River Boat used by Ford Family; Ouachita, Louisiana

Submitter: Clarence F. Ford
Date:
Source:The Ouachita Citizen - Friday, April 6, 1962



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RIVER BOAT USED BY FORD FAMILY TO REACH TRENTON FORD FAMILY HERE IN 1851
BY CLARENCE F. FORD

This is another of a series of articles concerning the early history of west
Ouachita Parish, prepared under the auspices of the Genealogical Records
Committee of Chief Tusquahoma Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution
and written by Clarence F. Ford, a resident of West Monroe.

The first known record of this pioneer family began with the birth of Joshua
Ford in 1756 near Baltimore, Maryland. In 1788 he married Nancy Cox at
Edgefield, South Carolina. He was a private in the army during the
Revolutionary War. He was also given the task of spying upon the Indians.
His place of residence during the Revolutionary War was Richmond County,
Georgia. Joshua Ford & Nancy Cox were the parents of three children - two
girls, Polly & Tabitha. Polly married Isaac Johns. The boy was named Joshua,
Jr. Joshua Ford, Sr., died in Rutherford County, Tennessee, in 1844.

Between the years of 1793 and 1805, there is a lapse of time that I cannot
accurately fill in, but I believe that Joshua Sr., must have been my great-
grandfather's uncle.

My great-grandfather, David Ford, was born in Georgia in 1805. While a young
man he moved to Clark County, Alabama where he met and married Hannah Smith.
David Ford and Hannah Smith were the parents of eight children: five boys
and three girls. The boys were (1) John Smith, (2) David, (3) Thomas J., (4)
George, (5) Joshua III. The girls were (6) Cebelle, (7) Hannah and (8)
Mattie. The last named girl, Mattie, married Charlie Calhoun and settled in
Mt. Olive, Mississippi. From this union, I personally knew three boys,
Charlie Calhoun who was a government timber inspector, and David and Larkin
Calhoun who were merchants and farmers. These brothers lived and died in Mt.
Olive, Mississippi.

When my grandfather, John Smith Ford, left Alabama to come to Louisiana, his
mother Hannah Smith Ford, gave him a bedspread. She spun the thread and wove
it of solid white thread. I could not describe the beauty of it. It was
large enough to cover the bed and reach the floor on all sides. It had three
or four inch fringe on three sides. On it she had worked her name in bold
design, "Hannah Smith, 1814." This spread was on display at fairs one
hundred years later.

My grandfather, John Smith Ford, was born November 22, 1827 in Alabama. In
1851, three brothers, John Smith, David and George Smith, with two sisters,
Hannah and Cebelle: two uncles with families, Lorenzo (Wren) and Delaney
(Doc); Putt Ford, a cousin; and Joshua IV, a nephew with their families and
household goods loaded a boat at Mobile, Alabama, and set sail for
Louisiana. They landed here at "Old Trenton." Only one incident marred this
voyage - a barrel of lye-soap rolled overboard from the keel-boat and was
lost in the river. From Trenton, the uncles, Lorenzo and Doc, went down the
Ouachita River and made settlements. Due to time and distance in those days,
contact with these families was soon lost. When I was very small, I saw
Martha Ford who was my grandfather's aunt. She was the widow of either
Lorenza or Doc. I know there are descendants of these pioneers up and down
the Ouachita River, particularly around Grayson and Columbia, even as far
down as Natchitoches. Two of the more familiar names we find in several
families are Jim (James) and Henry.

My grandfather, John Smith Ford, with his two brothers, two sisters, cousin
and nephew, moved on west to Lincoln Parish, six miles north of Choudrant.
Here, John Smith Ford entered some three or four hundred acres of land.
George and Putt Ford went into Arkansas. Dave Ford and sisters, with Joshua
IV, went just a few miles west and settled. They lived here for several
years. About 1910, Dave had a spell of "Texas fever." He took his two
sisters and Joshua IV and moved to Gary, Texas. David and his two sisters
never married. All died in Texas. Hannah and Cebelle each lived to be over
one hundred years of age. Joshua, the nephew, married Alice Hammons, great
aunt to my wife.

One of the first things my grandfather had to do after entering his land was
to build a house. It was made of huge split logs. It had two rooms, eighteen
feet square, with a hall ten feet wide between. On the front was a gallery
six feet wide. This is what a porch was then called. This gallery extended
the enter length of the house. At each end of the house there was a large
rock and brick chimney. No house would be complete without a cellar which
was used for storing canned fruits and vegetables, It also served as a
safety spot in time of storms. About 1905, this log house was replaced by a
modern home. In later years it burned. My uncle, Lee Ford, then erected
another new house on the Choudrant and Downsville Road. Leon Ford, another
grandson, lives on part of this old place, which once belonged to my father.
Leon is the only one of the family who still lives in this community.

John Smith Ford married Susan Elvira Hicks and they were the parents of
eight children - seven boys and one girl. The boys were James Kendrick, John
Leverette, Henry Watson, Thomas Ptolemy, Lee Monroe, George Lorenzo and
Delaney Evander. The girl was Mary Belle.

Thomas P. Ford married Ella Warren and they had no children. He ran a
general store at Downsville, and died while still a young man. Delaney Ford
married Delia Pardue. They had two sons, Homer and Clyde. Homer lived in New
Orleans and is deceased. Clyde is in Little Rock, Arkansas. John Leverette
Ford married Dora Calhoun. He first lived in Calhoun, later moved to San
Marcos, Texas. They had six children - three boys and three girls. The boys
were, Victor, Volley and Layton. The boys all lived in Arkansas and are
deceased. The girls were Livie Lee (Mrs. George Wright), deceased, Nell
(Mrs. Plummer), Plummerville, Arkansas, Willie Lane (Mrs. Fred Jones) who
lives in Glendale, California.

Lee M. Ford married Bettie White. He lived his entire life, more than eighty
years, on the same place. They had five children. Jewell (Mrs. Billy Thomas)
Springhill, La.; Evelyn (Mrs. Harold Griffin) Ruston & Farmerville Hwy;
Merrie Lee (Mrs. George Faris), Alexandria, La; Leon Ford & Leverette Ford
both of Choudrant.

James Kendrick Ford married Margaret Tipton. They lived on the Douglas -
Sibley Road. All their children were born there. In 1894 this family moved
to Purdon, TX. They sold most of their household goods, kept only what they
needed to make a trip overland by mule & wagon. It took them three weeks to
make the trip. James Kendrick & Margaret Tipton Ford were the parents of
nine children - three girls & six boys. Claudia (Mrs. Will McClendon),
deceased, Blooming Grove, Texas; Ida (Mrs. Belt), deceased, Purdon, Texas;
Ora (Mrs. Owens), deceased, Purdon, Texas; Will Ford, deceased, Texas; Jack
Ford now lives in Dawson, Texas; Fred Ford deceased, Purdon, Texas; Ben
Ford, deceased, Texas; Carey Ford lives in Purdon, Texas. These five boys
were farmers & carpenters. James Ford a son, died at an early age in
Louisiana.

George Ford, at an early age, developed a love for music. At one time he
played in a band at Ruston. Being a lover of music, he went from place to
place. Not telling anyone of his intentions, he left Ruston and went west,
near Alverado, Texas. Here he met and married Florence Brandon. They had six
children - three boys and three girls. The boys were Brandon who resides in
Dallas, Texas; Thomas, also a resident of Dallas; Robert, address unknown.
The girls were Eva (Mrs. Kinard Williams) who lives in Grandview, Texas;
Mattie (Mrs. Andy Engle), who lives in Grand-view, Texas; Mary Ella (Mrs.
Dub Bolin) lives in Alvarado, Texas. The mother, Florence Brandon Ford,
though near ninety years of age, is still hale and hearty and lives with her
daughter Eva.

Thomas J. Ford, brother of John, was born October 3, 1833 in Alabama. During
his early childhood, he fell and injured his leg. This injury was permanent.
One leg was several inches shorter than the other. He was on crutches for
life. Not being able to farm, he obtained the best education those days
offered. Completing his education, he decided he wanted to be a doctor. When
he saw blood the first time, he passed out. Next he studied law, but he
thought he could not be a lawyer without lying, so he gave this up and
taught school.

Thomas J. Ford married Sue Lawson in Grovehill, Alabama. They had four
children - two boys and two girls. The boys were Alfred, deceased, who lived
at D'Arbonne Post Office; Howard, deceased, New Hope community, Lincoln
Parish; Clara, (Mrs. Washington Brewster), deceased, Culbertson, La.; Leona,
deceased, never married, New Hope community. The mother, Sue Lawson Ford
died in 1872.

After the death of his wife, Thomas Ford, with his four children, lived in
Mississippi for a short while. Later, they went up into Arkansas, Thomas was
teaching.

In 1888, Thomas Ford, with his four children, came down from Arkansas into
Louisiana and settled in New Hope Baptist Church community. This same year
he married Mattie Freeman. They were the parents of four children - Myrtis
(Mrs. Clarence Cook) who resides at Cooktown community, La.; Lucille (Mrs.
J. C. Hammons), deceased, lived at the old home place; Leslie worked for the
city of Monroe for several years, and lives on Louise Ann Street, Monroe;
Gordon, deceased, also lived on part of the old home place.

The old pioneers who first came here were staunch Methodists. Thomas said
that when he began to read the Bible, his mind changed. He joined the
Baptist church, and was one of the main pillars thereafter. He served as
clerk of his own church, and clerk of Concord Baptist Association. He was in
demand as a speaker for all public gatherings. For years he served as
justice of peace for Ward Five, Lincoln Parish. Through the power invested
in him, he could issue citations, sue, conduct marriages, and try petty
cases. Death came to him in December, 1919.

Mary Belle Ford, daughter of John Smith Ford, married James Rinehart. They
had three girls & two boys. The girls: Blanche (Mrs. A. D. Calhoun), now
residing near Downsville; Ruby Lee (deceased); Cassyle (Mrs. Lonnie James),
Oak Grove, La. The boys: Herbert & Louie Rinehart, both well known residents
of West Monroe.

My father, Henry W. Ford, married Ada Rinehart, daughter of J. W. Rinehart
and Margaret L. Beavers. They were the parents of three children. The
sister, Eula B. (Mrs. W. S. Smith), lives in West Monroe. She is the mother
of three daughters Evelyn (Mrs. Earl Hicks), West Monroe; Mrs. Patsy Dowell
lives in California; Mary Alice (Mrs. Joe Bell) also lives in California,
Royce, deceased, married Myrtle Tingle. They had one daughter, Ada (Mrs.
Howard Richie), West Monroe; Clarence married Nona Hammons. The have three
daughters - Lula Kate (Mrs. John Hodge), West Monroe; Mignon (Mrs. C. H.
Gossett); Modena (Mrs. E. H. Clements). Both girls live in Long Beach,
California.

In 1894, my father Henry W. Ford sold out to go to Texas, also. About the
time he was ready to go, typhoid was raging in Texas; instead, he moved to
Calhoun, Louisiana.

I went to my first school at Calhoun. The three room school building stood
right across the street from the Calhoun Cemetery. I have my first report
card signed by Lotta A. Fuller, March, 1899. This must have been an
outstanding school at that time, for there were may students boarding in
Calhoun and attending the school at this time. I remember very well, four
girls who boarded with us - two sisters, Misses Laura and Lula Head, Miss
Iona Hendrix and Miss Floyd Hamilton. I believe that James B. Aswell was the
head of the school at that time. In June, 1899, my mother died on what is
now known as the Sam Pipes place. Then it was known as "Dr. Batson Place."

My grandfather John Smith Ford, was drafted in the army during the Civil
War. He was wounded in a skirmish some place in South Carolina. He went back
to his mother's home in Alabama, while he was convalescing. This was the
only time he ever returned to Alabama.

He was pure Irish and full of fun and wit. No one ever heard him try to
whistle or sing, but he did enjoy talking. At times he would stammer, and
had to use his feet and hands to emphasis. He would go to church and sit in
the amen corner. This was on the right side of the pulpit. In those days,
the men sat on the right side of the church and the women on the left. He
could almost repeat a sermon, and tell you who was there and how they were
dressed. He had the only home-made plow stock that I ever saw, complete with
homemade handles and a wooden plow foot. He would not use a plow larger than
a three inch scooter. When his crop would get grassy, he would leave the
plow off and grab a hoe. When he was plowing, you could hear him shouting
"whoa, gee, haw" - all in the same breath. He kept his lines looped around
the plow handles. Only when someone shot a gun or a dog barked close by,
would he take his lines in his hands. He like to visit, and never rode
faster than a walk. He thought nothing of riding horseback twenty miles or
more on weekends. he would wear overalls and cut the bib off and wear them
with suspenders. He would not buy anything but a square toed shoe. When one
side of the shoe heel began to wear, he would swap the right shoe to the
left foot and left shoe to the right foot. He died in February, 1917, in his
ninetieth year.

Six of the Ford family married into the Hammons family, as follows: Joshua
Ford IV married Alice Hammons; J. C. Hammons married Lucille Ford; Leslie
Ford married Lea Hammons; Gordon Ford married Pearl Hammons; Clarence F.
Ford married Nona Hammons and Howard Ford married Sarah Hammons.

I never realized until I began writing this, how interesting a family
history would be. I have tried to cover what I know of the first three
generations. The first two generations are all deceased and the third
generation know no more than I do. I did get a bit of information from Mrs.
Myrtis Ford Cook, Cooktown community, La., and dates from Wendel Ford of
Dallas, Texas. Wendel is at the present time compiling a family tree.
Perhaps at some later date someone else will come up with something and more
interesting.

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