Bio: Robert Eli Boyett, Winn Parish, LA  
Submitted by: Susie (Boyett) Hodge of West Monroe, La.
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     Robert Eli Boyett was born in Winnfield, La. November 5, 1892. The
youngest son of J.W. Boyett and Cynthia (James) Boyett. Four brothers Horace
L., Jasper, J. A., J. W. Boyett. Four sisters Emma Sanders, Martha Sanders,
Minerva McKaskell, and Rhoda Moore.
      May 31,1918 he married Mae Louise Lussan of New Orleans,La. to which
two sons were born James Robert and Dale William Boyett.
       Robert Eli Boyett joined the Winn parish sheriff's department  
sometimes in the 1924 and was about to run for sheriff in 1926 to replace
the retiring sheriff W.T. Heflin, when tragedy struck. On the 1st day in
May, 1926 at the age of 33, Robert Eli Boyett was shot and killed by John E.
Rayburn, a paroled convict from Leavenworth, Kansas. It happened at a boarding
house on the corner of N. Grove St. and Broad St. Winnfield, La.
       One of the largest funeral corteges ever held in Winn Parish was
that that followed the remains of Robert (Bob) Boyett, that was buried in the
old Winnfield Cemetery.
       "A man of Bob Boyett's caliber can not be replaced and the
community can best honor him by doing those things and perpetuating the
principles for which he lived and died, and it is our duty to see the he did
not die in vain. This is a quote taken from the Winnfield News American May
7,1926.
        His sons James Robert was 4 and Dale William 2 when their father
was taken away from them. James Robert is the father of the submitter.