Towns & Communities: Dess Community, Sabine Parish, La. Source: Sabine Index, Many, La., Jan 12, 2000 Submitted by: Carl Dilbeck carlrad@earthlink.net ********************************************************** ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** ************ In the early 1900's, there was a small community located west of Florien. Life revolved around the mercantile, which sold everything from toothpicks to flour to leather shoes. The community was named Dess and today many of the memories of that thriving little town have faded. The mercantile first opened in 1912 and had been successful since that time, due much to the popularity of the owner. Ivy Devesta Miller. Miller was born on April 12, 1875 to James and Beedy Leach Miller. His father was from Mississippi and his mother hailed from Alabama. The elder Miller came to Louisiana when he was a young man. The mother was a small girl when her parents moved to the state. James Miller served as a Confederate soldier in the last year of the War Between the States. He acquired a large amount of land and was an all around capable citizen, farmer, cotton ginner and sawmill operator. His wife helped him found Antioch Baptist Church. During their life together, the Millers raised six children: four daughters and two sons. Children included Willie, Ivy D., Montie, Jennie, Cora and Exie. Both of the Millers are buried at Antioch. Mrs. Miller died in 1891 at the age of 45, followed by the death of her husband in 1902 at the age of 56. One of Mr. Miller's daughters, Mrs. Juanita Miller Anthony, wife of C. R. Anthony of Many, shared her memories of growing up in Dess. "My father went to school in Many in the old Presbyterian Church, right across from the First Baptist Church in the backyard of the Doug Abington home," she said. "Daddy said each morning they walked by the home of Mrs. Van Gossum and spoke to her." she said. Ivy Devesta Miller also attended school at Antioch and up to the age of 21 lived on the home farm. As a young man, he began farming and operating sawmills and cotton gins. His understanding of machinery brought much success in his business endeavor at the cotton gin. He owned and operated the cotton gin for fifteen years before opening a store in the community in 1912. As a leading citizen in south Sabine Parish, he also served 12 years as a deputy sheriff. Mrs. Anthony remembered that the family doctor was Dr. J. K. Phares of Negreet. "My father went with him a lot on calls to patients." He decided he wanted to be a medical doctor, so Dr. Phares ordered his books, but after thinking about traveling alone at night with panthers and bob cats in the area. Daddy decided to send the books back. He decided that a career in medicine wasn't for him." Mr. Miller married Melvina Corley of Sabine Parish. They raised a family of five, including Tony, Zeima, Beatrice, Marquette and Juanita. Several other children died young. Active members of the Antioch Baptist Church, the family served in various capacities at the church. During his lifetime, Mr. Miller was affiliated with the Florien Masonic Lodge. "My father was nicknamed Dess from an uncle, Dess Leach," Mrs. Anthony remembered. "He had a brother, Uncle Willie Miller and a sister living in the community. Her name was Aunt Jennie Long, wife of Walter Long. My father had a general mercantile store, a cotton gin and a grist mill. He was postmaster at Dess for 26 years." "The store building was bought from Uncle Walter Long, who lived where Pascal Miller lives now. After he moved the store building, he added a wing to the south and another on the west side. When the post office was added inside the store, they named it Dess after my father," she recalled. "I remember the postal inspector came and said what name should we call this. Everyone agreed that Dess would be good." Since then, there has been a Dess Road and Dess Fire Tower named. The mercantile was the hub of activity in the small community. "We lived across the road from the mercantile and the other families were pretty scattered," she said. "We lived on a dirt road and in the winter when the roads were bad, we only went to church once every two or three months." Moving on to another topic, Mrs. Anthony recalled the salesmen who came to the community. "During my childhood I can remember salesmen coming to Dess, spending the night and after breakfast they would go to the store, show their samples and take orders," she added. "My father's brother, Willie Miller, was a salesman for Watkins products," she recalled. Traveling salesmen were not unusual visitors to the mercantile. "My father sold everything in his store from housewares, clothing, food to over-the-counter drugs. He had one wall from the post office to the back door that was nothing but shoes." "The shoe salesman always would have a sample shoe that I might like," she grinned. "One time he had a red shoe with a tiny heel. They were a little small, but I didn't tell anyone, just so I could have them." One time, she had the small shoes on and she was singing in the church choir with her cousin, Lucille Salter (Mrs. J. D. ) and everything started to look black. She knew she had to sit down or faint -- needless to say it was the last time she wore those shoes. Mrs. Anthony said she can remember her father emptying 100 lbs. bags of sugar into a large wooden barrel. It was measured out by the pound to the customers. Oil sausage came in 10 gallon cans and were counted out and put into paper bags with the oil drippings. After the sausage was gone, the mercantile sold the drippings. Mrs. Anthony said she remembers the cheese cutters for hoop cheese. Brands of tobacco sold included Brown Mule and Spark Plug. One of the favorite cookies at the mercantile was a sweet cracker put out by Nabisco. Dried peas and beans were sold in sacks. Vinegar came in large wooden barrels and customers would bring their own jugs to hold their purchase in. "During the maneuvers soldiers would walk for miles to come to the store," Mrs. Anthony recalled. "While camped behind the store they would come in at night to write letters and buy stamps and money orders or mail packages and letters. One weekend while the soldiers were in the area, members of the Antioch Baptist Church prepared meals and invited them into their homes for that Sunday." "I can barely remember the mail being brought by buggy from the Florien Post Office," Mrs. Anthony continued. "After then, Mr. Young McConathy brought it by on horseback." Later on she rode in a T-Model car with the postman, just so she could watch him drive. "When my father retired from the post office during World War II, I was sworn in as post mistress," she stated. She served in that capacity for six months before the post office was placed on a rural route and local delivery was discontinued. "I have many happy memories of growing up in Dess," she stated. "Daddy had the first Ford car and my Uncle "Light" Williams had the first Model T. He brought it for Daddy to drive and Daddy stopped it like a horse....WHOA!" She also recalls the time her brother, Tony, drove her Dad's car through the picket fence and garden. The memories of Dess are never far from Mrs. Anthony's memory, ...even though the once thriving community has faded away, she still can open a scrapbook and relive those "good old days".