Newspapers: Larry Chapman, Home Grown Genealogist; LaSalle, Louisiana
Submitted by Jack Willis
Date: 11 Oct 2004
Source: From the Jena Times - Olla Tullos Signal, Woodlands And
Waterways Echoes
Date: 28 April 2004

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Submitted to the LAGenWeb Archives


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Larry Chapman, Home Grown Genealogist

Larry Chapman resides in the Trout-Jena Metroplex in LaSalle Parish, and
though only 44 years of age, he possesses enough genealogy facts and
historical data tucked away in his marvelous recall brain for a man of 144
years.
Larry began his quest for historical knowledge at age 10 when he began
recording local history, and then compiling his first family picture history
archive at age 13, in the Belah community southwest of Jena, LA. He was born
in Monroe but moved to the Jena area when he was three years of age, and
graduated Jena High School in 1978.
He acquired volumes of his personal family history from his aged grandmother
and a great uncle, who possessed phenomenal recall, and later became fast
friends with a gentleman some thirty years his senior from south of Jena
named Bobbie Brown who was a past master in local history, genealogy, and
antique collecting. Recognizing Larry's obvious talents and dedication to
his pursuit, Bobbie readily agreed to mentor Larry in tracing family trees
utilizing courthouse records in Clerk of Court offices, all the while
visiting cemeteries, flea markets, and estate antique sales in virtually
every parish in the Central Louisiana region.
From early childhood, when other kids were out playing, Larry would take his
seat at the feet of the elders in the family listening intently to them
discuss everything from politics to planting crops to cutting saw logs to
mechanics.
Larry strongly feels that family histories without pictures are just
colorful stories, but when you enhance these pertinent facts with pictures
of the subject(s) being discussed, the people suddenly come to life.
For this reason he has amassed a tremendous negative and picture collection
that exceeds 3500 in number, and they and his genealogy and historical
collections cover families residing or have resided in Catahoula, Caldwell,
LaSalle, Grant, Rapides and Allen Parishes. Larry also began in the 70s, and
on up into the 90s of compiling lengthy interviews on cassette tapes of
different community's prominent seniors. He possesses the unique, natural
ability to ingratiate himself to older generations, and in this fashion has
persuaded many elders to accompany him to various family graveyards to
identify unmarked graves. By dedicatedly following this ritual he has been
able to identify the final resting place for several Confederate veterans
and initiated moves to obtain proper military grave markers for them from
the U.S. War Department.
Larry also collects family heirlooms and several years ago had the good
fortune to find a collection originally from the tiny Holum community in
southern Caldwell Parish that he and his mentor Bobbie Brown had examined in
its original setting, but it was not for sale at the time they were
examining it. He was in Natchez, Ms a year or so later and the original
owner having died, the whole collection of her collectibles had been brought
to Natchez to market. Larry bought the whole consignment on site, and among
the treasures was midwife's medical bag and inside are some empty bottles
with the original labels intact, which have the figure of a skull and cross
bones on them with the wording MORPHINE SULPHATE.
One of his most treasured portraits in his extensive collection is one of a
gentleman who has many relatives in the Central Louisiana area named Daniel
Austin Humphries (Born 1800-Died 1879). Humphries procured a permit to
operate a ferry on the Ouachita River, known as Dunn's Ferry, from Louisiana
Governor Henry Johnson, and obtained this permit on September 4th, 1826. A
gentleman by the name of John Falk was bondsman for his surety bond, with
Humphries paying his legal fees by hunting bear on the Ouachita and selling
the pelts.
Another mentor who gave Larry valuable genealogy instruction was Mr. E.W.
McDonald from Dry Prong, who has compiled an extensive volume exceeding 600
pages on the LaCroix family of the Central Louisiana area.
Larry is now marketing prints and family histories and may be contacted at
318-992-6356 or emailctr27175@centurytel.net

W&WE (4-28-04)                                         JMW