Alford Family of Ponchatoula, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana Submitted to the USGenWeb Archives by Sandra McLellan, Feb. 2007 Special thanks to Jim Perrin for donating it to the archives. ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ THE ALFORD FAMILY OF PONCHATOULA BY JIM PERRIN, Local Historian The name Alford has been a well known and respected name in the Ponchatoula community for more than a century. The oldest member of the Alford family to move to Ponchatoula was John Milton Alford who was born 5 Feb. 1842 in Pike County, Mississippi, and was the son of William Alford and Eveline Ginn. After serving in the Third Louisiana Cavalry during the Civil War, John returned home and married about 1867 to Sarah Margaret Tyler, (b. 16 July 1849 in Tylertown, MS), daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Tyler. John and his family moved south from Pike County to Ponchatoula in November 1893. John is listed as a lumberman on the 1900 census of Ponchatoula, and listed with him was his wife Sarah, daughter Eula, son Lucius, and married daughter Eva Vinyard. He and the family moved to Franklinton in 1902 where the family had an interest in a hotel, but returned to Ponchatoula in August 1903. In March 1904, John and the family were living in a rented house facing the railroad depot on Northwest Railroad Avenue. John and Sarah again moved to Franklinton, where in 1910 they were listed as operating a hotel there. By the time the 1920 census was taken, John and Sarah now both in their seventies were living in Ponchatoula with the family of their son Waldo Alford. John Milton Alford died in Ponchatoula, 22 Feb. 1921. After his death Sarah went to Bogalusa to live with her daughter Lena Alford Magee. Sarah suffered bitterly during a period of fourteen months in the early 1920's with the death of her husband John in Feb. 1921, her daughter Lena in Oct. 1921, followed by her son Waldo's killing in Jan. 1922, , and the death of her daughter Eva in April 1922. After her daughter Lena's death Sarah lived in Hattiesburg, MS, where she died in Sept 1930 at the home of her daughter, Eula Alford Gray. After a long and productive life she was buried beside John in Ponchatoula Cemetery. John and Sarah Alford had several children who were also prominent residents of Ponchatoula. William M. "Big Bill" Alford was born 13 Dec. 1868 in Pike County, MS. He moved with his family to Ponchatoula by 1893, and in Feb. 1894 married Mamie Rheams, (1870-1956), daughter of Samuel McFadden Rheams and Lenora Jane Durbin. He is listed on the 1900 and 1910 census schedules as a salesman. He moved from Ponchatoula to New Orleans where he lived for a short time but returned to this community about June 1903 when he accepted the position of town marshal. Ponchatoula Mayor Dan A. Edwards had offered the job to Bill after the resignation of local businessman and hotel keeper George Biegel. Soon after becoming the town marshal Bill was nominated for sheriff of Tangipahoa Parish by the Democratic Party and got the most votes in the election of 1904, but was ruled ineligible for that position because he allegedly had not lived in the parish for the requisite amount of time prior to the qualifying date. Bill later served as the constable of the Seventh Ward, and as a parish deputy sheriff. Around 1911 Bill took over operations of the hotel which was located across from the depot on Northwest Railroad Avenue. This attractive two and a half story frame building was built in the 1890's by George H. and Catherine Biegel and was originally called the Biegel Hotel, and under different hands the Pelican Hotel. Bill and Mamie operated the business as the Alford Hotel and an adjacent café until 1921 when he sold out to New Orleans businessman Fritz Pflanze, who soon after moved to Ponchatoula. After selling the hotel, Bill lived for a time in Patterson, LA. Bill died in Nov. 1944, and Mamie died in Oct. 1956 in Birmingham, AL. Both are buried in the Wetmore Cemetery. They had children: William Percy Alford and Charles Dalma Alford. Lena Alford was born about 1871. She married Wiley C. McGee and lived in Bogalusa. Lena died of a stroke in Oct. 1921 in Bogalusa. She and Wiley had children: Norma and Robert McGee. Mary Evelyn "Eva" Alford was born 3 March 1872 at Dillon, MS. She married Finley Andrew Vinyard (1874-1927), a well-known Ponchatoula businessman. Eva died in April 1922 in Ponchatoula after an extended illness. She and Finley had a daughter Ruth Vinyard. Waldo M. Alford was born 2 Feb. 1875 in Mississippi. As a young man he briefly clerked alongside his father in George H. Bradford's store on West Pine Street. Waldo married Katherine Lauritzen (1886-1960) and continued to live in Ponchatoula where he was a partner in the Alford Brothers general merchandise store with his brother Bill. Waldo's life was suddenly cut short when he was shot and fatally wounded in January 1922. After struggling for several days Waldo died 25 Jan. 1922 in a New Orleans hospital and was buried in Ponchatoula Cemetery. He and Katherine had three children: Waldo R., Mary Virginia, and Sarah Alford. Eula Alford was born in July 1879 in Mississippi. She married Burton K. Gray and was living in Perry County, MS, in 1920 and in Hattiesburg, MS, in 1930. She and Burton had children: Margie, J. Paul, Margaret, John, Robert, Burt Evelyn, and Fred M. Gray. Lucius Tyler Alford was born 9 Sept. 1881 in Pike County, Mississippi. He married in 1909 to Stella Caliste Wells (1886-1972), daughter of Flavius J. Wells and Myrtie C. Threeton. Lucius clerked in a local store in Ponchatoula and later went into partnership with John Y. Wells opening their store in the Campbell Building on West Pine Street. Lucius and Mr. Wells then went into partnership with Paul J. Clement and formed Wells-Alford-Clement, Incorporated, in Sept. 1913. This firm purchased the Jacob R. Abels general store business which was located on the corner of West Pine Street and Southwest Railroad Avenue. Lucius' part of the daily business was mainly the operation of the butcher shop section of the store although he assisted in other aspects of the enterprise. The Wells-Alford-Clement store was not an economic success and within a few years was sold back to Mr. Abels. Lucius went on to several successful business ventures in Ponchatoula and was a highly respected citizen when he died in Nov. 1951. Lucius and Stella Alford had a daughter Fay Louise Alford. John Marvin Alford was born 23 Feb. 1884 in Mississippi. He married Josie L. ______ and moved to Evergreen, AL, where he operated a sawmill business. He and Josie had children: Beryl C., Lauritzen, and John M. Alford, Jr. From the time of John and Sarah Alford's arrival in Ponchatoula in the 1890's to the present the Alfords and their many descendants have woven yet another vibrant strand into the fabric of our historic community. Anyone with questions, comments, or suggestions for future articles, may contact Jim Perrin at 386-4476.