Matt Hertzog, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by Mike Miller



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Matt Hertzog represents a family that has been prominent in
Louisiana for several generations as planters and professional
men.  His father was a lawyer, but Matt Hertzog educated
himself for the scientific practice of agriculture and is
proprietor of one of the finest plantations in the northwest of
Louisiana, Magnolia plantation at Derry in Natchitoches
 Parish.

He was born at Magnolia plantation, on Cane River, May 11,
l~97, son of Ambrose J. and Sallie (Hunter) Hertzog.  His
grandparents were Matthew and Atala (Le Compte) Hertzog. 
The Hertzogs are of German ancestry.  Matthew Hertzog was
a prosperous planter and slave owner in Louisiana.  His wife
was a daughter of Ambrose Le Compte, the original owner of
Magnolia and other plantations in Natchitoches Parish.

Ambrose J. Hertzog was born in 1857, also on Magnolia
plantation, and was liberally educated, receiving his Bachelor
of Science degree from Notre Dame Univeristy in Louisiana,
and finished his law course in what is now Tulane University at
New Orleans.  He practiced law at Alexandria with Robert P.
Hunter, but during the ill health of his father returned to the
plantation to take charge.  The family then owned Magnolia
and Little River plantations.  The old plantation home had b
en destroyed by Union soldiers during the Civil war and was
rebuilt by Ambrose J. Hertzog.  The latter was not only a
learned lawyer, but an able business man and executive.  He
died in New Orleans January 27, 1921, at the age of sixty five
years and five months.  A. J. Hertzog married Sallie Hunter,
daughter of his law partner, Robert S. Hunter.  She was
educated in Sacred Heart Convent at Grand Coteau.  Five
children were born to their marriage: Marie Louise, wife of Dr.
C. S. Holbrook of New Orleans; Atala, wife of C. H. Nord, a
lumber merchant at St. Joseph, Missouri; Matthew; Sallie
Hunter, wife of N. C. Gunn, a cotton dealer with business at
Thomasville, Alabama, and Alexandria, Louisiana; and
Ambrose J., Jr., who is a law student in Springhill College in
Alabama.

Matt Hertzog was reared on Magnolia plantation, attended
local schools, St. Charles College and Holy Cross College, and
finished his agricultural course in the Louisiana State
University.  His education and talents qualified him for the
skillful and able management of the Magnolia and Little River
plantations, and he has also acquired Henry Hudson plantation,
adjoining Magnolia.

He was in the Louisiana State University when America
entered the World war, and while in the Students Army
Training Corps was attacked by influenza.  This left him
partially deaf, and he was accordingly disqualified for the
Officers Training Camp, but in July, 1918, volunteered and
was trained for the motor service in Baton Rouge, went to
France and was with the Third Army in Germany.  He was
with the colors ten months.  He is affiliated with the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and Knights of
Columbus, orders to which his father also belonged.

Mr. Hertzog married Miss Lydia Compson, daughter of Jack
Compson, of Meeker, Louisiana.


A History of Louisiana, (vol. 2), p. 369, by Henry E.
Chambers.  Published by The American Historical Society,
Inc., Chicago and New York, 1925.