The Rheams Family, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana Submitted to the USGenWeb Archives by Sandra McLellan, Apr. 2006 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 RHEAMS FAMILY BY JIM PERRIN, Local Historian The Rheams family who lived in antebellum Ponchatoula was a well established family in Greensburg, St. Helena Parish, Louisiana for decades before they moved to our community. Tobias Rheams (14 June 1804-23 March 1850) was a local businessman in Greensburg, and along with his wife Eveline Patterson (ca. 1817-9 March 1890) they established a family there that would soon have strong roots in Ponchatoula. At the time the census was conducted in the summer of 1850 Tobias Rheams' grave was still fresh and Eveline Patterson Rheams was left to care for her three children: Drucilla (sometimes called Truxilla), Lawson, and Samuel. Two of her children Elizabeth (1837-1844) and Jacob Rheams (1842-1844) had died as children. In late 1851, the widow Rheams sold her husband's business and family lands in and near Greensburg and soon moved her family south to Livingston Parish. The newly formed village of Ponchatoula located on the railroad line offered commercial possibilities for an enterprising woman like Eveline who was seeking a way to support her family. She purchased land in Ponchatoula from Janette Clark Loveland, the sister and representative of the town's founder, James Clark. On this land (Lots 5-8 in Square 52) on the west side of the railroad track about 200 yards south of the train depot, Eveline had The Ponchatoula Hotel erected. Lot eight in this square is the corner where the late Harry McKneeley, Sr. family residence was located, and the Ponchatoula Hotel was located somewhere near that corner on one of Eveline's four town lots. When the census was conducted in 1860 Eveline was listed as a hotel operator and her son Samuel, then sixteen years of age was the only family member then living with her. Young Samuel, who was born 29 April 1844 in Greensburg, undoubtedly was kept busy waiting on the salesmen and business travelers who stayed at the hotel. Eveline's daughter Drucilla, who was born 10 June 1836, had married a local merchant, Purnell Fletcher Starns. Mr. Starns, who was born about 1828, had also served for several years as the recorder of deeds in Livingston Parish. He died after the war and Drucilla married secondly 3 May 1868 in Ponchatoula to local attorney John W. Addison. There was more legal business in Amite after Tangipahoa Parish was created in 1869 and Drucilla and her husband moved to Amite and lived there for many years. John's law practice was very successful and he was later elected a district judge. Drucilla died 20 Nov. 1880 and was buried in the Ellis Cemetery near Amite next to her husband John. Also buried in the Ellis Cemetery was Drucilla's mother Eveline, who died 9 March 1890. Eveline had sold her home in Ponchatoula in April 1875, which was located on Lots 5-8 in Square 26, or where the new and old Ponchatoula Post Offices are located, and thereafter lived with her daughter Drusilla in Amite. Eveline's oldest son Lawson T. Rheams was born 10 Feb. 1840. He enlisted in the Confederate Army in May 1861 at Camp Moore in Tangipahoa, LA, and served in the Fourth Louisiana Infantry. Although severely wounded in July 1864, he served throughout the war rising to the rank of sergeant. He surrendered with the remnants of his command at Federal Fort Stevens at Pass Manchac in May 1865. Lawson returned home and married Rachel J. Wheat 28 Sept. 1865 in St. Helena Parish. Rachel was born 24 March 1845 and was the daughter of Hezekiah Wheat and Mary Killian. Lawson and Rachel decided to live in Amite and they raised their seven children there. Lawson died in Feb. 1900, Rachel died in March 1910, and was buried beside her husband in the Amite City Cemetery. Eveline operated The Ponchatoula Hotel during the war although her clientele came to be more army officers, and men traveling on war related business trips. She undoubtedly heard the cannons roar in September 1862 as Confederate forces tried to halt federal attackers, and later witnessed the occupation and looting of the small community in March 1863. As she looked upon the tattered Rebel troops that garrisoned Ponchatoula during the first two years of the war she could not help but think and worry about her two sons serving in the same army. Eveline's youngest son, Samuel McFadden Rheams, had moved with his mother to Ponchatoula by the late 1850's and grew to manhood in the piney woods village. He also answered the call to arms as the War Between the States began, enlisting 13 Aug. 1861 in a local company "the Walker Roughs," commanded by Captain William E. Walker. After Captain Walker was promoted, this company of the 16th Louisiana Infantry was commanded by Sam's future brother-in-law, John W. Addison. After training at Camp Moore and in New Orleans, Sam's regiment was sent to fight in the battle of Shiloh, Tennessee, and later in 1862 in the Confederate invasion of Kentucky. Sam transferred to the Ninth Battalion of Louisiana Cavalry, was elected a lieutenant, and served in this unit until the end of the war. Even before the struggle had ended Sam had been able to get a few days off and married 26 Dec. 1864 in Confederate controlled St. Helena Parish to Lenora Jane Durbin Nesom. Lenora was born about 1841 and was the widow of William Frank Nesom. William F. Nesom had been born about 1830, was a farmer on the west side of Ponchatoula, and died in 1863 leaving Lorena with three small children: Ida Imogene Nesom, m. James P. Henkel; Ada Rebecca Nesom, m. John W. Ovedier of Ponchatoula, m. 2nd Dr. John W. Tenny also of Ponchatoula; and Eva Lenora Nesom, who married John E. Young of Ponchatoula. Lenora purchased a house and about 37 acres of farm land east of and fronting the Ponchatoula River in June 1864 from her future sister-in-law Drucilla Rheams Starns. She also owned 640 acres of land nearby that William F. Nesom had acquired from William Wells. Because of the unsettled times of war and Reconstruction William Nesom's succession was not opened until 1871, at which time Lenora was named the natural tutrix of her three Nesom daughters, Samuel M. Rheams their step-father as co-tutor, and Samuel's brother-in-law attorney John W. Addison as under-tutor. Sam and Lenora Rheams lived in Ponchatoula after their marriage and expanded their family over the next several years with the birth of William C. Rheams (b. ca. 1865, living in St. Gabriel, LA, in 1895); Mary Ella Rheams (b. ca. 1869, m. Samuel Harvey, living in McComb, MS, in 1895); Mamie C. Rheams (m. William M. Alford of Ponchatoula); and Addie Rheams (b. ca. 1872, m. Charles S. Brill, living in Jefferson Parish, LA, in 1895). Sam Rheams was active in civic affairs in Ponchatoula for many years. In the summer of 1865, just as he was settling into his peacetime life, he and his mother both paid federal taxes and were listed as hotel owners in Ponchatoula. In Sept. 1873 Sam's wife Lenora obtained possession of The Ponchatoula Exchange, which was located on Lot 7 in Square 41, which was on one of the lots his mother had previously owned. The Ponchatoula Exchange was apparently a small store and family residence combination. Sam was elected to the town council and served during the turbulent Reconstruction period of 1873-1874. He served briefly as Ponchatoula town marshal during the winter of 1877-1878, and was again elected to the town council in 1891 serving until at least 1894. For several years in the late 1890's he served as the constable for the Seventh Ward. Sam's wife Lenora died 22 August 1895, probably at her home on Southwest Railroad Avenue, which was her only piece of real estate at the time of her death. She left behind her son, six daughters and her husband. When the 1900 census was conducted Sam was living with his daughter Mamie and her husband William M. Alford in Ponchatoula. Sam's death date is not known to this writer, but he was listed as boarding with the Thomas S. Akers family on Railroad Avenue in Ponchatoula on the 1910 census. The Rheams families along with their Nesom kin, were some of the earliest settlers in the town of Ponchatoula and they helped develop and guide the new community during its formative years, thereby becoming part of our interesting history. Anyone with questions, comments or suggestions for future articles, may contact Jim Perrin at 386-4476.