Cemeteries: Bethlehem Cemetery Newsletter #9 - March 1996, 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. 9 March, 1996 [Photo of Annie Hennigan Dodson (Mrs. Frank M.) & her mother, Malissa Low Hennigan.] HISTORICAL NOTES: Pictured above left to right are Annie Hennigan Dodson (Mrs. Frank M.) and her mother, Malissa Low Hennigan. Both are buried in Bethlehem Cemetery, but our feature for this newsletter is on Malissa Hennigan. Reprinted below are excerpts from an article published in the Winn Parish Enterprise Sep 15, 1938 (courtesy of Frank Martin, Jena, LA). "The 90th birthday of Mrs. J.T. [John Thomas] Hennigan was the occasion of a happy celebration Sunday in the home of Mr. and Mrs. F.M. Dodson in the Garrett community near Calvin. "Granny" as she is affectionately known to her friends and relatives was born Sept. 10, 1848 in Bienville Parish near the present town of Bienville. Her parents were Daniel and Elizabeth Low (Lowe), natives of Arkansas who were prominently identified with settling and developing of that section of the country. For 15 years Mrs. Hennigan has made her home in Winn Parish, coming here shortly after the death of her husband to live with her daughter, Mrs. F.M. Dodson . . . . Upon questioning [about her secret to long life] Granny quickly answered, "Oh, it wasn't anything special, but hard work and faith in God." And she dwelt at length on the meaning of hard work. Long hours of it, long years of it . . . . "Yes," she said "that's the secret--Work. I haven't any use for a lazy person. I can always find something to do. Why I've been busy 90 years, long before any of you old folks was born and I'm still busy." In telling something of her early life she declared the most important event was her marriage at the age of 15 to her sweetheart who [had just] come home from four years of service in the Civil War. They had nothing to begin their life together with but good health and a determination to get ahead and build a home. Their first purchase was a pair of oxen used for farming and transportation, then a small piece of land. [They built] a log house and rail fences, plenty of them, and cleared new ground, so that their life was full of work. A memorable event occurred soon after they were married that is as fresh in Granny's memory as if it were yesterday she said. "I had ordered 100 pounds of feathers. Had wanted a feather bed for so long, and at last a notice came telling us that the feathers were at Vernon." (Vernon was the first parish seat of Jackson Parish and the only market place in that area.) "We yoked up the oxen one morning and long before daylight, with some cousins, set out for Vernon. We were going along and all of sudden a great, great shower of stars fell, lighting up the sky and frightening us all so that my cousins wanted to go back, thinking that the end of time was at hand. Then I remembered hearing my Granny tell how she saw the stars fall in Alabama, and the world was still standing and I wanted a feather bed so we went on." The trip turned out to be a pleasant one . . . . Once a year they went to market, buying a year's supply of staple groceries and things they could not produce at home. Granny had her part in the establishing of schools and churches as the country began to open. More people moved in, and for them more acres were cleared and a larger house was built to bring up the 13 children that had come to their home. Although she was very busy with household duties and work on the farm, she found time to read the Bible and to teach her children its truths. "We always had something else to read," she remarked, "but the Good Book was the most important one of all." Nine of the 13 children lived to be grown and leave the old home. In speaking of her married life, tiny tear drops glistened on her wrinkled cheeks and her lips quivered like those of a small hurt child as she softly spoke of the death of her companion. The present years had slipped away and in her memories she had returned to their youth together; the children around their knees, the death of some of the, the lean years when crops failed, and the 50 golden years with 3 more added had passed swiftly through her mind and she knew they had been happy, useful years. "Yes" she said, "we worked together like a team, each giving and doing his part without complaining." Though it is lonely for Mrs. Hennigan going on down the road toward the century mark without him, those who know her know that volumes could be written on her simple statement, "I am glad to live each day and find each day worth living." The known children of Mr. and Mrs. John Thomas Hennigan were: 1) John Wesley - married first Hattie Pullig, second Nancy Cummings and had Gus, Minnie, Frank, Virgie Mae, and Annie Lou. 2) Henry Thomas - married Maggie Vernon. 3) Ollie Ann (Annie) - married Franklin Monroe Dodson and had Frances Luella (mar. John Manning), Zelma Lee (mar. Howard Towns), Pearl (mar. Dufer J. Riffe), and Neva Jewell (mar. Holston Hearron). 4) James Monroe (Jim) - married Willie Murphy and had Inez, Ernest, and Shelby Douglas. (Lived in Calvin.) 5) Forrest - never married. 6) Mary Alice - married Dennis Milam of Winn Parish and had Arnold, J.D., Frank, Hattie, and Nita. 7) Frances Louella (Lou) - never married. 8) Aaron - lived to be 101 years old. Married (1) Mattie Murphy, (2) Kittie Franks, and had Moease, Roland, Poray, Mayo, Gladys, and Newman. Lived at Bienville. 9) Leonard - married Sallie Pullig and had Sessum, Ragin, Charlie, Lacey, and Leonard Jr. 10) William Franklin - died young. John T. Hennigan served in Co. A (Bienville Stars) of the 28th (Gray's) Louisiana Infantry, C.S.A. He died 13 July 1920 and is buried in the Camp Ground Cemetery at Bienville. Malissa Hennigan died 2 Nov 1940 at the age of 92.