Richardson Cemetery, Webster Par., Louisiana Submitter: Clifton D. Cardin, Official Bossier Parish Historian Cemetery surveyed about 1992. Date: Feb. 2001 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** === ======*The following information is excerpted from: LOUISIANA ARMY AMMUNITION PLANT CEMETERIES & GRAVES AN INDEPTH STUDY OF THE CEMETERIES AND GRAVES LOCATED ON THE LOUISIANA ARMY AMMUNITION PLANT NEAR MINDEN, LOUISIANA. WRITTEN BY CLIFTON D. CARDIN BOSSIER PARISH HISTORIAN PRODUCED AT NO COST TO LOUISIANA ARMY AMMUNITION PLANT, MORTON THIOKOL, OR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 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. 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 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/Rev. 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.Richardson 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.Richardson 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.