in after school while he berated Earl. Then as they walked home together, Earl would be so angry about the abuse, he would confess to them that he was guilty. This was a dirty trick Mr. Hendon was trying to play on Earl, and the boys did not think it was fair. Dolph's father was on the School Board. Dolph went to his father and told him how unfair the teacher was to "poor" Earl. He did not confess his part in the affair, but he assured his father Earl was innocent. Mr. Baker told Mr. Kennebrew. Mr. Kinnebrew, in turn, threatened to horsewhip Mr. Hendon unless he apologized to Earl. Mr. Hendon apologized. Hendon hired a detective from Shreveport to come over and find the guilty party or parties. Clyde and Dolph worked diligently with him, but the case was not solved. In the meantime Mr. Hendon had gotten a false tail to put on his horse. After college, Dolph returned to Louisiana and traveled for Collier's Weekly. One day he met Mr. Hendon who was teaching in St. Francisville. At this meeting he acknowledged his guilt. All Mr. Hendon said was, "I'll be damned."11 PUBLIC SCHOOL In 1900, what had been at one time the Homer Male and Female Institute, and had at other times gone by various and sundry names, became the first public school which all white children in the town would attend. In the beginning of the public school period, textbooks were not furnished. Each child paid three dollars per term. All grades from the third on up were taught in the building which had been occupied such a short time before by the Homer Training School. Mr. Reed was principal in 1902, when Sarah Meadors Thompson started to school. Mrs. Hanlon is the teacher Sarah remembers best, Each day Mrs. Hanlon had each child tell of some kind act they had done that day. Every Friday the class had Bible study. For entertainment they took part in "spelling bees' and arithmetic competition. Sarah remembers bumping was the sport of initiating "new" boys. Two boys, each held an arm and a leg on his side of the body of the newcomer, then they would swing the captive against a tree. Sarah's class, 1913, was the last to graduate in the old building. A new building at another location was constructed after World WarI. It the present day Homer High School.12 The Constitution of 1898 was the final impetus needed for the development of a wholesome public school system throughout Claiborne. The Constitution had stated that no funds raised for the support of public schools could be used for the support of any private or sectarian schools. It also provided for the operation of kindergartens and set age limits for educables. All state funds were apportioned to the parishes on a per educable basis. Perhaps as important as any of the acts, it specified certain sources of revenue for the state school fund. Standards for the certification of teachers were low and there was poor enforcement of regulations and general lack of uniformity of procedure. But from this weak beginning, there has been built a tremendous conflux of education in Claiborne Parish and throughout the State of Louisiana. In all of the recorded effort for and by educators, various methods have been tried, improved upon, discarded, and new innovations accepted for a time until they too went through the fire of trial. Graded, non-graded, all white, integrated, public school, academy and so in Ad infinitum. Still the connotation of the words, education and attainment, imply flexibility, shifting, and regrouping to meet the changing times. Footnotes: 1 "A History of Summerfield High School", 1935. Claiborne Parish School Board, Homer, Louisiana. 2 Personal Interview. Mrs. Bennie Bragdon. April 26, 1972. 3 Personal Interview. Mrs. Bennie Bragdon. April 26,1972. 4 Personal Interview, Mrs, Bessie Gray, Homer, La, April 10,1972. 5 Letter from Mrs. Gertrude Corry, Shreveport, May, 1972. 6 Personal Interview, Mrs. J. T. Robinson. April 5, 1972. 7 Personal Interview Mrs. Mary B. King, Homer, La, March 30 1972. 8 Personal Interview, Mrs. John Crow, Minden, La., May 2,1972. 9 Personal Interview. Mr. V. M. Robert, Homer, La. May 3,1972. 10 Personal interview. Mrs. Sarah Thompson. April 12, 1972. 11 Personal Interview. Doiph Baker. May 7,1972. 12 Personal Interview. Mrs. Sarah Meadors Thompson. March 23, 1972. ********** Page 66 Mt. Paran Primitive Baptist Church The Louisiana Primitive Baptist Association was organized September 11, 1851, at Pilgrim's Rest Church in Jackson Parish. In 1854 there were eleven churches with 234 members. Mt. Paran Church was organized in 1854. It entertained the association in 1863 and 1871 Elders Z. Thomas, J. S. Barrow and P. F. White cited two texts to prove their belief in The Articles of Faith. The 31st session met at Mt. Paran in 1881. Elder J. N. Bryan gave the introductory sermon. Elders J. E Knighton and Eli Stuart were visitors from the Primitive Association in Mississippi. The 42nd session met with Mt. Paran October 8-9-10, 1892, with EIder J. D. Spinks, moderator, and J. H. Thompson, clerk. The 55th session met with Mt. Paran in 1906, with Elders J. G. Henderson, E. M. Knighton and J. D. Spinks present. The 66th session convened with Mt. Paran in 1916. Elder P. C. Wright gave the intorductory sermon. There were eleven churches in the body. The 72nd session met with Mt. Paran in 1922. The introductory was by Elder N. L. Martin and Elders Fawght, J. D. Almond, E. C. Carter, Pat Smith, T. L. Webb and H. Z. Benefidd, moderator, were present. Six churches were represented in the association. The 105th session met with Mt. Paran in 1955, and the 114th in 1964. The 121st session of the Louisiana Association of Primitive Baptist Churches met at Mt. Paran Oct 8-9-10,1971. Elder Hoyt H. Smith pastor of Mt. Paran, gave the introductory sermon. All churches were represented by letter or messenger. The order of preaching was: Elders Hoyt A. Smith, E. L. Reed, R. J. Wade, W. R. Daniels, M. R. Alton, W. V. Stanaland, A. D. Wood, U. G. Farquhar, Robert A. Moore, Ruben R. Monk and Joe F. Hildreth. The closing was by the moderator, L. C. Swanner. (Taken from the Louisiana Primitive Baptist Association 1851-1972, by Elder L. C. Swanner.) The State of Louisiana Nov the 18th 1854 Claiborne Parish We the undersigned being Baptist of the Old school or Primitive Order do hearby certify that we were called upon by the Bretheren and Sisters of what is now called Mount Perron Church on the day and date above written in the state and parish aforsaid for the purpose of constituting them into a church and that upon examination finding them Orthodox and Orderly did constitute them into a church called as afforsaid upon the following Covenant and Abstract of Faith T J Foster M Z Thomasville Cl Covenant We the undersigned Baptists of the Old School or Primitive Order being deprived of the privaledges of a gospel church do hereby agree to come together upon the following covenant and Abstract of faith Art. 1 - In a judgment of Charity and Discretion towards each other give ourselves to the Lord and to each other in a church capacity by the will of God Art. 2 - We agree to indeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the Bonds of peace and to love one another according to the command of Christ and to watch over each other in Love for the mutual edification and comfort of each other Art. 3 - We agree to sympathise with each other in adversity and in prosperity to bear each others burthens and to admonish each other in love and Christian tenderness Art..4 - We agree to confess our faults to one another and to pray for one another without respect to persons in Church affairs and that we will indeavor to live examples one to another in piety, in tenderness, in faith in charity, and in Christian conversation. Art. 5th - We agree to strive together for the faith of the gospel and to contend earnestly for it as set forth in the annext abstract and in the Holy Scriptures not suffering any human intervention unexemplified in the work of God to be imposed upon us. Abstract of Faith Art. 1th - We believe in one only true and living God the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost Art. 2nd - We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the word of God and the only rule of faith and practice Art. 3rd - We believe in the Doctrine of Eternal and perticular election Art. 4th - We belive in the Doctrine of Original Sin Art. 5th - We believe in man's importancy to recover himself from the fallen state he is in by nature of his own free will ability Art. 6th - We believe that sinners are justified in the sight of God only by the imputed rightousness of Christ Art. 7th - We believe that God's elect shall be called regenerated and sanctihed by the Holy Ghost Art. 8th - We believe that the Saints shall persevere in Grace and never finily fall away Art. 9th - We believe that Baptism and the Lord's Supper are ordinances of Jesus Christ and that True Believers are the only subjects of this ordinances and that true mode of Baptism is by emersion Art. 10th - We believe in the resurection of the Dead and a general Judgment Art. 11th - We believe the punishment of the wicked will be everlasting and joys of the righteous will be eternal Art. 12th - We believe that no minister has the right to the administration of this ordinances only such as are regularly called and come under the hands of the presbetery ... Louisiana Claiborne Parish October the 9th 1878 Antiach Church to her sister church at Mount Parron sendeth Christian Salutation. Dear Bretheren this is to certify that we are in a divided condition and we wish you to send three of your members to meet with us in our next meeting to aid and assist as helpers to settle same difficulty with us Done by order of the Church in conference the day and date above written I T Coleman, Clerk El W B Howard, Moderator Bernice La R F D Nos Dec 17th 1910 We the Primitive Baptist Church called Concord to any Church of same faith and order. This is to certify that Sister Sarah Jane Woods is a member in good and regular standing with us Dissmissed from us when joined to another Church of same faith and order Done by order of the church in her regular conference Dec 17th 1910 J D Kiligore, Mod Pro Eld H Killgore, Church Clerk Alabama Dale County - December the 17 1853 We the Primitive Baptist Church at Mount Paron believeing in the doctrine of election affectual calling and the final perseverence of the saints in grace, imersion the only Scriptorial Baptism, do hereby certify that our Beloved Brother and Sister Edmond H. Boon and Mary Boon, his wife, are members in full fellowship witness and is dismissed accordingly when joined to any other church of the same faith and order. We also recommend Brother Boon as a faithful Clerk of Mount Paron Church this done by order of the Church in Conference Jesse Tomlin Moderator Andrew Payne Clerk Georgia Henry County - The Primitive Baptist Church of Christ this is to certify that our Sister Amanda Adkins is a member in full fellowship and is here by dismissed from us when joined to any other Church of the same faith and order holding to the doctrine of Eternal and Particular Election and final perseverance of the Saints in Grace. Done by order of the church when in conference this 21 day of August 1852 Daniel Garland Mod Francis Sansung Cl State of Louisiana Parish of Claiborne The Baptist Church of Christ at Homer This is to certify that Brother James Smart and Sister Ann Smart as members of our Church in full fellowship are dismissed from us when joined to another church of the same faith and order Done by order of the Church in Conference this 11th day of Nov A D 1857 M W Miller Church Clerk B F FancherM Claiborne Parish - The Primative Baptist La Church at Lebanon holding to the doctrine of Eternal Perticular and unconditional Election affectial calling and the final perseverence of the Saints in Grace do hereby certify that Sister Jinsey Adkins is a member with us in full fellowship and fair standing with us and according to her request is here dismissed from us when she is joined to any other church of the same faith and order Signed by order of the Church while in conference Feb 28,1857 T J Foster Moderator Miles M Meritt Church Clerk Claiborne Parish - We the Primative Baptist Church of Christ at Mt Peron believing in the Doctrine of Eternal and Perticular Election the final perseverance of the Saints in Grace and Baptism by Imersion do certify that our beloved Sister Anna Marcey is a member in full fellowship with us and is hereby dismissed from us when joined to any other Church of the same faith and order done by order of the church in conference the 23rd of January 1858 D F Oscar Mod The State of Alabama - The Baptist Church of Christ Calhoun County at Cane Creek of the primative order do hereby dismiss our Sister Elizabeth Steward who is in fellowship with us when joined to another of the same faith and order this done in conference by order of the Church when sitting in conference this March the 24th 1860 Tomas R Arthur Clerk David Night Mo L Edwards Church Clerk Pro State of Alabama - October the 10 as 1865 Randolph County - We the Baptist Church of Christ at Shilough do here by certify that our beloved Sister Mahala Owens is a member in full fellowship with us and is hereby dismissed from us when joined to any other Church of the same faith and order done in conference and signed by order of the same B D Turner Mod G. Summelin Clerk P R Georgia - The Baptist Church at Bethel do Here by Taylor County - certify that our beloved Sister Slena Smith is a member in full fellowship with us and by her request is dismissed from us when joined to another church of the same faith and order Done by the order of the church while in conference Nov the 3rd 1866 J P Glover Mod James Johnson Cl Jackson - We the Primative Baptist Church at DArbone Parish La - holding the doctrine of Election and final perseverence of the Saints and believers Baptism do here by certify that Eld. H B Howard is a member in full fellowship with us and is here by dismissed from us when joined up to another of our faith and order done in conference on Saturday the 12th of October 1867 and signed by order of the church A Autrey C CK The Primative Baptist Church of Christ at Bethel to any other Church Greeting. Whereas our beloved Sister Louisa F Seegar has applied to us for a letter of dismission. This is to certify that she is in full fellowship and good standing among us. And is hereby dismissed from us when joined to any other Church of the same faith and order. Done by order of conference February the 27th 1869 J Gamel CLK Eld I Sanford Mod Z Thomas Mod ********** Page 76 Homer Lions Club Homer Lions Club was born May 28, 1926, by authority of a Charter granted by Lions International to the local Men's Club which was in operation at that time. The first president of Homer Lions club was Arthur C. Evans, minister of the First Presbyterian Church. W. F. M. Meadors, Sr., was first vice president; F. C. McClanahan, second vice president; Paul K. Lusk, secretary-treasurer; Marx Maritzky, lion tamer; W. L. Barrow, tail twister. Directors were Dr. E. A. Campbell, Harry McKenzie, Sr., and W. M. Kent. Three of the original charter members, B. W. Fortson, N. J. Kendrick and Marx Maritzky are still active members of the Club. Among the first and perhaps the major undertaking of the new club was to aid the farmers of this area to change from the one-crop agriculture of that day (cotton) to more diversified farming with the development of dairying as a primary objective. Aided in financing by Homer National Bank, the club arranged the purchase of 57 registered Jersey bulls, the largest single such purchase ever made in the United States, and placed them at various farm members of the "Claiborne Bull Circle." Several carloads of Jersey heifers were brought in from Tennessee for basic breeding stock. Tours were made to Mississippi and Texas dairy areas to study the operation of dairies. This project of the Lions Club formed the foundation of the dairy industry in Claiborne parish which was to yield millions of dollars of farm income through the depression years by the sale of milk products and surplus dairy cattle. Following this beginning of farm dairying the club initiated the organization of Claiborne Parish Coopcrative Creamery Inc., to provide a cash market for milk and cream. After remodeling the old city hall building. (now being replaced by the new jail) the creamery opened June 16, 1929, and operated successfully until the business was sold in 1960. The North Louisiana Hill Farm Experiment Station came into being as a result of the Lions Club petition to Louisiana State University and the State legislature to provide for research in the needs of hill farm agriculture. The research work of this station has brought national and international recognition, and has given improvement to all agricultural pursuits, not only to Claiborne Parish but also to state and nation. The Lions Club gave support to the bond issue and construction of Homer Memorial Hospital in 1949. Operated by the Town of Homer, this hospital has grown in capacity and facilities to provide the finest in medical services for the large area it now serves. Upon the death of past president Herbert S. Ford, the club initiated the establishment of the Ford Museum. Under the direction of the Lions Cub Museum Committee this enlarged and excellent museum provides a historical record of Claiborne Parish and is a widely known attraction for local and tourist interest. Other projects having active support of Lions Club were creation of Homer Development Corporation, the Homer Chamber of Commerce, and related industrial development. The Farmers Market came into operation in 1975 as a result of the Lions Agriculture Committee, and provided a cash market for the area vegetable growers. The Lions Club, led by the Education Committee, aided in securing the state operated Vo-Tech school, opened in January, 1976.The Lions gave active support to the development of Lake Claiborne, which has been of great economic benefit to Homer. The Lions Club special projects committee continues the study of a new lake proposed to be built in Middle Fork Bayou. As a Lions Club objective is service to others, the Homer Club has engaged in many projects of assistance to schools, 4-H Clubs, FFA Clubs, Boys State, Girls State, Claiborne Parish Fair, Lions Crippled Children's Camp, sight medical service and eye glasses for needy persons, blood pressure clinics, blood bank for hospital, Little League baseball, state highway construction in Claiborne Parish, municipal and parish governmental bodies bond issues, and Claiborne Jubilee. In fact, as a veteran member stated, "It seems that the Homer Lions Club, in one way or another, been involved in every worthwhile endeavor benefiting the citizens of Homer and Claiborne Parish." ********** Page 77 Claiborne Parish Library On Saturday afternoon, March 31, 1951, Claiborne Parish citizens were invited to attend the formal opening of the Claiborne Parish Demonstration Library. Opening ceremonies were held at Haynesville and Homer branches that day. Demonstration libraries were a product of the Louisiana State Library. The Claiborne Parish Police Jury had taken the necessary action by passing an ordinance in 1947 requesting the beginning of a demonstration library, but since other parishes had earlier made such requests, it was four years before the project became a reality. Branches in Haynesville and Homer began providing books, magazines and films in April 1951. The bookmobile also began a four-day trip each week to the rural areas of the parish serving schools at Athens, Lisbon, Summerfield, and later Junction City, and for the first time the entire population of the parish had access to a free book lending service. The Louisiana State Library provided 8,000 books in 1951. The Claiborne Parish Library has regularly added to that collection until the total now stands at 39,500. Through these twenty-five years borrowers have read more than 3,300,000 books and magazines. The Library Board and staff members' chief aims are to provide means for a better informed, better read public, and wholesome source of recreation. ********** Page 78 Memories of Oil Boom Days By Ed Seeliger I remember my father telling about the discovery well in the Homer oil field. He was employed as pharmacist at the Claiborne Drug Store at the time. It was customary for the drug stores to close from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday during the time of Sunday School and church services and lunch time. On this particular Sunday when the first oil well had been brought in as a producer, Daddy and his helper, U. W. Hamil decided to take a trip out there while the store was closed. Daddy had a Model T Ford. After a trying day's trip they finally got back to town about 5 p.m. Besides getting stuck in the sandbeds along the road, they had had two flats on the trip of about 10 miles. During the Homer oil boom days of 1918-1919, transporting the heavy equipment five or six mfles from the rail depot in Homer to the oil field was a major feat. Several teamsters operated mule drawn wagons for this job. I remember seeing the teams go by the Homer High School. Sometimes there would be as many as 20 mules hitched to one wagon trying to get the load through the mud. And I mean mud. In places it was belly deep to the mules; not just a few places, but most of the way. It was like that in front of the school grounds for several blocks. If a mule stumbled and fell, he usually drowned because he couldn't get back up in the thick mud. Mrs Joe LeSage, Sr., (Avalyn Taylor) lived across from one corner of the school grounds, and she tells that sometimes her mother's chickens would escape from the chicken yard. If they accidentally got in the mud, Mrs. Taylor would take a long handled rake and rescue them. One day some of the high school boys decided to have some fun with the mud. They made up a "pot" of five or six dollars and offered it to any boy that would try to swim in the mud. They found a "taker" after some deliberation. He dove off the sidewalk into the mud, clothes and all. He earned the money,but I do not know how he fared after he went home to clean up and change clothes. Before the present Homer hospital and after the time of Dr. Gibson's Hospital, minor surgical procedures were taken care of in the local doctor's offices. I remember an incident in the office of Dr. Fleater Palmer, Sr., that was amusing to me but not to the patient. About 1 a.m. I had a phone call from Dr. Palmer to come to the drug store for some sutures. About half sleep, I found what he wanted and took them to his office down the street. In the room were four or five Negro men sitting around, most of them asleep. Sitting astride a straight chair in the middle of the room was the patient, stripped to the waist. He had a cut across the shoulder blade about 10 or 12 inches long and spread open three or four inches. Some one had used an axe on him. Dr. Palmer was cleansing the wound, preparing it for suturing. He reached for a bottle of alcohol and saw it was empty. He just picked up a can of ether and wet a wad of cotton with it and wiped out the wound. The patient, an elderly Negro man, started praying in a loud voice. His praying and all the other Negro men in the room asleep while Dr. Palmer sewed up the wound was a very amusing sight at 2 a.m. After Dr. Palmer finished dressing the wound, he woke the crowd and sent them home. Country doctors served a wonderful job for the communities and surrounding areas. They would travel many miles day or night to relieve suffering or officiate at a birth. Present day doctors would be at a loss to operate or treat under the conditions the older doctors accepted as every day practice. {Also see "Page 79-Memories of Oil Boom Days #1", "Page 80-Memories of Oil Boom Days #2", and "Page 81-Memories of Oil Boom Days #3" in the corresponding photo album located in the Claiborne Parish LA GenWeb Archives.} ********** Page 82 St. John School (A special note of appreciation is extended to Mr. John S. Davis, retired principal, and Mrs. Annie Mae Cooper. retired teacher, both of Homer, who furnished information about the St. John School. The St. John School was the first four year high school for black children of Claiborne Parish. It was located about six miles southeast of Homer, Louisiana, just off the "White Lightning" Highway, now Louisiana No.9. The school began as a "little country elementary school". Facilities consisted of a one room building with a door in the front, one window on each side, and a raised platform (or stage) across the back of the room. Heat was provided during cold weather by a wood-burning stove. Pupils sat on a few wood benches that were eight feet long. Later classes were taught in the St. John Church. Only three teachers could teach during a school session because the church was so small. Professor Ford served as the school's first principal. In 1916 the people of St. John Community donated logs to be traded for lumber to construct a Rosenwall school building. Mr. Fred Jones and Mr. Robent Lewis led this movement, and the result was a two-story building consisting of five rooms. A series of principals followed Professor Ford at St. John. Professor Hawk from Gibsland, Louisiana, and Professor J. C. Jones were next in line. During Jones' tenure, St. John became a training school. Shops were established at the school to teach useful crafts. The girls learned to make mats and baskets, as well as cooking, sewing, and homemaking. The boys learned to make brooms, mattresses, axe handles, hoe handles and other items for farm use. Some adults were taught these crafts, too. Professor Grant followed Jones as principal, and he continued this type of program which was a big help to the community. In 1926 Professor John S. Davis, Jr., was appointed principal. Under his guidance two additional rooms and a library were added. St. John School then became the first four year public high school for black children in. Claiborne Parish. The first graduates were Mr. Orange Lewis, Jr., Miss Corean Brown, Miss Christell Jones, and Miss Fannie Pickens. Soon the name of the school was changed to the Claiborne Parish Training School, and its role changed somewhat. At that time there was no teacher training on the state level for black teachers, and a course in teacher training was offered the fourth year of high school. The State Department of Education administered a test, and those who passed were issued a teacher's certificate. The Claiborne school fulfilled this need until Grambling College was established for the training of teachers. Some of the teachers during this period were Mr. John Holland, followed by Mr. Meyer, Mr. Frank Davis, and Mr. J. E. Williams. During the last years the school was in existence, vocational agriculture and vocational home economics were the two courses taught. When the building was destroyed by fire in 1945, Superintendent F. C. Haley moved the school to Homer and combined it with Mayfield High School. Mr. John S. Davis become principal of the consolidated high school. It prospered as a fine institution of learning for black children until being combined with Homer High School in 1970 when all-black schools were discontinued. Through the years the St. John School performed a very worthwhile service both in its community and in Claiborne Parish. It trained and educated many useful citizens of Claiborne Parish who otherwise may not have had such an opportunity. {Also see "Page 82-St. John School" and "Page 83-St. John Church" in the corresponding photo album located in the Claiborne Parish LA GenWeb Archives.} ********** Page 84 Trivia Far from being "trivial," the following bits and pieces are the records of life-birth, expenses, joys, daily transactions, death. Individually minor, taken together they speak of the life that was. {Also see "Page 84-Trivia #1", "Page 85-Trivia #2", "Page 86-Trivia #3", "Page 87-Trivia #4", "Page 88-Trivia #5", "Page 89-Trivia #6", and "Page 90- Trivia #7" in the corresponding photo album located in the Claiborne Parish LA GenWeb Archives.} ********** # # #