Cemeteries: Bethlehem Cemetery Newsletter #4- Dec 1994, Winn Parish, LA Submitted by Peggy Chandler Beaubouef, 2656 Hwy 1232, Winnfield, LA 71483 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** [These articles are taken from the Bethlehem Cemetery Newsletter published by the Bethlehem Baptist Church cemetery committee. They are posted here with the full knowledge and consent of the cemetery committee. Bethlehem Cemetery is located in Ward 8 of Winn Parish on Hwy. 1232. These articles were written by Peggy Beaubouef based upon information supplied by others. As with all secondary sources, the data shown should be used as clues to further research and verification.] Issue No. 4 December, 1994 HISTORICAL FACTS: This quarter we will profile another of our statistics from our first newsletter, the oldest person according to tombstone birth date in our cemetery, Elizabeth Low. Elizabeth Low was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri February 13, 1810. She was the oldest of eleven children born to Peter and Rachel(Hitt)Franks. Elizabeth's great-grandfather, Jacob Franks, fought in the American Revolution. His father was a Lutheran schoolteacher from Palatinate, Germany who came to America about the year 1727. Elizabeth's family left Missouri and made their way to Louisiana sometime before the birth of their fourth child on Christmas Day of the year 1819 in present day Bienville Parish. Historians have proclaimed Elizabeth's father as the first person to secure a land patent (1823) in what would become Bienville Parish. He settled his family in the area known as Brush Valley. Elizabeth grew up there and married Daniel Low of Liberty Hill in Bienville Parish about the year 1832. Elizabeth and Daniel had eight children: Maria, Wilson, Louisa, George Washington, Elizabeth, Lydia, Penelope and Malissa. Baptist churches played an important part in their lives. Elizabeth's father was a charter member of the old Providence Church between Arcadia and Gibsland. Her husband, Daniel, donated the 40 acres of land that the present day Liberty Hill Baptist Church sits on. Elizabeth was a charter member of that church, with Daniel coming for membership "by statement" shortly after its creation. The Civil War played an important part in their lives also. Their sons, George and Wilson, served as privates in Co. H of the 9th LA Infantry. Their daughter Maria's husband, Isaac Melton, was second lieutenant of Co. H in the 9th. Daniel Low's brother, Thomas, also served in the Confederate Army. Ironically, that family's only casualty of the war was their father and brother, Daniel Low, whose age had prevented him from wearing the Confederate uniform. He died at his home in Liberty Hill sometime in late April of 1865. No doubt the strain and worry of the war greatly contributed to his death. The inventory of his estate showed that he was one of the more prosperous of the area with a total worth of $5,395. Two of the items inventoried testify to the sentiments of the time. One of the assets listed was $1000 in Confederate bonds appraised at zero dollars. Another item listed, "one Negro man, Peter, of dark complexion, Esther, a woman of dark complexion aged about 20, and her two children, Frederick and John" with a total appraisal value of $1800. Keep in mind this was two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. The appraisers knew the Confederate bonds were worthless, but they still considered the slaves property of the estate with a monetary value! Elizabeth Low's son, George Washington Low, is the progenitor of the Lowe family in Calvin. Her daughter, Malissa, married John Thomas Hennigan and was the maternal great-grandmother of Mrs. Lonnie Chandler of the Bethlehem community. Mrs. Low came to Winn Parish to be with her children in her later years. She died Sept. 28, 1899 and was buried here in our cemetery. As we walk over and pass by these old graves in the cemetery, let's remember that they are not just mounds of earth. They were once vital, productive people with families and lives just as exciting as ours today.