Jennings 1883 History, Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana Submitted by Kathy LaCombe-Tell Source: NOLA MAE ROSS American Press Writer Publication Date: 05/26/1991 Page and Section: 3 CT Submitted April 2002 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************Parish History Jennings 1883 The United States was barely into her second century when the City of Jennings was born in 1883. Jennings was not only a late bloomer, but the product of a fluke made by a hard-boiled railroad baron who had never before deviated from his ''straight as a crow flies'' tracks. Assisting in the town's creation was the shrewd and visionary land promoter, Jabez Bunting Watkins, who convinced hundreds of northerners that their Garden of Eden had just been born. It was this J.B. Watkins who, knowing the Brethren Dunkard church people were good farmers, convinced a Brethren deacon, S.A. Sutter of Kansas, formerly of Pennsylvania, to move south. Sutter, who later became a mayor of Jennings, was honest in his conviction that this land was fertile and good. He placed advertisements in the Brethren newspapers telling of the advantages of this area and the rich lands, and in so doing, enticed almost a whole congregation of Brethren to come south. The new town was named for a Southern Pacific engineer, Jennings McComb. Some also settled five miles west of Jennings in Roanoke, where the first Brethren church was built. In 1891, the Rev. Sam Honebeger of Stuttgart, Ark. was brought in as pastor of this church. He too became a landowner, and other Brethren followed him from Arkansas. There were William Bruckhaus, Charles Groth, Henry Koll, Henry Precht, Fred Lipscomb, Charles Dommert, Henry Justman and Albert Ellis, William Baier, Ben Meyer, Charles Nohe, H.B. Hesse, Thomas Barker, Albert, William and Herman Hetzel. Most of these people were German. In 1883, S.L. Cary, a schoolteacher and faithful Congregationalist later called ''The Father of Jennings,'' came to Jennings from Iowa for a visit. ''I found one family here,'' he wrote. ''On the Southern Pacific's Railroad 184 miles west of New Orleans, on the largest prairie in Louisiana, there was only a depot, section house and two small buildings.'' Franklin Hildebrand, in his book ''As I Remember,'' wrote: ''Father S.L. Cary went to work for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Thus he could kill two birds with one stone. He could sell the settlers railroad tickets and then talk them into settling in Jennings. ''I am astonished at the raids Father Cary must have made on his home town of Manchester, Iowa, followed by raids on Cresco, Iowa. It's a wonder there was any one left in these towns.'' The Lake Charles Echo of 1884 made note of their passage: ''a group of 150 families came through Lake Charles on their way to settle in Jennings.'' The first lists of settlers who came from Manchester and Cresco in 1883 and 1884, according to Hildebrand's book, included Thomas P. Thomas and Maurice Bryan, an early inventor who made several adaptations on farm equipment that Deering Manufacturing Company later used on their equipment. The book also listed Jules J. Baily, W.H. Simmons, George W. Childs, Joseph Wildman, W.R. Wilder, Patrick Griffith, Willard Sabin, Gilvert Brown, E.E. and Harlow White, Laura Remage, Jimmy and George Maund, John Partridge, W.J. Daughenbaugh and C.H. Dunham, nearly all German farmers. Also listed among the first settlers from other places were T.C. Mahaffey from Pennsylvania; H.C. Wilkins, Indiana; Dr. E.M. Burke, New Orleans; John Morgan, Illinois; William Wickett, Minnesota; Frank Noble, Wisconsin; and Pattersons, New Jersey. The first German Catholics also streamed steadily into the farming community around Jennings. They included Joe and Peter Bollich from Nebraska, Fritz and Valentine Huber and a Doctor Leiber. Around Mamou settled Peter Unkel from Illinois, who later moved near Welsh, and also Peter Strohe and Peter Eckel. William and Henry Tietje, both outstanding farmers, settled, respectively, at Roanoke and Elton. Charles Houssiere, a Jeff Davis pioneer, was French to the core, and he was almost overwhelmed by the German farmers. He had a great deal of land near the German farmers on the south China rim near Jennings, and he could never get his lands to produce like the Germans did. ''Charles Houssiere,'' wrote Hildebrand, ''spent many sleepless nights trying to solve this problem. Finally in disgust he came to the conclusion that it was just the German know-how.'' During World War II, Houssiere was delighted when the German prisoners of war were sent to Louisiana to help the farmers. The only drawback was that they just didn't stay long enough to suit Houssiere. But long before Jennings was even a gleam in J.B. Watkins' eye, there was a group of natives living in the surrounding areas. There was one Cajun home belonging to Frozen Roy, which pre-dated the Civil War. Eventually it was pulled into the Jennings boundary line. To the south of the town, Lake Arthur had been established many years before. It was considered an inland port for sailing vessels from Berwick Bay to Galveston. There were many small country stores in the area like Rudolph Lehman's, west of Mermentau; Castex Landing on the Mermentau, owned by Jean Castex; D. Miller's store at Millerville; and a store where Welsh is now located. Small sawmills were located on the Mermentau River and Bayou Nezpique, including the Shell Beach Mill east of Lake Arthur. There was also Andrus Cove to the south. ''Old Hiram Andrus,'' acccording to Hildebrand, ''must have looked on rather bewildered as he sat in his saddle to behold the first Southern Pacific trains in his wide domain.'' This almost Biblical-looking, white bearded patriarch was lord and master of all he surveyed. He could stand under the spreading branches of the great oaks which shaded his homestead in Andrus Cove and look north, south, east or west and all that he saw spreading prairies, thousands of cattle and wild horses all this was his as far as the eyes could see. ''It was in his heart to be a good neighbor, and he preached to his children this theme, which became the cornerstone of the good feeling which was to exist from then on, between the French and newly-come Yankees.'' According to Walter D. Morse in his book, ''The Birth of Jennings,'' the people of the little villages around Jennings were of mixed origins. Many were descendants of the original Acadians, but some were old-country Frenchmen with a sprinkling of Irish, German and Italian among them. The language was predominantly Creole French and their religious belief was Roman Catholic, LaBauve, Doucet, St. Germain, Langly, Fuselier, Gabarino, Marcantel, Benoit, Arceneaux, Fontenot, Pitre, Buller, Dugas, Martin, Figueron and many others. The little town of Jennings grew up fast and quickly became a friendly, get-along-together place with high morals and standards and a good financial base. It was peaceful, quiet and a well-educated town. Five Jennings men got together and quietly secured leases on a large acreage in 1901. They were Dr. A.C. Wilkins, S.A. Spencer, T.C. Mahaffey, F.R. Jaenke and I.D.L. Williams. Their company was known as the S.A. Spencer Company, and their plan was to drill the first oil wells in Louisiana. These men went to Beaumont where the famous ''Lucas Gusher'' had just come in at the Spindletop field. There they secured the services of the Heywood Brothers. W. Scott Heywood came to Jennings and directed the drilling during the next few years. Overnight, dozens of oil drilling companies sprang up. They drilled indiscriminately and excessively. In September 1901, the first drill bit hit an oil sand at 1,832 feet and Louisiana had her first oil well. Then suddenly someone had the inspirited idea of putting a water well screen in the oil well. The idea worked. When a third well was drilled about six miles northeast of Jennings, it was a gusher, equal to any in the Spindletop Field.Barge loading equipment was installed on Bayou Nezpique and a shanty-town sprang up. Within a few months there was a forest of derricks madly pumping oil. Each operator rushed frantically to get his oil out before a neighbor drained the precious fluid from under his lease. Storage became a real problem. Earthen tanks or reservoirs were built on top of the grounds, and they held up to a million barrels capacity. At one time there were about seven million barrels of oil in storage on top of the ground. Pipelines were laid east to the Atchafalaya River and west to Lake Charles. A refinery the first in Louisiana was opened in Jennings. At first the oil sold for about 13 cents per barrel, but the price later increased to 60 cents and then 90 cents. The Jennings oil boom occupied more space in the national press than the assassination of President McKinley. So many people flocked to Jennings that the hotels were unable to cope and new ones were thrown up. The original settlers were overwhelmed as gamblers; get-rich-quick schemers and pilgrims of ''The Almighty Dollar'' rushed into Jennings. Saloons sprang up with long bars, which sparkled with the finest wines, whiskies and cordials as well as foaming beer on tap for a nickel a stein. There were gambling rooms in the rear. Morals were easy. Houses of prostitution were abundant. Though outlawed except in the suburbs, Jennings people fussed because they couldn't drive out of town without passing one of these establishments. Many tales were told about the girls who were paraded through the business area in open carriages on payday. Some of the churchwomen invited the girls to church and prayed mightily for them. ''Those turbulent days,'' stated Hildebrand, ''were to continue for years. The early high morals were replaced by those who lived by chance and easy ways. But all the while there was the solid core of citizenry who went to church, walked uprightly and did business as if nothing had happened.'' The beginning of the oil boom was almost overshadowed by the biggest disaster Jennings ever had. The Great Fire of November 1901 roared through town, completely demolished the heart of Jennings and leveling about 60 buildings on three and a half blocks at an estimated loss of $500,000. Tents and makeshift shacks saw the sturdy pioneers though this devastation, and they soon bounced back, rebuilding bigger and better than ever. Jennings was born from the dreams of a better way of life. Today the community is grounded in the strengths of the past and thrives on greater dreams for the future.