Wise-Ruby Cemetery, Rapides Parish Louisiana Submitted by Jane Parker McManus ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** WISE COMMUNITY CEMETERY (Ruby) - Rapides Parish Directions: Precise directions to the Old Wise Family Cemetery are extremely difficult. It is located inside the property leased by a hunting club in Southwest Rapides Parish. Access can be made from Palmer Chapel Road near Red River, but one must walk a long distance. From Big Lake Road, off LA 453 (Ruby-Wise Road), turn right on B. McCann Rd., and go about 1/2 mile, bear to the left at end of blacktop (a trailer is parked there). The day we visited the cemetery, the chain was down at hunting club entrance that allowed us to drive to pumping station on pipeline (a fenced area). We parked there, as the path to cemetery was too muddy to drive. A few hundred feet from pipeline fence on the left was the little Wise Cemetery. It is about 1/2 acre in size and is enclosed with an old, but good, cyclone fence (forerunner of modern hurricane fence). Three large tree stumps were in the center of the cemetery. Grass was not cut, but no large bushes or small trees were there. By appearance, the property must have been cleared last year. Information on the Wise Community and the Wise Family was provided by Lou Aetker and Libbie Bolton. Genealogy information are shown inside brackets on this list and were taken from the unpublished manuscript of Lavitor Alex Gilliam, Jr. (see footnote 2). Tombstone inscriptions were recorded as approached, from the right near the back of the cemetery by Mary Parker Partain and Jack Fraziar, Jr. in July 1993, assisted by Cecil Craig, a native of the area who gave us directions, but also led the way. Submitted by Jane P. McManus, 4 August 2000. History: The Wise Community lies between Kolin and Red River. Its name came from the Wise Plantation that predates the Civil War and has a rather colorful history. At one time the plantation contained about 1200 [actually 5000] acres with 75 slaves and a spacious dwelling that was engulfed by the Red River in 1945. Until it was sold in the 50's, this estate had been in the Wise Family for well over one hundred years (1). Col. James Calvert Wise was born in 1817 in St. Mary's County, MD, 5th child of John Clinton Wise & Mary Hopewell, grandson of Adam & Frances (?) Wise (2). He came to Rapides Parish in 1841 with his brother, George Alexander Wise. In 1849, Gov. Walker appointed James Wise to serve as sheriff to fill a vacancy, after which he was re-elected and served as sheriff until 1860. When the conflict between the North and South erupted in the 1860's, Wise organized Company B, First Louisiana Regiment, Blanchard's Brigade, Huger's Division, Army of Virginia. In 1862 he was promoted to major of the regiment, and in 1864 was appointed quartermaster general of the State of Louisiana by Governor Henry W. Allen. He served in that capacity until the war terminated. In 1879, he was elected to the Legislature, and re-elected in 1882 (3). George Wise, the last of the original owners, died in June 1960 at the age of 84, and was unmarried. Among his survivors was his 80-year-old spinster sister Anna Wise, who graduated from Louisiana State Normal College, Natchitoches, LA in 1900, and taught school for about 40 years (4). Some of the leaders in the development of the Wise Community were Poston White, Charlie Pennington, Charlie Craig, Arthur Deloach, Preston Peart, Jesse Mercer, George Stilly, and George Wise (5). * * * * * [Burials clustered in right rear]: Wise, Col. J. C. - 29 Nov 1817/25 Feb 1904 [7-foot pedestal with urn on top] Wise, G. A. [George Alexander] - 11 Mar 1813/5 Oct 1879 [stone broken in half; name is on the portion on the ground] [s/o John Clinton Wise & Mary Hopewell; born in St. Mary's County, MD; married Mary Frances Callahan in 1836; came to Rapides Parish 1841; 10 children; owned Grand Bend Plantation.] Wise, [Mary] Francis [Callahan] - 17 Apr 1825/8 Feb 1881 [Wife of George Alexander Wise] Wise, James Alexander - 31 Dec 1851/25 May 1930 [son of G. A. & M. F. Wise; husband of Missouri Elizabeth Burke who is buried at Greenwood.] Wise, Cullen P. [Pope], son of Jas. A. Wise - 9 Jun 1892/15 Jun 1892 [son of James Alexander Wise & Missouri Elizabeth Burke] [broken tombstone] Moodie, Betty - 14 Nov 1928/5 Aug 1931 [broken tombstone] [daughter of Robert Baldwin Moodie & Mary Elizabeth Wise] * * * * * Hathorn, Sarah - 4 Jul 1880/3 Aug 1882 Hathorn, Benjamin - 22 Oct 1886/11 Nov 1888 Penny, Welcome N. - 10 May 1874/16 Nov 1910 Penny, Jack - 16 Oct 1907/10 Mar 1930 Penny, Beauford, son of W. N. & Laura Penny - 10 Apr 1905/3 Jan 1907 Hathorn, Fannie Felder, daughter of John & Mary Hathorn - 4 Jan 1899/2 Jan 1903 Hathorn, John - 29 Aug 1869/30 Aug 1904, Erected by W.O.W. [this pedestal is lying on ground, and is not traditional style W.O.W. markers that resemble tree trunks] Hathorn, Mary C., wife of J. Y. Hathorn - 21 Aug 1844/13 Sep 1883 Hathorn, W. J. - 19 Jan 1850/5 May 1914 Hathorn, Mary Jane Price, wife of W. J. Hathorn - 7 Mar 1852/14 Dec 1932 Mother Branton, Clarence - 11 Apr 1898/30 Jul 1900 Hathorn, J. Y. - 20 Jul 1842/19 Oct 1923 Hathorn, Beauford, son of Jim & Bertie Hathorn - 28 Oct 1911/31 Jul 1914 Hathorn, Dr. Wood - 8 Feb 1880/19 Sep 1920 [near front gate]: Rush, S. G. - 3 Apr 1865/19 Sep 1915 [W.O.W.] [tombstone lying on ground] Rush, Lillian R. - 22 Apr 1872/21 Aug 1917 * * * [Group near back fence]: White, E. L. Jr. - 20 Dec 1942/26 Dec 1942 White, Hettie Lee, daughter of M&M E. L. White - 8 Jul 1932 Ussery, Evelyn Lucille, daughter of M&M Floyd Ussey - 7 Nov 1941/24 Nov 1941 [almost identical markers, inside concrete curb] * * * Sweat, Youthel E., son of M&M Isaac Sweat - 5 Sep 1902/1 Jun 1903 Michael, Willie T. - 12 Feb 1890/27 Jun 1900 Michael, Rachel E. - 22 Jun 1892/27 Jun 1900 [above 2 burials have double stone] [Note: There is room for many more burials, but there are no visible sign of lost graves in this area. The scattered positions of Hathorn and Penny burials could indicate graves are lost in this area. MPP] Footnotes: (1) Porter, A. B., "Changing structure of three rural communities," Unpublished manuscript, Northwestern State College, Natchitoches, LA, 1960, pp. 16-18. (2) Gilliam, Lavitor Alex Jr., "The Wise Family," unpublished manuscript, 1985, 129 pgs. (3) "Biographical & Historical Memoirs, Northwest Louisiana," The Southern Publishing Company, Nashville & Chicago, 1890. (4) Porter, A. B., Ibid. (5) Ibid.