East Carroll-Madison-Ouachita County Louisiana Archives History .....Warren: North Louisiana's Forgotten Parish By Thomas Ruffin ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Pauline S. Mobley http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00028.html#0006760 July 11, 2010, 10:13 pm Once nestled in the northeast corner of the state was Warren Parish. It encompassed an area now occupied by today's East Carroll, Madison Parish, and the northen part of Tensas Parish. More specificall, its boundaries were described as follows: ...begininning on the Mississippi River, about three miles above Grand Gulph (Grand Gulf, Miss.), at the place called, Shipps Bayou, thence along said bayou, to Lake St. Joseph, thence Northerly through the middle of said lake to a bayou called Durosset's Bayou at the plantation of Gibson Clark junr. --thence along said bayou to the Tensau {sic}-- thence to Bayou Macon-- thence up the bayou Macon to the 33rd degree of North latitude {the present Arkansas-Louisiana line}-- thence down East to the Mississippi River -- thence down the same to the beginning. 1 Although the parish was not established until 1811, its story begins on April 10, 1805. It was not established until 1811, its story begins on April 10, 1805. It was on that date that the Legislative Council first separated the Territory of Orleans into political subdivisions, namely twelve counties. Two of these counties, located in the northeastern part of the territory, were soon to be identified with Warren Parish, One was identified thusly: the county of Concordia shall comprehend all that portion of country lying within the following boundaries, to wit: Begining at the mouth of Red River, and ascending the same to Black River; then along Black River to the Tensa (sic) River, and along the same to Tensa (sic) Lake; then by a right line, easterly to the Mississippi, and down the same to the point of beginning. 2 and the other: the country of Ouachitta (sic) shall comprehend all that country commonly called and known by the name of the Ouachitta (sic) settlements. 3 An elected territorial legislature replaced the appointed legislative council later in 1805. The first act of their second session, approved on March 30, 1807, created nineteen parishes. 4 Two of them were defined briefly in the manner; " The county of Concordia, as now established, shall form the thirteeth. " " The settlements of Ouachitta (sic) shall form the fourteenth." 5 Although the act in effect subdivided many of the counties into two or more parishes, Concordia and Ouachita Counties ended up with only parish each. Further complications of the situation occurred when both conties and parishes received the same names. Change came quickly, however, and when it did it was at Ouachita"s expense. On March 18, 1809, the legislature passes "act to remove certain doubts as to the limits of the county of Concordia", which read as follows: ...That in place of running east from Lake Tensa(sic) to the river Mississippi, the line shall continue northerly, so as to include the vicinity of the west side of the river Mississippi as far north as Walnut Hills (present-day Vicksburg, Miss.}, thence down said river to the beginning. 6 Futher changes took place on March 20, 1811, as another act was passed "for the better defining of the Limits of County of Concordia... Again that county was extended into Ouachita's domain; this time all the way to the 33rd parallel. The second section went a step further: "The said County of Concordia shall be and the same is hereby divided into two parishes to be called and known by the names Concordia and Warren Parishes." 7 With this action, Warren Parish was born! On April 30, 1812, the Territory of Orleans became the eighteenth state and was given the name Louisiana. The new state retained the dual county- parish system, and continued to strugle with it until 1845. 8 Warren Parish was to remain a unit of local government in Louisiana at least for the time being. 9 With so little recorded about Warren Parish, it is somewhat difficult to evaluate its importance. One yardstick, though an indirect one, might be the amount of bond required of the parish sheriffs. Presumably, this would indicate the sheriffs' relative responsibilities. An act "to regulate the appointment of sheriffs..." approved on March 25, 1813, set bond from $1,000. (for St Charles Parish) to $60.000 (for Orleans Parish). North Louisiana sheriffs were required to post bonds from $4,000 to $5,000--with one exception, Warren Parish, where the sheriff posted only $2000. 10 From this practice one could assume that Warren was among the less active parish es in Louisiana. Apparently the state legislature was having second thoughts about Warren Parish--and whether or not its continuance was necessary. They resolved the matter in 1814 with the passage of an act that read in part: That so much of the parish of Warren, as is situated and lying North of the upper line of John Milliken's plantation, shall be, and the same is hereby annexed to the parish and county of Ouachita; 11 and all that part of the aforesaid parish of Concordia. 12 When Governor William C.C. Claiborne signed this act on February 28, 1814, Warren ceased to exist! Footnotes l. Territorial Acts, 1811 Chapter X, 36-38 2. Acts of the Legisiative Council, 1805 Chapter XXV, 146-48 Warren Parish, Louisiana and Warren County , Miss. were named in honor of Dr. Joseph Warren, Revolutionary War hero who fell at the Battle of Bunker Hill. 3. Acts of the Legislative Council, 1805 Chapter XXV, 148 4. Edwin Adams Davis, Louisiana A Narrative History, Baton Rouge (1965), 168-69 5. Territorial Acts, 1807 Chapter I, 14 6. Territorial Acts, 1809 Chapter XXII, 54 7. Territorial Acts, 1811 Chapter X, 34-40 8. For a condensed account of the county-parish goverment, see Tom Ruffin, "Caddo As Part of a County, " Shreveport Magazine, Vol. XXXIII, October 1968, 28 et seq. For a detailed, comprehensive report, see Robert Dabney Calhoun, "The Origin andEarly Develement of County-Parish Government in Louisiana (1805-1845), "Louisiana Historical Quarterly, Fol XVIII, January 1935, 57-160. 9. For a list of all counties and parishes in existence when Louisiana became a state April 30, 1812, see page 10. Legislative Acts, 1812-1813, 142-44 11. This returned the northeastern corner of the state to Ouachita Parish, under whose control it remained until 1832, This later became part of Carroll Parish (1832-77) and East Carroll Parish (1877 to date) 12. Legislative Acts, 1814, 32-36 LOUISIANA COUNTIES AND PARISHES AT THE TIME OF STATEHOOD APRIL 30. 1812 These were the tewlve original counties established in 1805 All parishes were created in 1807 unless otherwise indicated. County of Orleans: Parish of Orleans Parish of St. Bernard Parish of Plaquemines County of German Coast: Parish of St. John Baptist Parish of St. Charles County of Acadia: Parish of St. James Parish of St. Charles County of La Fourche: Parish of Assumption Parish of Interior La Fourche County of Iberville Parish of Iberville Parish of West Baton Rouge County of Pointe Coupee: Parish of Pointe Coupee County of Attakapas: Parish of St. Martin Parish of St. Mary (1811) County of Opelousas: Parish of St. Landry County of Natchitoches: Parish of Natchitoches County of Rapides: Parish of Rapides Parish of Avoyelles Parish of Catahoula (1808) County of Ouachita: Parish of Ouachita County of Concordia: Parish of Concordia Parish of Warren (1811) The following county and parishes were formed in 1810 following the annexation of West Florida in to the Territory of Orleans. County of Feliciana: Parish of East Baton Rouge Parish of St.Helena Parish of St. Tammany Parish of Feliciana File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/eastcarroll/history/other/warrenno113gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/lafiles/ File size: 9.5 Kb