Franklinton History, Washington Parish Louisiana Submitted by Bonnie M. Dier Date: August 26, 2006 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ Era Leader October 9, 1996 Franklinton’s history is colorful The following historical sketch was copied from a pamphlet, Inventory of the Municipal Archives of Louisiana, dated 1941, prepared by the Louisiana Historical records Survey Division of the Community Service Programs Work Project Administration. Franklinton, the parish seat of Washington Parish, is located in the pinehills of the west central section of the Parish, one of the group known as the “Florida Parishes”. With a population of 1,579, Franklinton is the center of an agricultural region, shipping much of the cotton, corn, and vegetables from the surrounding territory. It has an altitude of 155 feet above seal level, and is approximately 20 miles west of Bogalusa, which, with a population of 14,604, is the largest municipality in the parish. History dates back to 1819 The history of Franklinton dates from 1819; in that year Washington Parish was created from the northern part of St. Tammany Parish. In 1819 John W. Bickham donated to the new parish 30 acres of land where the town of Franklinton now stands, the center acre of which was to be reserved for the building of a courthouse and jail. The legislative act creating the parish also provided that an election be held “on the fourth day of July next” to determine the seat of justice of the new parish. However, in 1820, a building near the resident of Colonel Thomas C. Warner near the Bogue Chitto River was still in official use for district and parish court sessions. A special election was held In 1821 Franklinton was laid out by survey, and the legislature declared that the “place called and known by the name of Franklin… shall be the permanent seat of justice.” Prior to this date “Franklin” was actually near where is now Enon, 5 miles south of present day Franklinton. However, because of disputes between St. Tammany and Washington Parishes over the boundary line the resultant chaotic conditions of government, Franklinton was not permanently fixed as the parish seat until 1826, when a special election was held for that purpose. A small two-story brick building was erected on the “central acre” of John Bickham’s donation with the parish offices on the first floor and the courtroom on the second. This building was used until 1858, when a second courthouse, also of brick, was erected. In 1906 a brick courthouse was built to replace a temporary wooden courthouse constructed after the fire of 1897. The present courthouse, costing $50,000, was completed in 1938. Franklinton was chartered by the state legislature on March 7, 1896. The act of incorporation provided for a mayor and five aldermen, and set the town limits at one square mile. The mayor was designed ex officio justice of the peace with power to suppress “riots, routs, unlawful assemblies, affrays, and tumults.” ‘Pumpkin Studs’ organized During the War Between the States, Franklinton, along with the Parish, contributed to the manpower of the Confederate Army; in 1862 a unit of cavalry, known as the “pumpkin Studs”, was organized in the town. According to the census report of 1870, in 1860 Franklinton had 143 inhabitants, 63 of whom were white. Perhaps as a consequence of the War Between the States and Reconstruction, the population of the town declined in the period 1860-1870 from 143 to 121 inhabitants. By 1880 there were only 97 persons living in Franklinton, but the next twenty years brought an increase of 100%, the total population in 1900 being 236. In 1910, after large-scale lumbering developments were begun in the pine forests of Washington Parish, the population figure of Franklinton jumped to 814. In 1920 Franklinton had a population of 964; in 1930 the number was 963. The 1940 population figure was 1,579. Log and box frame houses The early settlers of Washington Parish built their log cabins and “box” or frame houses along the banks or in the valleys of the rivers and numerous creeks. Among the early settlers in the vicinity of Franklinton were George Ellis, whose land was just across the Bogue Chitto River from the present site of Franklinton; John Bickham, who settled on the immediate site of the town; Colonel Thomas C. Warner, the first parish judge, whose farm was between Franklinton and what is now Enon; Edwin Fussell, whose property adjoined that of Abner Bickham near the present town of Mt. Hermon; and the Lawrence’s, who gave their name to the creek just south of Franklinton. John Burch, whose father emigrated from Germany, moved in 1820 to Franklinton, where he built the first storehouse and the first “box” dwelling in the town. On Silver Creek he built the first grist mill in the parish. Classes held in a log cabin The first settlers of Franklinton and the surrounding country showed an early interest in education. In 1838 they organized the Franklinton Academy, the first formal institution of higher learning in the parish. This academy was incorporated through the efforts of William Simmons, J. A. Irwin, Hezekiah Magee, James S. Bickham, Thomas C. Warner, Robert F. Sibley and Joel Pearson, who were also the first trustees. A thousand dollar a year for a period of five years was appropriated by the legislature on condition that 10 indigent orphans be educated at this institution. At this time classes were held in a log cabin just south of Mile Branch stream near Franklinton, but in 1840 a frame building with green shutters, “the only shutters to be seen in all the parish”, was erected by Pleas Magee (son of Hezekiah Magee) and John Lawrence. Built with an additional $1,500 appropriated by the legislature for that purpose, this school, on the bank of the Bogue Chitto just opposite the courthouse, became known as “Professor Dixon’s Academy”, after the first principal. Dixon’s Salary guaranteed Professor Dixon’s salary was guaranteed by five of the original settlers, including Hezekiah Magee, Thomas C. Warner and John Bickham. The “ten indigent orphans” were boarded with “Uncle” Steve Ellis, a Methodist preacher. During the early years of the Franklinton Academy pupils came not only from Washington Parish, but from Livingston and St. Helena Parishes in Louisiana and neighboring counties in Mississippi. In 1892, the “green-shuttered” schoolhouse was replaced by a two story frame building known as Franklinton Central Institute. At some time prior to 1897, the first Negro school was build on “Franklinton Hill”…There had been a Choctaw Indian school on the parish road to Franklinton as early as 1893. After the Franklinton Central Institute was destroyed by a hurricane, a brick building was erected for the high school. The principal’s home, and a frame home economics building and “Primary College” were erected at the same time. A $225,000 high school, serving a large part of the surrounding territory was built to replace the Franklinton High School destroyed by fire in 1938. Information on t he beginnings of the religious institutions in Franklinton is meager or obscure. The first Baptist services in town of which there is any record were held in private home, subsequently in the Masonic Lodge and after that about 1896 in a log cabin on Mile Branch Hill. Later the log cabin was replaced by a frame church built in a pine grove near Mile Branch Stream on land donated by R. D. Magee, and the church became known as the Mile Branch Baptist Church. The Babington brothers donated land in Franklinton on which a one-story frame building was erected in 1890 and the name was changed to the Franklinton Baptist Church. Methodist Church founded The first Methodist Church in Franklinton was organized in 1842. This was also the first Methodist Church in the parish, the outgrowth of which is the present Centenary Methodist Episcopal Church on the corner of Pearl and Washington Streets. Among the early members were David Magee, son of Hezekiah Magee, and John R. Wood and Robert Babington. After 1851 when the Masonic Lodge was chartered, meetings were held in the Masonic Building until some time in the 1890’s when a church was built in Franklinton on land donated by John R. Wood. First newspaper in 1887 The first newspaper in Washington Parish was established in Franklinton in 1887. Inaugurated by W. W. Babington and edited by L. W. Stovall, this paper was known as the New Era. In 1900 it became the property of T. D. Bickham, who also brought the Washington Progress, a paper established in Franklinton by A. H. Faust and published for a few months under the joint editorship of Prentiss B. Carter and J. Vol Brock. The two papers were consolidated. Upon the death of T. D. Bickham, the administration of the paper was continued by his daughter, Alice Bickham Hart. In 1910, the New Era was combined with the Washington Leader, a paper edited since its inception in 1906 by J. Vol Brock; the new paper was called The Era-Leader. The paper is still published in Franklinton and is the official organ of the town council… In 1941 the mayor of Franklinton was Mouton Bickham. In the discharge of his official duties he was assisted by the following aldermen: W. E. Magee, J. Albert Moore, Eric Fussell, C. J. Gayer, and H. J. Stafford. The governing body met on the second Thursday of every month at the parish courthouse. Other town officers were Belma Burris, Clerk: C. C. Magee, Day Marshal; and W. M. McLain, Night Marshal.