Cemeteries: LOUISIANA ARMY AMMUNITION PLANT, Webster Par., Louisiana Submitter: Clifton D. Cardin Date: Feb. 2001 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** CEMETERIES & GRAVES AN INDEPTH STUDY OF THE CEMETERIES AND GRAVES LOCATED ON THE LOUISIANA ARMY AMMUNITION PLANT NEAR MINDEN, LOUISIANA. INCLUDING A STUDY OF ALLENTOWN AND ALLEN BROS. & WADLEY LTD. SAWMILL located in the extreme western portion of the "old" LAAP WRITTEN BY CLIFTON D. CARDIN BOSSIER PARISH HISTORIAN PRODUCED AT NO COST TO LOUISIANA ARMY AMMUNITION PLANT, MORTON THIOKOL, OR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CONTENTS PURPOSE TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS USED ALLENTOWN (HISTORY OF TOWN) CEMETERIES: INVENTORIES AND/OR HISTORIES ALLENTOWN CEMETERY CROWE CEMETERY JIM DAVIS CEMETERY KEENE CEMETERY KNOTTINGHAM CEMETERY RAINE CEMETERY RICHARDSON CEMETERY VANORSDEL CEMETERY WALKER CEMETERY NOTES INDEX PURPOSE, A thorough investigation of the cemeteries and burials on what is currently known as the Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant offers a very unique look into undisturbed pre-World War II burial grounds. When the LAAP was created in the 1940's, plantations in both Bossier & Webster Parish were purchased and consolidated therefore creating an "island" of land that would supply the Federal Government with the seclusion necessary to build explosive munitions, both far away from civilization and from the prying eyes of our global enemies. This island would provide the government with the ability to guard it's manufacturing capability, size and extent of the munitions being made. The resultant absorbing of these nine cemeteries would protect them from the normal wear and tear that is associated with cemeteries that are frequented by more burials and general public traffic. Very few burials were allowed in these cemeteries after the 1940's. Evidently when the Government took control of these lands, they also assumed the role of providing perpetual care to these cemeteries. This role has been fulfilled very well, the LAAP fencing and maintaining these areas with utmost respect to their inhabitants. Another ironic twist has been the fact that when the government took control of these cemeteries, many of them had only wooden markers standing quiet vigil on top of their respective graves. These wooden markers would not reveal the names of their charges. The federal government apparently replaced these wooden markers with generic concrete markers, which do not reveal the names of their inhabitants either. Five of these nine cemeteries contains burials, with generic headstones, and although the names of the cemeteries are known, the names of the residents are not. Another prime reason to inventory and document these graves is to supply to the "outside" world a bona-fide list of those who are known to be buried within the confines of the Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant, without it becoming necessary for them to gain permission and travel into LAAP. LOUISIANA ARMY AMMUNITION PLANT GRAVEYARD LOCATOR MAP TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS USED; (information) = information in brackets was either supplied by the author, another source or someone kin to the person. It is assumed correct, although the author assumes no liability b/ = brother of bo/ = born in bu/ = buried with c/ = child of, sex not indicated d/ = daughter of di/ = died in f/ = father of h/ = husband of inf/ = infant of k/ = kin to LAAP = Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant m/ = mother of ?name = believed buried here but no headstone, information supplied by a family member of when original work was done. no/ = north of, means buried north of that person s/ = son of S,T,R = section, township, range, legal location of cemetery S__,T__N,R__W, = Section, Township ? North, Range ? West temp/marker = tempory metal marker, could be missing or impossible to read later. 2 stones = there are two headstones for this person w/ = wife of ALLENTOWN Allentown Cemetery is the most westerly of the nine cemeteries located within the confines of the Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant. It is the only cemetery on LAAP that is in the current Bossier Parish. Allentown Cemetery was named because of it's close proximity to a locale that after 1891 became known as Allentown. Allentown was best described by the Shreveport Times, October 24, 1894. ALLENTOWN A Veritable Human Bee Hive - A Constant Hum from Morning till Night. "In the Spring of 1891, Messrs. Allen Bros. & Wadley, saw mill men of long experience, bought several thousand acres of land in Bossier Parish, and, three miles north of Haughton, they established one of the largest and most complete saw and planing mill plants in the State. This place is known as Allentown. It is one of the busiest places in America. From daylight until dark the hum of the saws and clattering of the planing mill knives furnish music by which every man and boy able to do duty, march. There are no drones or idlers at Allentown, and none are allowed to remain there - all must work or move on. From 120 to 140 men are kept constantly employed. The employees live within a short distance of the mill in houses which were built for their comfort and convenience by the company. While Allentown is not incorporated, yet the best of order and discipline is maintained. In a word, it is a model town. It has its own school house, church and Sunday school;,a resident physician, a large store which is stocked from one end to the other with general merchandise, and many other comforts and conveniences not often found in more pretentious towns. The average daily attendance at school is forty. Church services are held regularly once a month by Rev. J. B. Williams, a Methodist minister. Sunday school services are held regularly every Sabbath. Dr. W. J. Mobley is the resident physician. No whiskey or intoxicants of any kind are allowed to be sold or handled, and immediate discharge is the penalty for any employee, it matters not what position he occupies, who appears in Allentown drunk or under the influence of liquor. This is an inflexible rule of Messrs. Allen Bros. & Wadley. The employees are paid off every evening at 6 o'clock. THE MILL AND IT'S CAPACITY; The saw and planing mills are furnished throughout with the best and latest improved machinery, every piece of which is entirely new. All kinds of yellow and oak lumber are manufactured. The average daily output of lumber is about 70,00 feet and the monthly shipments range from sixty to ninety cars per month. This lumber is shipped principally to Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, North and South Dakota, Illinois, Missouri, Texas and the Indian Territory. The capactiy of the planing mill is 100,000 feet per day, Quite recently a Ketchum dry kiln with drying capacity of 40,000 feet per day, has been put up. There is on hand at present about 4,000,000 feet of lumber. The shipping point of Allen Bros. & Wadley is Wadley's switch on the Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railroad, three miles east of Haughton, while their express and telegraph office is at the latter place. This firm owns nine miles of railroad, which they are gradually extending due north, and will soon reach the Bodcau. One locomotive and twenty flat cars are daily employed hauling logs from the interior to the mill. Allen Bros. & Wadley own 6,000 or 7,000 acres of timber land and own the timber on thousands of acres of other lands adjacent to their line of railroad. The railroad is not only indispensable to the mill, but is of great service to the people living along or in close proximity to it. For some time the farmers have been endeavoring to get their cotton hauled by rail to Wadley's station, and Messr. Allen Bros. & Wadley, ever ready to do all in their power to accomodate their friends, have entered into correspondence with the officials of the Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railroad and as soon as satisfactory arrangements can be made they will build a warehouse at Wadley station and begin to haul cotton and other farms products to and from that station. The population of Allen-town is between 400 & 500 souls. It is stricly a saw mill town, where everything is on the qui vive from sun rise to sun set. It is a veritable human bee hive. There drones, idlers or tramps have no abode. Allentown is a regular post office and has daily mail service." The sawmill operated in eastern Bossier Parish until 1908. Remains of the old sawmill still exist, outside the domain of the LAAP, but very close to this cemetery, due west. Allentown itself has remained a mystical area, it's remains held under the ownership of the LAAP until about 1990, when the property was sold off by the Federal Government. In 1994 there was a shooting range located just north and east of the old Allentown sawmill remains. Even today the road leading north-east from Haughton is still called Allentown Road, although it no longers reaches through Allentown to Hwy 80. A thorough search of the old sawmill location might reveal interesting historical finds. ALLENTOWN CEMETERY, Is in the Southwest corner of the Northeast 1/4 of the Southeast 1/4 of Section 11, Township 18 North, Range 11 West. It is well maintained by the LAAP management. It was fenced by the federal government by a strong cyclone fence that measures 21 ft. by 24 ft. An original archeological survey of the area performed in the 1980's interviewed a local informant who worked at the LAAP for many years, and he recalled that prior to the 1940's, the cemetery had 17-20 graves which were marked with wooden markers. He remarked that by the time the U. S. Government fenced the area, only one headstone was evident. That headstone reads; IN LOVING MEMORY OF OUR DEAR BABY ROSSIE LEE WIMBUSH BORN NOV 13 1898 DIED MCH 13 1899 AGE 4 MTS The headstone is broken laterally across the surname, and the name and inscriptions are hard to read. The original 1980's survey apparently could not read the inscriptions and accepted a local newspapers notion that the childs name was Wimberlie. Their research could not find out anything about the child. But close inspection of the headstone does reveal that the name is definitely WIMBUSH. GENEALOGICAL INFORMATION, It is highly likely that the child is the daughter of Jack and Malinda Davis Wimbush. Mr. Wimbush was an employee of Allen Bros. & Wadley Ltd since about 1897, for on June 20, 1907, the sawmill "sold" the forty acre tract which contained the childs burial site to Jack Wimbush "for $1.00 and acknowlegment of 10 years of service." The 1900 census records that Jack Wimbush was born in Virginia in September of 1857. His wife Malinda was born in Louisiana in October of 1867. It records that they were married in 1884 and had at least two other children Cora, born in Louisiana in February of 1886 and Robert, born in Louisiana in October of 1892. The 1900 census also records that Jack was section foreman, meaning he held the important job of making sure the sawmills extensive railroad tracks were kept in good working condition. He might have also overseen the handling and loading of the railcars, quite an accomplishment for a negro employee considering the racial atmosphere in Bossier/Webster Parish at the turn of the century (see note 1). It was quite a compliment to Jack Wimbush for Allen Bros. & Wadley to sell him 40 acres of land for $1.00. Jack Wimbush was definitely censused as living among the laborers of Allentown in ward 6. In fact, Wm. Wadley was censused shortly after Jack Wimbush. Jack retained the land for years, leasing it June 7, 1922 to J. W. Holt and finally selling it Oct 31, 1923 to J. K. & Audrey Murff Sheppard. Jack Wimbush was last known living in Haughton, in 1923, when he sold the land. There are presently no Wimbush's living in either Haughton or Shreveport. No relatives were found to interview. None of the conveyances in Bossier Parish Courthouse pertaining to this tract of land contain any mention of the Allentown Cemetery, or the burial site of Rossie Lee Wimbush. CONCLUSION, There has never been a thorough search of the Allentown Cemetery area using metal detectors or ground probes to determine if evidence can be obtained of the possibility of other graves. Metal detectors can determine if there are lead or tin caskets buried underneath the ground and ground probes can determine if headstones have fallen and subsequently covered by forest debris, or if the headstones may have sunken, which has been the case in other cemeteries located in the flat woodlands similiar to that which surround the Allentown Cemetery. CROWE CEMETERY, Is located in the West 1/2 of the SE 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of Section 3, T18N, R10W. There are no indications why it is named Crowe. HEADSTONE**BIRTH**DEATH**NOTES Sidney Hope BATEN**Dec 22, 1887**Feb 9, 1932 Mabel BRUNSON**Aug 11, 1901**Aug 25, 1903**d/Mat & Lula Stella Harvill COLE**Jun 26, 1874**Feb 19, 1907**w/A.B. Cole "Jim" J. A. COLLINS**Mar 5, 1857**Dec 23, 1917**h/S.L.Collins Lula Wheless COLLINS**Mar 4, 1887**Aug 11, 1918**w/L.S.Collins Luther S. COLLINS**Nov 2, 1899**Jan 12, 1918**h/L.W.Collins **Pvt Co F 54 Infantry World War I Sallie L. COLLINS**Sep 5, 1868**May 10, 1941**w/J.A.Collins Margaret Ann CUNNINGHAM.n/a (1853?)**Jul 23, 1905**aged 52 yrs. **stone erected by Jasper Van dusen Samuel L. FULLER**Jul 24, 1843**May 19, 1911**h/R.B.Fuller **Co E 12 La Inf CSA "Baby" GRAY**Jan 22, 1916 Hugh R. HAMMER**Jul 25, 1875**Nov 23, 1912 **Woodmen of the World marker, "Infant" HARVILL**Sep 18, 1903**Sep 20, 1903 **s/ T. C. & H. A. Harvill Mildred HARVILL**Jan 10, 1911**Jan 21, 1911 Hugh L. HUDSON**Nov 28, 1853**Jul 15, 1914**60yrs8ms18dy **son of Col. Elijah & Sarah Hudson David E. MORE**n/a**Jul 21, 1880 Walter Warren SELLARS**Jan 25, 1906**Mar 8, 1916 **son of R. H. & L. M. Sellars A. Clyde STEVENS**Apr 2, 1889**May 15, 1932 Anna M. STEVENS**May 2, 1860**May 4, 1931**mother F. E. STEVENS**Nov 24, 1887**May 20, 1932 "Baby" Francis STEVENS**Dec 6, 1923**Jan 16, 1924 **dau. of T. E. & S. E. Stevens T. L. STEVENS**May 31, 1842**May 26, 1907 William STEVENS**Jul 11, 1917**Oct 5, 1921 **son of T. E. & S. E. Stevens J. W. E. STEWART**Jan 22, 1886**Aug 15, 1889 **son of J. W. & I. E. Stewart Francis TAYLOR**Jan 30, 1887**Apr 11, 1921 **wife of T. A. Taylor Allie Burns WALKER**Mar 15, 1871**Apr 14, 1894 **wife of William Walter Walker Amanda WALKER**Apr 18, 1848**Aug 24, 1848 Benjamin WALKER**Mar 19, 1809**Jul 15, 1872 **husband of Eveline Deloach Walker Calvin WALKER**Sep 13, 1855**Oct 4, 1865 Eveline Deloach WALKER**Feb 7, 1817**Sep 19, 1872 **wife of Benjamin Walker "Infant" WALKER**no dates**son of W. W. & A. B. Walker Julia A. WALKER**Jan 10, 1845**Sep 2, 1848 Katie O'Neal WALKER**Jan 29, 1841**Dec 28, 1899 **wife of Napolean B. Walker Napolean B. WALKER**no dates**no dates** **husband of Katie O'Neal Walker **Co H 1 La Hv Arty CSA Nettie Sue WALKER**Apr 7, 1923**no dates **daughter of Mrs. August Fischer Rufus B. WALKER**Mar 28, 1844**Jul 28, 1845 Sidney WALKER**Mar 9, 1841**Jan 1886 Thomas Nicholls WALKER**Mar 27, 1892**Apr 19, 1923 William Walter WALKER**Oct 12, 1871**Apr 26, 1957 **husband of Allie Burns Walker Jacob N. WHELESS**no dates**Co L 12 La Inf CSA GENEALOGICAL INFORMATION, Mildred Harvill was the daughter of T. C. & L. A. Harvill. Samuel L. Fuller is believed to be the father of Katie Fuller, the mother of Turner Coleman Harvill. She had married Tom Harvill. Stella Harvill Cole was the sister of T. C. Harvill. She married A. B. Cole who worked for the V. S. & P. Railroad. She died in childbirth. It is believed that he remarried a school teacher at Dubberly named "Cousson". T. C. Harvill was Turner Coleman Harvill and his wife was Lillie Amelia Harvill. Hugh L. Hudson was the son of Col. Elijah and Sarah (Doyle) Hudson. Elijah & Sarah were married Feb. 3, 1853 in Bossier Parish. Allie Burns Walker was William Walter Walkers first wife. She died in childbirth. The unnamed child was buried with her and her husband. Napolean Bonaparte Walker is believed to have lived until about 1934. William Walter Walker was first married to Allie Burns Walker. After she died he remarried and lived almost 63 years longer than his first wife. It is remembered that he married a "Hatley" woman. He died and was buried with his first wife, then his second wife remarried a man named "Shattuck" and she in turn was buried with her second husband at the Antioch Baptist Church, Dixie Inn, La. CREDITS, Harvill information supplied by Mrs. Louise Harvill Stewart of Doyline. Mildred Harvill was her little sister and Turner Coleman & Lille Amelia Harvill were her parents. Mrs. Louise Harvill Stewart definitely advised me not to ask her age, but if her little sister was born in 1911...hum??? William Walter Walker information supplied by James Leroy Walker of Minden, LA. Allie Burns Walker information supplied by Mrs. Naomi Floyd of Princeton, LA. JIM DAVIS CEMETERY, Is located in the West 1/2 of the SW 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of Section 10, T18N, R10W. The Jim Davis Cemetery is one of those cemeteries on the LAAP that do not contain any readable headstones. There are eleven (11) generic headstones of the type apparently installed by the federal government when the LAAP assumed perpetual care of this cemetery. All of these headstones are at one end of the cemetery, although the fence contains about twice the space as the headstones cover. Apparently the installers of the cyclone fence felt there were burials at the other end of this cemetery, although there wasn't apparently any positive graves upon which to install generic headstones. The Jim Davis Cemetery is contained within a 20 ft by 40 ft cyclone fence. A sign proudly proclaims the name of the cemetery although the headstones don't reveal the inhabitants therein. There are no current indications why the cemetery is named Jim Davis Cemetery. KEENE CEMETERY, Is located in the NE 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of Section 13, Township 18 North, Range 10 West. It is another of those cemeteries that do not contain any readable headstones. There are six (6) generic headstones standing lone vigil above their charges. Again there are no indications why the cemetery is named Keene Cemetery, although a thorough title search of the land has not been attempted. KNOTTINGHAM CEMETERY, Is located in the SW 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of Section 6, Township 18 North, Range 9 West. The cemetery has no readable headstone. There are twelve (12) generic headstones placed within the confines of the cyclone fence. The cemetery is apparently vaguely named after the Nottingham Plantation that stood here prior to and after the Civil War. The plantation encompassed at least 800 acres. At one time Leonard Hunt, who had purchased the plantation from the Nottingham's sold it back to them for $5. The names of the known Nottingham's are; Rebecca F. V. Nottingham, Sarah H. Guttenberger nee Nottingham, Marion W. Swanson nee Nottingham, and Ida H. Willis nee Nottingham all related to Warren D. Nottingham who was appointed trustee to oversee the property. All of these Nottingham's were from Bibb County, Georgia. They sold this property in 1893 for $1500. RAINE CEMETERY, Is located on the eastern line of the NE 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of Section 17, T18N, R10W. It is surrounded by a cyclone fence measuring 30 ft by 75 ft. There are approximately fourteen (14) headstones of the generic type. There are only four readable headstones. HEADSTONE**BIRTH**DEATH**NOTES Ruby Maude JACKSON**Jan 26, 1891**Nov 17, 1894 Little Tom JACKSON**Nov 29, 1892**Oct 23, 1893 **son of L. E. Jackson Mary J. JACKSON**May 19, 1830**May 24, 1893 **born in Alabama **wife of J. E. Jackson Maud KAMPEN**Feb 5, 1872**Oct 8, 1893 **wife of H. R. Kampen A thorough search of all local newspapers including the Shreveport Times, Minden newspapers, Bossier Banner, and the Bossier Press-Tribune have not revealed any information about these burials. The 1880 Census for Bossier Parish doesn't reveal anyone with the names recorded. There is of course no 1890 census for Bossier Parish. There is a possibility that these children were kin to the Jackson Brothers who ran a store nearby. The store operated from about the 1900's until the 1930's. In fact one of the brothers was J. Jackson. RICHARDSON CEMETERY, Is located in the SE 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of Section 11, TW18N, R10W. The land was originally patented by Hezekiah Hall on September 1, 1849. The Cemetery was apparently named for the Sanders Richardson family which encompassed the majority of the burials there. Although when Sarah Catherine Wart was buried here in 1907, her obituary notated that her body was shipped via the Vicksburg Shreveport & Pacific train to Morgan's Switch and then carried to the "family cemetery" for burial. The cemetery is enclosed in cyclone fence measuring approximately 54 ft by 54 ft. It has 19 generic headstones bearing no inscriptions. A legal description in 1941 recorded that the land was last owned by Calvin C. Walker, who recorded that then the cemetery had about 50 burials. Calvin C. Walker had purchased the land in 1918 and farmed it until 1941. Calvin C. Walker's home was on the same 15 acre tract that contained the Richardson Cemetery, which was in at the south end of the tract. HEADSTONE**BIRTH**DEATH**NOTES Eunica DORRIS**May 17, 1808**Jul 29, 1881 Esther R. GRAY**Sep 16, 1850**Oct 31, 1921**w/W.P.Gray Janie E. GRAY**Apr 10, 1922**May 10, 1974 John T. GRAY**Jan 22, 1886**Jun 15, 1926 Lawson M. GRAY**Dec 22, 1889**Oct 18, 1918 William P. GRAY**Sep 29, 1848**May 15, 1930**h/E.R.Gray Fannie Richardson MARTIN.Aug 5, 1850**Aug 12, 1879**w/James James Franklin MARTIN**Oct 25, 1847**Feb 15, 1926**h/F.R.Martin Jeannette C. Baten McCORD.Apr 27, 1858**Feb 6, 1929**w/J.McCord Anna V. RICHARDSON**(Mar 22, 1858)**Apr 11, 1911**age 54 **2nd wife of Montgomery Thomas Richardson Ben F. RICHARDSON**Jul 25, 1867**Feb 26, 1946**h/Lilla May Lilla May RICHARDSON**Nov 29, 1870**Mar 18, 1927**w/Ben F. Lucinda Outlaw RICHARDSON.Mar 11, 1811**Feb 2, 1882**w/S.Richar.. Ludie RICHARDSON**ca 1886**ca 1903**d/M.T.&A.V. Luther L. RICHARDSON**Jan 5, 1900**Oct 5, 1902**s/B.F.&L.M. M. T. RICHARDSON**n/a**Aug 29, 1900**age 47 **husband of 1st, Mary E. Richardson **husband of 2nd, Anna V. Richardson Martha Ann RICHARDSON**Jan 25, 1839**Oct 11, 1909**w/Peter Mary C. Walker RICHARDSON.Feb 10, 1838**Mar 8, 1923**w/S.Richa... Peter RICHARDSON**May 22, 1831**Apr 16, 1915**h/Martha Ann Sanders RICHARDSON**Sep 1, 1810**Jan 9, 1903**h/L.O.&M.W. Rosie C. TABOR**Jan 10, 1839**Jun 27, 1892**w/W.T.Tabor W. T. TABOR**Dec 2, 1829**Jan 6, 1896**h/R.C.Tabor Charles S. THOMPSON**Oct 5, 1889**Oct 26, 1889**s/C.P.&M.L. Bennett L. THOMPSON**May 29, 1892**Sep 26, 1892**s/C.P.&M.L. Lillie Estelle WART**Jul 7, 1881**Dec 16, 1882**d/W.&S.C.Wart Miles Alfred WART**Jan 31, 1879**Dec 12, 1882**s/W.&S.C.Wart Sarah Catherine WART**Apr 17, 1847**May 8, 1907**w/W.Wart Warren WART**n/a**n/a **h/S.C.Wart **CO I - 4 MO CAV - CSA OTHER POSSIBLE GRAVES Mary E. Hendricks RICHARDSON. **NO DATES AVAILABLE Tommie WART****NO DATES AVAILABLE GENEALOGICAL INFORMATION Janie E. Gray was the only daughter of John T. Gray & Anna Mae Wheeles. Lawson M. Gray was the son of Esther R. & William P. Gray. He was the brother of John T. Gray. Lawson died of influenza at the outbreak of WWI. Fannie Richardson Martin was born Lydia Frances Richardson, the daughter of Sanders and Lucinda (Outlaw) Richardson. She was born at Mt. Lebanon, Louisiana shortly before the family moved to the present location of LAAP. She married James Franklin Martin in Panola County, Texas on August 5, 1875. Jeannette Clay Baten McCord was the wife of Rev. Jno. Lorenzo McCord. She was born in Coffee County, Alabama, and was the daughter of Catherine Matilda (Lunsford) and Thomas James Baten. Sanders Richardson was her great uncle. She lived with her nephew, Calvin Clay Walker, near Richardson Cemetery until she died. Anna Virginia Franks Richardson was born at Woodland, Bossier Parish, Louisiana on March 22, 1858 and married Montgomery Thomas Richardson in 1883. After the death of her husband in 1900 at the home of his father , Sanders Richardson, Anna Richardson moved to Little Rock, Arkansas. She died there and her remains were shipped to Minden and interred in the Richardson Cemetery. Benjamin Ford Richardson was the son of Peter and Martha (Ford) Richardson and the grandson of Sanders and Lucinda (Outlaw) Richardson. He married Lilla May Talton on October 15, 1890. Lilla May (Talton) Richardson was born in Dubberly, Louisiaa and married Benjamin Ford Richardson on October 15, 1890. Her grandmother was Penelope (Outlaw) Pearce, who was the sister of Benjamin Ford Richardson's grandmother, Lucinda (Outlaw) Richardson. Lucinda Outlaw Richardson was the first wife of Sanders Richardson. She was the daughter of John & Elizabeth (Evans) Outlaw. She was born in Georgia. She married Sanders Richardson in Twiggs County, GA., on July 15, 1830 and they moved to Louisiana in the late 1840's. Eventually she bore 10 children; Peter, Benjamin Milton, Mary Camilla, Nancy Elizabeth, James Sanders, Sidney Hartwell, Jeremiah Dawson, Ruth Caroline, Lydia Frances and Montgomery Thomas Richardson. Ludie Richardson was age 17 at the time of her death. She was the granddaughter of Sanders & Lucinda (Outlaw) Richardson and the daughter of Montgomery Thomas Richardson and his second wife, Anna Virginia Franks Richardson. Luther L. Richardson was the son of B. F. & L. M. Richardson. Luther Longino Richardson, was the great grandson of Sanders and Lucinda (Outlaw) Richardson. He was probably named for Minden's well-beloved doctor, Luther Longino, who published a description in 1930 of the "Flatwoods" area in which the Richardson and other families lived. M. T. Richardson was the youngest son of Sanders and Lucinda (Outlaw) Richardson. Montgomery Thomas Richardson was married twice, first to Mary Hendricks in 1874 and second to Anna Virgina Franks in 1883. He died in his father's home, which is believed to have stood approximately 1/2 mile east of the Richardson Cemetery. Martha Ann Richardson was the wife of Peter Richardson. She was born in Alabama as Martha Ann Ford. Her parents were Mr. & Mrs. James Ford who had patented the NE1/4 of Section 9, TW18N, R10W on March 7, 1850 and the SW1/4 of SW 1/4 of Section 10, on July 11, 1851. The family lived on their property until 1885 when they sold out to Leary and Crichton. Mary C. Walker Richardson was the second wife of Sanders Richardson. They were married in 1883. Mary Catherine Walker was the daughter of Benjamin & Emeline (Deloach) Walker. In 1918, her nephew Calvin Clay Walker, bought the 40 acres on which the Richardson Cemetery is located. One of her brothers, Christopher Columbus Walker, lived north of the Cemetery in the SE 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of Section 2, TW18N, R10W with his wife, Lou Baten Walker. A second brother, Napoleon Bonaparte Walker lived immediately north of Christopher Columbus Walker with his wife, Louvisa Lovedy Baten. Peter Richardson, was the son of Sanders and Lucinda (Outlaw) Richardson and married Martha Ford on June 24, 1858. On May 20, 1863 he enrolled in Company B (Grays), Louisiana Infantry, Bossier Parish, Louisiana. He was taken prisoner during the Civil War, then paroled in Shreveport on June 14, 1865. Sanders Richardson was the son of John & Mary (Stokes) Richardson and was born in Anson County, North Carolina. The family moved to Twiggs County, Ga. and Richardson married Lucinda Outlaw on July 15, 1830. In the late 1840's, the Sanders Richardson family moved to Louisiana and settled on the present site of the LAAP. On February 25, 1872, Sanders and Lucinda were charter members of the Antioch Baptist Church, Dixie Inn, LA. Rosie C. (Austin) Tabor was the wife of William T. Tabor. Her great-uncle was Sanders Richardson. Bennett L. Thompson was the son of Charles Puckett & Matilda (Liewald) Thompson, and the grandson of Mary Camilla (Richardson) and Montgomery Bonaparte Thompson and the great-grandson of Sanders and Lucinda (Outlaw) Richardson. Charles S. Thompson was the brother of Bennett L. Thompson. Sarah Catherine Wart was the wife of Warren Wart. She died May 8, 1907 of a lengthy illness. The Shreveport Journal recorded that she died in Shreveport and her body was shipped via the Vicksburg Shreveport & Pacific Railroad to Morgan's Switch and then to the family Cemetery. No death report has been found for Warren Wart who was apparently alive at the time of his wife's death. VANORSDEL CEMETERY, Is located in the Southwest Corner of the Northeast 1/4 of the Northwest 1/4 of Section 15, Township 18 North, Range 10 West. It is enclosed by a cyclone fence approximately 40 ft by 40 ft. It contains 10 generic concrete headstones. It also contains one headstone that includes the two following inscriptions. HEADSTONE**DEATH**AGE AT DEATH Gronison V. VANORSDEL**Aug 17, 1918**61 yrs, 8 mo, 20 days and wife Clara Jackson VANORSDEL.Oct 20, 1917**59 yrs,6 mo,4 days An indepth search for an obituary on Gronison or Clara Vanorsdel, in the Shreveport Times, the Minden newspapers and the Bossier Banner and the Bossier Press Tribune of that time frame reveals nothing about this couple. The original archeological survey concerning this area included testimony from a granddaughter of Granison & Clara Vanorsdel who revealed others interred at the cemetery were; OTHER POSSIBLE GRAVES Mariah Vanorsdel HARRIS, a daughter William VANORSDEL, a son Candy VANORSDEL, a brother E. H. FULLER, a grandson of Mariah Vanorsdel Harris Unidentified grandchild of Mariah Vanorsdel Harris Unidentified child of people who lived on the Vanorsdel place. SURVEY REPORT The same 1980's survey reported; "Deed records and grave markers indicate that the Van Arsdale (sic) Cemetery dates from the World War I period when Grandison (sic) and Clara Van Arsdale (sic) were intered there. The site is not the location of significant landscape features or funerary art; however, the information gathered to date suggests that the Van Arsdales (sic) were an important Black family in the eastern portion of the Plant who may have come to the area as slaves and who later accumulated a sizable amount of property which they farmed until 1941. Other sites are known to have been asssociated with the Van Arsdales were so badly disturbed by the government after 1941 that they cannnot be considered eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. As a result, the Van Arsdale Cemetery remains the most intact and least distrubed site on the Plant that is associated with this Black family. It is recommended, therefore, that the Cemetery be considered potentially eligible for listing on the National Register. A final, more complete assessment would be made as additional historical research is carried out at the Plant. Such additional research will contribute information concerning the historical development of the area as a whole and thus the relative importance of the Van Arsdale family." The same archeological survey recorded that "Tom Vanorsdel built his home and syrup mill southeast of the intersection of Fourth Street and Java Road, Lucius Vanorsdel built a home just south of the water tower adjacent to Fourth Street, Charles Vanorsdel's house was located north of Lucius, and Clemmie Vanorsdel 's home was near the cemetery. Evidence of most of these housesites is apparent on a 1916 Webster Parish soil survey map and/or the 1939 aerial photograph of the area." The author's interview with the great-nephew (Candy Vanorsdel's grandson) of Gronison Vanorsdel revealed many interesting aspects of Gronison Vanorsdel's life. I had noticed in my research that the land was originally owned by Wm. Vanorsdel, a white man who owned 38 slaves at the outbreak of the Civil War. Mr. Vanorsdel's death in 1867 caused quite a stir because he was murdered by three desperadoes from Texas. A $1500 reward was offered for the capture of Kit Gregory, about 18 years old, black hair and eyes, and a down-cast look, his complexion is dark or rather yellow, speaks very little and slowly, and weighs about 125 pounds, 5 feet 2 or 3 inches high; Ben Gregory, about 20 years old, black hair and eyes, his eyes quite small, his complexion is yellow or sunburnt, about 6 feet high, very slim and will weigh about 130 or 133 pounds; and also Jim White, about 23 years old, dark hair and rather blue eyes, about 5 feet 8 or 9 inches high, well made, and a great talker, and one of his arms (thought to be left) is crooked from being once broken. The money was offered by several friends and neighbors of Wm. Vanorsdel, including A. McIntyre (of McIntyre), D. B. Doyle (of Doyline fame), and W. F. Boon (who Boone Creek is named after). After Wm. Vanorsdel's death he apparently left no known descendents, for out of state relatives claimed his massive fortune and forced it's sell. Years later Gronison Vanorsdel, mulatto, returned and purchased the old homesite. My suspicions where confirmed when I interviewed the descendents. He did reveal that Gronison was the son of Wm. Vanorsdel (white) and had taken his fathers name after emancipation. (That was the technique, negroes did not take the name of their master after the Civil War, but that of their biological father.) The descendent revealed that Gronison's mother had been a cook in the plantation of Wm. Vanorsdel. WALKER CEMETERY, Is located in the Southwest corner of the Northwest 1/4 of the Northeast 1/4 of Section 14, Township 18 North, Range 10 West. It is surrounded by a cyclone fence measuring app. 40 feet long and 30 feet wide. It contains seven generic headstones. It was apparently named for and may contain the burials of some of the Walker family, all of whom owned land nearby. The property was last owned by Harvey A. & Zelma (Smith) Walker. NOTES Note #1. One of the incidents recorded by William Garrett & Emily D. Allen Wadley occured April 21, 1900. They wrote; "I overlooked mentioning in the part about Allentown a tragedy in the assassination of Will White, the planing-mill foreman and the resultant murder of four negroes. White had taken an active part in the lynching and burning alive of a negro who had assaulted and attempted to murder a lady living at Doyline where the execution took place. White cut out the heart of the burned negro and tied it onto his saddle. He also lit the fire that burned the negro, after having ridden day and night in running down and making the arrest of the negro. This so enraged the negroes working for the company that one of his negro workmen in the planing-mill assassinated him with a dirk knife. After he killed White, the negro ran to his house and, as he saw the white men coming after him, shot himself dead. White had recently married a Miss Hickman of a prominent family near Haughton, and that same day about five or six men from Haughton came out to Allentown, arrested four of the suspected conspirators and took them to the woods and murdered them. No arrests were ever made of those men. Many of our best negroes left and never returned to work after that." This was written 30 years after the incident. But what the Bossier Banner recorded only days afterward was very close; "Mrs. Will White, foreman of Messrs. Allen Bros. & Wadley's saw mill at Allentown, was murdered by Jack Ranston, colored, about 8:30 o'clock last Saturday morning. Mr. White was at his desk in his office when Ranston slipped in unobserved and fired three shots from a pistol at his victim, one of these hitting Mr. White in the back of the head, killing him instantly. Ranston then went home and killed himself. Recently a negro at the mill threatened to kill a white man, and was thrashed for it. Several friends of the negro who was whipped swore vengeance against the person engaged in the act, especially against Mr. White, and among the number was Ranston, John Sugley and Jeb Amos, who formed a plot to murder White. Ranston's accessories, Sugley and Amos, were arrested and place under guard, and about noon of the same day a number of white men took the culprits from the guard and carried them to the woods and hanged them. Mr. White was an estimable young man, whose unfortunate death is greatly deplored by a large number of friends. About two years ago he was married to Miss Lula Hickamn, of Fillmore, who is left to mourn his untimely death." So was recorded one of the great tragedies that occured at Allentown sawmill. INDEX Abbreviations 7 Allen & Wadley 8, 9, 32 Allentown 8, 10, 12 Amos 32 Anson County, NC 26 Antioch B. C. 26 Austin 26 Author 2 Baten 14, 23, 25, 26 Bibb County 20 Bodcau 9 Boon 29 Bossier Parish 8 Brunson 14 Burns 15 Cole 14, 15 Collins 14 Colorado 9 Contents 3 Crichton 25 Crowe 14, 16 Cunningham 14 Davis 10, 17, 18 Deloach 15, 25 Dixie Inn, LA 26 Dorris 23 Doyle 15, 29 Doyline 31, 32 Evans 25 Floyd 16 Ford 25 Fourth St 29 Franks 25 Fuller 14, 15, 28 Georgia 20, 25, 26 Gray 14, 23, 24 Grays CSA 26 Gregory 29 Guttenberger 20 Hammer 14 Harris 28 Harvill 14, 15 Hatley 16 Haughton 9, 32 Hickman 32 Holt 11 Hudson 14, 15 Hunt 20 Jackson 21 Java Rd. 29 Jim Davis 17, 18 Kampen 21 Keene Cemetery 19 Knottingham 20 Leary 25 Liewald 26 Little Rock, AR 24 Locator Map 6 Longino 25 LA Map 5 Martin 23, 24 McCord 23, 24 McIntyre 29 Minden 24 Mill Capacity 9 Mobley, Dr. W. J. 8 More 14 Morgan's Switch 23, 26 Murff 11 Nebraska 9 North Carolina 26 North Dakota 9 Nottingham 20 O'Neal 15 Outlaw 23, 25, 26 Purpose 4 Raine 21, 22 Ranston 32 Richardson 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 Sellars 14 Shattuck 16 Sheppard 11 Shreveport Times 8 Smith 31 South Dakota 9 Stevens 14 Stewart 15 Stokes 26 Sugley 32 Swanson 20 syrup mill 29 Tabor 24, 26 Taylor 15 Thompson 24, 26 Twiggs, GA 25, 26 Van Arsdale 28, 29 Vanorsdel 28, 29, 30 V.S.&P. Railroad 9, 23 Wadley 11 Wadley's Switch 9 Walker 15, 16, 23, 24, 25, 26 Walker Cemetery 31 Wart 23, 24, 26 water tower 29 Wheless 15 White 29, 32 Willis 20 Wimberlie 10 Wimbush 10, 11, 13 Williams, J. B. 8