Cemeteries: Bethlehem Cemetery Newsletter #5- March 1995, Winn Parish, LA
Submitted by Peggy Chandler Beaubouef, 2656 Hwy 1232, Winnfield, LA 71483
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[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. 5     March, 1995

[Photos of Joshua & Mahala (Queen) Carpenter]


HISTORICAL NOTES: Have you ever looked at an old tombstone and wondered what
that person looked like?  With this newsletter, we begin a series of articles
that will put faces with some of the older markers.  We want to profile the
pioneering families of this area. If you have a picture of someone buried in
our cemetery that fits that category, send it, along with information on 
their family background, children, etc., to Peggy Beaubouef, Rt. 4 Box 532A,
Winnfield, LA 71483. Pictures will be returned! The real history of this
cemetery lies buried with these people. We will attempt to bring a small
portion of that history back to life through these articles.

     The couple shown here are Joshua Cornelius Carpenter and his wife, 
Mahala Ann Queen. Both were born in Mississippi, Joshua on 12 February 1845
and Mahala 7 October 1851. Joshua was the son of William Carpenter (born 1805
in Kentucky) and Elizabeth Marler (born 1810, also in Kentucky).

     Mahala Ann was the daughter of John Queen (born 1821, North Carolina) 
and Elizabeth Caroline Susan Hovie (born 1824 in Georgia). Mahala was part
Cherokee Indian, which is very evident, as you can see.

     Joshua and Mahala were married in Tishomingo County, Mississippi on 9
November 1871. Soon after their marriage they left Tishomingo County and made
their way west to the pine hills of Winn Parish, Louisiana, settling in an
area that would become known as Wattsville. Joshua's brother, Solomon, and his
family also came to this community from Tishomingo County, MS. He and his wife
are buried in Bethlehem Cemetery as well. Their descendants, in this and the
surrounding areas, are many and will be discussed in a future newsletter.
Homestead entry papers of Solomon Carpenter put he and his brother, Joshua, 
in this community as early as 1879.

     Joshua and Mahala had the following nine children:

     1) Martha Ann - Married John M. Malone in 1893 and had Dosa, Onie,
        Jessie, Caron, Elbert, Pearlie, and Orbin.
     2) James - Married Ida Bowen in 1897 and died in 1898
     3) Katherine - (no further information)
     4) William H. - Married Minnie Bowen in 1899 and died in 1904. 
       (Nothing further.)

     5) John W. - Married Zinda M. Mayhill and had Milvern, Lucille
       (married Presley Canerday), and Rilla (married Frank Harrel).

     6) Laura Mae - Married Edward Pitts Harris and had Hattie, Virgie
        Veatrice, Bertha Mae, Charlie Gilbert, Clydie Marie, Myrtle Molene,
        and Millard. (Bertha Mae's daughter, Ella Jean Dyke Baugh of West
        Monroe, furnished the pictures and most of the information for this
        article.)

     7) Richard Hiram (Rich) - Married Bertha Franks and had Josh, Josie, 
        John R., Aalon, Hightower, and Mavis. This family lived in the 
        Sanders community.

     8) Ada - Married Carl A. Robbins and had a daughter, Vera. Ada died in
        1913.

     9) Charlie Gilbert - was a schoolteacher and died just before his
        intended marriage in 1920.
 
    Joshua and Mahala remained in this community until their deaths in 1919
and 1926.