HISTORY OF WASHINGTON PARISH BY HON. PRENTISS B. CARTER Submitted by Bonnie M. Dier, Prepared by Sandy Corkern Date: June 2001 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ THE HISTORY OF WASHINGTON PARISH,LOUISIANA AS COMPILED FROM THE RECORDS AND TRADITIONS *************************************** BY HON. PRENTISS B. CARTER Judge 22nd Judicial District Court, Parishes of Washington and St. Tammany, State of Louisiana EARLY COLONIAL HISTORY1 It is a well known fact that what is now called Washington Parish is one of a group of eight parishes that formed what we commonly call, or is generally known as, the Florida Parishes. This group embraces East Baton Rouge, the two Felicianas, Livingston, St. Helena, Tangipahoa, St. Tammany, and Washington. As this territory was part of the original "West Florida" it might be interesting to recall that by the right of discovery by the illustrious De Soto, and exploration by his followers, that which we call "West Florida" belonged to Spain from the year 1512 until the year 1699. De Soto and his men landed in what we call Tampa Bay, crossed to Pensacola, thence to Mobile, and thence to the Mississippi River. But it was the distinguished Pierre Le Moyne D'Iberville, a Canadian by birth, assisted by his brothers, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville and Francois-Marie Le Moyne de Sauvole,2 who formed the first settlements and more carefully explored the western portion of Florida. Not being allowed to land in the Spanish settlement of Pensacola, they entered Mobile Bay, located and named Massacre, Chandeleur, Cat and Ship Islands, reached the Bay of Biloxi where they established a fort. After exploring the Mississippi River and noting the sites now occupied by New Orleans and Baton Rouge, d'Iberville entered the Ascantia River, called later the Iberville, crossed "level ground, fine trees, no wild cane" and found the two lakes he named Maurepas and Ponchartrain, and left Sauvole in command. Thus is 1699, by right of settlement, the Florida Parishes came under the French flag, and remained in the control of France until November 1763, when the province of West Florida was ceded by treaty to Great Britain, which appointed Capt. George Johnston as Governor. But the British flag was taken down and the Spanish again flown from the year 1782 until 1810, by conquest of the Spaniards. Knowing of a migration of 1,582 Kentucky families, Governor Miro issued the order of 1782 conceding lands to those families who sould(sic) settle in the Natchez and Feliciana Districts. By the census of 1785 the population of the entire Feliciana District (of which we were then a part) was only 550 souls. Three years later, the census shows 730 inhabitants, of whom about half were slaves, perhaps a little more than half. In 1789, the vessel Conception out of Philadelphia broth 173 immigrants, 133 of them settling in the Feliciana section. This section was divided a bit later into the Feliciana and the St. Helena Districts, though still later into six parishes. The portion called St. Tammany was much less thickly populated than the other sections, and it was several years later in acquiring permanent settlers. This was due to the face that the Choctaws were more fierce, and ran off all pioneers and whites who endeavored to establish themselves in this territory. Land grants were given by the French and by the Spanish, particularly by the latter between the years 1782 and 1810, but the claimants vacated the lands before the titles were made good. (Most of the original settlers of what is now Washington Parish came from South and North Carolina, others from families having migrated from the State of Virginia to Kentucky and Tennessee.) See Miss King's biography of Bienville, p. 73, and Andre Lafargue's Genealogy of the Le Moyne family, La. Hist. Qy., i, p. 252, April, 1925. - Ed. La. Hist. Qy. Governor Folch at Pensacola exercised jurisdiction over West Florida beginning in the year 1803, and over our lands until 1810. De Grand Pre acted as military commandant over the Feliciana Territory with his headquarters at Baton Rouge from 1803 til 1807, when he was replaced by de Lassus. In 1803 Louisiana and the Isle d'Orleans were transferred from French control to the United States. The people of Feliciana were disappointed at remaining under the Spanish domination after this cession. Being of English descent, and of families originally from the kindred race from which they had been severed. They were incensed at the omission on the part of the United States Commissioners to claim them as an integral part of the recent acquisition, and at their abstaining to enforce that claim by physical means if necessary. In 1805 an attempt was made to throw off the Spanish yoke. About two hundred men assembled from the various parts of the district, raised the standard of revolt against Spain and resolved to attack the fort at Baton Rouge. Some disagreement arose among the leaders, who had to give up the enterprise and take refuge across the Mississippi territory line. The others, relying upon their obscurity or insignificancy for protection, retired peacefully to their homes. This expedition was headed by Kemper and there was no bloodshed. REVOLT AND INDEPENDENCE On July 17th, 1810, a convention was called at Buhler's Plains, with elected delegates from each of the six parishes in the country of Feliciana, to change the form of government. John Mills presided, and Dr. Steele acted as Secretary. They drew up resolutions for a provisional government, confirming de Lassus as the Spanish military commander and naming him as "First Judge." Naming the associate judges as Shepard Brown, Robert Perycy, Fulwer Skipwith; with Joseph Johnson as High Sheriff, and other sheriffs at Bayou Sara, Baton Rouge, and Daniel Raynor at St. Helena; and with Philemon Thomas as ranking General of the militia. De Lassus signified his approval, but Thomas intercepted his letter to Gov. Folch which proved the duplicity of de Lassus. Upon this, Gen. Thomas led a revolt which showed de Lassus to be a coward, as he hid during the ensuing battle in which young Lt. Louis de Grand Pre was killed. This battle followed the secret council called on September 24th. In the council in Baton Rouge on August 22nd, John Rhea presided and other reforms were recommended to de Lassus. But the secret council declared the independence of the new American State of West Florida. So from September 23rd until December 6th, 1810 we were free and independent and our flag was blue with a silver star in the center, and adopted at this council. For the siege of Baton Rouge, General Thomas had the assistance of James Nelson, Major Johnson with his cavalry, Colonel Bollinger with 44 grenadiers assembled at Springfield (among whom were many citizens of Washington Parish who took part in this scrimmage), Captain Griffith and his 21 member of the Bayou Sara cavalry as well as five or six other patriots. They captured the Spanish military defense at Baton Rouge, killed Lt. De Grand Pre, and one private, wounding Lieutenant J. B. Metzinger and four privates, took twenty prisoners including de Lassus, and secured magazines, stores and the like, all of which James Nelson reported to John Rhea, President of the State of West Florida. ANNEXATION BY THE UNITED STATES Through Governor Holmes of Mississippi, President Rhea sent a copy of our Declaration of Independence on October 10th to President Madison of the United States, and requested immediate admission into the Union as an independent State, or possession of public lands and the loan of one hundred thousand dollars. An immediate answer was requested because of the weak condition of the people, a situation which might (unreadable) them to offer themselves to a foreign government for support. President Madison (unreadable) the independent state's request as that of revolutionists, and took the position that this property already belonged to the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Through Governor Holmes of Mississippi and Governor Claiborne of Louisiana, he declared the territory from the Mississippi River to the River Perdido part of this purchase, and ordered Governor Claiborne to carry out this proclamation of Unites States Ownership, establish courts, organize militia, and take all necessary steps of taking possession, using force if opposition was made. In the meantime, on November 29th, Fulwer Skipwith had been chosen President of West Florida. So, being ignored as an independent State, and Governor Claiborne scattering broadcast throughout the territory, copies of the President's proclamation without consulting Skipworth or otherwise recognizing us, Skipwith and Colonel Philemon Thomas tried to desist Claiborne's advance to St. Francisville. But Claiborne raised the flag of the United States here, and again at Baton Rouge on December 6th. In Baton Rouge, the American flag was taken down, and the lone star of the independent state raised, then the flag of West Florida was quietly taken down, and the Stars and Stripes again put up when the gunboats arrived. All done without loss of life or the shedding of any blood. Thus the five West Florida districts - Baton Rouge, New Feliciana, St. Helena, St. ??rdiana, and Tangipahoa - became part of the Unites States. While the foregoing is a part of the general history of the Florida Parishes it concerns Washington Parish and its settlement as well, thus the reason of this inclusion in our present study. DIVISION OF WEST FLORIDA Following the annexation by the United States of the former Spanish Colonial Province, known as West Florida, Governor W. C. C. Claiborne, of Louisiana Territory issued this proclamation on date of December 19th, 1810: "I do hereby order and ordain that so much of the Territory of Orleans as lies south of the Mississippi Territory and East of the River Mississippi, and extending to the River Perdido, shall constitute one county to be known and called by the name of Feliciana." Four months later, by an act of the Legislative Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of Orleans, on April 24th, 18113 the county was divided into six parishes - the fourth being designated at the Parish of St. Tammany - "as lying east of the Tangipahoa to Pearl River, and south of the Mississippi Territory," thereby giving the exact location to a portion of territory equaling eight times the extent that of the Parish of Orleans. By Act of Congress, approved April 8, 1812, Louisiana was admitted into the Union;4 and on the 14th of April following,5 West Florida was made a part of Louisiana, and has ever since been called the "Florida Parishes" of Louisiana. The Act to enlarge the State of Louisiana includes: "All that tract ... beginning at the junction of the Iberville with the River Mississippi; thence along the middle of the River Iberville, the River Amite, and of the Lakes Maurepas and Ponchartrain, to the Eastern mouth of the Pearl River, thence up the eastern branch of the Pearl River to the thirty-first degree of north latitude; thence along said degree of latitude to the River Mississippi; and thence down said river to the place of beginning." As evidence of the difficulties encountered in the development of our parish, we find the Louisiana Legislature endeavoring to take steps to make their laws felt as they said in August the 14th, 1812, that Civil authority has become weak and lax in West Florida, particularly in the Parish of St. Tammany, in which the influence of the laws is scarcely felt. Again in March, 1813, they said "several parishes, among others St. Tammany, St. Helena, are exposed to numerous bands of Choctaw Indian depredations, and apprehensions of their inhabitants have become so great that several farms have been abandoned, and the settlers fled to the interior for safety." This tends to prove that actual settlers in what is now Washington Parish were few in the year 1813, and that life was very hard and even dangerous for those few. WASHINGTON PARISH IS TAKEN OUT OF ST. TAMMANY On March 6th, 1819, 6 the State Legislature enacted: "That the Parish of St. Tammany shall be divided by a line running east and west, beginning at David Robertson's on the Tangipahoa, thence a direct line to Daniel Edwards on the Tchifoncta, thence a direct lint to the Strawberry Bluffs on the Bogue Chitto, and from thence a direct line on east until it strikes the Pearl River." All of this was ordered to be done by the Parish Surveyor and at the expense of the Parish of St. Tammany. The projected parish at that Time was given no official name. Such survey as had been ordered was made. The following year, on March 1st, 1820, 7 a temporary seat of justice for both district and parish courts was established at the place heretofore used as a courthouse "on the Bogue Chitto River" near the residence of Colonel Thomas C. Warner. The building was in fact nothing more nor less than a commodious barn. Col. Warner was the first parish judge of St. Tammany Parish. On February 10th, 1821, 8 a bill had passed declaring that the place "called and known as Franklin" should become the permanent seat of justice. It appears, however, that during the next succeeding years, the line of civil and political demarcation between the proposed new parish and its parent neighbor, at times grew difficult to determine; that the conditions of government were often close to chaotic. In the year 1826, 9 we find that on the anniversary of Washington's birthday, the legislature declared: "That, whereas, doubts have arisen with the Parishes of St. Tammany and Washington as to the domicile of Richard S. Chappel, that henceforth the North and East boundary of the inclosed land of Richard S. Chappel, lying on Strawberry Bluff, shall be the designated line between the Parishes of St. Tammany and Washington. That all the 'country lying east and north of said line shall be called and known by the name of Washington Parish'." By the same act of the legislature it was made the duty of the judge of Washington Parish (thereafter to be appointed) to call for an election to fix the parish seat, the date being set for the Fourth of July following. The Governor was also authorized to appoint a sheriff, and all such other officers essential to the operation of a parish government. The clerk of St. Tammany was ordered to transfer all process and judicial proceedings in his offices, "which from the residence of the defendants, and the situation of the parishes, appertained of right to Washington Parish." It was further made the duty of the judge and police jury, due time to call an election for the purpose of building a courthouse and jail. The parish was annexed to the then Third Judicial District, and awarded one representative in the House, the two former members from St. Tammany Parish being reserved their seats during the next session of the Legislature. Naturally the parish adhered to the same senatorial district as that of St. Tammany. As a result of the Fourth of July, 1826, election, the town of Franklin, now called Franklinton, was selected as the parish seat, and the site was the thirty acre donation of Mr. John W. Bickham to the new parish of Washington. Immediately after the creation of the Parish of Washington, and before the permanent seat of justice had been established, in the year 1819, one of the pioneer citizens, Mr. John W. Bickham, donated to the parish 30 acres of land and authorized the police jury to have it surveyed and sub-divided into lots and squares. These squares and lots to be sold at public auction by the police jury for the benefit of the parish, reserving in said act of donation, to the perpetual use of the parish, the central acre in the thirty-acre plot, upon which was to be erected a courthouse and jail. (The "barn" belonging to Colonel Warner, and which was then being used as a courthouse, stood on the old road near what is now the Enon community, a little distance from the present location of the town of Franklinton.) It is generally thought by the oldest living citizens of this community, and according to the traditions handed down by their fathers, that this barn was occupied until a small brick courthouse could be erected upon the "Central Acre" of Mr. Bickham's donation. This brick building was two-story with the county offices on the first floor, and the courtroom on the second floor. It would be well worthwhile to incorporate in this paper, the act of donation with its quaint verbiage and ancient style of spelling, but unfortunately on March 17th, 1897, the courthouse which stood on this acre was destroyed by fire and all these ancient documents were lost. After this fire, a wooden courthouse, with large galleries, was hastily constructed, but was later moved off the square and the present brick building erected on July 4th, 1906, and it is in this building that the writer has presided over the courts of Washington Parish for nearly fifteen years as district judge. So much as to the early legal organization of Washington Parish, which at that time embraced all the territory lying between the dividing line of Washington and St. Tammany on the south to the Mississippi line on the north, the Tangipahoa on the west, and the Pearl river on the east. Later, when the Parish of Tangipahoa was formed, the territory formerly belonging to Washington Parish and lying between the Tchifuncta and the Tangipahoa rivers, made a part of the new parish of Tangipahoa, thus changing boundaries to the present territorial limits of the parish. By an Act of the Legislature of 1912, 10 the boundary between the two Parishes of Washington and St. Tammany was restored to the original location as fixed by the Act of 1819. 11 THE EARLY SETTLERS OF WASHINGTON PARISH As to the actual settlers who brought about this condition, it might be well to note that none of a permanent nature appeared earlier than about 1810. The settlements are founded mostly on headrights granted by the Spanish colonial power, issued in the first years of the century shortly prior to the Louisiana Transfer. From a careful examination of the survey made in 1848 and completed in the year 1849, under the heading of "Greensburg District" headrights, it is interesting to not that no land right were made in the "bald piney woods", as the natives term those sections where we see no creeks, branches, or rivers. Instead settlers built their little log homes, and a bit later and oh, so proudly their first "box" or frame homes, along the banks or in the valleys and swamps of the creeks and rivers. Of the families locating in this manner Abner, Thomas and Benjamin Bickham were among the first, coming in 1807. William Brumfield came in 1809; Exediel Brumfield in 1810; Amos, Benjamin and Thomas Richardson located in 1809 and 1810; David and John Mizell (then spelled Measles) in 1812; John Simmons in 1812; William Hays and William McGeehee in 1809 and Jonathan McGeehee in 1812. Other early comers, whose descendants still are in this section or in our neighboring parishes were: Joseph and Shared Adams, who were the founders of Adamstown on Pearl River; George and John Mitchell; the (unreadable), who were the first to come; Stephen Stafford; Benjamin Toney; John (unreadable), who settled the community that is now Spring Hill and through whose headrights Pushpetappy Creed which was crossed by the famous Jackson's Military Road of later herein; George Ellis just across the Bogue Chitto River from the present site of Franklinton; John Bickham on the immediate site of the town; Colonel Thomas Warner between Franklinton and what is now the Enon Community; Edwin Fussell adjoining that of Abner Bickham near the present community of Mt. Herman on the road to the parish seat; Jim Thomas and Fanny Richardson near what is now Sheridan on Bogue Chitto Creek; David Gorman and Samuel York who founded the community of Gorman; the Lawrences from whom Lawrences Creek just south of Franklinton received its name; Jacob Alford and John K. Godf who settled what is now Alfordstown; John and Isaac Irwin (spelled Erwin); Richard Graves; Delcy Byrd on Gorman Creek; James and William Hayes, who gave the name to Hayes' Creek; James Ginn on the site of the present town of (unreadable); Burwell Percy and John Edwards near the present site of Rio on the St. Tammany and Richard S. Chappel whose place was on the Bogue Chitto where the famous Military crossed, also the branch of Tally's Creek southwest of Bogalusa crossed by this Richard Burch, coming from Germany in 1811. It is a fair assumption to conclude that pioneer life was drawn largely from early colonial American stock, who after the Revolutionary War pushed beyond the boundaries of the thirteen original States, as far as the Mississippi. Embarking at the trading posts established on the river below Saint Louis, it was easy enough to navigate southward on the mighty current in poling barges and flats, to points like Natchez and Baton Rouge. To return by the same method before the days of Robert Fulton was not easy. Nor could it seem to appear to have been desirable on the part of those early settlers for a new civilization to consider any permanent stand until the end of the road had been reached, and occupation by them was demanded. The genial seasons of the Florida sub-tropics, abounding in every kind on natural (unreadable), the countless wealth of the great primordial pine forests of the region, the (unreadable) traits of the Choctaw Indians, who were native heir to it all, bid much to (unreadable) the trend of pioneering in those old family heads and to establish the land(unreadable) by which we know Washington Parish of today. This is the famous Ozone Belt, named by prominent authorities to be the most healthful section of the United States, owing to the delightful ozone-laden atmosphere that come from the giant pines. The pioneers of this country experienced great difficulties and hardships in their immigration to the country on account of hostile Indians who inhabited the sections through which the pioneers must travel, and among whom they must build their homes. Among other prominent families in the history of Washington Parish is that of the Magees (formerly spelled McGehee). The name "Magee" has figured extensively in the development of the parish, and the family is today one of the largest in all this region. But few families have no Magee blood in them. These are the descendants of the Magees already mentioned and of Hezekiah Magee who settled in 1808, having been born in Magee's Creek of Pike County, Mississippi, and whose wife, Dicey Magee, was of that vicinity also. Their thirteen children married and lived in this neighborhood, and preserved the traditions of the Magee family, so that they remained among the most prominent as well as the wealthiest families in the parish. The Bankston family were also original settlers, and John Morris settled on the site now occupied by his great-grandchildren and just on the edge of the corporate limits of the town of Franklinton. The daughter of John Morris, Bernette, married a Pierce, also of a prominent and large family. Bernette was born in 1820 and lived her entire life in the same house, there dying in Feb. 1918. The son of Richard Burch, John, settled upon the headright granted in 1812. It was John who build the first grist mill in the parish on Silver Creek; John moved to Franklinton in 1820, where he built the first storehouse and box building. It was John's son, John, Jr., who attended the first and second schools started in the parish. ANDREW JACKSON BLAZES THE TRAIL OF THE MILITARY ROAD THROUGH WASHINGTON PARISH IN WAR OF 1812 In the War of 1812, General Jackson led his army along the famous "Military Road" traveling from Tennessee, via Columbia, Mississippi, crossing the River Pearl, through Washington Parish and on through St. Tammany and the site of Covington. Jackson found many creeks and rivers to block his passage, but he built bridges, or forded the shallower creeks. In building these bridges he laid the whole logs crosswise in order to make the bridges stronger, for his army and wagon trains to cross in safety. The loge in the bridge he built over Bogue Loosa Creek at Ben's Ford, which he himself named, are there today in a state of excellent preservation. This Ford is near the present site of the (unreadable) City". The army blazed its trail as it went, and this trail formerly known at "Road Militaire" formed which is used today, though not extensively. It was at Ben's Ford, and other points in the Pearl River valley, that the men of Washington Parish armed his forces, among them being three of the Bickhams, Hezekiah Magee, and many others. One of the direct descendants of John Bickham, today has the sword he used in the Battle of New Orleans. This Military Road crossed our parish, not only the Creek Bogue Loose, but the creeks Pushpetappy, Muntergrand, Adams, Mitchell and Tally's. In February, 1822, and act was passed to keep in repair "the Great National Road leading from Nashville, Tennessee, to Madisonville in St. Tammany Parish, and All hands living within five miles on either side of the road were required to give work and labor on said road twelve months a year." Later by a special act of March 18th, 1823, persons living within one mile of the Pearl River Market Road (which had become the port of entry to the parish) were exempted from service on the National Road. The original Choctaw Trail was made a road, later being made a parish road, straightened and became the Hackley Road, and has now been graded and graveled. It began near Mr. Hind's Schilling's place running toward Franklinton. A Choctaw school was conducted along this roadside prior to and after the year 1893. Another historical road, and one still used, is the old so-called "Five Thousand Dollar" Road. Steve Albritton was the parish representative in 1853, and he secured this amount as an appropriation for a road through Washington Parish leading from Poplarville, the Washington Parish ending being at Latan's Bluff, to Tangipahoa Station, which had a road going on to Greensburg, then a populous town. Just off this road was, and is, the famous Cave, on the Dees headright, near the present Fricke homestead. A most unique as well as beautiful and historic place. Motorcades to this cave are pleasant and popular occasions. In 1815, the Battle of New Orleans had been fought, and the was that opened a temporary trail for the Tennessee and Kentucky frontiersman to Jackson's defense, followed up during the next seven years by hundreds of others seeking fortune in the South, so close to the Little Paris of America. Many must have been doomed to disappointment, for in 1822 the Legislature of the State appropriated Four Thousand Dollars for the account of the Police Jury of the parish to be used for the relief of the sick and distressed strangers, and for their care at the Charity Hospital in New Orleans. Similar appropriations had been made the year previous for the benefit of the parishes of Baton Rouge and St. Tammany. FIRST FERRIES AND TOLL BRIDGES The problem of crossing the Bogue Chitto between Washington and St. Tammany, after the establishment of the Great National Road, was solved first by the ferry method based on a franchise granted exclusively to Richard S. Chappel, January 13th, 1821. The landing was at Strawberry Bluffs, previously referred to , and which is just below the fork of the Bogue Chitto and Pearl Rivers, near the present community of Isabel. The State retained a consideration for its bounty the free transportation of all jurors and voters going to or returning from their respective duties, as well as the transportation of militia (unreadable) service in either parish, together with the arms and military stores of the same. Jacksonville Springs near by, is on the road of the original settler, Brasfield, of Brasfield Creek. Later a ferry was built and operated on the Bogue Chitto River, near the settlement of Mt. Hermon on the Abner Bickham place, which is today the location of the Old Magee Cemetery on Marcus Magee's place. This ferry was in the later 1820's. The first toll bridge seems to have been established by a franchise to George Smith on March 25th, 1844. From which time on, toll bridges seem to supplant the ferry system in the parishes. The first railroad plan projected towards Washington Parish, seems to have been started from Mandeville under a charter establishing in 1837 what was known as the Mandeville and Pool's Bluff Railroad Company. The scheme was never carried out. It may be interesting to know that Pool's Bluff is now a southern suburban part of Bogalusa. CHURCHES AND RELIGION Under the head of churches, the two principal denominations in this section are the Baptist and the Methodist faiths. While we know that the pioneer settlers had their own religious meetings after the first few actual months of residence, still the first recorded organization of a church is also the first recorded organization of any Protestant Church with the boundaries of the entire State of Louisiana. Of this fact, Washington Parish is most proud. This was a little Baptist Church, and its buildings were built sometime prior to 1812 on the banks of the Bogue Chitto River. The first record of its organizations, or the date of the building of its little log cabin temple, is not known, but Bethel Church was admitted into membership in the Old Mississippi Baptist Association on October 12th, 1812. The Centennial of this church was celebrated by the Washington Parish Baptist Association in 1912, which meeting was called to order a gavel made from an oak standing more than the known hundred years on this spot. At this time, the old pipe-clay floor was the only remaining relic, and lies as a monument to the religious faith of our fathers. This church was originally Half-Moon Baptist. It will be remembered that the religion of the country until its acquisition by the United States, was Roman Catholic and no other was tolerated. Reason tells us that this intolerant attitude is responsible for no organized churches of the Protestants until Uncle Sam had had a little time to "Americanize" the State. In 1810 there were only two Methodists circuits in the entire State, no Presbyterian minister at all outside of New Orleans, and no Baptist preacher, except those who visited at rare intervals from the state of Mississippi. It was from Mississippi that the first Baptists came, the first Protestant preacher within the bounds of the State of Louisiana was the Baptist preacher Bailey Chaney who came first in 1799, was arrested and released. But no church was organized. But Ezra Courtney was preaching in the Florida Parishes as early as 1804, and until 1855. He preached at every community or settlement within this region. He became the first resident pastor, moving from Amite County, Mississippi, to East Feliciana in 1814. In 1811, October 19, a petition was presented to the Mississippi State Association convened at New Hope, Adams County, by a number of brethren asking to be organized into a church. This was granted, and a year later this church evolved and organized on October 12th, five days later being received into the Association of (unreadable) Creek Church, out of this organization, was a little later organized (within the parish) with Ezra Courtney was associated. In 1813, the Mississippi Association admitted two other churches, one was Mt. Nebo on Tangipahoa River, and the other was (unreadable). Then in 1818, the Sharon Church was also received. There were only six Baptist churches at this time in Louisiana, and four were within the then boundaries of this parish, and three within the present limits, as one is now in Tangipahoa. The fifth church was located in St. Landry Parish, at Bayou Chicot, just a month after Half-Moon Bluff; the sixth being Hepsibah Church in East Feliciana in 1814. The Louisiana Association was organized October 31st, 1818, and modeled after the Mississippi Association, but the Florida Parish Baptists remained with the Mississippi Association until (unreadable) in which year on November 19th, the Mississippi Association met in our parish at (unreadable) church, and here was organized the East Louisiana Association, with twenty-two Florida Parish churches. The first church in the parish to be incorporated was the (unreadable) Church, which was incorporated by an act of the legislature in 1838, naming (unreadable) Simmons, Robert F. Sibley, Isaac H. Wright, Prosper Hayes, Leslie Bankston, (unreadable) Bankston, Jeremiah Thompson, William L. Sibley, Evan James, J. V. Collins, and (unreadable) Hudson, this by Act of 106. The first Baptist Church of Franklinton was located at Mile Branch, just north of the present site of the town, and a little to the right of the present State Highway. The date of this organization is not known but it is an established fact, that a little after the Civil War services were held here in this little cabin, this church being occupied until the year 1890 when a larger frame building was erected on the site of the new brick building within the town limits. Methodism had about as many members throughout the parish in the early days prior to the Mexican War and the War of the States, as the Baptists. The origin of Methodism probably flowed into the country with the first settlers, as the result of the Scott County, Kentucky conference in 1805. By this Conference the Methodist Church was divided into four districts: the Third or Wilkinson Circuit was declared so as it, "Must embrace Wilkinson County, Mississippi, and extend east to the waters of the Amite and the Bogue Chitto Rivers; and as far down into West Florida as the Protestant settlements could guarantee the safety of a preacher." No record can be found, however, of the names of the preacher who was sent to this then distant and precarious section. In 1811 the Conference which met in Shelbyville, Kentucky, created a new Circuit, partly in Mississippi, and partly in Louisiana. The District was called Amite. Hezekiah Shaw was assigned to this District, which of course included the original Parish of St. Tammany at the time of the admission of this State into the Union. And this was one of the two existing Methodist circuits in Louisiana at that time. Catholicism as represented by its single foundation in the modern city of Bogalusa, was by the nature of things for over a hundred years, an unknown quantity in the parish. It is also true of the Hebrew faith, as the only Synagogue in the parish was erected, only a short time ago in the City of Bogalusa. It is even curious to note that where there traditional French names, such as Everiste, Sylvestre, etc. This latter (unreadable) is still preserved among some of the original families of Washington parish. Most of the churches in the early part of the century became union churches. In other words, other faiths held their services, other preachers than Baptists would preside over the few buildings erected. Still, it must be remembered that Methodism was the only other faith for these many years. Too, the slaves were given a special place to hear their sermons as preached. No negro church of any faith was erected within our parish until quite some time after the Civil War. Another of the very, very early union churches, was the one located at Bonner Creek and used until the late eighties. The first Methodist church was the one located at Franklinton, and its first building was the lower half of the Masonic Lodge, which was chartered in the year 1851. The Methodist Church met in this Lodge until the middle of the 1890's, when "Uncle" John R. Wood gave the land for its site, and the lumber which was hauled from the little mill near Tangipahoa Station, as there was no lumber mill in this parish up to that time. Mr. (unreadable) a well-known Methodist preacher, preached here often, staying with "Aunt Em" Wood sister of the aforesaid "Uncle" John. He has told stories of his first visits, especially being of his 1854 trip, when the Wood home was his headquarters and was located near present Pine Community, from which place he rode horseback into Franklinton to hold the services. He often rode horseback from Amite over here to conduct services as did other Protestant ministers; and from Osyka, Covington, and Magnolia. EARLY EDUCATIONAL EFFORTS The first organized attempt towards a higher system of education in the parish was in 1838, when William Simmons, J. A. Irwin, Hezekiah Magee, James S. Bickham, Thomas C. Warner, Robert F. Sibley, and Joel Pearson obtained a charter for the Franklinton Academy. A subsidy by the State of One Thousand Dollars a year for Five Years was granted in favor of the institution, conditioned upon the free education of ten indigent orphans residing in the parish. The building for this was a little log house just south of Mile Branch of Franklinton. The son of John R. Burch, Sr., who built the first storehouse in our little town, said son being John R. Jr., was one of the "indigent orphans" to attend the first sessions of this school. In March, 1840, on the 28th, the Legislature appropriated the sum of fifteen hundred dollars additional for the erection of a "suitable and convenient building at Franklinton for the school's use." This building was erected by the son of Hezekiah Magee, and was located on the banks of the Bogue Chitto, just opposite the courthouse. The building was of frame and had green shutters, the only shutters to be seen in all the parish, or section at just that time, or for several years thereafter. This was commonly called "Prof. Dixon's Academy of Franklinton," as the principal was Mr. W. H. Dixon. He remained here many years. His salary was guaranteed by five of the original settlers, including Hezekiah Magee, Thomas C. Warner, and John Bickham. The "ten indigent orphans" boarded with "Uncle" Steve P. Ellis who was a Methodist preacher, and whose daughter lives here now. The brother of "Uncle Steve" was old Ezekial P. Ellis, one of our very first judges, who married the daughter of Colonel Warner. The construction of this frame house was most unique, the steadying done by six by six and the posts twelve by twelve morticed in with pins of wood. This building was used as the school until 1890, when the Franklinton Central Institute was established upon the present school grounds, in a two-story frame building. The first graduates of the F. C. I. were in 1892. No other buildings were erected in Franklinton until the high school about 1912 erected the present brick building, the frame Economics and Primary College, and the principal's home nearby. Other pupils than John R. Burch, Jr. at the Franklinton Academy when it was first constructed on the Bogue Chitto River were David, the son of Hezekiah Magee; Eugene (unreadable) the well-known train bandit whose grave lies beside the Franklinton Creek near the corporate limits of the town; the Peaks of Livingston Parish; Elbert Magee of Pike County, Mississippi then; Louiza Bankston of Mt. Herman, and others. The Bells and Peaks of Livingston and St. Helena Parishes, and the coming of boys from Amite County and other distant places, proves that no other schools were located in these first five or six years in any of these parishes - Tangipahoa, Livingston, St. Helena, or Amite or Pike counties. David Magee's older brother Pleas, assisted by John Lawrence, are the ones constructing the "Academy." Other than Prof. Dixon, the early teacher remembered by the oldest citizens, was David Gilchrist. The next school of formal organization, of which we have any record is in 1852, when, assisted by the Peabody Fund, the Bickhams and Magees serving as organizers, and Michael O'Rourke as principal, a school was built, a "box-house" by Pleas Magee at Half-Moon Bluff, which is quite near the present site of Clifton. John R. Burch, Isaac Roberts, William Magee, Flora Burris and Lucinda Bonds were among the pupils here at its first sessions. We have no other records of buildings erected solely for the use of a school, but school sessions were held in the little log and "box" churches throughout the parish for periods of six weeks, later eight weeks, then even as long as three and four months during the summers. The first one known of these schools was the one on the creek just back of what is now Late Bankstons place, and where the funeral of "Uncle John Woods" father, also John Woods, and other Confederate soldiers paying the supreme sacrifice, were conducted. Warren Andrews, a grand-uncle of the present prominent Burris family, taught this school in the early 1840's or perhaps a little later. There were schools held at Bonner's Creek, at Enon, at Hayes' Creek, Center, Gorman, at Beulah, and at Magee's Creek, now called "Bogue Chitto" at which latter place when N. Morris was the circuit preacher for the eastern section of West Florida, having been appointed in 1818, but was in Mississippi territory until the State line was re-established, so now it is in our parish. The destruction of the two-story frame building in Franklinton was by the terrible hurricane everyone remembers. This destroyed other school buildings within the parish as well. In 1887 the Sunny Hill Academy was established by the Legislature, which was the second largest school in the parish from that date until just recently. A year or two after this, Enon High School was established, and it ranked third with the schools of the parish from 1890 until just recently. B. F. Jones was the Sunny Hill principal, and W. L. Thornhill at Enon, now called Zona as well. In 1897 the parish was dotted with small schools, having 56 schools and something more than twenty-four hundred pupils, of whom a bit less than a third of each named were colored. The first negro school, was the "The Franklinton Hill," where now is located the (unreadable)ficient Manual Training and High School, and which has the aid of the funds for the education of the colored people called "Julius Rosenwald" and the "Smith-Hughes Fund" for the agricultural department. In 1890 the population of the parish was 6,667 and there were, according to the census of that year, twenty-six public schools; today there is a population of about forty thousand and there are about fifty-six schools, many of them "consolidated." The first Masonic Lodge in the parish was the one in Franklinton chartered in 1851, and in the basement of whose building the Methodist Church met until 1890, after the first year. FIRST NEWSPAPER The first newspaper in the parish was a folio of sixteen by twenty-two inches published by W. L. Stovall, and established I 1886, called The New Era. The Washington Leader was established in opposition by Mack Pitman in the 90's, then taken over by Alice Bickham Hart, and in 1911 consolidated with The New Era to form the present Era-Leader, published by Mrs. J. Vol Brock. No other papers were printed in this parish until after Bogalusa became a city, and gave us The Bogalusa Enterprise. FRANKLINTON, THE PARISH SEAT Franklinton, the parish seat, was laid out by survey in 1821 as before stated, was not permanently fixed as the seat of justice until after the election of 1821. The town of Franklinton before 1821 was actually near what is now the Enon Community, five miles south of the present location. It is told of the court sessions at Colonel Warner's barn - which by the way were held in the roomy hay-loft of this barn while the horses and cattle were below in their stables - that Judge Warner told "Mr. Sheriff" you will confine Col. Conally to his table as are the (unreadable) of the horses below", because said attorney was endeavoring noisily to conduct his case while very drunk. It was sometime after 1826, waiting upon the construction of the courthouse, before the courthouse was moved to Franklinton. The town was chartered as a municipality by the State on March 7th, 1861. There is a section in the charter by which the mayor is constituted as an ex-officio justice of the peace with "power to suppress all riots, routes, tumults, unlawful assemblies, within the limits of the town," which throws rather an interesting sideline into the turmoil of the year in which the town was begun. As a municipal (unreadable) however, the town did not regularly function until the year 1887. And as a town, we had no water system until 1910, no lights until 1912. The Parish Fair was organized in Franklinton in 1911. The School Parish Rally Day was in 1910, as were annual Town Clean-up Days. Prior to the Civil War period, the Legislature passed a piece of special slave legislation, designed to affect Washington and St. Tammany and their neighbors, St. Helena and Livingston, the object of the law being not to permit any owner to allow his slave to hire out his personal services in the parish. Such a slave, (unreadable) master permitted him to work on his own account was regarded as a runaway. The only motive for such an act seems to lie in the fact that there may have been numerous masters at that time inclined to allow their slaves to purchase manumission by their outside industry, realizing that the day of legal emancipation was away in the future. This tendency, however, among the slave-holders of the Florida parishes was apparently repugnant to the majority of owners in other parts of the State. As evidence of the light in which the Federal government considered the backwoods (unreadable) of the parish as late as 1855, we read of a joint resolution of the House of (unreadable) (Act 230, 1855), urging upon Louisiana members in Congress to "use their best judgment to have a post office established in the second police jury ward, in the Parish of Washington, at or near the residence of Alexander Painter." The residence referred to is in the Sunny Hill Community. FIRST RAILROAD FACILITIES It is shown that the first railroad project was never consummated. Communication with the outside world was by the tedious method of surries, buggies, and horseback with few roads and more numerous trails, excepting the "Hackline" from Amite to Franklinton, and not quite so old, another from Franklinton to Osyka. One drove by buggy or horseback to Covington to catch the "East Louisiana Railway" if one desired to go to New Orleans or other points. This was an all days journey to Covington, and another back. It took all day to go to Amite or Osyka as well. The first railroad connection with the outside world was had when the New Orleans Great Northern constructed a line from a point in St. Tammany Parish called North Slidell. The main line of the railroad parallels the Pearl River and extends as far as Jackson, Mississippi. (unreadable) leaves the main line at Rio, and comes through Franklinton, extending to (unreadable) of Pike County, Mississippi. This railway was constructed in 1907, in the spring. MILITARY QUOTAS IN THE MEXICAN AND CIVIL WARS Since the days of the first settlers, Washington Parish has proven her intense patriotism. It has been shown that we gave our co-operation in throwing off the Spanish while maintaining the independence of the "State of West Florida," and in the War of (unreadable) the Mexican War, in 1846, many of our citizens joined the Louisiana Volunteers. More died however from yellow fever and typhoid in this war, than did from the wounds on the battlefield. Again, when the Civil War began, Capt. Hardy Richardson of Co. I, (unreadable) Regiment, 9th Brigade, together with Capt. Slocum, Lt. John Wadsworth, Serg. Bankston, and Col. George H. Penn took full forces to Virginia who fought in the battles of Bull Run, Harper's Ferry, Manassas, Winchester, Antietam, and others - 17 in all. Some were in General Dick Taylors Hays' Brigade. Others were with Jackson. Some entered in the St. Helena Rifles, and the Mississippi Volunteers, at Magnolia, and many others were in the battles of Mansfield, the sieges of Baton Rouge and of Vicksburg, with a number being captured and imprisoned on Ship Island with negro guards. The volunteers for service in May, 1861, were given a big picnic dinner at the Slocum place just before leaving. Three young ladies, Misses Fanny Magee, Martha Magee and (unreadable) Collins, managed the program of readings and songs and presented the men with beautiful silk flags, which were lost when being carried from place to place. About (unreadable) were here, these going direct to Camp Moore, thence Richmond. In the year 1862 a Washington Parish unit of cavalry, called the "Pumpkin Studs" organized in the town of Franklinton. These too, proved active throughout the term of the War between the States. Once more during the Spanish-American War about Cuba, in 1898, we furnished a full (unreadable) of men for service. And again typhoid and other diseases wiped out a larger number than the bullets of the enemy. COL. W. H. SULLIVAN AND THE GOODYEARS BEGIN THE LUMBER INDUSTRY It was in the springtime of 1906, when our fair hills and valleys were at their finest and most superb beauty, when the wild azalea and the yellow jasmine with the (unreadable) mingled in the freshness of the majestic yellow pines made fragrant all the time; when the dogwood blossoms showed their startling purity against the soft green of pine needles; when the parsley haw, and the rare rhododendrons with their pink and (unreadable) blossoms graced every little vale; when the tiny white, the sweet blue, and the (unreadable) ox-eye violets mingled with the sweet red turkey-berry creepers, and the sweet (unreadable) roots underfoot; when the coral vine and wild honeysuckle encircled every tree that were already encircled by the muscadine and grape; when the sweet bay and magnolia were broadcasting their rich essences, and the new growth of the pines were like the many icicles on the Christmas trees of the children. Is it any wonder that the impressionistic wild-eyed Irishman chose here to pitch his camp? Are you surprised that he and his fellow Irishmen here built their shacks and sent for their wives, who were led by that sweet (unreadable) the blue-eyed Irish lady named Elizabeth Cooper Sullivan? Only a farm or two, (unreadable) J. L. Pierce and D. W. Richardson, were in this neighborhood of the little creek of Bogue Loosa. But in 1907 a little mill had been started by Col. William Henry Sullivan, as manager, though owned by the Goodyears and their interests. When Col. Chas. W. Goodyear of Reading and Buffalo visited the little sawmill, Mr. Sullivan introduced him to Southern huckleberry, and the juice of the muscadine. Here were red deer, wolves, and foxes, not to mention innumerable squirrels, partridges, doves, and fish. It was a paradise of the longleaf pine, whose sharp pointed needles, like human fingers pointed toward the heavens in a gesture divine. To those of us who are reared among it, the pine of the long needle is the most majestic, the most superbly dignified of the tree family. Here, too, the mocking bird sings his sweetest, and the cardinal shows his greatest beauty. Here we find a land so fertile among fields of perpetual beauty that any kind of semi-tropical fruit, any class of vegetable, may be successful. FOUNDING OF BOGALUSA From the name of the creek upon whose banks the town was built, Col. Sullivan chose the name of Bogalusa for the city. And in 1907 his census showed the population to be 2,000. Again in 1908, the number was 2,000; in 1909 it had grown to 3,000; in 1910 (unreadable); in 1911 to 7,500; and to 8,5000 in 1912, while today the population is about twenty thousand. From its beginnings in 1907, the Great Southern Lumber Company , through Mr. Sullivan, hired deputy sheriffs for the town until its corporation. The Great Southern also supplied the mail delivery system, rather "backed up" until the town was incorporated. In 1907, the Great Southern Lumber Company interests, in other words, the Goodyears and those associated with them, built and controlled as they do today, the New Orleans Great Northern Railway. In 1912, unincorporated Bogalusa had free mail delivery, three public schools, a hospital, a Y.M.C.A., and the first paper mill. In this year was established a turpentine plant, a creosote plant, and the Pine Tree Inn. The latter is owned and controlled by the Great Southern Lumber Company in this most unique and magically growing of cities. It was with the assistance of this company, that Washington parish was among the leaders in the establishment of Parish Health Units, and the employment of Rural (unreadable) and Home Demonstration Agents, which are employed today. In 1914, the town was incorporated, and the Hon. W. H. Sullivan chosen as the first mayor. He served in this capacity until his death in 1929. At the time of incorporation, Bogalusa had water, sewerage, light and other public systems and chose the commission form of government. At this time the first city court of the parish was organized in Bogalusa. Then after this came the Y.W.C.A. as a gift of the Goodyears in 1917; a box and bag factories, the canning and furniture factories, the enlarging of the paper mill, the construction of the experimental laboratories and the beginning of the pine tree nurseries. Bogalusa has the distinction of having the largest saw mill in the world and the largest pine tree seed and nursery company in the world. Although the youngest town in the parish, it is the largest, and has perhaps the most cosmopolitan population of any city of its size. Almost every nationality is represented. Its growth has been like magic, and a great deal of credit for this thriving modern city, and for the development and progress of the entire parish as well, is due to the liberal policy pursued by the Great Southern Lumber Company and encouraged by the late Col. W. H. Sullivan, a man of broad vision and a man who loved with all his heart his adopted country. In Bogalusa today are three banks, two newspapers, and a public school system for 3,000 children, including seven white and three colored schools. In the vicinity of the town are the large pastures used for reforestation. The first of these pastures was planted with seedlings from the nursery as a living monument to our boys "Over There" in the year 1918. Now under plantings and fences, are more than fifteen thousand acres. The idea of reforestation has become thoroughly embued in the minds of the citizens. These pastures of living green are beauties not equalled anywhere. WORLD WAR ENLISTMENTS During the World War, other than the scattering volunteers always to be accounted for, Washington Parish was represented by its own Company "G", of the Louisiana National Guard, transferred to the 1st Regiment of the Louisiana Infantry, under Col. Frank M. Stubbs, Capt. Paul O. LeBlanc commanding. 3,300 in all enlisted from our parish including two Indians. Of the course, we had the usual, the most active parish organization of the Red Cross, National Defense Councils and all of that. As a parish, in all the various activities of the strenuous wartime, we more than "went over the top." Today, where the log cabins of the pioneers were reared in and hewed from are primal pine forests, where the trails were the only roads, and the only means of conveyance the cumbersome ox-carts of our fathers, where schools and churches were almost unknown, and one knew not what the world was doing until many moons later, where the tallow dipped candle was the only light, and the wild fruits as well as the "kill of the hunt" formed the major food, today we have the radio, the (unreadable), stock farms, vineyards, electricity, every conceivable aid of science. Time brings changes in everything. Ere still another century has passed, we can... (Unfortunately, the final page is missing) 1 An Address before the Louisiana Historical Society at the Cabildo in New Orleans, May 29, 1929. 2 The learned author has the authority of Charles Gayarre for this statement but it is now too well settled to be disputed that Sauvole was not a Le Moyne and that he was not the brother of Iberville and Bienville. 3 Act of 1811, Chapter XXVII, p. 120. "That the county of Feliciana shall be divided into six Parishes, the first shall be called the Parish of Feliciana, lying between the lower line on the Mississippi Territory to the mouth of Thomson's Creek, and a line running thence due East to the River Amite, and its Western boundaries shall be the Mississippi. That the second shall be called the Parish of East Baton Rouge lying between the Parish of Feliciana and the Iberville and between the Mississippi and the Amite. That the third shall be called the Parish of St. Helena which comprehends that tract of country lying below the line of the Mississippi Territory, and between the Amite and the River Tanchipao. That the fourth shall be called the Parish of St. Tammany lying East of the Tanchipao to Pearl River and South of the Mississippi Territory. That the fifth shall be called the Parish of Biloxi, lying South of the Mississippi Territory and extending from Pearl River and to the river falling into the Bay of Biloxi. That the sixth shall be called the Parish of Pascagoula, lying South of the Mississippi Territory and extending East from the river falling into the bay of Biloxi, including all the remainder of the County of Feliciana." Ed. La. Hist. Qy. 4 By Act of October 31, 1803 C.1,2 Stat. 245, Congress authorized the President to take possession of the territories ceded by France under the treaty of April 30, 1803. Act of March 26, 1804, C. 38, 2 Stat. 283, provided a temporary government for a portion of the ceded territories under the name of the Territory of Orleans. An Act of February 20, 1811, c. 21, 2 Stat. 641, carved out the Territory of Orleans as that part which, with the subsequent addition of the Florida Parishes, forms the present state of Louisiana, and authorized the formation of a Constitution and State government preparatory to admission into the Union. Accordingly on January 22, 1812 the Convention, assembled in New Orleans, and adopted a Constitution. By Act of April 1812, C. 50, 2 Stat. 701, Congress approved this Constitution and admitted Louisiana into the Union, which Act by its sixth section became in force from and after April 30, 1812. Ed. La. Hist. Qy. 5 C. 57, 2 Stat. 708. The necessary resolution of the Louisiana Legislature consenting to the proposed addition to the territorial limits of Louisiana was adopted August 4, 1812. Chapter 1, page 5. Ed. La. Hist. Qy. 6 Acts of 1819, page 80. Ed. La. Hist. Qy. 7 Acts of 1820, p. 28. Ed. La. Hist. Qy. 8 Acts of 1821, p. 38. Ed. La. Hist. Qy. 9 Acts of 1826, p. 38. Ed. La. Hist. Qy. 10 Act of 124 of 1912, p. 146. - Ed. La. Hist. Qy. 11 March 6, 1819, Acts, p. 80. - Ed. La. Hist. Qy.