R. L. Tannehill, Winn Parish, LA Contributed by Greggory E. Davies 120 Ted Price Lane Winnfield, LA 71483 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** Richard Lafayette Tannehill One of the respected landmarks and straightforward lives in Winn Parish is that of Mr. Tannehill. His family came from Alabama and his father's name was David Milton Tannehill. He was a farmer and about 1845 he married Miss Nancy Murphy in the native state. He responded to this country's call in the Civil War in the early '60s and died in prison at Point Lookout in 1863, and was numbered with the army of the dead who never lived to rejoice over the triumphs they won. They had reared a large and useful family. The wife died in Winn Parish May , 1875. Fayett was born in Alabama in 1848, but was reared principally and educated in Louisiana. When the Civil War broke out he was too young to go, but was a precocious overgrown boy and in the sparsity of men he enjoyed a distinction that rarely comes to any man. In 1877 he married Miss M. E. Selinger, and April 22, 1893 he married Miss Long. He is the father of fifteen children and right well may be proud of them. He was sheriff in Winn Parish for ten years, and was at one time a prominent candidate for governor of the State. He has always been a man of unswerving integrity and has in many ways subserved the interests of his section. He is a Mason and Knight of Pythias; has an elegant home in Winnfield, and about sixty lots in a new addition to the town. He is a farmer and operates his farm nearby and is now engaged in mercantile operation also. Motto: "Spotless integrity and proper treatment of my fellow man." (The above article was copied from The Guardian newspaper, Vol. XXVII, No. 8-9, published September-October, 1907 at Winnfield, LA., which is on file at the Watson Memorial Library, Cammie Henry Archives, Northwestern State University, Natchitoches, LA., and was submitted by Greggory Ellis Davies, Winnfield, LA.) Richard L. Tannehill An, ex-sheriff, Richard L. Tannehill was born in Bibb County, Alabama, March 11, 1848, but since he attained his ninth year he has been a resident of Winn Parish. His parents, David M. and Nancy Murphy Tannehill, were born in Alabama, the father being a soldier in the Confederate Army. He was captured at Snyder's Bluff, Miss., and died in prison in the fall of 1863 at Fortress Monroe, his widow surviving him until 1877, when she, too, passed away, her death occurring in this parish. She was born in 1825, being only eleven days younger than her husband. Mr. Tannehill is the second of seven children, only two of whom are now living. Mr. Tannehill came to Louisiana in 1856 and for two years lived in Bienville Parish, but on January 1, 1859, Winn Parish became his home, and has continued so to be up to the present time. He resided on a farm, six miles north of Winnfield, until the fall of 1874; when he was elected sheriff of this parish and has held the office for a period of ten years, a fact that speaks louder than words can do as to his popularity and efficiency. Prior to his election he was engaged in farming, but he afterward removed to Winnfield and is now president of the Farmer's Union of Winn Parish, an organization which has been in existence since August, 1886, and is now in a flourishing condition. From August, 1887, to 1890 he was treasurer of the State Union. Since the expiration of his term of office in 1885 he has been farming and is in a prosperous condition, financially. He was married in 1876 to Miss Maria E. Sellinger, a native of Louisiana, born in 1860, and to them the following family of children has been born: George M., Herbberd N., Clarence E., Richard L., Ena, Lena, Bessie, and Ella M. Mr. Tannehill is a Democrat and is a member of Eastern Star Lodge No. 151, F. & A. M. of Winnfield. (The above article was copied from "Biographical & Historical Memoirs of Northwest Louisiana", published 1890 by Southern Publishing Company. Submitted by Greggory Ellis Davies.)