Parish History: Historic Claiborne '62, Claiborne Parish, Louisiana Submitted for the LAGenWeb Archives by: Claiborne Parish Historical Association File Preparer: Kelly Priestly Date: Apr. 2000 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** Historic Claiborne Materials prepared for the Claiborne Parish Historical Association Claiborne Parish Historical Association Homer, Louisiana 1962 ********** Table of Contents Frontispiece: Historic Claiborne, a map prepared by Betty Ann Gladney Early Settlers, by Lilly Kinabrew Phillips 1 Placenames and Brief Histories Claiborne Parish, reprinted from The Haynesville News 3 Antioch, by Pearl Fortson Smith 5 Arizona, by Vera Robinson Malone 8 Arizona, by Clare D'Artois Leeper 10 Athens, by Annie Volentine 11 Athens, by Clare D'Artois Leeper 13 Aycock, by Gilbert C. Owens 14 Blackburn, by Iler King Campbell 16 Camp, by Ava Avinger Jackson and Alma Avinger Bledsoe 17 Colquitt, by Jewel Garland Tigner 19 More About Colquitt, by Bernice Andrews Wise 20 Dykesville, by Agnes Caston Ware 22 Gordon, by Agnes Caston Ware 23 Haynesville, by Joyce B. Dobbins 24 Homer, by Lily Kinabrew Phillips 27 Hurricane, by Joyce B. Dobbins 31 Junction City, by I. A. Brinker 33 Lisbon, by Ruth Tait Keener 34 Mahon, by Lila Mae McElwee Shaw 37 Sharon, by Ruth Tait Keener 39 Summerfield, by J. Will Gray 40 Sugar Creek, by E. R. Hester 41 Weldon, by Henry A. Smith 41 Rosa Wilder Blackman, Historian, by Sue Hefley 42 These Things I Remember, by Blanche Collier Kinnebrew, sketches by Bess Haley, model supplied by Jim Burnett 48 Life in the C. S. L. Patton Family, 1866-1960, by Laurice Patton Robinson and Blanche Patton Hensley 51 Musings and Memories of Arizona, by J. Vernon Harris 55 Old Haynesville Town, by Margueritte Garland Nation 62 Old Mount Zion, by Frances Nelson Gladney 70 Mount Zion Camp Meeting, by Jemmie Nelson Gladney 75 More About Mt. Zion 81 Brush Arbor and Fire Stands, by W. E. Moreland Pentecostal Experience, by Lillian Featherston Wideman History of Alabama Church, 1850-1945, by Lillian Dawson Smith 83 Story of Count Leon, by Rudolph Fiehler 85 Shotgun and Dogtrot, by Ted Larry Pebworth, sketches by Lillian Bellizio 92 Some Negro Songs Heard on the Hills of North Louisiana, by Vallie Tinsley White 95 Letters Samuel Russell to Lewis and Agnes Brewer 100 Hugh Lawson Harris to Tom Harris 102 Mary Thomas Hobdy Kimbell to Mary Jane and John Kimbell 104 Miscellany, by Rosa Wilder Blackman 107 Early Transport Service, and Old Cemetery, by Gilbert C. Owens 109 Old Cemetery, Homer, by Ladelle Duke 110 A Sampling of Claiborne Genealogy, by Alma Green Blanton 111 Scene of the Organization Meeting, Homer Department Club, by Lillian Featherston Wideman 113 Gone are the Days, by Mary Land Hodges 114 Kinard House, by Lois L. Kinard 115 First Woman to Vote in Claiborne 116 A Promissory Note, dated January 9, 1851 117 Report of the Nationality of All Persons Residing in the Parish of Claiborne, 1875; Report of Those Employed in Different Trades, Professions, and Callings 118 In Memoriam: Herbert Smith Ford 120 ******************** Foreword This is the second collection of papers and other items of historical interest to be published by the Claiborne Parish Historical Association. The first, entitled Claiborne Parish Sketches, appeared in 1956. Slightly altered excerpts from the preface to the latter are given here: "The Association feels that these materials constitute important additions to the recorded history of this area and that they should be preserved in print. In editing the papers there has been no attempt to attain uniformity of treatment or style. Each paper reflects its own authorship, fully identified for the readers' information. Each author assumes responsibility for what he has prepared. "The Association acknowledges its indebtedness to the contributors to this volume. The ends of the Association could hardly be realized without the efforts on the part of individuals which is represented here. The gathering of the materials of history is often tedious and discouraging, but there is great satisfaction in knowing that one has helped to record the passing scene and save it from oblivion. Our authors and contributors have that satisfaction." We acknowledge with thanks the long-suffering patience of our printers. The publication of such a volume calls for co-operation well beyond an ordinary obligation, and this we have had. Henry A. Smith, President Lily Kinabrew Phillips, Publication Chairman Sue Hefley, Editor ******************** Page 1 EARLY SETTLERS by Lily Kinabrew Phillips Over a century ago, numbers of families who were friends in Georgia, loaded their household belongings in ox-wagons, helped their wives, daughters and sons to climb in then urged the oxen forward on the long trek to Louisiana. After a tiresome journey of slow traveling, they arrived in the spring time. Settling in Claiborne parish, some to the east and some to the west, they went to work clearing and preparing to till the soil, not the modern way, but with oxen and crude implements. Records show that the land purchased by these families had been obtained from the government on what was then called "entered land", Sometimes for the sum of fifty cents an acre, with receipts signed by the receiver. Work, the settlers did. They felled their trees, towed them in from the forest, and with an improvised sawmill fired by pine knots, which they called 'lightered', they began the building of small homes built of the virgin timber, cut by the elders, with all lending a helping hand. After the first crop was laid by, they provided a grist mill for the grinding of their corn. At the gin, cotton was pressed into bales by hand with wooden screws. With the cane mills being pulled by horsepower, and with cane ready to be ground for the first syrup makings, all treked to the mills, drank the juice, and ate cane to their hearts' content. An old store stood for years, operated eventually by the great- grandchidlren of the original owners. Here everything was sold from a pin to a plow. It was also a community meeting place. With wild game aplenty, and with streams in the area abounding in fish, many preferred the rod to the gun. Soon these became self-supporting communities. These pioneers were a religious people, on the fourth Saturday of each month the circuit rider came, when all business was suspended while the people attended services for two days. The ministers traveled the wilds on horseback or in a buggy. The "old peddler" made his rounds through the communities, with his spirit of gaiety, along with kitchen utensils, and dress material, which was known then as calico, and sold for five cents a yard, which was probably a good thing as it took 10 yards or more to make one of the full trailing dresses with long sleeves and high necks. From three to five petticoats, lace trimmed, were worn with these dresses, which was then the fashion. The peddler finishing his work went on his way with very little cash, but with an ample supply of chickens, eggs, vegetables and other barter. All was not work with these communities. Their days and nights were brightened by picnics, play, parties, square dances, candy pulls and Sunday singings. Old cemeteries are interesting. It would appear to have been a custom to quite frequently have the place of birth indicated on the grave marker, consequently there was a good index as to the origin of those who came to settle here when it was a wild frontier. Many died from the effect of tragedy, epidemic or war. They had courage to settle this new land. ********** Page 3 CLAIBORNE PARISH Reprinted from The Haynesville News, April 28, 1938 Claiborne is one of the oldest parishes, having been organized in 1828, and was named for Mr. W. C. C. Claiborne, our first governor. Out of the original Claiborne were formed the following parishes: Bossier, Jackson, Bienville, Webster, and Lincoln. Russellville was the first seat ofjustice. In 1836, the population having taken a westward trend, the seat of justice was removed to Overton on Dorcheat Bayou, near what is now known as "Minden Landing." But this place was found to be unhealthy, so in 1846 Athens became the parish seat, and remained thus until the court house and all records were destroyed by fire. By this time the population had increased so rapidly a more central location was desired for the court house so the choice fell upon Homer. The town was named by Frank Vaughn in honor of the Greek poet. The land had been entered and owned around this location by Allen Harris and Tillinghast Vaughn: both of these men gave liberal concessions to the parish and town for public buildings, schools and churches. The first court was held in a cheap board shanty about where the O. G. Jones' store is situated. The court house that was built at that time was thought to be one of the finest structures in North Louisiana. About 1857, this building began to show decay, so it was taken down and the present court house was erected on the same spot. About 1849 or 1850 the working Georgians and Alabamians began to settle in Claiborne. Roads were opened, bayous and creeks were bridged, schools and churches were built. Near this time Lisbon was settled. A few miles west was Forest Grove. At this time the Methodist church of Forest Grove was known as the most noted church in the parish. Colquitt and Haynesville then fell in line of development. W. R. Kennedy settled Summerfield in 1868 by erecting a wood and blacksmith shop there, and a business house. About 6 miles east of Homer is the beautiful village of Arizona, where soon after the Civil war was erected a magnificient cotton factory. The first marriage that took place in Claiborne was in 1821 and Mr. John Allen and Miss Mary Holcomb were the happy pair. The ceremonies were performed by the Justice of the Peace. Up to this time no marriage license was required and it was the fashion then for the bride and groom to go to Arkansas to get married; many remember the old oak stump where ceremonies were solemnized by an Arkansas Justice of the Peace. Land sold for $2.50 an acre up to 1848. The first newspaper to be published here was the "Claiborne Advocate," edited by Frank Vaughn. The L. & N. W. railroad entered this parish in about 1887 or 1888. There was much excitement and rejoicing over such an improvement as all our travel to that time was done by covered wagons, buggies and surreys. The U. S. Mail was brought over by team and when the carrier reached town he blew a horn to let people know the mail had arrived. Everybody flocked to the "post office" to wait until it was opened. ********** Page 5 ANTIOCH by Pearl Fortson Smith I do not know in what year or by whom the community of Antioch was first settled but I do know that Antioch is one of the oldest settlements in all of Claiborne Parish. Most all of the settlers were natives of Georgia, coming from different sections of that state. My general recollection of names is: Monk, Williams, Lay, Scaife and Fortson. My own father's family left Columbus, Georgia, when he was twelve years old. They came with all their possessions by boat to New Orleans, then overland by carriage train to what is now Claiborne Parish. They brought their slaves with them. The slaves that I remember are the cook Sarah and the carriage driver, a red bone, whom every one called "Red Sam." He had his quarters over the carriage house and his only duties were to take care of the horses, the harness and carriage, and to drive my grandmother. My grandfather, Thomas Jefferson Fortson, built a two story colonial home about nine miles east of the town of Homer. A number of our towns- people remember it as the old Fortson home, long since burned. The only homes now standing belonging to the old settlers are the Scaife house and the Williams house, both east of Homer on the Summerfield road, and the Ben McCasland house on the Lisbon Road. Each man in the neighborhood had his own special talent. Mr. Beach was usually called in if a cow or a horse became ill. Mr. Ben McCasland filed snake bones for the babies to wear around their necks to make teething easier. My father robbed the bees; they never stung him. Mr. John Williams was the only Sunday School superintendent I ever remember in the neighborhood. Mr. Jim Monk was a school teacher. The first school building was a one room log house with a huge fire place, wooden shutters over the windows, home-made seats and one long desk extending the entire width of the room with seats on each side where we sat to take our writing lessons. The only church in the community was Baptist---a large, well-built edifice with one section reserved for the slaves. There was a pool just under the hill back of the house, fed by a beautiful spring, for baptizing. "Uncle Billie Malone", as he was generally know, had the only cider press in the community and the neighbors would carry loads of apples to him every summer to be gound into cider and that was generally used as refreshments with home made giner bread to go along. My mother made her own candles from tallow, often mixed with beeswax made by boiling the honeycomb. The tallow she made by rendering out the fat saved from beeves killed on the farm. She also organized reading clubs and debating clubs during vacation times. Mr. John Williams had the only cotton gin in the community and my friend, Luna Williams, and I thought it was the greatest fun to ride the long poles to which the two mules, Rock and Dock, were hitched to run the gin. We would also slide head foremost down the chute, which carried the lint cotton to the lint room. Truly, we had our own special angels watching over us. Most all the settlers of Antioch were farmers, with cotton their specialty. As a result of the Civil War, fortunes in cotton were lost. I can remember the fire screens my grandmother had covered with Confederate money, which was no good after the war. I do not know just how many men from the Antioch community served in the Civil War; B. B. McCasland, W. R. Fortson and L. R. Lay were three who died. And, by the way, Mrs. L. R. Lay, who was Margaret Garrett, was a sister to Pat Garrett, who killed "Billy the Kid." The gun with which he killed him is still in the Lay family. Pat Garrett and his wife used to visit the Lays and we children thought it quite an honor to be able to say, "We know Pat Garrett." As the community grew and progressed, our fathers realized the need of bigger and better church and school facilities; so we discarded the old buildings and built new and more adequate ones. We had school teachers second to none, such as: C. C. Seals, who afterwards became U. S. District Attorney of the Western Section at Shreveport during President Cleveland's administration; Mrs. Hattie Lawrence; S. E. L. (Sidney) Brown, a graduate of the University of Ohio; Miss Winnie Camp; Mr. Jim Monk; Mr. Joe Meadows; Mrs. Debet Bonner, mother of Mrs. Mary T. Bonner Cole and Pleas Bonner. We finally obtained a post office at Antioch, with Mrs. John Williams post mistress. In connection with the post office she had a little store where she sold shoes, tobacco, snuff, calico and numerous other things that country folk need. At Christmas time there were always turkey dinners with plenty of "Sillabub," with a party each night with the late Tom Richardson, grandfather of our townsman, Pat Richardson, and Mace Palmer and a colored man making the music. We danced the Virginia Reel and the old fashioned square dance, with Mr. Will Palmer and a Mr. Glass calling the sets. ********** Page 8 ARIZONA By Vera Robinson Malone In the year 1738 John Robinson was granted a piece of land from King George II of England. This land was on Muddy Creek, located in what is now Cumberland County, Virginia. Benjamin Franklin Robinson, one of the old family, still owns this farm. One of the boys, Hudson Allen Robinson, Sr., moved to Carthage, Tennessee in the year 1815. A few years later he and Hudson Allen Robinson, Jr., came to Louisiana to find a home. They came on horseback by way of the old Indian Trail. They came to what is now Arizona - then a dense forest; they hewed oak logs and built the first house. Then Hudson Allen Robinson, Sr. went back to Carthage, and moved his family by wagons back to the new home. The old shade trees--oak and walnut-- are still there. Some of the old hewn logs which were put into the house were still there a few years ago. Hudson Allen Robinson, Sr., and his wife, Mary Dyer Robinson, spent the rest of their lives at Arizona and are buried near the community. Their son, Hudson Allen Robinson, Jr. (born in Carthage Sept. 8, 1823, and later known as Uncle Dick) continued to live in Arizona and died there in 1916 at the age of 92. His wife was Sarah Jane Schinque Robinson. She was born near Natchez (Louisiana) near Natchitoches. Her family moved to the Tuggle Place, near Homer. She walked to church in Homer each Sunday, stepping in the footprints of her grandfather, Wesley Goodson, who wore a long white linen robe. He was the first preacher to preach in Homer; his "church" was a one- room log hut. Other settlers were Joshua Willis and Barbara Winston Willis. They were married in 1817; their children were: Americanus, Joshua, Barbara, Patsy Ann, John Winston, Lenora. They were related to England's Winston Churchill. Some family names identified with early Arizona are: Nicholson (J. W. Nicholson was the founder and principal of Arizona Academy, and in later years served as president of Louisiana State University) Harris (Tom Harris was superintendent of education for the state of Louisiana for many years) Willis (the Willis- Knighton Clinic in Shreveport bears this family name) Palmer (James G. Palmer was once mayor of Shreveport and served as Judge of the Circuit Court of Appeals). Barnette (William C. Barnette served as judge of the 3d Judicial District Court from 1912 through 1914) Malone, Brown, Baker, Scaife, Leslie, Calhoun, Menefee, Thomason, Blackman, Myers, Oakes, Ledbetter, Wafer, Pryor, Parker, Jamerson, Bonner, Beard, Johnson, Kimbell, Simpson, Corry, Parson Harris, Major Dyer, and others. Miss Mary Mimms "Sweetheart of the South" and Minor Wallace "Silver Tongue of the South" went to school here. Our Arizona Methodist Church is a very old one and is owned- not by the Methodist Conference, but by the people of the Arizona community. This arrangement was made by our forefathers and we are glad to have it this way. The church and school grounds were donated by J. P. Malone's great grand- father Willis whose wife was Lenora Willis Malone and who later married one of the Nicholson family. ********** Page 10 ARIZONA By Clare D'Artois Leeper This article is reprinted from the Shreveport Times, Historic Place Names Series, by permission of the Times and the author. Arizona, Louisiana was incorporated March 1, 1869, the name taken from the Territory of Arizona. The persistent belief that the word Arizona derives from the Spanish "arida zona", calls for inclusion, as Jack Reynolds says, merely for the purpose of refutation. The origin of the word Arizona advanced by James McClintock in his "History of Arizona" and accepted by all modern historians, says: "There is no doubt that Arizona Territory was named after some springs near Banera, eight miles south of the border, and about 85 miles below Tucson. These springs were called "Alel-zon" by the Papago, meaning "small spring". In the days before its incorporation, Arizona boasted of the largest flour mill in the state and of the first cotton mill operating west of the Mississippi River. The flour mill was abandoned after it was discovered that wheat could not be grown profitably there. And the cotton mill, too, was abandoned as economically unfeasible because it was 30 niles from a navigable stream and there were no railroads to haul its products. In 1869 James W. Nicholson established the Arizona Seminary which was considered one of the best colleges in the state. After two years he left the school to return to teaching in Homer College. The seminary began to wane at Arizona after his departure. After two years there, he returned to Arizona to place the school on a sound basis, staying there until 1877, when he was offered the chair of mathematics at LSU, which he accepted. There he remained until his retirement, and in the interim of his service he was LSU's president from 1883 - 1884 and from 1886-1896. With Nicholson's departure, Arizona Seminary began to decline. And like the flour mill and the cotton mill before it, the Seminary was finally abandoned. There was an unsuccessful attempt to revitalize Arizona by making it oil-rich, but only dry holes were drilled. By 1953 the Arizona post office served only 14 star route boxes. So in 1954 the post office was discontinued. ********** Page 11 ATHENS By Annie Volentine Athens is a small town ten miles south of Homer, with a population of 432. The original town, Old Athens, was two miles west of the present town. Although Athens was not chartered until 1898 when Governor W. H. Heard signed the proclamation, the town started its existence when the Louisiana and Northwest Railroad was routed through the present town site in 1888 and J. T. Baker moved his general merchandizing store from Old Athens and the Reverend and Mrs. J. L. Stone moved the post office to New Athens. About three years later W. H. Pace and W. 0. Barnes began their drug store on what is now "main street". Athens was incorporated - a mile square - in 1898 and inside the corporation limits is a dwelling now owned by Mr. and Mrs. C. N. Willett, which was built by a Mr. Beauchamp before 1857. (So said the late J. E. Gandy, who told his family that he remembered going there with his mother in 1857 when he was five years old and he was born in 1852). The house is well preserved. At one time a partition between rooms was removed and it was found that the studdings were six-inch square hewn timbers. The first church in the town was the Cumberland Presbyterian (now the United States Presbyterian). It was organized in 1858 by the late Reverend G. N. Clampitt and he served as its first pastor. The land for the church and Salem cemetery was donated by Judge J. L. Kilgore, a great-uncle of John and Myrtle Dance, who live at Athens at the present time. Later Frank Bridges gave an adjoining plot of ground for an academy. Elders for the first church were: W. H. Gandy, John A. Harris, Peyton Pate, Thomas Berry, and J. N. Mitchell. Deacons were: P. H. Hicks, Green Walker, and T. E. Bailey. The Presbyterian Church was moved to its present location in 1905. The first Methodist Church here was built in 1890. It was called Foster's Chapel by its first pastor. It was moved to the present location in 1910. Early leaders of this church were: W. H. Pace, Eugene Watson, F. E. Marsalis, Jim Pittman, W. C. Webb, Frank Webb, J. T. Baker. The Athens Baptist church was built in 1903. Before that time the congregation went to the Old Athens Baptist Church, which is still well preserved and is used every Sunday. The first court of justice for Claiborne Parish was housed in the Samuel Russell log house (at Russellville). This site was a few hundred yards north of Salem cemetery and all that remains is a mound of dirt where the building decayed and the old oak that was used as a gallows for hanging criminals. The first judge was J. L. Kilgore. Doctors who have come from Athens are: James, F. J. Pace, C. A. Bailey, C. C. Craighead, Walter Harman, Joe Gandy, L. T. Baker, B. P. Smith, Don S. Marsalis, Thomas Ward, Claud Craighead Jr., Lavelle Maddry, Lamar Atkins. Lawyers who have come from Athens are: Jean Craighead Shaw, who practices with her husband in Homer, and the late Ab Atkins. Preachers who have come from Athens are: the late Willie Barksdale, Presbyterian; Douglas Peeples, Methodist; Tommy Greer, Baptist. The first car owned by anyone in the town was one bought by W. J. Greer, a merchant, in 1913. The next year Dr. C. C. Craighead bought the second one. ********** Page 13 ATHENS By Clare D'Artois Leeper This article is reprinted from the Shreveport Times, Historic Place Names Series, by permission of the Times and the author. Greek classical place-names dot the U. S. map, and Louisiana is not without its share of them. Athens, the first such name to appear on the Louisiana map, was soon followed by Homer, Sparta, and Arcadia. The original Athens of Louisiana, which served as the third parish seat of Claiborne parish, is now known as Old Athens and is located 2.3 miles west of the present village of Athens. Many of the Athenses of the U. S. were so named because universities were to be located in them. However, Louisiana's Athens does not seem to have had such an institution according to The History of Claiborne Parish by D. W. Harris and B. M. Hulse. One of the authors visited Athens in 1848 and gave a rather complete description of the place. While he did not mention the presence of any university he did comment on, among other things, the presence of "a beautiful flowing spring, a courthouse, which was then considered a creditable building, and about a dozen dwellings, here and there. . ." Although Athens, Louisiana, does not seem to have had a university it did serve as a seat of government. This fact, coupled with its strong topographical resemblance to Athens, Greece, was certainly enough to warrant the choice of the name. Three notable similarities exist between the two Athenses. First both Athenses were situated upon hills. The famous hill upon which Athens, Greece, is built is known as the Acropolis and has an altitude of 512 feet. Louisiana's Athens is built on the highest hill in Louisiana (altitude 415 feet). Second, both Athenses had that prime requisite necessary for the survival of early towns, a water supply, and both had it in the form of flowing springs. Third, both Athenses are approximately three miles from water transportation. There may be yet other similarities between the two Athenses especially in the matter of bracing breezes and annual mean temperature. But the similarities cited proved that the placenamers knew their classics when they selected the name of Athens, Louisiana. ********** Page 14 AYCOCK By Gilbert C. Owens Aycock, one of Northwest Louisiana's old settlements, was known as the Hood settlement before it had a post office, and was the cradle of the Methodist Episcopal church in this area, a class being formed there in 1827. Later Walton Wilson donated land near his home and a church was built known as the New Hope Methodist Episcopal Church of which he was a member. Many years later as the country settled and became a prosperous farming area New Hope Church was moved about half way from Aycock to Homer and is now known as the Wesley Chapel Methodist Church. The church has played a most important role in making this country what it is. Our forefathers made the supreme sacrifice that this great country of ours might survive and I relieve it will so long as we follow their plan and scheme of things, and keep their memories alive. Aycock's only postmaster, Walton Wilson, was the son of A. M. Wilson, a young lawyer born in North Carolina, who married and had two children in Mississippi. He came here to build a home in the "wild west" leaving his family in Mississippi. He never finished his home; he died in 1841 and is buried about one quarter mile north of the present site of Aycock. The daughter Eliza Wilson married a Mr. Ponder from Texas. The son, Walton Wilson, married Sicily Honeycut. They reared a large family. Only one child survives, Mrs. W. C. Owens of Haughton. The oldest grandchild is Mrs. T. A. Owens of Aycock. Sicily Honeycut Wilson lived to the ripe old age of 94. I have spent many hours listening to her tell of the old days and the good times and bad times which she remembered so well. She told of some friendly Indians and of course there were some not too friendly. She would tell me some exciting experience in the early days. The stage line from Homer to Trenton (Monroe) had a stage barn where they changed horses at Sugar Creek near where Highway 146 (White Lightning) now crosses. The first one out of Homer was in Ward 7 and Ward 6 line was a few feet in front or east. The mail was carried horse back from Arcadia north to Marsalis or Tulip to the stage stop and on to Arizona, almost one mile northeast, another old settlement. This was on the old Indian trail from Natchitoches to Chicago. After considerable questioning of the old timers, including my grandmother, and much search of history I learned that Aycock was named for a Mr. Aycock, who lived just across Bayou D'Arbonne, then considered Aycock Settlement about half way from the present site of Aycock. Walton Wilson and Captain Seaborne Aycock were good friends and neighbors. After the war was over Walton Wilson was a prosperous farmer, breeder of saddle horses, and carpenter and blacksmith. Several of the homes still stand which he built. He made window sashes, doors and the lumber was hand dressed. He and his two oldest sons had a sawmill and they cut 18" heart pine boards some twenty feet in length. The settlement needed a post office after the war ended and my grandfather Wilson was builder and postmaster. The post office was named Aycock, in memory of Captain Seaborne Aycock, born. Sept. 27, 1819, probably in Selma, Ala. He served in the Mexican War and came to Louisiana in 1852 and the outbreak of the Civil War. He married Angeline Ford, Jim Ford's sister, Dec. 3, 1846. She is buried at Rocky Springs. The records show that on March 15, 1862, Seaborne Aycock entered service in the Confederacy and on the same day he was elected captain of Co. G. La. Infantry. His officers were P. C. Harper, W. J. Leslie and Thomas Bron, lieutenants and John Cook was sergeant. This company was formed at Lisbon. History indicates that Capt. Aycock fought at Corinth, Shiloh, Farmington, Perryville, Murfreesboro and was killed while leading a charge at Jonesboro, Ga. This was part of the Atlanta Campaign. He was under Hardee and Hood. He was killed August 31, 1864. The village of Aycock reached its peak in the early 1900's. It had a church, school, post office, cabinet and wagon shop, blacksmith shop, three stores, a doctor, three sawmills and gins, a railroad and log camp. The Dubach Lumber Co. Rail Road went to the south edge of Sugar Creek, Sac P. Gee's place, with a spur narrow gauge line up White Creek, near Tulip, where Mr. Walker Fomby had a sawmill. Mr. Will Hightower had a store at the present site of Aycock, only across the road, next to Dr. Jarrell's home and office; the home still stands. Not far from the railroad Mr. Will Sconias had a large general store, which he later sold to A. M. Wilson, and a two story building, with W.O.W. Lodge Hall on the second floor. The log camp was about half way between these two stores; the other store was in Hood Town. The saw mills and gin: There were Wilson's Mill near the post office and Heard's Mill, owned by the father of the late Bert Heard. The first mill was a horse drawn mill; later it was powered by steam. The Atkins Mill was near the present Wesley Chapel Methodist Church, on the west side of the Aycock Community. Aycock community was considered to be bound on the west by the road from Arizona to Arcadia, as far as White Creek near Marsalis, and on the north by Bayou D'Arbonne. ********** Page 16 BLACKBURN By Iler King Campbell In the West section of Claiborne Parish lived a number of farmers who had come largely from Alabama and Georgia to settle in the red hills of North Louisiana, establish their homes and raise their families. As the number of farmers increased and the community grew the need for a local store was felt and in 1881 two young men, Frank T. and John Henry King, opened their doors for business and Blackburn became a village. Soon in the rear of this store the federal government established a post office and John Henry King was the first postmaster. Here, too, from miles around, came the farmers to discuss political issues and the price of farm products. It was not unusual to see teams of oxen hitched here. In the community lived a man named John Blackburn, who owned and operated a vat where he tanned the skins of animals he caught and those he bought from farmers. He conditioned these hides and made shoes out of them for the neighborhood. Because of the importance of his occupation and his pioneering spirit, the village was named for him -- Blackburn. As the community grew and prospered and more homes were established, the need for educational and religious influence was felt. So a one-room schoolhouse was built. Soon a Missionary Baptist Church was erected and across the narrow road a Cumberland Presbyterian Church. In the School each year was held the community Christmas tree celebration; friends and neighbors gathered here on Christmas Eve to hear the children say their recitations and to see "Santa Claus". Later Dr. Cason opened an office in the community; Ben and Charley Shockley operated a cotton gin and Will Walker was the blacksmith. In the rear of the blacksmith shop the owner set up a grist mill, where each Saturday farmers came from miles around with corn to be ground into meal while their mules an horses were being shod. At the height of progress in this village many families, realizing the need for better educational facilities for their children, moved to Homer, Haynesville, or Ruston. The King brothers, after twenty-one years in business at Blackburn, moved their business to Homer in 1902. ********** Page 17 CAMP POST OFFICE By Ava Avinger Jackson and Alma Avinger Bledsoe On a cold frosty morning in 1898 a shrill whistle echoed through old D'Arbonne bottoms and Claiborne Parish was on the map. The Louisiana & North-West Railroad, so long dreamed of, had become a reality. Beginning at McNeil, Arkansas, it stretched through hills and woods, crossed Red River at Grand Ecore, and terminated in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Among the small communities along the line lay Camp, halfway between Homer and Haynesville, a sleepy little cross-roads junction, boasting two small stores, the John W. McKenzie store in which was established Camp's first post office, and the Ed Adkins store. There was also.Shockley's sawmill, a cotton gin, and corn mill. There was a depot close by the watering tank where the people patiently waited for their first passenger train. John W. McKenzie was appointed post master by Postmaster General Charles Emory Smith June 1, 1901. On January 24, 1906, James A. Robinson moved to Camp and built a general mercantile store and the post office was transferred to this location, Mr. Robinson becoming post master. On January 8, 1908 John P. Avinger bought the Robinson store and was appointed post master by Postmaster General Geo. von L. Meyer. On March 9, 1914 Onfrey P. Avinger was made post master and continued in that capacity until December 30, 1915. Upon his moving away from Camp, John P. Avinger was again made post master and remained post master until the post office was discontinued February 15, 1917. On August 1, 1908, Rural Route No. 4 was established out of Homer, which supplemented the service of the Camp Post Office. Then in the summer of 1917, upon the closing of the Camp Post Office, Rural Route No. 3 was established out of Haynesville to serve the people not included in the Route No. 4 District. Among the families served by these routes were the Morrises, Robertsons, Adkins, Avingers, Robinsons, Aubreys, Camps, McKenzies, Gentrys, Kendricks, Hardaways, Walkers, Tinsleys, Harrises, Smiths, Gordys, Shaws, Millers, MeElwees, Lewises, Evans, Beavers, Roberts, Heards, Bairds, Hammetts, Bridgemans, Crows, Owen, Kirkpatrick, Peacaw and many others. Soon after the Avingers came to Camp, Dr. Kilgore, a general practitioner, came, built a small office and became the community's family doctor. If one were to visit the home of Irma McKenzie Noland in Homer, he would find the old original wooden box which was tacked on the inside of the store door into which letters were dropped for mailing - now being used as a lovely planter. Camp was named for Robert Camp who lived in the vicinity at that time. To the Old Timers, however, it will always be known as "Stand Pipe". This identification arose from the fact that a tall water pipe was erected by the side of the railroad track to convey water from D'Arbonne Creek to the engines before the big tank was built. In the evenings as the neighbors began to gather around the old McKenzie well in front of their house one would know it was time for the north-bound "Doodle" to come puffing through a deep cut around the bend. Years have passed and all the stores are gone. Only a few houses remain. Friends and families are scattered, but we have a wealth of memories of those care-free days of our childhood. ********** Page 19 COLQUITT By Jewel Garland Tigner The Colquitt community, twelve miles north of Homer, was founded prior to 1850 (John Thomas Tigner with his brother George came to Claiborne from Georgia in 1849, and settled at Colquitt.) It was named for an early settler. Pioneer family names are: Christian, Gray, Greer, Odom, Palmer, Barrow, Monk, Leake. The village formerly consisted of two stores, a postoffice, two churches (a Baptist and a Methodist), a school, a blacksmith shop, and gin. Dr. Perry Taylor was the beloved doctor of the community. Miss Hattie Lawrence was a beloved teacher of early days; another who gave long and faithful service was Mrs. Mary Lou Meadors Matthews, principal of the school for many years. At one time cotton farming was the main industry; dairying and oil have supplanted cotton. ***** Margueritte Garland Nation provides additional information: The Colquitt Methodist Church is well over 100 years old; pioneer members belonged to the following families: Wilson, Tigner, Palmer, Monk, Greer, Christian, Adams, Spears. The church had its beginning in a two-room log building. One room was used as a church and the other was the Community School house. On May 31, 1885, this log building was destroyed by fire, and services were held in the Masonic Hall until a new building was completed in 1886. In 1912 the building was blown from its foundation by a tornado. After this damage was repaired, there were no more changes until the years 1936-37 when there was some renovation. In 1950, three Sunday School rooms and Fellowship Hall were added. Since Colquitt has always been on the Haynesville charge, the forty-one pastors who have served the Haynesville church have also served the Colquitt congregation. ********** Page 20 MORE ABOUT COLQUITT By Bernice Andrews Wise Colquitt is a community about thirty square miles in area in Township 23 North, Range 6 West, Claiborne Parish. It is between Cypress Swamp on the north, Middleforks Botton on the south, less fertile land on the east, and the community of Gordon on the west. The rolling hills have clay soil on the high land and deep sand on the low land, with numerous springs and small creeks. Chincapin Hill, about the center of the area, is the most prominent landmark. There are some graves on this hill, and one is reported to be the grave of the man after whom Colquitt was named. The town was laid out and streets named about the year 1850 and it flourished during the cotton growing years. It had several stores and a post office, a Methodist church and a Baptist church. The first cotton gin was a screw and press, driven by a mule and filled by hand with baskets. This gin, a sawmill, and a grist rnill were on the Crawford Greer place. The first steam gin was at the Palmer place east of Colquitt. The first school was a two-room log cabin at the crossroads south of the Greer home. A two-story school was built near the Christian home, where the teachers boarded. This building had a large room downstairs that was used as an auditorium for local theatre, for quiltings, and for an annual Thanksgiving dinner. The fabulous food at Colquitt is still brought to the memorial at the Methodist Church in May, and to quiltings. The local favorites include chess pie, black walnut cake, plum pudding, and applesauce cake. Mulligans, barbeques, and chittling suppers are enjoyed. A list of members of the Colquitt Baptist Church show the following joining by letter on February 9, 1879: Elbert Gray, Andrew Jarrell, S. R. Jarrell, Joe Grey, J. S. Gray, Mony Gray, Mrs. Sollie Owens, Mrs. Ella Jarrell, Miss M. H. Barrow, Frances Mills, Mrs. Mary Owens, Mrs. Emma Jarrell, Mrs. Mattie Gibson, J. M. Finley, Mrs. Eunice Jarrell. Joining before 1900 by baptism or letter were Mrs. H. E. Gray, John E. Gray, Mrs. Willie Nelson, A. H. Haynes, E. J. Haynes, J. N. Wise, Sr., Miss Mattie Wise, William Gray, Mrs. Malinda Gray, D. P. Owens, Jesse Wise. The list of those contributing to the building of the church in 1887, as recorded by John E. Gray and J. N. Wise, included many Methodists, and this spirit of cooperation has continued through the years, with the Methodists having services on the first and third Sundays and the Baptists on the second and fourth. Payments made to Capt. A. C. Jones seem to indicate that he was the builder. State Line Church was also a part of the Colquitt community. Its constitution states: "We the undersigned do hereby covenant and agree to establish a church at G. R. Bishop's house to conform to all the requirements the Scriptures, to live peaceably, maintain ordinances, and to attend the meetings regularly unless providentially hindered". The "undersigned" were Steven Culpepper, Joseph Wise, Joseph Culpepper, Cornelius Ludlum, Mrs. Elisabeth Haynes, Mrs. Martha G. Wise, Mrs. Rebecca Ludlum, Mrs. Caroline Wise, Mrs. Dealia A. Culpepper, Joseph Wise, Mrs. Amarintha Culpepper. The first baptism recorded was that of Miss Josephine Millican. Family names in the membership roster were: Price, Millican, Owens, Wise, Byrd, Bishop, Peavy, Clower, Puckett, Lee, Colman, Mullins, Culpepper, Mills, Teague, Garner, Hudson, Goodwin, Cabbage, Bishop, Mullens, Haynes. During the early years, this church was part of the Columbia Association; later, in 1871, it became part of the Liberty Association. Church dissolution was in the year 1881. ********** Page 22 DYKESVILLE By Agnes Caston Ware The Dykesville post office was established April 30, 1886, after which the following men served as postmasters: Alexander N. Garland, April 30, 1886; William J. Garland, August 8, 1889; Sbelvy B. Baucum, Feb. 8, 1898 - May 7, 1902. (1) A. N. Garland was the father of Mrs. George Tigner of Homer. W. J. Garland, one of the outstanding figures in Claiborne Parish history, was in the mercantile business in Dykesville. A member of the Claiborne Parish School Board, Mr. Garland was also very prominent in the Methodist Church of Dykesville, among other things teaching Sunday School. His daughter, Mrs. Shep J. Beene (better known as Miss Nancy) recalls times that bad weather and other factors limited Sunday School attendance to just their family, but her father went right on with the lesson. Since they were eight miles from a minister her father was often called upon to perform burial ceremonies, Mrs. Beene added. Another of Mr. Garland's daughters, Mrs. Sam Nation, resides in Shreveport, and is well known for her work in genealogy. In 1948 a tornado hit the small community and not much remains as a landmark save the White Hall Methodist Church and cemetery, where head stones bear the names of the early settlers: Garland, Baucum, Day, Dickerson, Sale, Talley, Thomas, Knight, Baugh and others. 1. The National Archives and Records Service of Washington, D. C., sent this information to Mrs. Sam Nation. ********** Page 23 GORDON By Agnes Caston Ware Seven miles east of Haynesville, "Gordon was founded Dy Dr. Gordon years before he moved to Texas." (1) Somewhere in the early 1900's Gordon was a thriving community, with post office operated by Oat Smith, (2) a gin, a grist mill, a general store run by Marshall Lewis, Madden's Store, a schoolhouse, and possibly a saw mill. (3) One of the students at the school was Willis T. Owens, Sr., who lived at Gordon most of his life, and who ran a general store for over half a century. The last store Mr. Owens built stands mute and empty now, with only the fading letters "Gordon, Louisiana" to remind one of its senior citizen, while across the highway only rubble is left of the once lovely home, with huge wisteria vines hiding the fences and large crepe myrtles marking off the boundaries of the yard. Two colored churches, two white cemeteries, and a well-kept community house are all that remain of the old Gordon, the latter being the old school building, where revivals are still conducted, funerals, and old-fashioned all day singings, with "dinner on the ground." 1. Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northwest Louisiana, The Southern Publishing Co. 2. Stories of Dixie, James W. Nicholson, American Book Co., copyright 1915, p. 120. 3. Inforination furnished by Finis Bailey, born and reared near Gordon, who now lives in Haynesville. ********** Page 24 HAYNESVILLE By Joyce B. Dobbins Historical records reveal the earliest settler in the Haynesville community to be a Widow Long who established a residence in 1818, but she moved very shortly to Arkansas. Not until some twenty-five or thirty years later was there to be a tidal wave of migration into this area. J. C. Wasson and L. S. Fuller came in 1844, Hiram Brown in 1845, Miles Buford and Samuel Boyd in 1846. In 1848 J. C. Taylor migrated from Georgia and settled in the community now known as Old Town, buying 160 acres of land at 75 cents per acre from the government and establishing a small country store, so that Haynesville was first known as Taylor's Store. J. C. Taylor expanded his business enterprises and donated land for the first Methodist Church, cemetery, and school house built in 1860. The school's first teachers were Tarpley Winn and Thomas Beck. Other Old Town businesses include a drug business owned by Sam Kirkpatrick and Dr. Wroten, a jewelry shop operated by a Mr. Wood. Mr. Stone was a carpenter, Mr. Ray was a coffin maker, and Captain Maddox, John Brooks, and Lindsey Mosely had general stores. This community steadily grew, and by 1898 it was a thriving village of some 250 people, covering a mile square, and serving many families within a ten mile radius. The community acquired the name "Haynesville" from a certain Captain Haynes who lived there temporarily. Saddle-pocket preachers and bush arbor services held important places in the religious life of early Haynesville pioneers. These ministers traveled the country on horseback bringing the word of God. These sacks thrown across the saddle held the Bible in one end and their clothes in the other. Early saddle-pocket preachers were Tom Brasher, Rufus Neal, Hollis, Idson and M. C. Parker, Back in Old Town days, Haynesville was not incorporated, and government consisted of constables and justices of the peace who occasionally held court. Haynesville's first post office dates back as early as 1849 when the mail was brought from Homer and placed in a showcase of Brown Brothers' Store. Journalism was introduced in 1879 to Haynesville by John Warren and J. M. Hendry, who edited a Political paper called the Greenback Dollar. It was printed until 1889, and J. M. Hendry took over editorship of the Haynesville Star. From 1887 to 1893 Haynesville had a Normal Institute for teacher training headed by Phillip Gibson, nephew of J. C. Taylor. It was under Mr. Gibson's guiding hand that the Haynesville Star was first published. In 1898 the shrill blast of a train whistle marked the dawn of a new era for Haynesville. The residents bought three hundred acres of land and gave it to the L. and N. W. railroad company so that the town would be placed at its present location. Major J. D. Beardsley, promoter of the railroad, sold the land in lots to finance its completion. Two hundred acres were bought from C. A. Bridgeman at $6.25 per acre, 60 from J. W. Camp at $10.00, 40 from G. B. Sherman at $7.50 per acre. Major Beardsley plotted a map of the town and named the streets with such early family names as Dawson, Gantt, Greer, Taylor, and Bailey. Within a few years Old Town ceased to exist and new businesses were brought in as well as old businesses relocated. Jo Greer and George Sherman built the first store in August, 1898. The first depot was a box car which was used for three or more years. T. W. (Tom) Camp was the new town's first barber. Shortly afterwards John Sale began to burn brick kilns; W. A. Waters and Hugh Miller built the first brick stores; T. U. Norton, Tom Sale and S. B. Baucum followed with brick establishments. When Haynesville was incorporated around 1899 frame buildings were outlawed. In 1904 John Henry was elected the new town's first mayor and S. E. Rankin was made its first marshal. Practically overnight, in the early part of 1921, Haynesville mushroomed from a peaceful little town of 1,000 inhabitants to a oil boom town. Tents, shacks, and lean-tos were thrown up to provide lodging and food for both workers and oil speculators. "Liquid gold" gushed forth on March 30, 1921, bringing in untold wealth which was followed by a building boom for new residences and business establishments, churches and school buildings. The condition of the roads and streets during the oil boom is vividly recalled by those who lived through the boom. A mule drowning in mud and slush on Main Street was a topic for conversation for many days during this time. The same is true for the youngster, a very enterprising young business man who took advantage of the situation, placed "2 x 12's" on blocks across the street and charged five cents to walk across. Rural mail carriers resorted to horseback to get the mail to its proper destination. Haynesville's progress can be attributed to many, many people. To list them all would be an extensive project, but names of a few families that have helped to make Haynesville a progressive town are as follows: Dawson, Greer, Brown, Waller, Sale, Sherman, Beene, Miller, Norton, Camp, Callender, Ware, Harp, Almand, Garrett, Rankin, Burns, McEachern, Lowe, Bond, and many others. Since World War II the importance of cotton in agriculture has been replaced with beef cattle, dairying, and forestry. ********** Page 27 H0MER By Lily Kiiiabrew Phillips Homer, which superceded Athens as the parish seat of Claiborne, bears a name chosen by Frank Vaughn, son of Tillinghast Vaughn who helped lay out the town around a public square, about 1850. The choice of a name can be explained in the interest in the classics which characterized the times. The name of the local newspaper, the Illiad, the classical style of the courthouse, the names of nearby communities - Athens and Sparta - are further indications of this interest. By 1860 Homer was a flourishing incorporated town, with approximately 700 inhabitants. A description of the town in 1886 is found in a rare booklet by F. H. Tompkins entitled North Louisiana: its soil, climate, productions, health, schools, etc., coupled with its timber and mineral wealth, also embracing a description of its various towns, prospective and completed railroads, and printed by the A. H. Pugh Printing Co., Cincinnati. Excerpts which follow provide not only light upon the history of Homer, but upon the journalistic style which was in favor at that time: "Dotted down among the iron clad hills of Claiborne is the charming and peerless little city named after the great Grecian bard. As will be seen from the account of Claiborne, it ranks among the finest of all the hill parishes of our state, and its people as possessing all the traits of real ante bellum hospitality. So is this little city like its surrounding. Its inhabitants are generous, whole-souled and hospitable, and possess the rare intelligence that always shows itself so plainly in those towns which have always had good schools. The schools of Homer have always been presided over by teachers of the very highest excellence. The Homer Masonic Female Institute has ushered from its portals girls whose subsequent careers, as mothers, wives, authors and teachers, have added lustre and fame, to their alma mater, and culture to the community within whose limits their lives have been spent. The Homer Male College has laid the foundation of many a collegiate education, and furnished many a bright boy all his parents were able to give him to battle against the world and make life a success. The votaries of mixed schools, of males and females, have gained the ascendancy, and these two honored institutions are now one, presided over by a gentleman of scholarly attainments, crowned with habits of piety and religious devotion. Situated in the midst of a people of thrifty and frugal habits, Homer's trade has always been very large. New trade centres, brought into existence by lines of railroad, have diverted its trade from a distance to some extent, yet its local trade has increased with the increase of population, and it enjoys a fine trade now. For a town of its size it has quite a large capital employed. A detailed statement of its business houses is as follows: A. E. Wilder. Dealer in dry goods and jewelry, does a large business almost exclusively for cash, and carries a beautiful stock of fancy goods, jewelry, etc. Mr. Wilder was for many years the confidential bookkeeper for A. McCranie. Embarked in business for himself in 1882, and has a good line of customers and plenty of friends. C. 0. Ferguson. In 1880, three young men, clerks in stores, who had saved their money, embarked in business together. They were Fayette Camp, A. H. Davidson, and C. 0. Ferguson. . . . They stepped into a fine business. In 1881, Mr. Camp withdrew, having sold his interest to the remaining partners. In 1884, Mr. Davidson withdrew, leaving C. 0. Ferguson the sole possessor of the fine and growing business. His friends are many... G. G. Gill. Mr. Gill is doing a general mercantile and advancing business. He is an old and esteemed merchant . . . an enterprising man and noted for his liberality. His store is on the north corner of the west side of the public square. J. K. Willet. A very deserving young man, who . . . by untiring industry, close economy and strict attention to business has built himself up an excellent business in the general mercantile and advancing line . . . Joseph Shelton is a young gentleman who has made the drug business a success. He is affable and courteous, and possesses a line of customers that no one can take from him ... J. W. Clingman is a young man who has recently embarked in the drug business . . . Mr. Clingman merits and receives a fine trade. W. J. Taylor commenced business in 1876 with but a small capital. He has been doing a general mercantile business on a cash basis since, and increasing his capital, year by year, until he now enjoys a good trade and carries a good assorted stock. Willie Tankersley is doing a retail business in the grocery line. He is a native young man and yet a minor. He may be numbered among the largest and staunchest of Homer's merchants some day. Otts & Allen. Two popular and enterprising young men, bought out the livery stable and stock of J. O. Tankersley, who had for many years done a fine business in Homer. This stable runs a daily line of hacks to Arcadia, and furnishes A 1 teams to drummers. Ragland & Taylor. This stable is managed by Mr. R. P. Ragland, the senior partner, an old and popular livery man. He has a first-class stable, with first-class stock and conveniences. Brown's Hotel. Kept by Mr. W. W. Brown, is a very large and commodious house, built within the last few years. It is the business center of the town. Hamilton House. Another hotel, is also a large house and eligibly situated near the Brown Hotel. Ott's House. This is kept at the old Ward House by Mr. W. W. Otts, a gentleman formerly in the mercantile business in Homer. It is popular with the traveling public. Clingman Nurseries . . . These extensive nurseries are now in their 14th year. They embrace every family of fruit trees that are adapted to our climate ... There is perhaps no nursery in existence in the United States to-day that has such strict rules with regard to the proper representation of trees. If a canvassing agent should misrepresent or mislead, to sell, it is deemed sufficient cause for his immediate discharge. Mr. Clingman pays his employees stated wages, and consequently can better control them in this matter than those nurseries which employ their men on commission, and allow them to make any statement to effect a sale. Trees, vines, shrubs, etc. grown at this nursery have all the advantages of acclimation, which is a great desideratum and one not possessed by Northern dealers. This nursery also prefers to replace any trees which may die or fail from any cause, than let the loss fall on the purchaser..." {Also see "Page 30-Announcements" in the corresponding photo album located in the Claiborne Parish LA GenWeb Archives.} ********** Page 31 HURRICANE By Joyce B. Dobbins Hurricane is located in the southeast corner of Claiborne Parish, seven miles north of Arcadia, on state highway 519, amidst rolling, red topped hills. A covering a of gravel and rocks with some weighing as much as fifty pounds may be found in many places. Sandy soil is prevalent, as well as a year round supply of water in surrounding wells, springs, and creeks for both livestock and human consumption. Hurricane's earliest history dates back to 1830-1850 when it was used as a camp site for travelers to Old Sparta on business. The presence of good drinking water and plenty of land was eventually to bring in many pioneering settlers. Particularly was this true after the Civil War. Research reveals that some of the earliest settlers were Tillman Howard, John Greer, S. A. Craighead, the Crossland brothers (L. P., Ab, and Tom), Washburn Byrd, Charlie James, and Bill Kilpatrick. Both Mr. Byrd and Mr. Kilpatrick located here around 1850. From 1860-1875 these families moved in: Bonaparte (Bonie) Watson in 1875, Irving Feazel in 1873, M. A. (Alex) Baker in 1867, Rance Baker and Giles Dobbins in 1872. Very shortly the Chandlers, Coxes, Davidsons, and Harrels were to follow. One of the first houses, built by the father of Tillman Howard, in 1836, is still in existence, although it is in poor condition. The front porch has long faded from the main structure, but the log walls, rock and mud chimney, and the dog trot typical of the architectural design of the period are still intact. The present Hurricane cemetery had its beginning in 1850. Shortly after Mr. Bill Kilpatrick moved into this community, he passed away. Mr. Washburn (Wash) Byrd owned the land which the community agreed upon as a proper cemetery site and Mrs. Kilpatrick paid him one dollar for a burial plot. Trees had to be cut down before a grave could be dug. To-day this grave is in a group of six marked only by rocks for head and foot stones. Hurricane's name was derived from the "big hurricane of 1863." Its early settlers have passed vivid descriptions of this storm down through the years, So much tall, virgin timber was blown down that it was impossible to ride horse back to Arcadia. Cow trails were blocked with tall trees preventing the cows from returning home for milking. Historical records reveal Charley Hays to be one of the early settlers of Athens. Mr. Hays rode into Claiborne from Tennessee on a horse in 1825. His descendents have contributed greatly in the early settling of Hurricane. J. W. Hays, a son, moved from Athens to Hurricane and established a saw log and planer mill, a cotton gin and grist mill. Many of J. W. Hays' descendents are still to be found in Hurricane and many parts of North Louisiana. Hurricane had a full time doctor in the late 1800's and the early 1900's. Dr. Thomas M. Mask (1855-1917) administered to all kinds of ills in the community including toothaches. The Cumberland Presbyterian Church, founded in September of 1883, is the oldest and first church in Hurricane. The Rev. G. R. Stewart organized it and Mrs. Caline Pardue gave it the name Bethel. The church continued with that name until 1922 when the Presbytery changed it to Hurricane. In 1908 the Hurricane Junior High School was built with Will Greer, Larkin Stevens, and Jim Watson as trustees. In 1916 The Hays School consolidated with the Hurricane Junior High School. In 1951 it consolidated with the Athens High School. The main building and teacher's home were auctioned off to the highest bidder. The cafeteria and auditorium remained for a community center. Up to World War II Hurricane was a cotton farming community, but at present the only farming practiced is either in forsstry or dairying. ********** Page 33 JUNCTION CITY By I. A. Brinker Junction City became a town on Sept. 27, 1894. The town came into being when the Arkansas Southern Railroad, later the Rock Island, was extended to that point by a Mr. Henderson, who named Junction City. On the day the railroad reached the site a barbecue was given, supervised by Mr. A. J. Brinker, a citizen of the community, and a public sale of lots was held. Many people of surrounding country came - many to buy lots - and many old people saw a train for their first time. The first business house was built by the railroad and managed by a Mr. Couch. Many places of business were soon built. Some of the first of these merchants were, Mr. Al Curby, and Simmons, Muse and Harris, and Jessie McDonald, druggist. Descendents of these families still live in Junction City. An abundance of virgin pine and oak timber grew here and many homes were built. Saw mills moved into the surrounding country and operated for many years. We are in the unique position here on the state line of having two sets of town officials - one on the Arkansas side and one on the Louisiana side. Most of the businesses are located on the Arkansas side - the post office, bank, schools, and churches, although the railway depot is on the state line - half in Arkansas and half in Louisiana. In the early days, a water well was located in the middle of the street on the state line, half being in Arkansas and half in Louisiana, with the southwest quarter of the well in Claiborne Parish and the southwest quarter in Union Parish. This well furnished water for the townspeople and a watering place for animals riden or driven into town by those who came to buy or sell. Now U. S. Highway 167 is routed through the main street and covers the location of this well. In that time cotton and corn were the money crops and source of income for the surrounding territory. Several thousand bales of cotton were sold yearly to buyers here. Today there is no buyer here, and only one cotton gin operates in this territory. Dairying, cattle-raising, truck gardening,-- timber and some cotton-are the chief sources of income to farmers. ********** Page 34 LISB0N By Ruth Tait Keener The community of Lisbon, Louisiana, became the homestead of early settlers from Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and the Carolinas, between 1800 and 1850. Finding here a sufficient water-supply for the livestock of the wagon-train, these pioneers put down roots on what proved to be good soil, for it sustained the needs of six or more generations of their descendents. A post office was established at Lisbon on September 30, 1851, with Seth Tatum appointed as the first post master. (1) Mail service for rural residents was begun when Rural Route No. 1 was established on January 3, 1911, with Tom M. Killgore as the first rural carrier. (2) While Lisbon was in her youth, the citizens gave expression to their religious feelings by organizing the Rocky Springs Baptist Church and the Lisbon Methodist Church. Rocky Springs Baptist Church was organized in 1845. (3) The Church acquired 4 acres of land during the 1850's, as follows: 1 acre by donation from W. D. Hester on January 24, 1852; (4) 2 acres for $1.00 from J. L. Love on April 21, 1852; (5) and 1 acre for $10.00 from Allen Killgore on June 25, 1857. (6) The Lisbon Methodist Church was organized in April, 1849, at the house of Thos. B. Wafer. (7) This church acquired three acres of land, August 5, 1871, from James McClendon, by DEED OF GIFT to the Methodist Episcopal Church South of Lisbon, President and Trustees: T. H. Pennington, J. J. Duke, John Duke, J. W. Dawson, James M. Clements, James Cook, and James McClendon. (8) There has always prevailed at Lisbon a respect for those who serve in defense of our country. During the Civil War, the great-uncle of this writer, in a letter to his parents, Louis M. and Milley Raborn, told that his company was organized at Homer, then departed for Camp Moore. On the way the men were stopped at Lisbon where the citizens had gathered to present a patriotic program in their honor, and to present the company with a flag. This same spirit of patriotism was again demonstrated following the death of Allen David King, who gave his life for our country, August 6, 1952, while serving as 1st Lt. U. S. Infantry, Co. K. 31st Rifle Regiment, 7th Division, in Korea. In his memory the Lisbon Men's Club built and continues to maintain a lake and recreational area east of Lisbon, just north of the Claiborne Gasoline Plant. The schools of the Lisbon community date back to the middle of the 19th century. Small one-room schools were located from five to eight miles apart. Some of the family names responsible for these schools were: Harris, Meadows, English, Killgore, McCasland, Simmons, Ford, Smith, Dawson, White, McDonald, McClendon. Some of the school masters came from these families. These schools were run partially by taxes but mostly by parent-paid tuition. (9) On March 16, 1907, there was a transfer of 4 acres of land from Charles J. Morton, of Union Parish, to Lisbon School Trustees: O. W. Meadows, President, and J. A. Aycock, T. F; White, W. O. McDonald, and W. C. Killgore. (10) In the early 1920's, while John Sparks Patton, a native of Lisbon, was serving as Claiborne Parish Superintendent of Schools, the rural schools of Sharon, Antioch, and Arizona were consolidated with the one at Lisbon, making it the Lisbon High School. Leon Killen was the first principal. (9) Serving as principal for the longest period of time was M. J. Haynes, from 1926 until his retirement in 1953. Lisbon School had an enrollment of about 150 students during the time of the Lisbon oil boom, from about 1937 until about 1947. Since then it has dwindled to the present enrollment of 102. For several decades, the community flourished economically by raising cotton as its major industry. In recent years, farmers have given more attention to the raising of cattle and pine trees. Also, for the past twenty-five years, the oil industry has contributed much toward financial prosperity. After being bound together by their mutual interests for more than a hundred years, the families of Lisbon legally joined themselves together in 1958. On July 16, 1958, a number of residents signed a petition, requesting the Governor of the State of Louisiana to declare their settlement to be a municipal corporation, to be known as "The Village of Lisbon." This petition was signed by members of the following families: Abbott, Bailey, Bennett, Carathers, Copeland, Gaston, Greeson, Haynes, Heard, Killgore, Knighten, Lowrey, McAdams, Marsh, Merrill, Peppers, Saulters, Spears, Tait, Welch, White, Williams, Womack. Subsequent to the official incorporation of the Village of Lisbon, a meeting was held at which time the following officers were elected: Mayor: Ben W. White; Marshal: Thomas Peppers; Aldermen: T. F. Greeson, F. M. Lowrey, and Frank Tait. These gentlemen took their oaths of office, October 23, 1958, In 1960, the Village of Lisbon had a population of 229. (12) BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. National Archives and Records Service, Washington, D. C. 2. Federal Records Center, St. Louis, Missouri. 3. Minutes of Liberty Baptist Association. 4. Claiborne Parish Clerk of Court's Office-Conveyance Book A, page 566. 5. Claiborne Parish Clerk of Court's Office-Conveyance Book A, page 564. 6. Claiborne Parish Clerk of Court's Office-Conveyance Book D, page 505. 7. "The History of Claiborne Parish'', by D. W. Harris and B. M. Hulse. 8. Claiborne Parish Clerk of Court's Office-Conveyance Book J, page 478. 9. "A History of Lisbon High School" in files of Claiborne Parish School Board. 10. Claiborne Parish Clerk of Court's Office--Conveyance Book X, page 14. 11. "The Guardian-Journal", August 21, 1958. 12. U. S. Dept. of Commerce--United States Census of Population 1960- Louisiana, Number of Inhabitants. ********** Page 37 MAH0N By Lilla May McElwee Shaw Following an age old custom, Mahon Community was named in honor of its most prominent first citizen, John Mahon. A son of Mr. Mahon is now a U. S. Senator from Texas. Dr. Fleater Palmer was the first mail carrier, covering a route from Homer to Mahon and on to the Gordon community. Its early settlers were: Mr. Mahon, R. H. Cleveland, who came from Georgia, John S. McElwee (father of W. T. McElwee) who came from Brownsville, Tennessee, Dr. J. E. Meadors; Willis Jarrell; Willie Moreland; Hickman; Jim and Monroe Kirk; and Jim Ford. Mr. Hickman operated a blacksmith shop, repaired implements, shod all work-horses and mules, and also made caskets as needed. In 1891 Hugh Taylor and R. H. Cleveland bought Mr. Mahon's store. This store supplied every need of the inhabitants of the community and also a chosen few of the luxuries. Among the latter were apple and apricot cider, stored in kegs, boasting of faucets from which it was dispensed in mugs at 10 cents each. Some of the earliest clerks in the store were W. T. McElwee and Tuck Bailey. Taylor and Cleveland later sold the store to Dr. J. E. Meadors, who operated it over a space of years. In January 1901 W. T. McElwee married and brought his bride, Mattie McKenzie, to Mahon to live. He built a store and christened it "The Blue Front". Besides operating the store he supervised a gin and grist mill, the toll being "one peck of meal to the bushel". Aside from these enterprises he was the landlord of a large farm, which he called "The West Side Plantation". There were fifteen families living on it to do the labor. On chosen Saturday nights W. T. or Tandy, as he was better known, would stage an entertainment which the wage hands called "de Bull Fight". All of them crowded into the store, and then Tandy would toss (over the counter) sardines, apples, oranges and candy. There was a mad scramble to acquire these free items and various strategies were used to amass the most. One long legged Negro tied strings around the bottoms of his overall legs, and unbuttoned the sides, and when it was over - he had all this space filled, as well as his pockets. At Christmas, a tree was erected in "The Blue Front" decorated with colored paper chains and popped pop-corn strung on thread. One of "Santa's helpers" distributed the gifts, and no Negro failed to hear his name called. Supplies for "The Blue Front" came by rail to Homer and then were hauled by wagons, with four-horse teams, to the store. No doubt the most popular item on the plantation was the old dinner bell that rang out its chimes at 11:30 a.m. every work day. Once Richard McElwee who lived with his grandparent John S. McElwee, said: "Aunt Matt's bell says: Cakes and pies, and grandma's says: Peas and bread." Back in those days everybody wore "long-handled" underwear, made of drilling and tied at the bottom of the legs to hold tightly in place and guard off the wind. These was never discarded until the crocus were in full bloom. One moonlight night Tandy was returning from Homer in his buggy. As he came to a branch "Dan Patch" stopped and shied and began snorting. Looking to the right, Tandy saw the figure of a man. Thinking it to be a Negro man that lived near-by, Tandy did not become frightened until he saw the figure seem to go through a rail fence and cross the road, disappearing into "thin air". At that, Tandy gave "Dan Patch" the reins and they lost no time in getting home. Some of those who clerked for Tandy were: Andrew Evans, Chester Owens, Frank Owens, John Prather, and A. W. Blackwell. Contemporary with Tandy in the community were J. J. McElwee, Jim Baker, Martin Smith, Walter Jarrel, Mr. Warwick, Virgil Green, John T. Meadors, Tom and Drew McKenzie, Brythol Evans, Jim Robertson, Mr. Malone, Jeff Russell, and Prentiss Meadors. All the old homes are either deserted, torn down, or occupied by Negroes at the present time. The children of Tandy still own his property. There are Lilla May (Mrs. Madden Shaw), Rosa (Mrs. J. T. Swann) Mary Lee, (Mrs. James L. Green) and Tandy Jr. Most of the land has been dedicated to the pine industry, and no longer will be heard the plaintive songs of the Negroes in the cotton, corn and sugar cane fields. The bell no longer promises cakes and pies for there is no one to heed the invitation. A sentinel is kept on the growing pines; the hawk by day and the owl by night. And often an antlered deer is silhouetted in the twilight, drinking boldly from the spring at the road side. ********** Page 39 SHARON By Ruth Tait Keener The community of Sharon, known also as Kimbell Town, which takes its name from the Sharon Baptist Church (organized in 1872) and from the Kimbell School, consolidated with Lisbon High School in the 1920's, is located about seven miles southeast of Lisbon, on the Dubach Highway. Some of the school teachers at Kimbell School were: Mrs. Willie Lee Kimbell Tarpley, Mrs. Berta Tatum, Mrs. Vera Ferguson Enloe, and Mrs. Eva Patton Bennett. During the childhood of this writer, church services at Sharon were held on Saturday morning, preceding the First Sunday, and the first and third Sunday afternoons of each month. Following the Saturday morning eleven o'clock preaching services, the congregation spread dinner on tables underneath the trees in the yard, or in the church building during inclement weather, and visited with each other. Afterwards, there was a general conference, at which time all church business was transacted, as the members felt it would be desecration of the Sabbath to bring up business matters on Sunday. Following the August revival, baptismal services were held in a pool, equipped with steps, on the farm of Nolen Carter. For several years, the Church has been on a full-time basis, with worship services held every Sunday morning and evening, and prayer services on Wednesday night. A pastor's home on the Lisbon-Bernice highway was built on land which was donated for that purpose by Mrs. Ady L. Green Scriber. Sharon is the meeting place of the mail routes from Lisbon and Dubach. It is also the meeting place of those who borrow reading material from the bookmobile of the Claiborne Parish Library. Miss Sudie Fowler, now almost 90 years of age, has earned a Reading Certificate nearly every year since the library was opened, in April, 1951. Some families in the community will be remembered by their names of: Brown, Carter, Clawson, Clements, Cooper, English, Enloe, Fowler, Green, Hanks, Haynes, Hendrix, Henry, Hood, Kimbell, McCurry, McVay, Mansfield, Mitchell, Oxford, Peacock, Puckett, Rives, Scriber, Stansbury, Tait, Tatum, Tanner, Tippet, Wilson, Wise, Holmes. ********** Page 40 SUMMERFIELED HISTORY By J. Will Gray First post office--Scottsville on Corney Bluff, Barges came to Corney Bluff; today, you can hardly make it in a rowboat. Earliest business establishments: J. W. O'Bannon........................ General merchandise Paul Talbot........................... General merchandise W. M. Ledbetter....................... General merchandise G. Hay............................... General merchandise Earliest doctors: Dr. W. M. Sellers.............................. Drug store Dr. J. M. Ledbetter............................ Drug store School building - Log-cabin before the Civil War. Earliest settlers: Alberry Wasson (one of the earliest) Wilson Henry Smith (Jack Smith's great-great grandad) Martin Kennedy Later settlers (but still way back) O'Bannon, Ledbetter, Kerlin, Barber, Brown, Gray, Allgood, Havis, Ramsey, Tanner, Hall, Thompson, Langford, Barrow. Main highways: (1) Farmerville - Magnolia road. (2) Claiborne Road; Farmerville to Homer. These were roads blazed through the woods, but there are still signs of the old roads today. Industry: Farming: the Georgia Plowstock was the chief piece of equipment; Negro labor was plentiful. Transportation: Mostly wagons, horse-back and ladies side-saddle. The ladies wore long riding skirts. They used horse blocks, composed of three steps to get on and off. I might add too, that it was almost a disgrace for ladies to expose their ankles. Later were the horse and buggy days. Churches: Earliest ones I know about date back to about 1975. They were: Methodist, Baptist, Primitive Baptist (earliest of all). ********** Page 41 SUGAR CREEK (This information is furnished by E. R. Hester, of Arcadia, and was obtained from the National Archives in Washington, D. C.) On October 1, 1853, a post office was established at Sugar Creek, in Claiborne Parish, which is about nine miles north of Arcadia. It was discontinued February 28, 1907. Eight men served as postmasters during its fifty-four (54) years of history. The list of men and the dates of their appointment are as follows: Postmasters Dates of appointment John S. Carlton...............................October 1, 1853 William A. Sherard..........................December 29, 1857 R. Rabun.....................................January 14, 1861 James A. Enlow..................................July 24, 1868 M. J. Beckham...................................June 26, 1871 George W. Sims..................................June 14, 1888 Frank T. Taylor................................April 12, 1890 George W. Sims..............................October 23, 1902 Discontinued on February 28, 1907 ********** Page 41 WELDON By Henry A. Smith Weldon, a small community in Ward 1, near the Union Parish line, really had its beginning at the "Alabama Camp Ground", where "revival" meetings were held annually under an arbor. The community was not known as Weldon until years after the beginning of the "Alabama Camp Ground" - before 1850. Part of the village of Weldon was patented from the United States to Severn Ozley and to John T. Beville. These men sold portions of the patent to the following: J. T. Wade; Aaron C. Harper; J. R. Fuller; J. J. Booles; T. G. Weldon; C. A. Wade; T. H. Land; J. E. Haynes; J. H. Haynes; T. H. Willamson; C. A. Roach; O. E. Glover; J. M. Houst, 1904. This community supported both an elementary and high school until 1926, when the school was consolidated with Summerfield. ********** Page 42 ROSA WILDER BLACKMAN, HISTORIAN By Sue Hefley Rosa Wilder Blackman records history in clay, wire, cotton, string, beads, and scraps of this and that. She is a Homer artist whose best known and most loved creations are her Negro dolls for the construction and clothing and dramatic setting of which she is entirely responsible. She and her dolls have had wide acclaim, but perhaps her contribution to the preservation of the history of her section has never been recognized adequately as such. For this contribution she deserves "distinguished award." The Negro of the old south belonged to a special segment of society and because of the circumstances of his life, certain characteristics were developed and he became a distinct personality. Individuals varied, as they always do, but the image of the Negro of the old south is something we of that region hold in common. Because it is an image which is fading with time and because it is one which should not be lost, Mrs. Blackman's work in preserving it has a very special importance. As long as her dolls may be seen and studied or faithful photographs of them consulted, this period of history lives. Mrs. Blackman's dolls represent characters she has known. They are nine or ten inches in height and are carefully built over a foundation of wire, covered and padded with cotton and shaped with wound string. The head, hands, and feet are modeled meticulously from clay, hardened, and finished with a life-like "skin" of soft brown enamel. No two faces are alike since each has its real-life counterpart. Mrs. Blackman has used just the right fabric, perhaps faded and patched, for the clothes for each doll. The facial features are unforgetable and the posture of each---sitting or standing---is evidence of this artist's genius for imparting a living quality to her creations. A catalog of her best known dolls can be made by referring to descriptive brochures which Mrs. Blackman has prepared from time to time and by consulting newspaper accounts of exhibits in which her work was represented. Such a catalog is in itself a contribution to the history of the region for the dolls tell their own story of patient labor, faithful service, deep religious feeling, and of some of the lighter moments of relaxation and play. The following list includes excerpts from brochures and newspaper accounts: Magnolia: The white "chile" she holds wears a dainty lace-trimmed dress and is wrapped in a fringed flannel shawl. Magnolia wears a dark calico dress and trimmed underwear in keeping with the times. Uncle Bill Cornelius: Born of slave parents in North Carolina, Uncle Bill moved with them to Louisiana "just after the surrender". "Cornelius" was the surname of his "young marster". He carries a sack on his back which contains a donation of clothes from his white friends. Aunt Sally Woodfork: Aunt Sally wears a patched dress and apron, white head- rag and underwear, and well-worn shoes. In the back yard she talks to herself as she stirs the clothes in the boiling-pot. A hat surmounts the headrag. Lee Annie: This old-fashioned Mammy wears long white drawers and undershirt, a red flannel petticoat or balmoral, home-spun dress, apron, and little shoulder cape. Uncle John Wills: An old, stooped man. He has long, gray chin whiskers and wears patched pants, a ragged felt hat, old shoes and a wool coat over a shirt or sweater. He carries a burlap sack over his shoulder. Cotton pickers (men) They wear well-worn pants, shirts, shoes, and straw hats. They drag long cotton sacks and hold in their hands cotton just picked from the bolls. (women) They smile and show white teeth; they wear big straw hats, leather shoes, and faded summer clothes. Cotton choppers (men and women). Dressed like the pickers they carry hoes over their shoulders. Reverend Mayfield: He has a fringe of gray hair around a bald head and wears a black wool Prince Albert coat and pants, white shirt and collar, black tie and shoes. He stands behind a pulpit upon which is a white linen scarf and an open Bible. With outstretched arms he is bringing The Word to his congregation. Crapshooters: Two Negro men are mounted on the same base. They wear overalls, or shirts and pants, old felt hats, and leather shoes. One obviously is winning and the other losing; the thrown dice are visible on the foundation between them. Duck: Duck is a wash-woman. She carries her bundle of clothes on her head, and wears a woolen petticoat or "balmoral", faded dress, apron, and men's shoes. Aunt Mary Lewis: A "shouting member" of the African Methodist Church, located in Buck Bottom, a small Negro settlement on the outskirts of Homer. She often "got happy" and "shouted"; the women fanned her while the men carried her--"stiff as a board"--out of the church for fresh air. Melvinie: Dressed in a spotless white apron, calico dress, and white head- rag, Melvinie has abandoned her sweeping for the moment and is refreshing herself by playing on the organ in the parlor. Her broom rests beside the organ, her hands are on the keyboards and her feet on the pedals. A small mirror on the wall at her side allows the viewer to see her remarkable profile. Old Black Joe: Seated with his banjo, ready to play. "A Stitch in Time": A woman seated, dressed in faded gingham, with a white apron and head-rag and a fringed shawl. Needle and thread are in hand. Woman ironing: Standing at the ironing-board, "testing" the iron in the time-honored fashion. Mrs. Blackman began making these dolls in 1941. They have been sold throughout the United States, and some have found purchasers in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. In 1958 there was a special showing of twenty-one of her dolls at the Louisiana Art Commission galleries in Baton Rouge. Samples of her work have been acquired by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the American Museum of Natural History, Louisiana State Museum, the "doll section" of the museum maintained by Hobbles Magazine, the Children's Museum maintained by the Detroit Board of Education. and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Mrs. Blackman was born in Homer and has lived there almost continuously. She is the daughter of A. E. Wilder, native of Old Vienna, near Ruston, and Bennie MeCranie, born in Homer. She is a self-taught artist and her work has great idividuality and distinction. It truly reflects the sympathetic respect and affection she has for her subjects and her concern for the preservation of the history of her region. {Also see "Page 43-Melvinie", "Page 45-Log Cabin & Aunt Sally Woodfork", and "Page 47-Cotton Picker & Crap Shooters" in the corresponding photo album located in the Claiborne Parish LA GenWeb Archives.} ********** Page 48 THESE THINGS I REMEMBER By Blanche Collier Kinnebrew Our parents and grandparents worked hard for a living; this was especially true of our grandparents who survived the War between the States. Much property in the South had been destroyed, and many houses burned to the ground. There was little time for relaxation and social life. There were no automobiles, so most of the travel was by carriage or in wagons drawn by horses or mules. Church going and family visitation were just about the only diversions. Church organs were pumped by hand and lights were swinging kerosene lamps. In private homes candles were used in the bedrooms and lamps only in the parlors. Every home had a smoke-house which was used for curing and storing foods. The smoke-house was built back of the main house, excavated about a foot; it was without a floor and it was kept very dark for coolness. Hams were hickory smoked for a month or six weeks, salted and hung from the rafters where they were kept indefinitely. Sorghum syrup in tin buckets, sweet potatoes and Irish potatoes were stored here. Very little could be bought in the smaller towns and ice had to be shipped from the nearest city. Most of it melted, even though it was packed in sawdust. Some well-to-do folks owned ice boxes, but all country families let perishable foods and milk and butter down into the wells in long cylinder-like buckets and pulled them up at meal time. Housewives considered it a disgrace if all mattresses and feather beds were not taken to the back yard and sunned every two weeks. There was usually a colored servant who helped in lifting these beddings. The mattresses were made from home-grown cotton and feathers for the feather- beds were picked from the chickens and geese. Soap was made at home in a container of oak-wood ashes which formed a lye when water was added and the whole boiled with grease. The device used was called an ash hopper. Floors and dishes were scrubbed with this lye soap which was very hard on the hands. Mops were made of corn shucks. Holes were bored into a thick piece of wood about six by twelve inches and a handle also was made of wood and fitted into the bottom which held the shucks securely. Every Monday was washday - rain or shine. The wash-shed was in the back near the well. In it were three or four large wooden tubs set on a plank platform. A black wash-pot sat nearby and dry wood was piled under it for boiling the clothes. The battling block was also considered a necessity. Clothes were beaten with a long wooden bat, called a battling paddle, on a wooden block which was called a battling block. Freezing food was unheard of. Beef was delivered by horse-back to the homes, often in time to have fried steak for breakfast. The old butcher would blow a horn to let the housewife know when the beef was ready. It was not unusual, especially in case of unexpected company, to catch a chicken from the back yard, wring its neck, dress it, fry it, and have it on the dining table in thirty minutes. The old parlor was really called the "inner sanctum" and rightly so, because no one was allowed to enter unless there was company. In south Louisiana French styles of furniture were copied-gold mirrors and chairs, bric-a-brac, mahogany cabinets, rosewood tables, and breakfronts, but in north Louisiana the parlors were of colonial type, with carpets of red velvet, usually with a floral design. There was the old square piano, cherry, mahogany, or walnut chairs, and a sofa upholstered in velvet or horsehair, There was a grandmother rocker and there were marble- top tables. Enlarged family portraits hung on the walls and lace doilies were seen on the arms of chairs and on tables. The family album lay on a table in the parlor. Dried flowers were often used as an ornament. The parlor may have had a musty odor since it was opened only once a week to "air it out". The more modern parlor of about nineteen hundred changed its decor over-night. "Art-squares" replaced the wall-to-wall carpets. These squares were about nine by twelve feet, leaving a two-foot space around the floor which was stained or polished. Sofas were overstuffed and showed no wood at all; with the sofa came two overstuffed chairs - one a straight chair, the other a rocker. The upright piano replaced the square; electric lights replaced the old swinging lamp. Every home had a wood fire, with a brick hearth and wooden mantel-board on which the clock rested, flanked by huge vases and bowls for flowers. Popping corn was a pleasant pastime on Sunday afternoons. Amusements for the young people were varied. Public dances of a decade before were replaced by dances in private homes where the girls and boys were learning the new dance called the "two-step!" Music was furnished by members of the group who could play the piano. Walking down the railroad track by moonlight was most popular as none of the streets were paved. Boys and girls walked in pairs, holding hands. Of course there must be chaperones and finding them was sometimes a problem. The hayride was popular; the boys would rent a wagon and mules and fill the wagon with hay. The girls would furnish the lunch. The crowd would ride out into the country for about five miles, stop at a country home and eat lunch. I well remember how they would sing all the way home. I remember a hayride to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Burrell Moore, where Mrs. Moore's sisters, Dora and Clara Wade, were visiting. As we departed for home we sang "See the boat go round the bend, good-bye my lover, good-bye." Other songs popular at that time were "Sweet Adeline", "In the Good Old Summer Time", and of course every hay-ride ended with 'Good Night, Ladies". Soon after this period - about the year 1905 and 1906, picture-shows and automobiles were introduced and all local social life changed. Young people no longer took moon-light walks or carried lanterns to parties. Pop- corn and Coca-Cola replaced the chicken barbecue. Sock parties (where everyone was asked to bring as many pennies in a miniature home-sewn sock as his years of age as a donation to charity or perhaps to a Sunday-school class) icecream suppers in the corridors of the Courthouse or under the cedar trees on the G. G. Gill lawn just went out of style. Then came the gramophone, the radio, and television; city and country were brought together. {Also see "Page 50-Ash-Hoppers" in the corresponding photo album located in the Claiborne Parish LA GenWeb Archives.} ********** Page 51 LIFE IN THE C. S. L. PATTON FAMILY, 1866 - 1960 By Laurice Patton Robinson and Blanche Patton Hensley Our father, C. S. L. Patton was born Sept. 20, 1866 in the little village of Lisbon to Harmon Wright Patton and Narcissus Antonet Tate Patton. He had three brothers, James, John, and Tom Patton. He had three sisters, Etta, Effie, and Louella Patton, all of whom were older - except Louella. His father died when our father was only a boy. Our father had all of the education that was offered at Lisbon at that time. Three of his teachers that we remember hearing him speak of were: Professor Nicholson, Mr. Minor Wallace, and Mrs. Mattie Perkin. He also attended Tulane University as long as he was financially able. He then taught in the one-room schools of this parish for a time. Our father married Kate Henry of Arcadia, who also taught in this parish. They settled four miles south of Lisbon on land that he inherited, bought, and homesteaded. To this union were born six children: Laurice, Lanier, Blanche, Marion, James Henry, and Charles Emmette. Our father made a living for his family by farming his land with the help of a few share-crop families and also with the help of his children who all knew what work on the farm meant. This farm produced cotton, corn, peas, potatoes, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables, cattle, hogs, sheep, geese, turkeys, and chickens. Our mother managed all the home affairs, such as cooking. food preserving, making clothes for the family. The clothes she made were all the clothes we had in those days except shoes, hats, heavy coats, and our father's dress suit. The bed-clothes were made by hand. We children all had our "cook" weeks and "house-cleaning" weeks. Our father also helped run the cotton gin that was on his mother's place. After the ginning was over, the cane had to be made into syrup. Both the cotton gin and cane mill were of the old type. The gin was run by wood fire under a big boiler of water to form the steam. The syrup mill was pulled by a mule to grind the cane and then the juice cooked in a large pan over a wood furnace. Our father also helped shear the sheep during the year. This was usually done in the late spring and summer months. Work on the farm in those days was a full-time job for the entire family. You never heard of much unemployment in those days. The land was cultivated with a one-horse plow and hoes. Fences were built out of rails split from logs and pickets for garden and yard fences were riven out of pine logs; boards for covering houses were riven out by hand. The home had to be heated with wood which had to be cut or sawed from the trees on the place. This, too, was work for the family, and there were no electric saws then. Our home was a big old-time two-story house which had seven rooms and a big porch and a large open hall. There was much happiness and much hard work in this humble home. There were no modern conveniences. The heating system consisted of three large fireplaces and a wood cook-stove downstairs and a wood heater upstairs. We had "running water" when we children decided to "run" to the well with a bucket and draw the water with a windlass and rope and then "run" in with it. This well would get very low in water during the dry summer months, so we had to do the washing during that time at a spring down under a big hill about a quarter of a mile from the house. We would pack our lunch basket and take our clothes down to this spring for a day's work and fun. There between two beautiful trees my father had built a nice wash-bench to put the tubs on and placed a battling-block and stick near by to be used to help clean the dirtiest clothes. We had big iron pots in which we boiled the clothes after we had washed them. Then we would take them from the pots and rinse in clear water. Our "Frigidaire" in those days was an old well that had gone dry, but was deep and cool. We would swing our milk, butter, eggs, and fresh meat down in it in containers by ropes. This would keep these things cool and save them for several days at a time. We never kept much fresh meat at one time. We killed the hogs in the winter when the weather was cold and cured the meat. We would kill a beef in the summer or fall and divide it among our neighbors and when they killed one they would do the same. This gave us beef quite often without keeping much on hand at one time, We raised most of our food at home, with the exception of a few staple foods such as flour, sugar, and coffee. The coffee was bought green and was parched and ground at home. The soap we used for everything except toilet soap was made at home by our mother with the help of the children. We saved the ashes from the fireplaces and placed them in a hopper which our father had built out of a hewed log and some boards. We then lined this hopper with shucks from corn to be used as a filter, and then placed the ashes in the hopper. It was kept covered until we needed a new supply of soap. Then we would soak the ashes with water and it produced the prettiest red lye you ever saw. When we had run enough lye we would take the craeklings and other scraps of meat which had been saved for this purpose, place in a large wash-pot with the lye, and cook until it formed a nice thick soap. This soap was placed in a big barrel and put in the smokehouse to last the rest of the year. It was good to make lye-hominy while we had plenty of lye. We shelled a nice supply of corn and cooked it in water with enough lye to cause the husk to turn loose. Then we would wash it many times in clear water and cook it in grease and other seasoning. This was much better than the hominy you buy in cans now. We children had to go four miles to school and there was no transportation except what each family provided. We went by such means as walking, horse-back, buggy, and finally, a little one-horse wagon. We left before daylight and returned after dark many times during the winter months; school was from eight to four in those days. We had no holidays except Thanksgiving and about a week at Christmas. All parties and other entertainment for young people had to stop while school was in session. We did not even have a ball-game except on Friday afternoons after school. All ball practice was at recess and during the noon hour. Hog-killing was a big event. We children always wanted it done when we could be at home to help (or perhaps hinder). Our father would hire a few colored men to help him dress and cut up the meat and hire some colored women to help our mother take off the fat, cut and render the lard, grind and stuff sausage. There were also the feet and heads to clean and we children helped with this. These parts were used in making of hogshead cheese. The meat was cured by spreading it out and sprinkling salt over it, letting it remain through the night so it would get cold through. The next morning it was packed down with salt in a large box. It remained here for two or three weeks, then was taken up and the salt washed off with scalding water. It was then hung in the smoke-house and smoked with smoke made by burning hickory wood. After it was completely dry, the hams would be placed in cloth sacks made for that purpose, and hung back up. The bacon was left hanging as it was. We always had much fun in our home. We played games around the fireside, sang songs around the piano, popped corn, parched peanuts, and made molasses candy. We played outdoor games such as town ball, the ball being made from an old sock. We went fishing, gathered nuts and fruits from the woods, went horse-back riding, and played many pranks on each other. We were instructed in the reading of the Bible. We had prayer at the table. Every member of the family had to be present at each meal at the same time; sickness was the only excuse. The kind of life we led may seem very hard to some, but we can say that we had a happy life together. Our mother passed away on November 11, 1936 and our father passed away on September 17, 1960. ********** Page 55 MUSINGS AND MEMORIES OF ARIZONA By J. Vernon Harris (Editor's note: This is taken from a longer account; a "camp hunt at Nicholson's Bridge on D'Arbonne Bayou" furnishes the setting that leads to reminiscences) ...Afterward, the men sat around smoking and talking. Across the bridge, the road wound around the hill up to the old house almost in sight of the camp. Their conversation and thoughts went back to their childhood as they reminisced and re-lived "Those good old days on the farm at Nicholson's Bridge". The boys listened, and the tales the men told made an indelible impression on their minds. They, too, lived on that hill and played, and frolicked over the hills and bottoms as they did. They knew the location of all the sugar cane patches along the creek. They knew where to find the trees with the most food for squirrels, and went with the brothers on their hunts to catch "possums". They knew that old Brer Possum had to be kept up for a couple of weeks and fed before he would be clean enough to eat as a roast with sweet potatoes for that special meal. They helped each winter with the hog killing, keeping the fire going around the big wash pot with the water to scald the hogs and helping to scrape the hair off. They roasted the liver-like meld from the hogs over the coals in the fire and turned the sausage mill as they ground and stuffed the sausage that helped to tide the family over during the winter. They stirred the pot of lard as they cooked the fat from the hogs and made their own shortening, squeezing the grease out of the cracklings and saving them to make crackling bread. They watched as the meat was salted down in the big box for curing, and after the salt had penetrated the meat, they helped to hang it up in the smoke-house and watched the fire so that the smoke only would come from it and fill the little room, but the fire must not blaze up lest it set fire to the house and burn it up along with the meat. During the winter, they carried out the ashes from the fireplace where they had burned oak, and stored them in an ash hopper where the rain could fall in it and drip through the hopper. The pan that caught the lye water was then carried into the kitchen and they helped to make the soap with which to scrub clean, floors, clothes, and boys and girls. They helped to shell the corn that went into the big wash pot to make lye hominy, and they shelled the corn and went with the boys to the grist mill to grind it into meal. They helped to hunt deer and wild turkey and always kept plenty of quail, squirrels and rabbits in the house for meat. They set out hooks on D'Arbonne in the spring and "muddied" in the late summer to help the larder out with plenty of catfish. They went with the family to visit their neighbors, to the fish fry in Robinson's Pasture, and enjoyed all the fellowship and friendship of the people in the community. John Tom Harris, son of Eli Harris who had moved into the community sometime before the War between the States, returned from the war and settled down near the home of his father. He married Kate Glover, and reared a family of five boys and girls. Four of the five boys were on this particular hunting party. The oldest, Orren who lived in Webster Parish was not present. While Grandfather Eli had owned a number of slaves, and was a considerable planter in the area, with the end of the war and the emancipation of the slaves, each farmer was left to clear his own land if not cleared. Walter, Glover and Tom could well remember the days and the ways their fields had been cleared in their early childhood. The men of the family went into the woods and felled all of the trees and cut them into logs, leaving them where they fell. This usually took place during the winter, and in the early spring, they gave a "Log-Rolling." Menfolks met at the field and teamed up in pairs, each pair using a stick under the log, and each trying to get the long end of the stick and to out-pull his partner. The logs were toted from the field and piled where they were burned. The "new-ground" was then planted in corn by the family as soon as the ground was warm enough. The women met at the house where they all helped to prepare a big meal for the men: plenty of meats, turnip greens, dried blackeyed peas topped off with cakes and pies which had been prepared by all for the occasion. Late in the evening, after the meal came the fellowship together. There was a sense of togetherness in the community with each family concerned about the welfare of their neighbors. In time of need, their help was automatic and timely. In case of sickness in a family, the neighbors helped to "sit up" with the patient and to wait on him. In death, the neighbors "laid out the body" and took charge of securing the coffin and digging the grave. This was a community of people who lived together, played together, worked together, and wholly enjoyed life together. There was a little church in Arizona, a Methodist church where the people went to worship their God. They assembled on "meeting days" like all good Methodists and all participated in their quarterly conferences, each held on a Saturday, with preaching the next day. The community was prosperous in spite of the hardships of the men coming directly from the war, and before too long, the community was faced with the ever present problem of turning to industry. Claiborne Parish had plenty of labor, plenty of skill, and a group of public spirited men who imported and built a cotton niill in the town to make piece goods. Transportation problems and unfair freight rates pushed the cost of the goods so high that they were unable to compete with northern markets, and the Arizona Manufacturing Company folded up and its property was sold. In the bustling town of Arizona there was also a fine school, operated after the war by Col. J. W. Nicholson and known as Nicholson's Academy. Col. Nicholson later became the professor of mathematics at Louisiana State University where he remained for many years. He was the author of several books of mathematics which were taught in all schools of Louisiana from the early grades through college. He recorded many of his experiences before and after the Civil War under the title "Stories of Dixie". The two-story Academy stood under the big oak trees near the church on the main street of the town. Water was supplied by a spring in the edge of the woods some few yards away. The town supported a Woodman of the World Camp, and a Masonic Lodge, and this writer remembers that as a very small child he visited in Arizona and had the privilege of climbing the stairs of the old two-story building, long since converted into a more modern school of two rooms on the ground floor with the upper floor used as lodge rooms. Though the lodges were inactive, much of their regalia was still in the rooms, their robes, swords and other regalia that created in the minds of those boys, a feeling of awe and mystery that they never lost. Arizona was the birthplace of numerous men and women who have helped to make history in Louisiana and elsewhere, serving in many professions such as the medical, legal, teaching, and political. One of them, Thomas H. Harris served the state as Superintendent of Education for more than a quarter of a century. Others have served as judges, lawyers, doctors. Family names of Arizona included the following: Barnette, Calhoun, Scaife, Palmer, Robinson, Nicholson, Willis, Harris, Corry, Baker, Malone, and others. The family of John Thomas and Kate Harris was typical of the others in the community. While they had a large family of living boys and girls, two others were buried in the Forest Grove Cemetery northwest of Arizona on the Section Road. These had died in their infancy, and like most of the other families they laid them to rest in the Forest Grove Cemetery. There was plenty of work on the Harris farm in the fields along the top of the ridge and down in the bottom, and all of the boys had their particular jobs to do. They plowed in the fields and helped with all of the farm chores, but they also had time to hunt the woods from an early age in search of game which was plentiful. Each of them took his turn in hunting to provide meat for the table, and all of them became expert marksmen and woodsmen. On Saturday nights, the children were allowed to go to parties in the neighborhood. The girls entertained their beaus and the boys would go "calling" on their girls. The boys, who had to go some distance to visit their girls were required to be back in time for Sunday morning breakfast. Each boy had his own horse and saddle, and he made his long-distance calls on horseback. Sometimes, there were group hay-rides, candy pullings, and other types of parties. On "Meeting" or Preaching Sunday, all the family dressed in their best and headed for church in Arizona. With Pa and Kate on the wagon seat, the older girls riding in straight chairs, each sitting primly erect, and the younger girls riding on quilts in the back of the wagon with their feet hanging out, and the boys riding horseback alongside or walking, the Methodist congregation was swelled by these twelve members. With preaching over, the family would on some days accept the invitation of one of their friends who lived near the church for dinner. It was not rare to see some three or four families visiting in the same home for dinner on "Preaching Day." Sometime during the year, always on one day during a protracted meeting, and often at the quarterly conference, all of the families for miles around came and brought their dinner which was spread on the ground under the big oak trees. Services usually lasted most of the day and during these series of protracted meetings, sinners were converted, fellowships restored and friendships renewed with those who had moved from the community but had returned for this particular day. Once a year a certain Saturday was set aside in the community for a "graveyard working." Men, women and children and visitors from afar met at Forest Grove Cemetery, each family bringing dinner. The men and boys cleaned off all the graves, scraping all of the grass from the entire cemetery, while the women and girls busied themselves with putting flowers on each grave and spreading dinner. At noon, a short memorial service was held by the preacher, and then all ate dinner. Always, the women vied with each other to see who could bring the most and the best that they had. For days before such a meeting, there was baking and roasting and all kinds of cooking going on that there might be plenty of food at the meeting for those who had a long way to come and couldn't bring food. There has never been a time when all the food at one of these meetings was consumed, and it was a social error for one to begin to eat and not at least eat a mouthful of each cook's special dish on the table. All afternoon the families visited and talked about those who were gone to other towns or communities and who could not make it back home today. Bell had not yet invented the telephone, and the means of communication were still crude, but very effective. In time of need, word was sent to the neighbors by one of the children on horseback, or by one of the darkies on the place. In case of emergency, the old dinner bell on the post by the back door was rung as a signal to the men in the field who immediately quit their work and hurried to the house. If the menfolk of the family were laid up with the slow fever or other illness, and the crops got behind, then the neighbors would pitch in and work the crop out. If barns were destroyed by fire, there was a barn-raising from new logs by the neighbors. Funerals were mostly held at the grave side at Forest Grove when all of the neighbors came out to pay their respects to the family and to assist them in any way they could. They dug the grave, and when the body arrived in the wagon, it was tenderly lifted out and lowered into the grave on plow lines. Neighbors filled the grave and the service was completed, and again the neighbors who had not seen each other for a few days lingered to visit and say "howdy" to each other. Forest Grove Cemetery lay on the south side of the Section Road and was divided into white and colored sections. The west side of the graveyard was for the use of the whites. The colored section started right up against the white section, and extended along the road, it being somewhat larger than the white section. There was no fence around either of the sections, and bushes were not allowed to grow between it and the road. The years have passed on, and all of the sons and daughters of John Thomas Harris and Kate Glover are gone. Having heard so much of the happenings at Arizona, the writer felt that he was a part of it all. He had visited so much there that he feels that he is a native of Arizona. In fact, he first saw the light of this world in one of those old houses that has long since been destroyed by the ravages of time between Nicholson Bridge and Arizona, the son of Walter and Katy Harris. It was in Arizona that he first heard of a Chivaree. Until 1923, one of the brothers of Walter lived in Arizona and the writer spent many happy moments in their home with them and their children. Glover had just moved his family from the old Kimball place into the heart of the community where the houses were rather close, being built on city lots, and no more than fifty yards apart. That night, after the moving, it seemed like the entire community showed up at the house, singing and welcoming the new family to their new home. One of the songs they sang was "The Bear Went Over the Mountain" and when he finally got over there and found that all he could see was the other side, refreshments were served to all, most of which was brought by the visitors. There were cakes and cookies for all, and a wonderful expression of welcome from a community to a new neighbor. Two world wars and several minor conflicts have gone by and time has taken its toll of the many fine people who lived here. Fields have grown up into forests again; syrup mills are fast becoming museum pieces, but on Home-coming day at the Arizona Methodist Church and on that certain Saturday in May when the community meets at Forest Grove for its annual graveyard working, the descendants of most of the families who once lived there return to enjoy with the descendants of those who remained at Arizona, the fellowship and friendships their fathers had when they helped to carve the homesteads from the wilderness. Time, too, has taken its toll of the prosperous town of Arizona. What was once the seat of culture and industry in Claiborne Parish would hardly be recognized by one who had known it in the olden days. An economy-minded federal government closed the post office several years ago. Gone is the spring that furnished water for Nicholson's Academy and for the church. In fact, gone these many years is the building in which all of the Arizona schools assembled, from the one initiated by Col. Nicholson to the last one operated by the Parish School Board. However, just a little farther east, on the lot that was bought for it in the eighteen fifties, still stands the little white Methodist Church. It hasn't grown much, either in size of the building or in the size or number in the congregation, but neither has it shrunk in the size of the building or in the faith of its members and its place in the community. They still hold their quarterly conferences on Saturdays, and they still worship the same God that led them lo these many years. Across the road, just a little way off, but still in sight of the little white church, standing on its own acre of ground, is the ivy-covered brick chimney, the sole evidence of the industrial might of the community, the one remaining part of the Arizona Manufacturing Company, built by a civic-minded and cooperative community during the trying years of the reconstruction period following the war between the states. The little white church and the tall ivy covered smoke-stack stand in their respective places, symbols of the faith and determination of the settlers. Their descendants who still live in the community will still welcome one with the same sincere southern hospitality that their fathers knew, and to them, this effort is dedicated, with the hope that they may hold fast to the way of life that is their heritage from their forefathers who carved out of the wilderness a home for themselves and their loved ones. ********** Page 62 OLD HAYNESVILLE TOWN By Margueritte Garland Nation Old Haynesville, a thriving town from 1843 to 1898, was located in the northwest part of the parish, twelve miles north of Homer, where the Military Road and the Dykesville - Gordon road crossed. To the south of town flowed the well-watered Dixie Bayou, which was used by the farmers and cattlemen for their stock. At one time an industrious farmer tried raising rice on the low banks which overflowed. In the early days there were no roads in Claiborne Parish. The families who moved into this section traveled the two hunter or Indian trails leading from. Mt. Prarie, Arkansas to Natchitoches, and the other from Long Prarie, Arkansas to Washita now Monroe in Ouachita Parish. The latter connected with the trail west which crossed the Mt. Prarie Natchitoches trail about fifteen miles south of the Arkansas line. The first settlers of the Old Haynesville vicinity were probably Mrs. Long and her son Davis who built a cabin on the north side of Dixie Bayou in 1818. The pioneers came in very slowly at first, Samuel Russell stated there were only eighteen families in this part of the parish when he came in 1822. In the winter of 1827 and 1828 the United States government cut a military road through the woods and over the hills from Fort Towson in Oklahoma Territory to Natchitoches for the purpose of transporting supplies to the inland outpost. This road passed the Long cabin on Dixie Bayou and later became the north-south street of Old Haynesville. During the 1830-1838 period another road was built which connected with the Military Road at Dixie Bayou and ran southwest through what became Blackburn, Germantown and on to reach Dorcheat Bayou at Overton. It was over these routes that the prospectors drifted in, and finding the land good, country full of game, and the neighboring Indians peaceful, they decided to stay. Many established themselves at a location suitable to their needs, before applying for a land entry from the government. In 1846 a small community had sprung up a short distance north of Dixie Bayou on the Military Road. A Methodist camp meeting was located near by and named for Capt. Thomas Price. James C. Taylor, a young Georgian arrived in 1848, built his store, dug a public water well and the community became known as Taylor's Store. The earliest land entries in this area appear to have been in 1848. But not until the 1850's did the working Georgians and Alabamians find this primeval land; then the land rush was on. Most of the purchases of lands were made during the ten year period of 1850-1860. Many of the lands near Taylor's Store were given to veterans of the Mexican War. The daily orders of the Postmaster General show that when the name of the post-office at Walnut Creek, James Ward postmaster, was changed to Haynesville on February 9, 1852, the site of the office was also changed. There is no further information regarding, the description of the new site or the distance involved in the change. A tradition has survived to the effect that Haynesville was named for Samuel Haynes, a Georgian, who brought his family to this location, before the land was opened for entry. He remained in the community only long enough to find a suitable place to open a farm and after eight months settled at what is now Shongaloo. Mr. Haynes has many descendants in that section today. Among them are: Tom Haynes, Shongaloo; J. B. Haynes and Mrs. L. B. Allen of Springhill. The first postoffice was in J. C. Taylor's store and during the next forty-six years it was "kept" in almost every business house in the town. The first mail was brought in by horseback once a week from Homer. Later routes were established to Emerson, Ark., Gordon, and Millerton, over which mail was carried every day and to Horner twice a week, unless Dixie Bayou was swimming. There was never a bank in the town; the people purchased postal notes, money orders or used the bank in Homer for their savings, The postmasters who have served at Old Haynesville are: James Ward, Sept. 22, 1846; James C. Taylor, Feb. 9, 1852; Samuel Kirkpatrick, Feb. 25, 1859; James C. Taylor, May 21, 1860; Mrs. Margaret Kirkpatrick, Feb. 8, 1870; James B. McKenico, Oct. 21, 1872; R. F. Hardaway, Jan. 21, 1873; James C. Taylor, Oct. 20, 1873; Wm L. Phillips, Sept. 1, 1876; Joseph Taylor, Jan. 27, 1877; John A. Brooks, April 1, 1878; Joseph Taylor, May 20, 1878; John G. Warren, Jan 19, 1880; James R. Smith, May 17, 1880; William Y. Dawson, Nov. 12, 1888; John M. Henry, May 12, 1891; Abraham N. Brown, Sept. 12, 1893; Lillian Brown, Feb. 8, 1898 - June 12, 1903. In 1850 the Methodists of the community decided to build a church and J. C. Taylor donated the land. On the site where the present Old Town cemetery is located a log church was built and used as a place of worship until it was destroyed by fire. By 1861 the town had two dry goods stores, James C. Taylor's and Brown Bros. operated by William W. and John Leonard Brown. Dr. Wroten and Sam Kirkpatrick were owners of a drug store. The Methodist Church was in the process of being rebuilt by Joseph W. Camp and a Choctaw Indian, on the same location. Before it was finished the war between the states was declared and Mr. Camp had to go into the service. He finished it when he returned from the war. Living in the community was James Beck, a doctor; T. J. Beck, a teacher; A. J. Waters, Methodist minister; and H. B. McMahon, Cumberland Presbyterian minister. Old Haynesville was incorporated in 186l with the boundary lines set for an area running one mile east and west and three-fourths mile north and south in parts of Twp 22 Sec 1, Twp 23 Sec 36. Provisions were made for a mayor, board of selectmen consisting of five members - clerk, treasurer, assessor, collector, and constable - who were elected to serve. No list of names of these officers has been found. Yearly the settlement increased, farms large and small were opened. The farmers grew most of their foods, meat, vegetables, fruits, syrup, and corn from which they made bread. Cattle and cotton were the money crops. Cattle had to be driven, and cotton hauled to markets in Monroe and Shreveport. It took a week to make a trip to Shreveport with wagon loads of cotton. Many farmers traveled in caravans for protection and camped out at night. The farmers purchased at the markets the items they could not produce such as coffee, sugar, flour, tea, and bolts of materials to be made into clothing for men, women, and children at home. Old Haynesville gave her fair share of sons for the lost cause. Most young men went to Homer to join the ranks, and paraded on the court house square as they marched off to war. The home folk were kept busy producing supplies of food, clothing and shoes for the army and home use. Many a woman guarded the home front, while her man was away at war. When the war was over there were parties and dances for the returning soldiers. Mr. John Meadows gave a party for son Jim and his friends. This entertainment was the beginning of a romance between Miss Margaret Indiana Brooks and soldier Abe Brown who had served in the Confederate Army for four years and came home without a scratch. They were married in 1866, purchased the Dixie Bayou farm from Henry Taylor, resided there for thirty years, raising a family of nine children. The earliest schools were taught in the homes. A teacher was engaged to teach children of several families in the neighborhood. About 1860 James C. Taylor gave the land and constructed the first school building. A tuition was paid by the parents for each child who attended. When the child finished he had a common school education. The first teachers were Tarpley Winn, Thomas Beck, and a Mrs. McFarland, widow of a Methodist minister. The Haynesville Normal Institute, a two-story building with porches on three sides was located across the street from the Methodist Church. This building was later torn down, moved and rebuilt at the new town. Some of the early teachers of this school were Mr. Brantley, and E. J. Moore who had as his assistants the Misses Jenny, Tiney and Mattie Hearn, sisters of Mr. George Hearn Sr. of Shreveport, J. C. Byrd, and Miss Claudia Woolworth, music teacher and Lou Featherston. Sidney Brown and Philip Gibson served several terms as president. During the teaching of John Bunyon Lockart, a young Methodist minister, there arose a dis-satisfaction between the tax payers and the teachers. Some withdrew and built a new one-story school south of the Presbyterian church, which they called the Haynesville High School. Prof. and Mrs. John M. Davies taught in this school about 1887. In 1888 Prof. S. J. Meadows served as supervisor and Miss Lena Meadows as one of the teachers. Some of the pioneer families represented were: Brown, Browning, Broadnax, Camp, Gantt, Marshall, Moss, McEachern, Price, Swan, Smith, Taylor and Winn. Children came from miles around to attend the two schools. An act for the organization of a school for literary, scientific, religious and charitable purposes, with the title of Haynesville Academy was signed in 1893 by the stockholders of the Haynesville Institute Corporation who lived within five miles, they were: W. A. Waller, C. B. Hollis, C. A. Burnham, J. W. Greer, H. M. Longino, A. N. Brown. Witnessed by: C. W. Sherman, Tom Taylor before Notary J. M. Henry. Among the teachers during the 1890s were: Mr. Huddle, Mr. and Mrs. Moody, Walter Price and his sister, Miss Mattie Price, Mr. and Mrs. Herring, Miss Lula Baird, Miss Glover Sims, Miss Ola Braselton, Jim Bond, Miss Elizabeth Camp, Miss Valley Greer, Miss Bell O'Bannon. Old Haynesville suffered from several storms. The one in 1878 or 1879 destroyed the Methodist church; it was rebuilt by John W. McEachern and an old colored man, Uncle Gus Gilmore. They used the same sills and sleepers that were used in the first frame building built by Mr. Camp. There was a divider of columns and a rail through the center of the church. The women sat on the right side, the men on the left side, couples never sat together. The lights were candles fastened to little wooden shelves on the walls. Night services were announced for "early candle light". Day services quite often stressed "preaching with dinner on the ground". There was no heat in this building until Miss Lillian Brown, the organist, nearly froze one Thanksgiving service and started a collection to buy a stove. The building was used for worship services until the congregation moved to the new town, and served as chapel until it was torn down in 1932. The same sills and sleepers, with the salvaged lumber, were sold to the Negro Methodist Episcopal Church in New Haynesville for one hundred dollars. The Cumberland Presbyterians first held services in Sam Kirkpatrick's home. In 1860 the Rev. H. B. McMahan was residing in Haynesville, he was the only preacher serving the Presbyterians during the Civil War. A church was built across the street from the McKee place, in 1878 a parsonage was purchased near by and made ready for the Rev. F. E. Leach. The Presbyterian church was used for community church activities as the congregation owned the only organ in the town. The Misses Minnie Warren and Lillian Brown were the organists. After the Haynesville Academy was moved to the new town, the Presbyterian church was used a few years for a school taught by Miss Glover Sims. The congregation built a new church in the new town and the old building was finally torn down. Some of the members of the church at the Old Town were: Kirkpatrick, Price, Randle, Fambro, and Baird. The Friendship Baptist church was located about a mile east of Old Haynesville. The congregation built a nice church for the day and time and started a cemetery. Near by was a rocky spring which flowed into a framed pool and served as the baptistry in the early days. Mr. Joe Meadows started the first Sunday School in 1887. In 1890 Miss Lena Meadows and Mr. W. Y. Dawson were married in the church. Among the members of this church were: Frank Darden, Meadows, Hollis, Sims, Sales, Harkins, Jones, Copeland, Oakes, and Jarrell. About one and one-half miles north west of Old Haynseville was the Shady Grove Methodist Protestant Church. It was organized in 1853 by Rev. Peter McDonald, a native of Scotland. The first services were held under a brush arbor. Later Rev. McDonald and his son built a log church which was replaced by two other buildings, still later the congregation moved to New Haynesville. There has been a cemetery at Shady Grove since about the time the church was organized. Some of the families prominent in the early church and camp meetings were: Black, Bond, Caswell, Dunn, Edwards, Garrett, Goodwin, Harp, Hearn, Kennedy, Knox, Lowe. Longino, Marsh, McDonald, Morgan, Powell, Sherman, Smith, Tanner, Trammell, Taylor, and Warwick. Several newspapers were published at Old Haynesville from time to time. There were: The Haynesville Star with editors Geo. H. Dismukes and John M. Henry; The Greenback Dollar with editor J. G. Warren; and The Western Protestant. Among the social activities and entertainments of the town were weddings, concerts at the close of schools, ice cream socials, candy pulls, box suppers, dancing and promenading, and at Christmas time a community tree at the school building. Many young men placed expensive gifts for their sweethearts on the tree. Some liked to play jokes, switching gifts and placing a bottle of whiskey for the preacher. Boys would be boys, even in those days. Fanpaws Wagon Show and Circus made regular stops in Old Haynesville during the 1880's. An advance man was sent ahead to select a suitable place for the circus ground. He usually engaged Abe Brown's gin lot for its location on Dixie Bayou would furnish plenty of good water for the elephants and other animals. Farmer Brown's barns were full of corn and hay and at the farm house Mrs. Brown and the women folk were known to set a fine table. Mattresses filled with cotton from the gin would be placed on the hall floors and rooms not used by the family. The circus traveled by horse-drawn wagons through the country. In the rainy season the wagons would mire down on the muddy roads, or break down and have to be left on the road over night. It was a frightful thing for the children to hear the lions roaring in the night. The snake charmer kept her pet in a big wooden box at the house. During the cold weather large bottles of water had to be heated and placed in the box to keep it warm. The circus spent a week in Haynesville and people came from communities all around to see it play. A showman was the first person buried in the "Old Town Cemetery". He was killed in a fight with a fellow worker. Neither his name nor the date of his death has been preserved; it is thought to have happened before 1867. Probably the oldest marker in the cemetery is for the second person buried there, a young child of Rev. W. C. Haislip who was the Methodist minister serving the church from 1867 to 1870. The last available United States census of the Village of Haynesville for the year 1880 shows: seventeen families, one hundred thirty-five people. Postmaster was James R. Smith; merchants, J. C. Taylor, S. F. Brown, Geo. Edward Phipps, Luther Longino; druggist, S. T. Hutcheson; clerks, John McLeath, Gent Bailey, George W. Brown, Martin W. Sherrod; doctors, Dr. Hugh M. Longino, Dr. Almer Longino; minister, Rev. Finis E. Leach, Cumberland Presbyterian Church; teacher, John C. Byrd; music teacher, Mrs. John A. Brooks; mechanics, Ben A. Swan, Walter Everett; blacksmith, John G. McKethan; huckster, James Dickinson. During the next eighteen years Dr. Richard Gantt and his son, Dr. Hal Gantt practiced medicine in Old Haynesville. Willis Harp built a drug store in which Dr. Shack Waller and Lee Waller had their offices. Greer and Sherman owned a dry goods store; J. H. Taylor opened a store; W. Y. Dawson joined the firm of Longino and Dawson, Thomas Nix was in business; Dr. Montrose Day was a new-comer to town and Wright Sherrod could be engaged to play the fiddle for any entertainment. When it became known that the railroad would be built from Homer to McNiel, Arkansas with plans to by-pass the town, a new location was purchased on the site of the railroad two miles north of Old Town. The business houses, the school, and many homes were torn down and rebuilt at the new location. The old town took on the appearance of a ghost town, only the postoffice was left, housed in the two-room office building previously occupied by Dr. Hugh Longino. Every afternoon the citizens of New Haynesville closed their stores and rode back to the Old Town to get their mail. In October of 1898 the postmistress, Miss Lillian Brown, received orders from headquarters in Washington, D. C., to move the office to the new town, retaining the same name. She immediately prepared for moving by borrowing a "one-horse wagon" from her brother-in-law, Gus Lane. With the help of a trusted elderly colored citizen as drayman, the few pieces of office furniture were loaded on the wagon. Miss Brown climbed into the buggy with mail pouch containing postal notes, money orders, stamps, and other valuables and followed by the driver and wagon, took off with the post office for the New Town. Gradually the landmarks of the "Old Town" have disappeared. The place is only marked by the McKee home; the Cemetery and a small stream, which was once Dixie Bayou. BIBLIOGRAPHY History of Claiborne Parish, Louisiana., Harris & Hulse, 1886. Biographical & Historical Memoirs of Northwest Louisiana, Sou. Pub. 1890. Claiborne Parish Sketches, Claiborne Parish Historical Association, 1956. History of Northwest Louisiana, John Fair Hardin. A Century of Methodism, Haynesville Methodist Church, 1955. Atlas containing 1828 map of Claiborne Parish consulted at Shreve Memorial Library. Western District 1838 Survey Map, Louisiana State Land Office. The author acknowledges the help of Wade O. Martin, Secretary of State for Louisiana. She has consulted Lillian Brown Garland's notes on life at the Old Town and is indebted to the following for personal statements: Henry C. Brown, E. O. Brown, Bess Brown Green, Miss Addie Meadows, Mrs. E. E. Stewart, J. T. Haynes, Mrs. L. B. Allen. She has consulted official postoffice recoris in Washington, D. C., she has gleaned information from various newspaper clippings. ********** Page 70 OLD MOUNT ZION By Frances Nelson Gladney Unknown to the majority of present day residents of Claiborne Parish there stands today in a clearing in a wooded section about seven miles northeast of Homer, between what are known as the upper and lower Colquitt roads, a country church, a white frame building in good repair. Yet to a small minority it is well known, Mount Zion Methodist church must have been an integral part of the lives of the families making up its congregation - Morelands, Meadors, Nelsons, Langstons, Clevelands, Featherstons, Taylors, Allens, Camps, Coueys, Leslies, Lanes, Winns, Browns, Blackmans, Johnsons, Stones, Kimballs, and others. Lacking written records relative to the choice of the name Mount Zion for this particular Methodist Episcopal Church South, one may not be reading too much into the name when one surmises that the old Testament references to Jerusalem, the city of peace, or Mount Zion, the dwelling place of the Ark of God and the site of the first Temple, entered into the minds of these pioneer Claiborne Parish settlers as they designated their house of worship as Mount Zion. Today this white frame church building is no longer known as Mount Zion, rather as Mount Obie. The conveyance records of Claiborne Parish reveal that on May 17, 1901, the Mount Zion Methodist Episcopal Church South was sold to the board of Trustees of Mount Obie Methodist Episcopal Church of America - Colored, Claiborne Parish, Louisiana. (1) During the sixty years it has been in their possession the members of Mount Obie have made a few changes in the physical property of the building as repairs have become necessary; but in many respects the church remains much the same in appearance as it must have been in the 1880's and 1890's. According to present day descendants of a few of the families once active in the work of the church of those early days the most noticeable changes in the building and furnishings are: windows cut in the wall back of the pulpit where there were none originally; a new straight altar rail replacing a curved one; electric lights and gas heaters, obvious results of rural electrification and butane gas, replacing kerosene lamps and wood stoves of days gone by. Yet, even with these changes, one driving through the country side and coming upon this little white church in the woods can turn back the pages of time and visualize "Old Mount Zion." That is - one is able to do this - if one knows its history. Otherwise, it is probably just one more small country church lost in anonymity. A knowledge of its history enables one to see it as a bright flame of faith burning in the hearts of those early settlers. Available records and memories of several living descendants of members of Mount Zion Methodist Church do not reveal the exact date of the organization of this church. From The History of Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, by Harris and Hulse, one learns that Mount Zion was organized in a low school house and that the date at which this organization took place had not been obtained when that history was published in 1886. This same history stated that at that time - 1886 - there was a very creditable new house of worship at Mount Zion and that many of the leading citizens of the parish held membership there. The book further noted, "The very liberal hospitality of these brethren is widely noted, especially at the camp meeting seasons." Mrs. Vassie Allen Bostick has stated that Mr. Young D. Allen, her grandfather, gave logs for lumber to build the church still standing today. Also by Mrs. Bostick's statement it is known that Mrs. Young D. Allen brought a glass pitcher from Macon, Georgia, and gave it to the church for use as a pulpit pitcher. Inside the building the pews in use today are the same ones that were there when the church was sold to the Negroes. Dr. William Edmond Moreland has said that his father, Mr. W. W. (Willie) Moreland, assisted by other men in the congregation, built these pews. The curved altar rail, at which many knelt to receive communion, to which some came forward to join the church, before which the caskets of others reposed, is no longer there. It has been replaced in recent years by a more modern one. Also no longer there is the railing dividing the center section of pews, Mrs. James Frank Gladney, the former Jemmie Nelson, and Dr. William Edmond Moreland have recounted that the men sat on the left side of the center railing and the women on the right. The short pews on the left facing the side of the pulpit were for the older men and were called "the Amen pews." Facing the right side of the pulpit were the short pews for the occupancy of the older women. Yes, the present church was there in 1886 and probably a number of years earlier. On February 28, 1878, William F. Moreland, A. T. Nelson, R. A. Allen, J. H. M. Taylor, James F. Nelson, F. A. Lane and G. T. Winn organized themselves into a body corporate under the name and style of the Mount Zion Methodist Episcopal Church South and School Association. (2) On September 21, 1878, W. J. Leslie and J. F. Nelson in consideration of their love for the causes of Christianity and education deeded to William F. Moreland, President of Mount Zion Church and School Association, 5.25 acres in Section 19, Township 22 North, Range 6 West, Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, together with the right-of-way to and the use of the two springs known as the camp ground springs. (3) Though no written record giving the exact date of the organization of this church or of the building of the house of worship is available, it is quite probable that the church was built a number of years prior to 1886. The deed of 1878 seems to indicate the existence of both a Mount Zion Church and School. And it is not unlikely that the church had been organized and was functioning some years before the association was formed and the land deeded to it, for it was a rather common practice of that day to use a site for religious gatherings, even before a public deed was made and filed. The reference in the deed to the camp ground springs certainly signifies that the site had been used for religious gatherings earlier than 1878. Just five years after this land was deeded to the Mount Zion Church and School Association worship services were held - evidently fairly regularly- at Mount Zion and records were kept of the Mount Zion Church Conferences. (4) An old book with worn binding and yellowed pages whose title page bears this information: "The Church Conference Record. Mt. Zion, Haynesville Charge, Homer District, Louisana Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, Nashville, Tenn.: Southern Methodist Publishing House. 1883." has been preserved. This record of Mount Zion Church Conference covers the period of 1883-1897. These minutes reveal many things of interest. From them one learns that the following ministers served the church: John A. Miller, C. R. Godfrey, F. C. Hocut, Harry W. May, R. M. Blocker, Thomas J. Upton and D. C. Barr. During this period the following served as church conference secretary: A. T. Nelson, J. P. Nelson, W. L. Lay, A. S. Nelson, W. W. Moreland and J. F. Nelson. In the middle 1880's the assessment plan for collecting money for the preacher in charge was used. The minutes of the conference of October 22, 1886, state, "...The Steward, Bro. A. T. Nelson, reported that the finances of Mt. Zion Church were well up as regarded the preacher in charge and that only a small balance of the Presiding Elder's salary remained to be paid." A perusal of these records and the diary of James R. Langston, local elder and lay preacher, reveals that there was a Sunday School at Mount Zion. The diary entry for Sunday, March 23, 1884, states that a "Saboth School" was organized there that day. The church conference minutes of October 22, 1886, read: "...Bro. A. J. Nelson, S.S.S., made a good report in regard to the condition of the Sunday School at this place. The scholars and officers numbering about twenty-five and all working in a way that indicated success." Another part of the worship at Mount Zion evidently was carried out through the medium of class meetings. At each conference there was always a report from the class leader. This portion of the work experienced its ups and downs - the entry of the conference of March 28, 1886, is an example of this-"...Next business before the house was report of J. T. Nelson, class leader of Mt. Zion Church. He reported that the class meeting went into winter quarters in December last, and that on account of the inclemency of the weather and the exceedingly small numbers who pretended to attend the social meetings at all, that up to this time it was a matter of impossibility to revive this part of the public worship." Even though the class meeting was inactive at that time the Rev. C. R. Godfrey stated in his report to the church conference of that date, that Mt. Zion Church was the only charge in good working order, and that the other churches in the circuit were in rather a cold state, in regard to spiritual matters." Indeed it would seem that the flame of faith burned brightly at "Old Mount Zion." The causes of Christianity and education often went hand in hand. This seems to have been true at Mount Zion. The Mr. W. J. Leslie mentioned in the deeding of the land to the Mount Zion Church and School Association was one of the first, perhaps the first, school teachers at Mount Zion. Mrs. Lillian Featherston Wideman has recalled going to school there to Mr. Leslie. Mrs. James Frank Gladney has recalled hearing her mother, Mrs. James Willis Nelson, the former Willie Taylor, tell of her first day at school at Mount Zion under Mr. Leslie in the year 1867 or 1868. From this one knows that the Mount Zion School was in existence at least ten years before the land was deeded to the Association. It was often true in small country communities that the burying ground was near the church, About three quarters of a mile south-east of the Mount Zion Church on what is now known as the lower Colquitt road is the Mount Zion Cemetery, the burying place of many of the old settlers of that section of Claiborne Parish. This land was given by Mr. Young D. Allen. The first burial was that of a little Negro slave belonging to Mr. Allen. The next was that of Mr. Allen's daughter. There are no markers for these first two graves. (5) The present fence was given by Mr. A. T. Nelson, Mr. Dick Cleveland, Mr. Hugh Taylor and Mrs. Willie Taylor-Nelson. Mrs. James Frank Gladney, daughter of Mrs. Willie Taylor Nelson, has recalled her mother listing these names as donors of the fence. It is possible that others contributed. She also recalls that her mother said they did not have sufficient funds to enclose all of the unmarked graves - many of which are in the woods back of the present enclosure. Through the years the cemetery has been given some care by a few of the descendants of those buried there. in recent years the Claiborne Parish Historical Association placed a marker on the gate designating this as "Mt. Zion Cemetery." Today's visitor will find only the cemetery marked by the name Mount Zion. The school is no longer there near the church. The so-called tents, semi-permanent structures, used at camp meeting time have disappeared into the past. The two springs known as the camp ground springs remain as landmarks to those familiar with the area. And the white frame church,. though no longer bearing the proud name of "Old Mount Zion," still stands. Yet in the hearts and minds of the few whose parents' and grandparents' lives were centered around "Old Mount Zion" the flame of faith kindled there will ever burn brightly. 1 Conveyance Records of Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, Book U, page 138. 2 Records of Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, Book A Miscellaneous, page 215. 3 Conveyance Records of Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, Book M, page 527. 4 Personal Diary of James R. Langston, 1883-1886. Mt. Zion Church Conference Record Book, 1883-1897, 5 Statement of Mrs. Vassie Allen Bostick. ********** Page 75 MT. ZION CAMP MEETING By Jemmie Nelson Gladney "Andrew (1) is moveing in quite early this morning to the camp ground. Meeting commences this evening at early candlelight." These words, written by one of my great-grandfathers on the twentieth day of September in the year 1883, which was before I was born, evoke pictures of an earlier period in the history of Claiborne Parish before Thomas Alva Edison's incandescent lamp became commonplace. But for me, and perhaps others of my generation, they do more than that. They bring into focus once again a small country church "dear to the heart of my childhood" and pleasant hours spent at the selfsame church camp ground some years later as a little girl. The words "camp meeting" were meaningful for my grandparent's generation. They hold special significance for some of my generation. Today's generation never having known this joyous occasion may well question its origin and its function. Historians do not agree on the beginning date of the "Great Religious Revival" in the United States. But they testify that it inflamed the Cumberland region and for fifty years fanned out across each new frontier in the west. One pioneer preacher wrote, "From 1801 for years a blessed revival of religion spread through almost the entire inhabited parts of the west." In this revival movement originated our camp meetings. I have pleasant memories of one of these camp meetings which was held at the Mt. Zion Methodist Church. I have not been able to find when the Mt. Zion Camp Meeting was organized. The History of Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, by Harris and Hulse, which covered the period 1820-1885, states: "Mt. Zion has for many years been noted for its Camp Ground where annually 'the tribes go up to worship.'" I think the Mt. Zion Camp Meeting must have had its beginning several years before 1870 because my family told me that Grand-father Nelson (1) added a log room with fireplace to his tent that year. I have been told that Mrs. Rosa Miller, wife of the Reverend John A. Miller, died during one of these camp meetings. I find on her marker in the Mt. Zion Cemetery that she died September 23, 1871. I own a diary which covers the years 1883, 1884, and 1885. The Mt. Zion Camp Meeting is mentioned in September of these years. I quote directly from this diary which was written by James R. Langston, my great-grandfather. He was a farmer, country storekeeper and Methodist lay preacher. James R. Langston's whole world - family, friendships, church, farming interest, country store and post office - comes alive in this old volume whose pages are crumbly with age. Perhaps these entries relative to Mt. Zion Camp Meeting. written by him so many years ago, will help to make camp meetings of another day and age live for you. Spelling and wording are as in the original. "Sept. 11, 1883. Andrew is working on his tent. Sept. 12, 1883. Andrew is working on his tent with several handes. Sept. 14, 1883. Andrew finished working on his tent yesterday. Sept. 18, 1883. ...I assisted in fixing up the camp ground preach er's tent, cleaning out the church, etc... Sept. 20, 1883. . . . Andrew is moveing in quite early this morning to the camp ground. Meeting commences this evening at early candlelighting. Kimble came & taken supper with us. Walked over to church. Miller (2) preached. His subject was prayer. Kimble concluded. Sept. 21, 1883. ...There was services at 9 o'clock prayer meeting. Preaching at eleven o'clock by Kimble. Preaching at 3 by Pipkin. The best sermon I ever heard in that house. There are not many pearsons outside of the tenters. It has been a little cool all day in the shade. Not many pearsons in attendance. We had Brothers Medlock (3) & Heart to spend the night with us. Sept. 22, 1883. Clear & cool. Some more tenters came in. Experience meeting at 9. Preaching at eleven (by Comett). Quarterly conference after diner. Preaching in the evening by Heart and night by Joe Jordan. We had five preachers and several others with Brother Foreman with his wife & two sons. Sept. 23, 1883. Saboth clear & cool. Brother Jas. Smith preached at nine. Comett at eleven. Sacrement of the Lord supper was administered. Doors of the church opened. Two young men joined. Heart preached at three. Ann Tigner is with us...A large number of pearsons out today. Preaching in the church and under the arbour. Kimble preached at night Had several to spend the night. Sept. 24, 1883. ...I walked over to the church. Pipkin preached from the dry bones etc. A good sermon. Several young men came home & taken dinner with us...I went back in the evening. Joe Jordan preached. I did not go at night The children went. Jas. Smith preached... Sept. 25, 1883. ...I am not able to tend church. Had a glorious experience meeting lasting until near 12 o'clock. No services until 3. Medlock preached. Kimble preached at night. I have not been able to attend church today.... Sept. 26, 1883. ...The congregation met at the stand for prayer and received those in the church that had joined. The tenters are moving home this morning. The encampment will soon be deserted. Some of us will never in all probability meet there again. There has been good done. No doubt the great day of eternity will tell it out. Sept. 25, 1884. ...Gus (4) taken his & Eller's (5) & wife's bead & 2 mattresses, 6 pillers & 2 boalsters & Eller & Ider (6) to the camp ground to assist Emer (7) to fix up the tent... Sept. 26, 1884. I taken wife to the camp ground. There was five tents occupyed. Had preaching three times each day and Experience meeting at nine in the morning. Preachers coming in. Well supplied with Preachers. McSwain from Magnolia, Billingsley from Arcadia, Couey from Cashatta, Parrish from Tulip, Miller & .Medlock from Homer. Also Hamill (8) and myself... Sept. 27, 1884. Cloudy. I went to Homer after Emer (9) & the children & brot them out to the encampment. I did not attend the services until night. Not much stir. Good preaching. Sept. 28. 1884. Saboth. A large concourse of people. Experience meeting at nine. Preaching at eleven in the church & school house. The sacrament administered in the church after services. Preaching at 3 & early candlelighting, but few penitents. Sept. 29, 1884. ...Congregation getting small but little excitement. Sept. 30, 1884. The last day of the meeting. Some of the members rejoicing. Others cold & sinners unmoved & unsaved. Some came to the alter the last hours of service. Some two or three claimed to be changed. This closes the camp meeting. Perhaps the last I shall ever attend. I have been blest several times during the meeting... Oct. 1, 1884. ...Got home after 10 o'clock. Met numbers on their way home from camp meeting. Gus had got our things home & commenced picking cotton. Sept. 24, 1885. ...Camp meeting commences at Mt. Zion tonight. Sept. 26, 1885. Cloudy. I taken wife & Lee in the wagon & drove down to Mt. Zion camp ground. A good attendance but few Preachers. The Elder preached at eleven. Held conference at 2 o'clock. Medlock preached at three. Elder at candlelighting... Sept. 27, 1885. Saboth. Cloudy. A light sprinkle of rain fell in the night. After breakfast we drove back to the camp ground. Stone (10) conducted love feast. The Elder preached at eleven. We got our diner & left for home..." These so called tents of which my Grandfather Langston wrote in his diary were not portable shelters consisting of coverings of canvas stretched over poles, but were more like camp houses. They were made of rough pine lumber with a floor covering of sawdust or straw. There was a row of these buildings northeast of the church. They were occupied by the families of A. T. Nelson. Wm. F. Moreland. R. H. (Dick) Cleveland, L. H. Featherston. Joshua Allen and Andrew J. Nelson. Possibly there were others whom I do not recall. There was a preachers' tent. Dr. Edmond Moreland and Mrs. Vassie Allen Bostick believe the school house (near the church) was used for the preachers' tent. The memory of Grandfather Nelson's (Andrew J. Nelson) tent is very clear after more than half a century. The main building was of rough plank, running up and down, roofed with hand hewn boards. The floor covering was oat or wheat straw. There was a narrow gallery across the front of the building. Down the center of this main building was a hall, open at both ends, which separated the long rooms, known as the boys' and girls' rooms. A curtained door in each room opened into the hall. The girls' room had a low scaffold built along the wall to accomodate five or six mattresses. These would be called bunk beds now. The other furnishings of the room consisted of a mirror on the wall; nails for hanging clothes; a bowl, pitcher and kerosene lamp on a table and two good sized trunks. I suppose the boys' room was furnished in a similar manner. The hall between these rooms had long plank benches on either side. This was quite a visiting place for the young people. There were chairs on the front gallery. A long shed the width of the center hallway and the girls' room, open on one side, was attached to the rear of the main building. This shed was used for cooking and eating purposes. There was a long table with benches on either side and always a white cloth on the table. Several feet away from the dining area was the cooking place. A large hopper-like box filled with earth on which wood burned into coals served as the cook stove. Caroline West had charge of the cooking. She was neatly dressed in dark calico and wore a big white apron and a white head-rag. There were other cooks and other help, I am sure, but I remember only "Aunt C'line." She was so kind to me. There was lots of "eating company," especially on Sundays. The visitors I enjoyed most were the pretty girls my uncles would bring to dinner. I thought Miss Minnie May Monk the loveliest of all. Facing the open side of the eating shed was Grandmother's room. This was a log room with a fireplace. It was built in 1870 because my grandparents needed it for their twin sons, Will and Tom, who were born in February of that year. This room was furnished with two beds, a trunk or two, straight chairs and Grandmother's rocking chair. I recall the names of some of Grandmother's friends who came for a rest in her comfortable log room - Mrs. Jim Otts, Mrs. Arthur Ford, Mrs. Chris Ferguson,,Mrs. Ben Fortson and Mrs. Alabama Kinnebrew. I wonder if I did not enjoy all of this tent life more than the regular services of the camp meeting. There lingers in my memory the grove prayer meetings in the early evenings. The women and children would go into a quiet clearing in the woods away from the church and tents for a worship period. The women would sing and pray. They would tell of their experiences. Often Grandmother Nelson would get very happy. She always talked of the bright, happy things of life and the glories of heaven. It is my hope that this backward look at the Mt. Zion Camp Meeting, a vital force in shaping the lives of many of the early residents of Claiborne Parish, may give present day readers a fresh insight into the rich heritage which is theirs. Many descendants of these early residents, who came in buggies, wagons, on horseback and by foot to the camp ground at Mt. Zion in those September days long ago, owe a debt of gratitude to those same campers. They came with mixed motives, perhaps. These few days together, usually five to seven, offered a wonderful opportunity to visit with neighbors, to dispense and receive true Southern hospitality, to be refreshed in an atmosphere of Christian fellowships through the medium of singing, praying and listening to spirited sermons. However, it is important to remember that most of them came desiring and expecting revival and conversion by the grace of God. I feel that the Mt. Zion Camp Meeting was a power for good in molding family and community life of that period. Yes, there was "good done," as Grandfather Langston wrote in his diary September 26, 1883: "The tenters are moving home this morning. The encampment will soon be deserted. Some of us will never in all probability meet there again. There has been good done. No doubt the great day of eternity will tell it out." 1. Andrew Jackson Nelson. 2. John A. Miller 3. J. W. Medlock 4. Gus Nelson 5. Mrs. Gus Nelson, nee Ella Willis 6. Miss Ida Willis 7. Miss Emma Nelson 8. W. L. Hamill 9. Mrs. Emma Harrison, nee Langston 10. Joseph H. Stone ********** Page 81 MORE ABOUT MT. ZION BRUSH ARBOR AND FIRE STANDS By W. E. Moreland A brush arbor at Mt. Zion was a very important part of the religious life of the camp grounds. It was constructed annually with poles and branches from surrounding timbers - upright, forked poles and saplings to which horizontal poles were fastened by means of vines, mostly rattan, by tying them to the top of the upright poles or posts. Leafy tree branches, such as sweet gum, were laid across the horizontal poles to make a dense shade. Under this arbor various worshipping groups met during the day; prayer groups, testimonial, and singing groups met for worshipping out of church. The arbor was located some forty or fifty yards below and to the west of the front of the church in the edge of the camp ground clearing. Besides the church and brush arbor services, other worshipping services were held in the open woods and large front rooms of the various tents (houses). Another accessory, almost a necessity and a near luxury, at Mt. Zion Camp Grounds, was the "fire" or "light stand." At Ft. Jessup Camp Grounds, in Sabine Parish, these were called "fire pans." Four posts, several feet high were put in the ground in a four to five foot square covered with plank, which was made several feet square and on top of the plank was put several inches of sandy loam dirt. On top of this dirt, pine knots were used to keep the fire burning at night for lights to go to and from tents and church. The colored help kept these fires and lights burning until after night services. ********** Page 81 PENTECOSTAL EXPERIENCE By Lillian Featherston Wideman A camp meeting was held yearly by the congregation of Mt. Zion. Near the church a big arbor, surrounded by tents, was kept for the purpose. This meeting generally provided a spiritual uplift for the members and visitors, for people who came from miles around, to attend this revival. I recall one year, the congregation seemed cold and God's presence was not evident, so they decided to fast and pray without ceasing all the next day. That night the arbor was full of people; the preachers talked and prayed much. All at once, the whole congregation began shouting and were supremely happy. It was like Pentecost the Bible tells us about. There was a general spiritual uplift. The members all declared the meeting had been a decided success that year. ********** Page 83 HISTORY OF ALABAMA CHURCH 1850-1945 By Lillian Dawson Smith In 1849 a group of white people came from Shelby County, Alabama, to North Louisiana in search of a new home. The trip was made in wagons drawn by horses, taking six weeks to make the trip, arriving here in December, 1849. Being of Methodist belief they soon organized a Methodist Church and named it Alabama in memory of the State of Alabama from whence they came. It was first organized three miles west from where it now stands, and a brush arbor served as a place of worship. They soon decided to move the church and A. D. Gaskill donated three acres of land for Alabama Church ground so long as it remains an organized church, reverting to original owner should it cease to be a church. The framework of the building was made of hand hewn timber, as but little lumber was available in that day. The building stood for many years, and. many fond memories still linger with us. The carpenters for this building were Henry White Harper, John Harper and J. W. Beville. The first trustees were Henry White Harper, G. W. Boggs, Seborn Ozley, G. W. Lowrey, A. D. Gaskill. Some of the charter members were Mr. and Mrs. A. Hall, Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Boggs, Mr. and Mrs. Seborn Ozley, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Harper, Mr. and Mrs. Henry White Harper, Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Beville, Mr. and Mrs. A. D. Gaskill, Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Lowery, Mr. and Mrs. Mart Harper, Mr. and Mrs. William Harper, A. L. Harper and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Webb Jennings, Mrs. Laurence Kidd, Dr. and Mrs. Gaskill, Mrs. Harriett Harper Brinker. This building is located in Union Parish just east of the line of Union and Claiborne Parish. Some years later the membership decided to hold camp meetings each year, and built a large arbor just west of the church which was used for many years for holding the annual camp meetings. Small houses were built on all sides of the arbor for camping. A two story school building was erected on this campus. The lower story was used for teaching school. The upper story served as a "Masonic Hall", it also housed ministers during camp meetings. Just east of this church a well was dug, eight feet in diameter, by John Robnet and William S. Akin. In 1895 the membership decided to build a new church building. After many difficulties the church was finished, everything paid in full, and on Christmas Day, 1895, the first service was held by Rev. R. P. Howel, the pastor. The leading carpenters for this building were Rev. R. P. Howel, the pastor, and James Henry Harper, Some of the financial agents were J. M. Andrews, A. C. Harper, G. W. Harper, J. T. Roach, A. J. Roach, T. K. Phillips, T. W. Bailey, J. C. Bailey, W. M. Ferguson, Billie Johnson, J. W. Jones, W. D. St. John, B. W. St. John, J. C. Fonst, J. H. Ozley, W. B. Lowrey, C. W. Enis, H. J. Tanner, W. H. Tanner, J. M. Akin, J. M. Butler, Billie McCrumb, F. M. Greer, W. B. Greer, J. A. Roach, R. W. Welch, W. H. Shielks, J. H. Harper. Some families have had representatives in the ministry for more than one hundred years. Rev. John Akin, Rev. W. E. Akin, Rev. Roy Akin, have a combined service of over one hundred years. Rev. J. D. Harper and Rev. R. H. Harper have a combined service of ninety or more years. Rev. T. W. St. John, Rev. Jack Harper, Rev. Joe Wise, a Miss Harper, who went as a missionary to Mexico, all went from this church. It was a heaven below when these valiant soldiers of the Cross would sing and shout and pray, and when we meet in that Celestial City and the general roll is called and the saints come marching in, there will be many in that Great Procession from Alabama Church. (Historical data supplied by Harriet L. Akin Beville; sponsored by the Alabama Sunday School, 1945; written by Hattie Aycock Akin.) ********** Page 85 THE STORY OF COUNT LEON By Rudolph Fiehler Editor's Note. Until 1871 the present parish of Webster was part of the parish of Claiborne. The settlement of Germantown, prior to that date, has a proper place in Claiborne Parish history. During the summer of 1961, at the University of Tuebingen in Germany, I needed a subject for a term paper for a course I was taking at a summer institute for advanced students of German. Because of my interest in the history of the Germantown colony near Minden, I chose to write about the leader of that settlement effort, Count Maximilian Leon. The following is a translation of the paper which I submitted. ***** At the edge of Minden, in Webster Parish, Louisiana, one may see a historical marker directing one to Germantown, where a hundred years ago a communal settlement existed from about 1840 until about 1870. The Germantown road runs about seven miles northwesterly from the highway marker. It follows the old military road which in the early days linked the frontier military posts of Natchitoches and Fort Smith. Nowadays this historic trail is an ordinary farm road, and only those who are interested in local history know of its long story. The site of Germantown itself is today just a farm owned by Mr. Chester Krouse, a somewhat reserved person, who, though well aware of the long tradition that surrounds the old place on which he lives, does not understand or speak the German language which was once the rule there. On his farm, behind the family dwelling, are a number of somewhat dilapidated log buildings, the only substantial remnants of the one-time flourishing colony. Mr. Krouse has often thought of restoring the old buildings. It has even been suggested that a sort of museum might be established on the place. Influential persons in the vicinity, among them former governor Robert Kennon, have shown interest in such a project. But there has been a certain hesitancy about going ahead, for sources of historical information have not been readily available. Since the time of the first World War, when the German language lapsed into silence in this part of the country, there has been no one who would undertake to read the stacks of papers which Mr. Krouse still carefully preserves. Moreover, there seems to have been a general notion that the Germantown colonists were a most extraordinary group of people, with outlandish customs. It is well known, of course, that the Germantown colonists came from Germany under the leadership of Count Leon, who led his followers first to Pennsylvania, then down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and finally up the Red River as far as Grand Ecore, now Natchitoches, where he died before he could establish the colony he dreamed of. His widow, however, a most energetic personality, who became known as the Countess, then took over the leadership of the distressed emigrants, and settled them in the remote sand hills along the old military road, where at that time the primeval pine forest was still practically untouched. One hears also of a Doctor Goentgen (a name which was sometimes anglicized to Jenkins), who worked together with Count Leon; further about a Doctor Krauss, a pharmacist from New Orleans who joined the colony some time after it had been established; also of a man named Bopp, who conducted the business affairs of the colony; and finally about a man named Stokowski, who in the more recent past carried on the only general merchandise store in Germantown. But the most exciting stories are those which are told about the Countess. Until about 1870, for more than thirty years, she was looked up to for leadership in the colony. Only after her death was the communal organization of the colony dissolved and the property divided among the various individual members. She was said to have come from a prominent family in Frankfurt-am-Main, and the story is that although for many years she had no keyboard instrument to keep her musical accomplishments alive, she nevertheless devised a practice device out of pieces of wood, so that she could keep up her finger exercises. When in later years her business manager Bopp, having sold a crop of cotton in New Orleans, returned with a piano, she in her eagerness took possession of the instrument before it was quite unpacked, and played on it for hours without stopping. The Countess had two daughters, the eldest of whom, Elizabeth, married a music teacher named Schardt, with whom she lived for many years in the city of Monroe. Anna, the youngest, married Jacob Stahl, Jr. Out of this marriage came an only daughter who is now living in Hot Springs, Arkansas at an advanced age. Sad to say, this granddaughter of the Countess has been taken seriously ill in the past year, and it is doubtful whether one would want to ask her to relive her memories of Germantown. Local tradition has not much to tell about the personality of Count Leon himself, who died in Grand Ecore before the settlement was made. Several years ago Professor Karl J. Arndt, of Louisiana State University, published an account of the origins of Germantown in the Louisiana Historical Review. Therein he alluded to some extraordinary suppositions concerning the origins of the Count; for example, that he was supposed to be the illegitimate son of a German nobleman and that he had called the princes of Europe to account, among them Napoleon himself. About four years ago I undertook my own investigation of the Germantown story. Mr. Krouse was at first somewhat reticent. He said, and probably with good reason, that already too many professors had dabbled in the matter, that important documents and historical evidence had been scattered, and that curious visitors had carried off all sorts of valuable curiosities as souvenirs. But there was still something to be worked on. In one of the log buildings there was an important looking selection of books in an old chest, but these were in very poor condition. Evidently nobody had tried to read them for a long time - and no wonder, for most of them seemed to be in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. About this time Professor Arndt returned a large package of miscellaneous papers which had been in his possession, but these seemed to be mostly notations concerning business transactions, while others were written in such flighty handwriting that they were quite illegible. The most impressive of the material which Mr. Krouse showed to me was a large photostated folio of about sixty pages: a reproduction of a book in which the constitution of the "New Philadelphian Congregation" was written down. It seems that the original of this book somehow disappeared from the Krouse homestead, but it was tracked down by Professor Arndt, who saw to it that it was placed in the Congressional Library in Washington. The constitution was written in a beautifully legible German script. In very formal style, it set forth the twelve basic laws according to which the life of the Germantown conununity was to be regulated. A discerning reader might see in them the pattern of the Ten Commandments of the Mosaic law, but to this basic structure were added all sorts of detailed regulations, the general intent of which seemed to be to bind the people to their "exalted leader" in every detail of their daily lives. Along with this large photostated book, Mr. Krouse had other interesting papers to show. There was a long manuscript in the same handwriting as in the photocopies, which told of certain goings-on in Pennsylvania, where Count Leon and his followers had resided for a time in the Economy colony of Johann Georg Rapp before coming to Louisiana. Appended to this account was a shorter, and probably earlier, draft of the twelve basic laws of the "New Philadelphia Congregation." I also spotted another document which was of immediate interest to me: it carried the seal of the Archduke Ludwig of Hesse and gave a certain Bernhard Mueller permission to change his name to Maximilian Leon Proli. That was as far as I carried my inquiry at the time, except that in the summer of 1957, when I happened to be in Worchester, Massachusetts, I called on Professor Arndt, who is now teaching at Clark University. I suggested to him that many people would be interested to know more about his researches into the history of Germantown, and he hinted that something might soon be forthcoming in print. About a year ago I received a letter from Mrs. Prescott Krouse of Minden, who had been collecting the remaining bits of tradition concerning Germantown before they would be entirely forgotten. Coming originally from Michigan, she had married a nephew of Mr. Chester Krouse about fifteen years ago. Since then, though occupied with household duties and with the rearing of her two children, along with occasional employment as nurse in the Minden hospital, she had done a good deal in gathering the facts and tales which have to do with the old colony. Mrs. Krouse's letter renewed my interest in Germantown, and and my own interest probably stimulated her to keep up with the task she has set for herself. She now has written a manuscript entitled Germantown: The Fragments of a Dream, which I hope some day may be published. An important part of the history, however, remains to be searched out. This is the story of Count Leon before he came to America. In the library of the University of Tuebingen I was able to locate five titles which made mention of Count Leon. Of these, three mentioned him only casually in connection with the story of Father Rapp's Harmony settlement in Pennsylvania. The other two sources, which dealt with Count Leon at some length, were: "Der Herzog von Jerusalem," in Gartenlaube magazine, 1867. The Harmony Society at Economy, Pennsylvania, By Aaron Williams, (Pittsburg, 1866). A critical comparison of these two sources showed that they must have been independently derived from a single earlier source; for while they agreed in the main, each had details which were not found in the other. Both sources agreed in setting forth as undisputed fact the story of Leon's unacknowledged descent from the German nobility. It was further told that Leon was educated for the priesthood, and that he made a pilgrimage to Rome; also, that he lived for a time in the city of Cork in Ireland, where he became acquainted with a certain wealthy Miss H--, who supplied him with the means to carry out his dreams for the betterment of mankind. Returning from Ireland, Leon was said first to have gone to Hamburg, then to Stuttgart, and finally to Offenbach, not far from Frankfurt-am-Main. There a number of devoted followers clustered about him, among them the family of the wealthy Frankfurt merchant Heuser. It was the oldest daughter of this merchant, Elizabeth Heuser, who became his wife, the Countess of the Germantown tradition. Legal difficulties began to plague Leon's group in Offenbach, and though he enjoyed the favor of the Archduke of Hesse, he felt impelled to turn the communal property of his followers into cash and to emigrate with them to America. The emigrants sailed from Bremen to New York, then up the Hudson to Albany, by canal to Buffalo, and on the lake to Erie, Pennsylvania. There they received an invitation to join the prosperous colony of the eighty-year-old Johann Georg Rapp at Economy. This colony, incidentally was very famous in Europe: Lord Byron devoted several stanzas to it in his poem "Childe Harold." Dissension soon afterwards arose in Rapp's colony, probably as a result of the presence of Leon and his followers, who with some of Rapp's former adherents now withdrew to Phillipsburg, not far away, where they acquired property for a new colony. But here again troubles developed, and Count Leon, with those who remained faithful to him, traveled westward to Louisiana, where they hoped to found a colony in the lattitude of Jerusalem. Leon's death seemed to be the end of the story. None of the European accounts told anything of what became of his followers. In an effort to find the original printed source of the strange stories which had been circulated about Count Leon, I made a trip about the middle of August to Frankfurt-am-Main, where I inquired at the once-famous city and university library. I felt both frustrated and saddened when, upon visiting the unpretentious building which now houses the Frankfurt library, I was told that all of the valuable - and in fact priceless - historical treasures which had still existed before World War II had been completely destroyed in the aerial bombardments. I was not yet ready to give up the search, however, and so I caught a street-car to the neighboring town of Offenbach. It seemed at first as though my luck would be no better there. The bombings which had destroyed the Frankfurt library had also ruined the more important municipal buildings in Offenbach. But in one corner of what remained of the city hall, a small new library had been started, and from that place I was referred to the city archivist, who told me the "tales of Hoffman." I found Herr Georg Hoffman esconced on the fourth floor of the city warehouse. His historical treasures, which had survived the war, lined three of the four walls of his little office. When I mentioned the name of Count Maximilian Leon, he knew immediately what I was looking for. Two books which he produced without hesitation were Der Wundermann des 19. Jahrhunders, oder Leben Abenteuer, und Meinungen des beruechtigen Propheten B. Mueller, genannt Proli (Hanau, 1833) Maximilian Leon Proli, der Prophet von Offenback. By Fritz Herrman (Darmstadt, 1920) There was no doubt in my mind that the book with the long title, dated 1833, was the original source which had supplied material for the two important sources, dated about thirty years later, which I had found in the Tuebingen library, for here was a longer, and even more fanciful account of that strange journey to Ireland and of the generous Miss H--. There was no doubt in my mind either that the former city archivist Fritz Herrmann whose book was published in 1920, had done a thorough and scholarly job of collecting, examining, and evaluating all the historical evidences which yet remained of Count Leon. There was no reason to look further, for if there were any further loose ends to the story, it appeared that they would be beyond the reach of any person who had only a limited amount of time to spend in his search. Herr Hoffman was most helpful. After I explained my problem, he allowed me to borrow the two books on my promise to return them within a week, so that I could have them reproduced on microfilm at the University of Tuebingen. Everything worked out as planned - the originals are in the Offenbach archives, but microfilm copies will be available in the library of Louisiana Polytechnic Institute for anybody who cares to take the time to study them. It is from Fritz Herrmann's book that the story of Count Leon will have to be retold. Translation of the important materials and presentation in readable form will perhaps take a little time, but it is hoped that this retelling can be made available in due time, perhaps as an appendix to Mrs. Prescott Krause's book. ********** Page 92 SHOTGUN AND DOGTROT By Ted-Larry Pebworth Illustrations by Lillian Bellizio Reprinted with permission of the publishers and the author from Ford Times, January 1957 The so-called "Shotgun," a long, narrow house of small proportions, is a familiar sight in northwest Louisiana, as it is in other sections of the South. It is built for economy and coolness, its one-room width and doors in a straight line, front to back, providing a channel for the infrequent summer breezes. The shotgun, sometimes called "gunbarrel," house is usually built of rough, local sawmill pine, the large cracks between the vertical planks covered with small wooden strips.. When glass and screening are unavailable, the windows are closed with rough wooden shutters. On cold or wet days the shuttered rooms are pitch black, and the kerosene lamps can help little in dispelling the gloom.. A fire in the stick-and-mud fireplace is an additional means of light as well as heat. Local clay with twigs and pine straw serve as the building materials for the fireplaces and their chimneys, which must be repaired after every rainy season. These chimneys are often the cause of fire. The houses are set two or three feet off the ground on unmortared piles of native rock, so saturated in low grade iron ore as to leave rust marks on anything touching them. On the front porch, between two posts, is a shelf with a water bucket and dipper. Soap, washbasin, and a native vine in a pot hanging from the porch roof on a rusty wire usually complete the furnishings of the shelf. Behind it are home-made rocking chairs that complain when rocked in, and cane and hide-bottomed straight chairs. Metal locks with glass knobs have replaced the rope and wooden latch on the door, and lard buckets have replaced the wooden kegs as flower pots, but little else has changed in a hundred years. The big brother of this house, the "dogtrot," is a combination of two shotguns set side by side under the same roof with a wide hall, the dogtrot, between. Often the kitchen is a separate building, sometimes connected to the main house by a tin-roofed shed, but often as not, by nothing more than a path. This was an early attempt at fire insurance. At a time when matches were uncommon and expensive in this part of the country, the kitchen fireplace contained a fire constantly, either burning logs or banked coals. To leave the house for any length of time was dangerous, so the best solution was to separate the house and kitchen. From this practice comes the expression still used by the old people when they finish a meal, "Let's go into the house." Also to prevent fire, the yards of most rural houses were, and still are, scraped clean of grass. This is a wise precaution in an area where brush and grass fires are frequent. Accordingly, the hoe and yardbroom are common implements. The furnishings of the porches of these houses differ little from those of the shotguns. The big difference is in the dogtrot itself. Pegs on the wall hold family firearms; ancient antlers may hold hats, coats, and home- made walking canes. The family dogs sleep in the shade of these halls, giving them their name, and chickens wander at will from front porch to back, until they are shooed away. Both the shotgun and the dogtrot are early attempts at natural air- conditioning, and in the days before artificial cooling, these were the best that architecture had to offer. Today, the shotgun and dogtrot are obsolescent, but enough examples remain for the traveler to see these interesting house-forms. In Louisiana, shotguns and dogtrots can still be found on U. S. 80, between Shreveport and Arcadia; U. S. 79, between Homer and Minden; and State 9, near Athens. {Also see "Page 93-Shotgun & Dogtrot" in the corresponding photo album located in the Claiborne Parish LA GenWeb Archives.} ********** Page 95 SOME NEGRO SONGS HEARD ON THE HILLS OF NORTH LOUISIANA Collected by Vallie Tinsley White (Excerpts from a thesis submitted by the author at Louisiana State University, 1928; reprinted by permission of the author) In my quest for spirituals I accompanied my colored friends to several churches, of which I remember the names, Pine Hill, Bethel, and Price's Freewill Macedonian Baptist. I found them all tucked off behind the hills and pine thickets at the ends of rough wagon roads. On my first visit I was accompanied by Azzle, wearing a large red hat and a sleeveless red silk dress and carrying her shoes in her hand. When we arrived about nine o'clock, a low humming was rising from the rude church. There were as many Negroes on the outside of the church as inside, and I was impressed by the quietness of them all. They moved about like black spirits, veritable shades in Pluto's dark regions. I have heard them sing at the top of powerful lungs as they worked in the fields; I have heard Teather's mighty booming call three miles away in the middle of the night as he returned from his nocturnal prowls. So I was surprised at their subdued tones here. I found the singing of two kinds. The first was like the song of soldiers where "each heart spoke a different name but all sang 'Annie Laurie'." In this case they were attempting to sing unfamiliar songs from "white folks' books;", and although they were all saying the same words, each had a different tune. After they had wailed in this way for a while, they all knelt, bent their backs, and tucked their black heads down until they completely disappeared behind the seats. They did not cease to sing, however, but lowered their voices to a hum that rose and fell like a distance-mellowed echo of the song itself. In a short time out of this humming a single voice became audible and grew louder, while the humming became fainter and gradually died away. "O Lord, dear Father, guide us through the shiftin' scenes of life ... and finally take us somewhere, Lord, where there won't be no sickness an' sorrow, somewhere in the sweet Beulah Land, jest somewhere Lord," prayed the sweet voice of a woman, while the audience accompanied her with a perfectly rhythmic chorus of "amens" sung out at exactly regular intervals regardless of where she was in a sentence. At my request the older Negroes sang some of those wonderful old spirituals - of which I am including a few in this book-, and the young ones joined in with embarrassed grins on their faces. When I asked a young girl if they sang the spirituals at her church, she smiled tolerantly and said, "Yes'm, sometimes de old foks raise dem old tunes..." So it is that the younger Negroes are trying to get away from the songs that have come to them from the days of slavery, and collectors who would preserve them must work rapidly. With the dying of the old Negroes of the present day will die most of the old spirituals. WHAT SHALL I DO? This was a favorite of the Negroes, and they often sang it in the fields as they picked cotton together. If I wuz you, I'd stop right here an' pray; If I wuz you, I'd stop right here an' pray; If I wuz you, I'd stop right here an' pray; O, my Lord, O, my Lord, what shall I do? O run, sinner, run, an' hunt you a hidin' place; O run, sinner, run, an' hunt you a hidin' place; O run, sinner, run, an' hunt you & hidin' place; O, my Lord, O, my Lord, what shall I do? O what you gwinter do when death comes a-creepin' in de room? O what you gwinter do when death comes a-creepin' in de room? O what you gwinter do when death comes a-creepin' in de room? O, my Lord, O, my Lord, what shall I do? Chris' tol' Nicodemus dat he mus' be born agin; Chris' tol' Nicodemus dat he mus' be born agin; Chris' tol' Nicodemus dat he mus' be born agin; O, my Lord, O, my Lord, what shall I do? ***** I DONE DONE (From Pine Hill Church) You tol' me to preach, You tol' me to preach, I done done, I done done, You tol' me to preach, An' I done done what you tol' me to do. You tol' me to shout, I done done, You tol' me to shout, I done done, You toll me to shout, An' I done done what you tol' me to do. You tol' me to moan, I done done, You tol' me to moan, I done done, You tol' me to moan, An' I done done what you tol' me to do. ***** I NEVER HEARD A MAN (This is the most powerful and appealing spiritual I have ever heard sung. The little old Negro preacher sang the stanzas, and the congregation joined in the chorus) King Jesus was a preacher; He spoke in Palestine, Proclaimed to all the nation His power to redeem. All de days of my life, ever since I been born, I never heard a man speak lak dis man befo'. Chorus I never heard a man speak lak dis man befo'. All the days of my life, ever since I been born, I never heard a man speak lak dis man befo'. He spoke over in Jerusalem; His parents they were gone; "I want to ask some questions, I'm from my Father's throne." All de days of my life, ever since I been born, I never heard a man speak lak dis man befo'. He spake at the grave of Lazarus, When a congregaton met; The Lord God folded up His arms; I'm told that Jesus wept. All de days of my life, ever since I been born, I never heard a man speak lak dis man befo'. He spoke to the Jewish nation, "I am the solid rock; Behold I am your Saviour, I stand at the do' an' knock." All de days of my life, ever since I been born, I never heard a man speak lak dis man befo'. ***** From my father's collection: My father, who is the "Mister Mun" or "Cap" to the Negroes, is the real collector of the first group. He learned them from the Negroes themselves as he worked with or "worked" them in the fields in the "long summer days"; and at night he propped his tired feet against the columns, and taking his violin under his chin, Played their plaintive tunes... Long summer day, Old Massa an' old missis a-settin' in the shade, Drink their coffee and their tea, Give Po' nigger de black-eyed pea. Long summer day, Long summer day. ***** ....Another "hand" sang these lines over and over: Some of dese mo'nings An' it won't be long, De cap'n gwinter call me, An' I'll be gone. And so it happened...The next little jingle was adopted by our family for practical use. We children often woke each other with it. Wake up, Jacob, day's a-breakin'; Meat's in the pot an' hoe-cake's a-bakin'. My mother's contribution: Aunt Gracie is known as "Aunt Tabbie" and "Aunt Patsy" in different places. I found this song better known and more loved than any of the others... Go tell Aunt Gracie, Go tell Aunt Gracie, Go tell Aunt Gracie, The ole grey goose is dead. The one she was savin' The one she was savin' The one she was savin' To make a feather bed. She died early this mo'nin' She died early this mo'nin' She died early this mo'nin' Under the old green apple tree. She left two little goslin's She left two little goslin's She left two little goslin's One for you an' one for me. ***** "SHOO, MY LOVE" In a long jingle entitled "Aunt Dinah Drunk" in Talley's Negro Folk Rhymes, I found this line: "Oh, shoo my Love! My turtle dove." When I read it, there flew back into my memory like a flock of sparrows to a tree top the following: Hawk an' turkle dove Went to the war; Hawk came back with a broken jaw. Shoo, my Love, Shoo, my Love, Shoo, my pretty little turkle dove. ********** Page 100 LETTERS LETTER FROM SAMUEL RUSSELL February 14, 1830 (Nettie Mae Brewer, of Independence, Virginia, provides this copy of a letter from Samuel Russell to Lewis and Agnes Brewer, written from Russellville February 14, 1830. Miss Brewer has given permission to print the letter. Russellville was the first parish seat in Claiborne. Miss Brewer is a great niece of Samuel Russell, a brother of her great grandfather, Lewis Brewer, Sr. This letter is of unusual interest and significance). Russvill Parish of Clairborn, La. Fby. 7th Most affectionate Brothers and Sisters: I received yours of the 18th November 1829 I received on the 30th day of December in the same date which was within six weeks from the Date thire of, it gives me great pleasure to hear from you all and to hear that you were all well and doing fine, more over it was pleasant to me to know that you had received one letter from me out of ten, you write to me to inform you of the increase of my family, we are of an increasing breed, my wife has had eleven children, six boys and five girls. David, my oldest son married Betsy Brazel, a fine girl, she brought him three children, but to her displeasure of the first day of November last, she departed this life. Tho he is better prepared to take care of his Little ones, then many a man who has been left with the same mother, he has got fine negro woman to take care of them and a good old motherinlaw to see to it. My oldest daughter Tabitha is married to one, Issac Thorinton, she has three sons, David living about 25 miles from me. Tabitha is three miles of me, they both are doing well. William, the third child was born a cripple by a skire, has become insane. Rachel and Nancy and Samuel and Philip, Luvincy and Betsy yet. Lewis is no more. I have had a great Reason to be thankful to my Creator for the blessing that he has bestowed on me and my family. I can insure you that if ever a man injoid pleasure in the family I have in mine, for in their prudence they are ranked in the first class of people in our country and ought is not against the first one of them. You wrote to me to let you know how I come on in this world, as it is your wish to know, I give you a small account. First of My Standing with the people in this County I moved here in 1822 when there was 18 family in the bounds of this County. I was put into office and as the settlements increased and got stronger, I laid the foundation for a new Parish, and being in favor with the Judges and Lawyers at a general Review in the town of Natchitoches I was introduced to Governor Johnson and after sometime I explained the situation of our settlement to him, he said that if I draw a draft and send it to the Legislator that he would do his best to give us a new parish. I don so and he was as good as his word. I had the management of the whole and when the town was Laid for the seat of justice, I was appointed to do it. The people were so pleased it was their choice that, the name of the town should be Russelvill in Remembrance of me. My situation of life is such I have plenty to live on. I have 75 head of meat cattle and a good farm on which I make one hundred clear money a year besides what supports my family. I have one Likely Negro man, and four horses and I don't owe one dollar in the state. I cribed one thousand bushels of corn this last season and made 2,830 pounds of seed cotton besides, oates, potatoes a plenty, corn is worth 50 cents per bushel, cotton 9 dollars per hundred when ginned. I send to New Orleans once a year for sugar, and coffee and other things such as I need. I trade in horses, teams, sometimes. I have ten other teams, but one in fact, the property that I hold would command two thousand dollars, if I was to say so. David belongs to the Baptist Church, as for my part, I am in no society, but a true believer in God and pin my faith in him, and not in man, and as your thinking, we can meet in the world to come, if you will look where the Sadducees questioned our Saviour, saying there was one woman, who had seven brothers to her husband, whose wife was she to be in the Last Day. He said, "there was neither marriage nor given in marriage there, for if the husband and wife is not known to Each other, it is certain that brothers won't. It may turn out that we may see each other in this life yet it would be a pleasing site to me to see you or any of my Relations or acquaintances. Don't forget to write to me and let me know how you and all the rest of my people are that is in your knowledge. Remember me to Phillip, Russel, and Rebecca, and to all of your children and also to all inquiring friends. So I shall conclude by assorbing myself your Most Effectionate Brother until Death, place your Faith in God and not in men and I hope there will be no danger. Samul Russel To Lewis Brewer and Agniss, his wife. Letter addressed as follows- Alenfsetelment Feb. 14, 1830. Lewis Brewer, Elk Creek, State of Virginia, post office, in Grayson County ********** Page 102 LETTERS FROM HUGH L. HARRIS January 1862 (Rosa Wilder Blackman, who owns the original of these letters, has given her permission for their printing here. She provides this information: "These letters were written to Uncle Tom Harris by his trother Hugh Lawson Harris while he was at Camp Carondelet during the Civil War. His brother Ben whom he mentions had passed away in Williamsburg, Virginia, and he hoped McC (Grandpa McCranie) would bring his body back home. Grandpa did, and Ben's body is in the old cemetery in Homer. When Hugh died, Grandpa went to Virginia to bring his body back, but he was arrested as a spy and held for seven weeks. It is said that Grandpa gave a sign - Masonic - to his guard and he was released. Of course Grandpa failed to bring home the body of Hugh, the writer of these letters.") Camp Carondelet Jan 10th 186- Dear Brother I seat myself tonight to write you a short letter hoping that it may find you and Ma's family in good health. I have been looking for a letter from you for some time, but it has not yet come. It looks to me like the family has entirely forgotten me, it seems that every other member of the company get letters from home but me. This is the second letter that I have written to you and one to the ______ one of the family and to Mc's family since I have received a letter from home. I think that some one of you might spend one hour every Sunday evening in writing to me. I have six or seven correspondents and I always fine plenty of time to write to them. If you can't get no other time you might write after all the rest was asleep. I am doing that very thing now, for my mess mates are all in bed fast asleep while I am writing to my dear and only Brother. When you write tell me what you are doing or going to this and who Ma has hired Jeff to this year and what she is getting for him. I have nothing more to write to you that would interest you. Tell Sallie when she writes to _________ Kinabrew this she may tell him that his Uncle Frank and Rusk are both in good health. I recom that you have heard of the death of Benj. F. Henry our second sargeant. He was a very clever young man and we regret his loss very much. I wrote to William and his brother in the ______ Regt. telling them of his death. He has been decently buried and a large stone erected at the head of the grave with his name and regt. engraved on it to mark the spot where he lyes. You and the rest of the family must write to me very often for I feel very lonely since we lost our Dear Brother. Give my love to Mc's family and Jeff and Cozziah and the children. Write soon to your devoted brother. Hugh L. Harris ***** Camp Carondelet Jan 22 '62 Mr. Thomas Harris Dear Brother As I have to sit up with the corpse of one of my mess mates, Blak Pate (?) I will you a letter in answer to one which I received from Ma dated Jan 9th in relation to the death our brother. I heard of his death too or three weeks ago but have not heard the particulars of his sickness. I tryed my best to get a furlough to go and see him but could not get it signed by the Coln. Capt. Capers did all that was in his power to get it for me but could not. Dr. Egan did also. I have written to Nick Capelin to write to me what became of his things and if he had any money and if so what became of it. I recom that it took all that he had to pay his Doctor bill and board. I wrote to Ma and Lucie as soon as I heard of his death but it seames that Ma has not received my letter. I want her to have him brought home if she can. John Reeder (?) received a letter from Capelin stating that he was going to bring him home. He said that they have been several days preparing him and Bob Kirkpatrick to send back. I received a letter from Lucie the other day. She has heard of the death of our brother Tom. Be sure and tell Capt. Capers that Pate is dead. I am sitting up with the corpe now. He died about three o'clock this evening. We dressed him in his new uniform and put on his cap and gaters or leggins. Our company is in very good health at present we have but three sick here in comp. A. One of them is Ole (?) Thurston. He is very sick with the pneumonia. I am in finer health than you ever saw me. I received 2 pairs of gloves today from Sister Sallie with a piece of paste board tacked to them and on the board she said that she was glad to hear that I was getting well. I would like to know how you all have heard that I was sick for I have not be really sick a single day since I left home. It is true that I have had the jaundice and the chollic but that did not make me sick much. I mean that I have not been in bed a day. I am very sorry to hear that the old lady Alford is dead. It seams that all of my old friends and acquaintances are dying. I see so many dead these days that I never think to ask who he is. The cause of a great many of these deaths is from exposure. They don't take any care of themselves at all. They will go on guard and lie down on the ground and sleep half the night without a single blanket and come off the next day with the pneumonia. When I am on guard I come to my house and go to bed and get some of them to come and wake me just before it comes my time to go on post. I go out and stand 2 hours and come back to bed. When our regiment mounts guard the best looking man and the neatest gun in the ranks is excused from guard duty for the day. I came off the other day. Olin Blackman gets off every time when he tryes but is on now. Our company has a new uniform and some one of us gets off nearly all the time. Tom be sure and send me some books by the Capn on his return. I had rather have novels if you can get them. You have never written to me whether you got the gold dollar which I sent you to pay for them or not. And be sure to send me a dictionary. If my watch is fixed send it. When you write tell me what has become of _____ Alford and Chally (?) since their mother's death. Capt Capers went off and forgotten the fine knife which I sent to McCranie. I believe that I have written all that is necessary. Give my love (to) Ma and Sallie and most especially to my little nephew Allin (McCranie) and his friends. Write soon to your brother [signed} Hugh L. Harris P.S. Ask John Blythe why he don't answer my letter ********** Page 104 LETTER FROM MARY THOMAS HOBDY KIMBELL (Letter: From Mary Thomas Hobdy Kimbell (Tom) to her mother and father, Mary Jane and John Kimbell, who was sheriff of Claiborne for the year 1865. "Jud" is L. J. Kimbell, sheriff of Claiborne, 1866-1870, The Kimbell home, about 6 miles from Homer on the Homer-Harris road, was a landmark before it was destroyed by fire in the late 1920's. Ruth Gladney Featherston, granddaughter of L. J. Kimbell owns a photostat copy of the original letter and has given permission for its printing here.) Limestone County, Mt. Calm, Texas June the 27th, 1874 My Dear Ma & Pa Your letter brimful of news, was received a few days ago, and was highly appreciated by me, the first and only letter I have received since I left home. We are both well, only Jud is complaining a little. I am afraid he is going to have a spell of bilious fever. I was sick last week had a spell of bilious fever, like I had last summer at home not quite as severe. . .. I can't say that I missed your good nursing, for Jud was very kind and good and waited on me as much as any one possibly could . . . I reckon you think we are moving around considerably. I'll have to explain it all. We have a gentle good buggy horse and tolerable good strong buggy. We first came down to Limestone which is about 50 miles. Our object was to exchange places with Mrs. Graves a widow of preacher Graves' Brother (the Corryelle place I mean) While down here, we heard we could get a school near Mt. Calm. This way of paying $20 for board in silver, money going out and none coming in, don't suit my economical notions, you know. We went back to Corryelle, washed up, starched and ironed our clothes. Jud helps me wash. At first I would not hear to his helping me, but now I don't think I could do hardly a tall without him. We are grangers, you know, and must live at home as much as we can. They charge such high prices for washing, enough of that. We only staid with Mrs. Gage 8 days. Jud paid her pretty high for that. We went around prospecting and visiting, first to Mrs. Parks. Tell Joe I saw more than she did, not only saw the beautiful spring rushing down like a torrent with the great rock overshadowing it, farther on the great wall of rock high as a house looking so white, but we went over big rocks, ever ever so many into a large cave higher than my head. Our back gallery is a tolerable representation. Imagine it all rock. Mr. Parks told me the dimensions of the cave I was in, but I've forgotten. There were several smaller caves around but they looked too dark in there for me. Mr. Parks said he had been ever so far in them. While viewing these sublime works of nature, a feeling of awe and reverence comes o'er us. For beauty and variety of scenery, I think Texas must surpass most of the states. I believe I am falling in love with it, so that I will want to live nowhere else. From Mr. Parks we went to Mr. Wallaces, from there to Mr. Nolands spent the night with them, to Mr. McClendons next, staid three or four days with them, enjoyed myself finely. Tell Nin I've fallen in love with Mrs. McClendon. She is a mighty good woman, from there to Mr. Knowling in the neighborhood of Mr. Turnipseed and Mr. Pancake. We went to our place on the Brazos. I like the looks of it very much. The cotton looked well and so did the corn needing more work though. Some of the corn was planted over again that didn't look fine. The house has two rooms with a piazza between, to one side of the room another piazza and a kitchen a tolerable good well of water. The soil seems to be very easy to cultivate, the renter was complaining of the crabgrass. I can't tell you all the places I have been to. I tell Jud I believe I know more people here than I do in La. I am afraid I am wearying you with my foolish talk. I pieced me up a quilt the week before I got sick & have been filling it out with white this week. I have knit up all the thread you gave me, except a little ball. I'll keep that for darning etc. He says he has enough socks for awhile. He told some of his friends he believed I was going to have him a suit for every day in the week. I haven't made him but four shirts & two pair of drawers, he has enough clothes to do him a good while. I have a pair of pants to make for him but would not trouble with them this week. Wouldn't you laugh to see me cutting them and jerk the scissors away and say you would do as good with your eyes shut. We are boarding. I told you what I had done to let you know that lazziness hasn't taken possession of me quite. You must remember that I have been traveling around most of the time. I thought I would write some to Joe and Nin in this letter but have not. They can read it that will do as well. You know when I write to one I write to all. We are boarding with Mrs. Graves. I like her very much. We have a private room all ceiled, two glass windows to it. Her house cost $800, upstairs to it, it is a frame house. She has a well of water have to haul it though a good little piece. Our school commenced this week. Think he will have 30 or 35 scholars. If he gets a pretty full school I will assist him. Give my love to all, tell John to write to me. Joe, Nin, Fan & Billie won't write. Write soon I know you & Pa will make fun of this silly letter Tom If Jud can get into some business perhaps I'll teach the school myself. ********** Page 107 MISCELLANY By Rosa Wilder Blackman Formula for making lye soap. Into the hopper which was a large barrel mounted on a sloping platform, oak ashes from the wood-burning fire-places were dumped and covered with a lid to keep dry until used. On the day the soap making took place, water was poured over the ashes. When the liquid lye drained down the trough into containers it was then emptied into an iron pot under which a fire had been made. When the lye boiled, grease was added by putting in old meat scraps, lard, meat skins, and bones. If the hopper had not produced enough strong lye, a ball of lye about the size of a base-ball was purchased from a store and added to the mixture. This ball of lye had a thick coating of pine resin to protect the hands while handling. When ready to use, the soap was reddish brown in color and was about the consistency of thick cream. Soap was kept in barrels and a long handled gourd was used for dipping out. This soap was excellent for scrubbing kitchen floors before covering them with sand. Amusements. Several tent shows made yearly visits. M. L. Clark traveled overland, his trained ponies pulling the wagons. Clark had several gaily colored cages that housed his "vicious" animals. Haag's Almighty owned a caliope. The show wintered in Shreveport on Fairfield Avenue where Mr. Haag owned a large two- story home on spacious grounds. Here the wild animals were kept behind bars. After the Kinnebrew Opera House opened for business, theatrical troops played for one-week stands. Their repertoire consisted of Uncle Tom's Cabin, East Lynne, Way Down East, and Ten Nights in a Bar-room. Ladies wore their best. Their hair was "crimped" by curling irons, which were heated by placing them in the glass chimney of a coal-oil lamp. Hair was frequently scorched. Faces were not camouflaged by make-up; only perfumed white powder, known as Lily White, was used. Artificial flowers were pinned in the hair. Paul English's company played to full houses. In the summer the shows were given under a tent and in the winter in the Opera House. Clarence Covington was the advance agent and often was a stand-in for a disabled actor for "the show must go on." He supported Paul English who played the lead in The Awakening of John Slater. Two of English's players made the grade in the theatrical world. John Considine is now a character actor in Hollywood and Jeanne Eagles, deceased, made famous the play Rain in which she starred as Sadie Thompson. Home talent was not to he overlooked. Parts for the Old Folks Concert were taken by grandmas and grandpas. Mrs. J. A. Richardson's singing "Darling Nellie Gray" and playing her own accompaniment and Mr. Keener's fiddling brought down the house. The Old Maid's Convention, with C. O. Ferguson as "Professor Makeover", was a great success. The professor had the power to change an old maid into anybody she wished to be; all that was necessary was to place her in a large wooden box and turn a crank. Miss May Ragland's lines were: "Backward, turn backward, O time in thy flight, make me a child again, just for tonight." At school. In the late 1880's, Mrs. Outlaw taught the first reader class in the old red brick, Grecian type, school building. The reader used was Swinton's First Reader. One page of lesson one read: "The pig puts his nose in the dish and eats all the bread and milk. What a funny pig." The only heat available was furnished from a wood burning fireplace. This did not give sufficient heat to warm the large classroom and as a, result, many pupils suffered through the winter months with frost bitten heels. Above the mantel, over the fireplace, in a semi-circle of black lettering on the white plastered walls were these lines: "Honor and shame from one condition rise; act well your part, there all the honor lies." Several water wells were dug on the spacious school grounds, but the water was distasteful, and the water from a brick walled cistern was unsatisfactory, also. Older pupils carrying buckets were sent to a spring that was near - where the swimming pool is today. All Pupils drank from the same tin dipper. Did You Know That... The Court House originally was of red brick with white columns and green blinds at the windows on the lower floor. The windows were larger than those now in the building and the panes of glass were smaller. The original windows were replaced by the smaller ones with four large panes. Cut-outs in the original window frames show where the blinds were hung. .....High-topped shoes made cf soft vici-kid had thin leather soles and shoes for the right and left feet were identical. The most popular size was a three, E width. .....During the oil-boom of 1918, the light plant was taxed to capacity. Lights were turned off at 12 midnight. Coal oil lamps and candles were again in use. .....A cook was paid $2.00 a month for milking a cow and cooking three meals a day. A house, wood, and coal oil were provided and her family was fed from the kitchen in which she worked. ********** Page 109 Early Transport Service and An Old Cemetery By Gilbert C. Owens Early transport service. Hardy Christian leaders weathered much hardship and suffered many disappointments as they came west in covered wagons from Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, and the Carolinas. They cleared out the wilderness, built log homes and churches, and helped to lay a foundation for a better way of life for all. Grandfather Owens drove an ox-team in a covered wagon train that hauled cotton from the Arcadia, Tulip. and Aycock areas. There were several trains that hauled to Shreve Landing (Shreveport) west and Trenton (Monroe) east. They would bring back freight to these communities. When Dorcheat was full of water there was a boat landing at Overton, south of Minden. At one time this community was in what was then Claiborne Parish, and it was the parish seat. Captain Miller, and the father of Prescott and Eustis Smith each operated a train. The oxen could pull much more than horses could, over the mud and boggy trails or roads. There was a real problem west of Overton in the fall, when hauling was heavy and when there was much rain, The Shed Road, a toll road, was built to keep the road dry for many miles. I have heard Grandfather tell of some of the troubles of that day. There was a camp site about half way along the Shed Road where the trains could pass. The road itself was not wide enough to permit passing. Some of the wagon masters would not wait and when two trains met and the ground was wet and boggy, trouble would start. It would take several days for a bogged-down train to get back on the road. Pack horses and saddle horses were important, too; they were used by doctors and preachers and for carrying mail. Uncle Tom A. Owens, when a young man, rode mail from Arcadia north to Aycock and other stops. I have heard him tell of many interesting experiences in his early life. One such experience was at the age of seven when he started to school in the Sugar Creek area. The teacher was Monroe Baker, who believed in children obeying his orders. Now Uncle Tom had never seen a stage coach and the school was on or near the stage road. He heard hollering and the cracking of whips as the stage climbed the hill near by. He left his seat and started to the door, not heeding the teacher's stern order to return to his seat. He got to see the stage coach but he got a real whipping, too. He said he would always remember his first stage coach and where he saw it. An old cemetery. The Indian Trail from Natchitoches to Chicago passed where I now live - on the line of Ward 6 and 7, north and south. Less than a mile from where I grew up and attended a one-room school known as Walnut Grove School is located an old cemetery which was used as a place of rest for Indians, whites, Civil War soldiers, and Negroes - some slave and some free. I have two relatives of the Crossland family, resting there. When a small boy I would go there with my Grandmother Owens. We would carry flowers, clean off the graves, and place the flowers on them. She would tell me of the history of the old cemetery and her experiences as a young child. The Civil War dead that rest in this old cemetery were once prisoners or sick or wounded. They had been brought to a hospital and prison camp located here, far away from the battle grounds, and disease took a heavy toll. I have visited this cemetery many times; now it is unknown to most of the people of this parish. ********** Page 110 Old Cemetery, Homer By Ladelle Duke The Old Cemetery, which one passes coming into Homer on West Third, is almost as old as the town itself. Behind its low iron fence rests a quiet area of great oaks, ancient cedars, beautiful magnolias, and stately pines. Within it can be found much of the history of a century. One of the first tombstones encountered by the visitor and the tallest in the cemetery is that which marks the graves of a mother and her twin children. The stone is in the form of a woman with a child on each arm; the inscription tells of the death of the three. The old grave markers and tombstones tell many stories of the past. Some who are buried here died from the effects of tragedy, epidemics, and war. The markers reflect the courage and bravery of a pioneer people settling in a new land. Here history can be seen and it assumes a reality of which we may not be aware elsewhere. On many markers the place of birth is given and thus we have an index of the origin of those who came to Homer and Claiborne Parish to settle and develop it. A complete census of the cemetery is yet to be made, and to name some who have been buried there would mean that many were omitted, but from a walk through the grounds it is evident that the oldest markers date back to 1858. Many are not readable. There are more than a dozen brick vaults, with marble slabs. The inscriptions on these are read with difficulty but they probably bear later dates. Many of the graves are a century old, but attracting attention at this time is a new tombstone the inscription of which reads: Robert Tillinghast Vaughn, born March 21, 1845 - died October 12, 1879. He was a descendant of Tillinghast Vaughn who contributed and sold land in this area and whose son Frank named the town. The cemetery still sees occasional burials, mostly in old family plots. The forebears of many prominent families in Homer are buried there. In its shaded quiet is the final resting place of a people who came here to live and to build a town. ********** Page 111 A Sampling of Claiborne Genealogy By Alma Green Blanton John Wise, I, born in 1617 at Devenshire, England, came to Virginia in 1635. During the years 1640 to 1781, these generations followed: John Wise II, III, IV, V, and James Wise. James Wise, 1781- 1858, married Amelia Miller in 1807 and some years later moved, by way of Mississippi, with their nineteen children to Gordon. (1) One of their sons, Ambrose (1820-1895) married Mahanah O'Bannon in 1840, near Lisbon, at the home of Hahanah's sister, Mrs. A. S. Nolan. (2) To this union, eleven children were born. One of these children was Nathanial who married Louise Cargille. They had three children, one of whom was Lillian, (3) who married Jessie William Green in 1888 at Sharon community, near Lisbon. (4) They reared seven children, the eldest of whom was Alma Lucille, who in 1909 married William Albert Blanton. It was in the home of James Wise that the Friendship Baptist Church, the first Baptist Church in Gordon, was organized. Ambrose and Mahanah Wise were charter members of Rocky Springs Church and Sharon Church. They purchased and donated the land on which today stands Sharon Church and its cemetery. Ambrose Wise owned the first cotton gin in the Sharon community. Nathaniel Wise owned the first cotton gin in the Summerfield community. Lillian Wise Green attended Keatchie College, a forerunner of Louisiana College. "Aunt Lillian" as she was affectionately known, was a life member of Sharon Church. 1. James and Amelia Wise are buried at Gordon. 2. Ambrose and Mahannah Wise are buried at Sharon. 3. Nathaniel Wise is buried at Houston, Texas; Louise Wise is buried at Hebron 4. Jessie W. and Lillian Green are buried at Sharon. ********** {Also see "Page 113-Homer Department Club" in the corresponding photo album located in the Claiborne Parish LA GenWeb Archives.} ********** Page 114 GONE ARE THE DAYS By Mary Land Hodges On what we used to call "Ferguson Hill" the old home stands out in my memory as if it was only yesterday. This home, built before the Civil War, had a huge cellar where sweet potatoes were stored, and because of the many legends of hidden treasure we kids in the neighborhood used to dig constantly with no tangible results. There was at one time a big peach orchard, and when I was very small my mother used to pin notes on me saying "Do not let little Mary eat any bananas", but Uncle Drew would take me out to the orchard and I would eat as many peaches as I could hold - which probably saved my life. For so long I did not really like domesticated meat or fowl, because the clients my father had would just come in the night and leave a possum, coon or ducks on the door-step. He was never any good at collecting fees, but good at collecting friends. I always say the only law I know was through absorption for I was forced to sit in the court room from three years upward. At this time Lucy West used to work for us, and always after dinner my father would provoke an argument on law. Lucy would then run in the front room and say "Mister Tom, you want I would get out the Silver Goud" - of course meaning the Civil Code. The only real spanking I ever had was when I took off my shoes (against orders), and walked up to McCaslands through the sand. Mr. McCasland washed my feet but when I got home the sand still showed. The next trouble I got in was that all the family were watching a circus parade from the foot of "Ferguson Hill", and when they saw me bringing up the rear of the parade on foot I really caught it. The biggest thrill in life was to go to the Fair Grounds, and what with peanuts in hand see all the side shows. In these days we did not have too much of everything as we have today so life was wonderful with simple things - as it always should be - for champagne every day will soon lose it's flavor. ********** Page 115 The Kinard House in Summerfield By Lois L. Kinard This house is over one hundred years old. The lumber in it is still in good condition. It consists of four rooms and an open hall. On one of the mantels "WELCOME" is printed and on another "HOME SWEET HOME." The design on one of the ceilings is reproduced here. Ceilings are twelve feet high. The rooms are eighteen feet square. The door of the room with the heavenly ceiling is 36 inches by 82 inches. The four windows in the room consist of 12 panes each; each pane is 12 by 18 inches. The house was built by the Chandlers. Reverend C. P. Kinard bought it when he moved to this community from Arkansas. It is still in use as a home. {Also see "Page 115-Kinard House Ceiling Design" in the corresponding photo album located in the Claiborne Parish LA GenWeb Archives.} ********** Page 116 First Woman to Vote in Claiborne Parish When Mrs. Callie Akin of Haynesville was given special permission to vote on the stock law around 1897 she became the first woman to vote in Claiborne Parish. Mrs. Akin, at that time was Mrs. Callie Hearn, widow of Flavius Josephus Hearn. As a livelihood for herself and small child she lived on and managed a farm two miles west of Haynesville. At that time there was no stock law and all stock ran out. This of course necessitated fencing in the crops. The issue of the stock law was to keep the stock fenced up and leave the fields unfenced. Due to the heavy cost imposed on her of keeping up long lanes of split rail fences she asked for and received permission from the Police Jury to vote for the stock law. This she did and the law was passed in approximately 1897. ********** {Also see "Page 117-Promissory Note", "Page 118-Nationality Report of 1875", and "Page 120-Herbert Smith Ford" in the corresponding photo album located in the Claiborne Parish LA GenWeb Archives.} ********** # # #