Historical Places: St. Maurice Plantation, Winn Parish, LA. Submitted 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 ********************************************** From: March 29, 1972 Winn Parish Enterprise-Winnfield News-American Historic Centuries Awaken With Rebirth Of St. Maurice Mansion (Story Researched and Written Exclusively for the Enterprise-News American By: Dennis Pinder, Northwestern State University History Department, Chas. A. Clotiaux, Enterprise News Editor, and Robert Smith, Winnfield Architect) Rebirth of a 160 year old plantation and the 146 year old home of its owners has taken place in the past year at St. Maurice, in Winn Parish. With this new life, a land grant issued during the Spanish occupation of Louisiana and a house constructed during the administration of John Quincy Adams and completed when Andrew Jackson was president, have emerged as part of the earliest history of this area. Recently, the St. Maurice Plantation house, or Prothro mansion, has been purchased and authentically restored by three Winnfield men. With the restoration of the mansion came months of in-depth research, and the heretofore untold complete history of the St. Maurice Plantation can now be related. Just west of the sleep little community of St. Maurice stands the St. Maurice Plantation home, truly one of the most beautiful and impressive of Louisiana's plantation mansions. This elegant old structure is situated in picturesque surroundings amid the young pines, stately old magnolia, live oak and pecan trees. Standing majestically high on a hilltop overlooking the fertile Red River bottom lands below, this historic old mansion has for many years been almost forgotten, but has weathered those years surprisingly well. Through the century and a half since its construction, many stories have been handed down from generation to generation involving the plantation and various historical figures which add color to its history. Situated as it was on the El Camino Real or Old San Antonio Road from San Antonio, Texas to the older southern states, the St. Maurice mansion was the stopping place for many who traveled this Great Highway. Among those said to have been frequent guests at the mansion was General Sam Houston. Others include young Lieut. U. S. Grant (later Commander of the Union Armies during the Civil War and later President of the United States) who in his personal memoirs states that he was at parties given by planters along the Red River while he was stationed at Camp Salibrity at Grand Ecore in Natchitoches near St. Maurice during the 1840s. In is not unreasonable to assume that St. Maurice mansion was the scene of many of the social and political events attended by Grant. ORIGINAL LAND GRANT Located in a part of Winn Parish which was Natchitoches Parish before the formation of Winn, the earliest records of St. Maurice Plantation may be traced to the Natchitoches Parish Courthouse and legal conveyances from the Poste De Natchitoches dating prior to 1813, years before the Battle of New Orleans. The records show that the original land grant for St. Maurice Plantation was confirmed to Ignatio Sequin. November 7, 1813 Ignatio Sequin sold the land to Jacques Paillette and April 13, 1818, Paillette donated 109 arpents of land to Edward Ceyar Murphy. The balance of the tract, thought to be sections 37 and 38 was sold by Paillette to William Murray on September 14, 1818. On October 13, 1818, Edward Murphy sold the land to Pierre Landreau and December 14, 1819 the records show that Landreau sold to Dennis Fort. The ownership of St. Maurice Plantation is in the name of Dennis Fort from December 14, 1819 to January 4, 1831 at which time Dennis Fort in probate sale transferred the land to Placide Bossier. The house now standing on St. Maurice Plantation on the edge of old section 37, the land cited in the conveyances, dates to 1826 as an approximate time of construction. For this reason, it is probable that the St. Maurice Plantation home recently restored was originally build by Dennis Fort, the plantation owner at that time. June 13, 1827, Placide Bossier acquired William Murray's portion of the original tract and later, January 4, 1831, he bought the remainder of the land from Dennis Fort. Then both tracts, the entire plantation, was acquired by John Waddell, who sold the property to Francis Nash Waddell on April 18, 1837. Edmond Briggs bought the plantation through a sheriff's sale on December 24, 1840 and sold it to William M. Lamberth January 27, 1841. THE PROTHRO FAMILY In 1846, the year Abe Lincoln was elected to Congress, William Prothro, along with John Waddell, purchased from William Lamberth of New Orleans the plantation consisting of five tracts of land totaling more than 1500 acres, with all buildings and improvements and more than 60 slaves for $63,862.50. In 1847, Waddell sold his half interest to William, designating the lands as "the St. Maurice Plantation." The land sold by Lamberth to Prothro and Waddell consisted of tracts owned by Pierce Derbonne and the original grant of Ignation Sequin. PROTHRO HISTORY The history of the Prothro family of St. Maurice Plantation can be traced back to the British Isles in the 11th century, and the Prothro story is indeed a fascinating one. The Prothro family of St. Maurice were descendants of the Great Lord of Blancuck of West South Wales. The Lord of Blancuck was known as Cadivor, who lived at the old seat of the Prothro family, Dolwilym Castle. There are accounts of several of the Prothro ancestral families living there later, especially the pedigree of James Prydderch, who is 1579 married Frances the Charming. The last family to live in the castle before it was torn down was that of Evan Prydderch, who requested the name of Prydderch be changed to Protheroe. Thus, through the years, the name of Prothro has undergone many changes-Prytherch, Prydderch, Protheroe, and finally Prothro. Evan Protheroe, Jr., professing to be a Quaker, was persecuted for his beliefs like other Quakers of that day in Wales and England, and to Evan, escape to America was the only relief. Evan Protheroe and his wife, Elizabeth Morgan, along with their two sons, John and Lewis, left West South Wales in 1683 and settled in Pennsylvania. Following a yellow fever epidemic, John, the eldest son of Evan and Elizabeth, took his wife and two young children and planned to go back to Wales where they were born. But delayed in waiting for a boat, the family decided to settle permanently in America. Nathaniel Prothro was the father of William Prothro of St. Maurice and the uncle of Emily Ann, William Prothro's wife. William, Nathaniel's brother and Emily Ann's father, was in the timber business in South Carolina and after timber resources were exhausted in the area, he moved to Minden, Louisiana in 1840 with several of his sons. The migration of the Prothros to Louisiana continued until there were almost none left in South Carolina. William Prothro of St. Maurice, the son of Nathaniel Prothro, was born about 1801 and about the age of 25 he married his 18 year old first cousin, Emily Ann Prothro. The marriage produced five children, Furman, Martha, Sanders Cecil, Emma, and Will, Jr. After William and Emily Ann's marriage they lived in South Carolina until they moved to Louisiana and settled at St. Maurice during the 1840s. Until his death in 1853, William Prothro continued the operation of the St. Maurice Plantation along with a trading post, ferry, and the riverboat landing on the Red River. He was apparently quite successful as the 1850 census for Natchitoches Parish shows that William Prothro's holdings were worth over $87,000 with him being the master over 100 slaves. James Allen was overseer of the St. Maurice Plantation and the following interesting incident was taken from the Natchitoches Chronicle by Frederick Law Olmstead and recorded in his book The Slave States. "On Monday last, as James Allen, overseer on Prothro's plantation at St. Maurice, was punishing a Negro boy named Jack, for stealing hogs, the boy ran off before the overseer had chastised him sufficiently for the offense. He was immediately pursued by the overseer, who succeeded in catching him, when the Negro drew a knife and inflicted a terrible gash in his abdomen. The wounds of the overseer were dressed by Dr. Stephens, who pronounced it a very critical case, but still entertains hope of his recovery." Except for a small pocket notebook by Sanders Cecil, son of William Prothro, there are no family papers left which relate to the period that the Prothros lived at the St. Maurice Plantation. Besides containing such things that concerned the operation of the plantation as the amount of cotton picked by each slave and expenditures for supplies, the notebook is a curious specimen as it contains various cures and remedies that were to be prescribed for ailments. One such concoction consisting of Spirits of Turpentine, spirits of nitric, essence of cinnamon, nitric acid, and rain water was prescribed for scurvy, purifying the breath, sore mouth, and salivation. It can be accurately surmised that the Prothros of St. Maurice enjoyed the typical plantation life of elegance that was unlike that of the surrounding community. Years later, Emma Prothro, daughter of William and Ann, became engaged in a conversation with her daughter, Sallie Graham Lacy, concerning the Lacy family home, Boscobel Plantation near Monroe. Sallie remarked to her mother what a beautiful place the Boscobel Plantation was, whereupon Emma replied that it was a beautiful place, indeed, but it didn't compare with the elegance of the St. Maurice Plantation, her home as a child. Emma then related how there would be elaborate Sunday dinners given at the Prothro plantation home with large numbers of people attending, and that behind each chair at the table, there would be a servant to serve the individual needs of the person seated. But none of the elegance lasted, only the house remains, outliving its many occupants. Tragedy struck the Prothro family when it was hit by the widespread yellow fever epidemic of 1853. The pestilence of 1853 has been recorded in history as one of the worst in Louisiana and the South, and the Prothro family, despite their apparent wealth and standing, was not immune to the dread disease. According to John R. Humble of Monroe, grandson of Emma Prothro Lacy, Sanders Cecil Prothro had gone to New Orleans on his 18th birthday to get supplies for the plantation and returned to St. Maurice sick with fever. The entire Prothro family, except Martha who was away at the time attending Judson College in Alabama, came down with the disease. Humble tells the family legend that when the fever struck the Prothro family, 13 year old Emma was placed in care of an old Negro nurse in a separate room. She awoke one day with high fever and asked for water. The old nurse said, "No Miss Emma, the doctor say you caint have no water. You done had the black vomit and he say nobody gits well who drinks water after that." It seems that the attending old doctor had so ordered and the nurse was simply following his instructions. Emma ordered the old Negro nurse from the room and somehow managed to reach the pitcher of water near the bed and drank as much as she could. Fortunately for Emma, the old doctor himself died of the disease and with him his superstitions. The new physician being a younger man removed the restrictions and with more logical treatment the patient recovered. Sanders Cecil and Emma recovered, but William, his wife Ann, along with two of their children, Furman and Will, Jr., and many of their slaves, died of the disease. The four who died were buried in a little plot just to the right and in front of the plantation house. The broken fragments of the grave markers of William, Furman, and Will Jr., are still there, but that of Ann has been lost. The headstones have been credited for the house being widely known as "Prothro Mansion." After the funerals and the recovery of the two sick children, the plantation house was ordered locked up. The plantation and house were sold because the family wanted nothing associated with yellow fever, the fear of the disease being so great. The surviving children of William and Ann Prothro left the St. Maurice area almost immediately after the death of their parents. Martha Prothro married William S. Lacy, a Shreveport lawyer, sometime during the 1860s. She later went to live in Monroe where she became one of the first public school teachers in that city. Sanders Cecil Prothro served in the Confederate Army in Company B. Maddox's Regiment, was captured at an unknown time and place, and paroled at Natchitoches in June 1865. He later married Delina Jane Dobbs and moved to Hemphill, Texas. Very little is known about Sanders Cecil Prothro beyond this point in his life. It seems that he came back to St. Maurice for a short time and having lost nearly all his possessions, he became addicted to alcohol and died at an unknown time and place. Emma Prothro was sent to live with her mother's father, William Butler Prothro in Mt. Lebanon, Louisiana. She visited New Orleans where she met John Randolph Lacy, the brother of Martha's husband, William S. Lacy. They were married in Bienville Parish on September 2, 1858. The young couple made their home at the Lacy family plantation, Boscobel. Tragedy seemed to follow Emma Prothro Lacy, she lost her husband in a riding accident in 1867, and her two sons, William Prothro Lacy and Tucker Lacy, both died during the late 1870s. After losing her parents, her husband, the plantation at St. Maurice, and her two sons, Emma died in 1880, only 40 years old, her early death surely hastened by the numerous tragedies that she had suffered in her short life. BOULLT BECOMES MASTER For unexplained reasons, the infamous Dr. David H. Boullt was appointed administrator of the succession of the late William and Ann Prothro. Joshua and James E. Prothro, cousins of William Prothro, purchased 720 acres of the St. Maurice Plantation, and the remainder was subsequently purchased by Boullt for $116,000. From 1856 until 1868, Dr. Boullt was the owner of the St. Maurice Plantation. The origin of Dr. D. H. Boullt, Sr., is not known, but he apparently arrived in Natchitoches Parish sometime during the 1830s, as his name appears in the parish census for 1840, which lists him as being between the ages of 20 and 30 and owning four slaves. Boullt is known to have been the secretary of the Phoenix Lodge No. 38, F. & A. M., in 1840 and 1849, parish coroner in 1846, a member of the Police Jury in 1852, and president of the Police Jury in 1853. His occupation is not known, but the constant reference to him as "Doctor" leads to the assumption that he was a doctor or some type of medical practitioner. (Note: Dr. Boullt was a dentist). Boullt entered the Confederate Army on March 16, 1862, and was in Company F, 27th Louisiana Infantry, also known as the "Winn Rebels." He was captured at the Battle of Vicksburg and paroled on July 4, 1863. He apparently saw further service and was captured again, as his name appears on the Roll of Prisoners of War paroled at Monroe, June 12, 1865. During the Civil War, there were six Federal gunboats stationed at St. Maurice while the Union General Banks marched north toward Shreveport. On April 14, 1864, Confederate soldiers under command of General Liddell, stationed at Campti, attacked the gunboats and a bloody battle followed that could be seen from the front steps of the St. Maurice Plantation House. After the defeat of the Union Army at the Battle of Mansfield, Banks retreated south on the west side of the Red River, destroying Grand Ecore, most of Natchitoches, and many plantations in the Cane River area. Had the Union Army, seeking revenge after their defeat by Dick Taylor at Mansfield, come down the east bank of Red River, most assuredly, the St. Maurice mansion would not be standing today. The El Camino Real passed through St. Maurice and across the Red River, at which place a ferry was operated on Boullt's Plantation. At the close of the Civil War when there was a vast shifting of population from the older Southern States, which had been devastated by the Northern Armies, this route was lined with emigrants on their way to a new life in Texas. This Harrisonburg Road, as it was later called, was the scene of the murder and pillage of many unwary travelers. Many became the victims of a band of robbers and cut-throats known as the Kimball Clan, being members of the Kimball family of Atlanta, Louisiana and led by the infamous John R. West. (Note: The clan referred to was the West-Kimbrell Clan, the Kimbrell family living at Wheeling, on the Harrisonburg Road-Natchez Trace, and John R. West living about three miles east-southeast of Atlanta). There have been many references made linking Dr. D. H. Boullt with the West- Kimbrell Clan, particularly implicating him in the killing by the gang of Lieutenant Butts, a pay and quartermaster of the United States Army. Newspaper accounts of the Butts murder link Boullt in the scheme with the Clan. In fact, Lt. Butts left Natchitoches with Boullt and spent the night at the St. Maurice Plantation according to a newspaper account of that day. The last straw came when the Winnfield Courthouse burned in 1868. The event was blamed on the West-Kimbrell Clan, whereupon a group of vigilantes was formed that executed John West and several members of the gang in Atlanta, Louisiana in 1869. (This date is incorrect as documentation unavailable to the authors of this story was discovered since this publication and is currently in my possession). Even though it has been suggested that Boullt was involved in the burning of the Winnfield Courthouse, no confirmation can be found. However, it is interesting to note that at this time, Boullt sold the St. Maurice Plantation and moved to Natchitoches. It may be quite accurate to assume that when the warnings went forth that those suspected of being in league with the West-Kimbrell gang would be dealt with, Boullt was one of those "who packed up and left." D. H. Boullt never married, but it does appear to be quite true that he had a number of Mulatto children by a Negro mistress, perhaps one of the former slaves on the St. Maurice plantation. (Note: Boullt is listed on the 1860 Winn Parish census, with Florestine apparently listed as his wife. Florestine was a free woman of color who had either bought her freedom, or had been manumitted in Natchitoches Parish, according to records on file at the Natchitoches Parish Courthouse. She and Dr. Boullt had several children together, but it is believed that Dr. Boullt was in fact married at some point prior to Florestine's appearance and that his wife died after having had children with Dr. Boullt). Harry P. Gamble, a resident of St. Maurice during the late 1880s, states that he was well acquainted with Charles and David Boullt, Jr., both sons of D. H. Boullt, Sr. He asserted, "In my boyhood, I knew them both. David, with no sign in his appearance of his Negro blood; and Charley very clearly a half- breed. Boullt also had some daughters who were educated in the North and who never returned to St. Maurice." During the period of Reconstruction, Boullt as parish tax collector engaged in many schemes to steal land and money from the public. Finally the citizens revolted against Boullt and his ring of political leaders and many warnings and threats against his life were published in Natchitoches papers. Even the Ku Klux Klan threatened Boullt in posters circulated around Natchitoches and finally Boullt left the parish to avoid personal injury or death. The People's Vindicator, a Natchitoches newspaper of that period, reported that Boullt and other political leaders aligned with him, fled to Shreveport, then to New Orleans via Galveston, Texas. The paper commented that "This was the first time on record that anyone from our city took such a roundabout way to reach New Orleans." Dr. David H. Boullt left Natchitoches in January 1875 and apparently never returned to the area. Soon after his departure, the People's Vindicator printed the following epitaph to him, one of the most illustrious masters of St. Maurice Plantation: "Gone But Not Forgotten" "Prince Boullt, the prime mover and instigator in all the corruption , abuse and villainy, under which the white people of Natchitoches Parish have, for the past four years been groaning, departed hence per Steamer Garry Owned, on Monday last.. "He leaves us execrated by every thing virtuous in our community, and his name, D. H. Boullt, will be remembered among coming generations as that of a monster, and synonymous with thievery and murder. "Coming to this parish years ago, he as a young man made many friends and was received in certain social circles until his alliance with a quadroon woman, by who he has a large family, when he took that social level to which such conduct would entitle him. "During the war, he was a staunch confederate, and after only when he associated himself in the capacity of advocate and member of the West gang of cut-throats and robbers, did his true character show itself. He is responsible for the murder of Lt. Butts of the U. S. Army in 1866, and received his share of the 'swag' from the cold-blooded murder and robbery of men, women, and children, by J. R. West and his crew... "But his cowardly soul was filled with its measure of delight when he secured the position of tax collector and leader of the Radical Party, where he might rob and murder and not be amenable. It has been estimated that he amassed a fortune of over two hundred thousand dollars in five years, with an office which honestly conducted would yield about $5,000 per annum. "We have done with him thank God 'depart in peace ye cursed,' we will never forget your villainy, your outrages upon us. May you lived execrated and died damned." LATER HISTORY Due to the fact that the Winn Parish Courthouse burned in 1868 and again in 1886, thus destroying all records, an exact account of the ownership of St. Maurice Plantation during these years has been difficult to compile. However, utilizing other sources of information, it seems that D. R. Carroll became sole owner in 1868, who sometime later sold it to Dr. Henry M. Prothro. About 1882 or 1883, the plantation was sold to the New York Lumber Company. The improvements made by this company in the area and the prospect of St. Maurice becoming the great depot, saw mill town and supply point for the pineries, caused a boom there in 1883. The ambitious enterprises of the company did not succeed, so in 1886 the mansion and 15 acres of land was sold to E. W. Teddlie for about $500. THE TEDDLIE FAMILY The Teddlie family occupied the mansion at St. Maurice Plantation from 1886 to 1933 when the place was taken over by Judge Thomas Milling, the son of Mrs. E. W. Teddlie b her first husband, a Milling of Winnfield who died of tuberculosis shortly after his son was born. The Teddlie ownership of St. Maurice mansion brought better days for the house, it once again became a home and the center of social activity for the surrounding community. According to Mrs. Frances Teddlie Harrison (Mrs. Pollard Harrison of Montgomery) the youngest child of E. W. Teddlie and Theodosia Brian Teddlie, "Some of the happiest days of my life were spent in the St. Maurice House." Mrs. Harrison, a most gracious Southern lady, took several hours to tell of the happy times at St. Maurice Plantation. Born in the St. Maurice Plantation House in 1896, Mrs. Harrison recalls that her father made many changes, the most notable, was the construction of the high steep roof with two dormer windows to replace the flat roof which leaked when it rained and scorched the house when the sun shone bright. "I remember when I was a child, we used to climb to the attic and look through the dormers, we could see the Red River and three bends in the river," Mrs. Harrison relates. Teddlie also built arches across the second floor front porch in order to keep the glare and rain from the interior. Mrs. Harrison was most helpful in tracing the Milling and Teddlie family. Her mother, Theodosia Brian was first married to a Milling and they had a daughter, Alma, and the son, Thomas. After Milling's death, she married E. W. Teddlie, and they lived in Winnfield for a while before purchasing the St. Maurice house and 15 acres of land. "The family found a letter from Papa (E. W. Teddlie) to Mama about a boat trip he made from Alexandria to Grand Ecore looking for a farm and place to live. In the letter he says that he saw many places but liked St. Maurice best of all," Mrs. Harrison said in a recent interview. All of the Teddlie children except the eldest daughter Lola were born in the St. Maurice home. According to Mrs. Harrison, three of the girls were married in the house, Alma Milling, Iva and Alexa Teddlie. "My husband and I did our courting at the house," she says. Also, her mother's niece, Edna Brian married Harry Gamble in the St. Maurice mansion. There were six Teddlie girls born to Theodosia and E. W. Milling and all lived in the house along with their half sister Alma Milling and half brother, Thomas Milling. Two Teddlie boys and one Teddlie girl died shortly after birth, Mrs. Harrison says. Four of the Teddlie girls born at St. Maurice Plantation are still living. In addition to Mrs. Harrison of Montgomery, they are all now residing in Baton Rouge, Miss Ruby Teddlie, Mrs. Alexa Teddlie Lee, and Mrs. Eddie Teddlie Cockfield. In addition to owning the house, E. W. Teddlie also owned a store and the ferry which crossed Red River at St. Maurice. "The house was always full of friends and relatives, everyone always came to our house because it was so big," Mrs. Harrison describes the fun-filled life at St. Maurice. She also recalls a tutor who lived at the house and taught the children of the community, Miss Jenny Jackson. Until several years back, Mrs. Harrison had possession of the old St. Maurice Plantation bell, but it was stolen from her yard in 1960. She says the bell was inscribed, "Made in Cincinnati in 1852 by the Buckeye Foundry Company." With the bell gone, she how has memories of a grand life at St. Maurice Plantation. Following the death of E. W. Teddlie, his wife and children lived in St. Maurice for some time, and in 1933 the house and land was taken over by the Teddlie half brother, Judge Thomas Milling, at that time vice-president of the Standard Oil Company and a St. Mary Parish judge. Milling and his wife, the former Rose Foster, daughter of Governor Foster, restored the house, made many improvements, and lived there for some time. They later left and moved back to Franklin, where Mrs. Milling now resides. The house was owned by Mrs. Velta Leindecker Spears from 1946 until 1953 when it was sold to Charles A. White. White sold the place to Luther Small in 1957, along with 15 acres of land. LUTHER SMALL FAMILY Small, the only Negro owner of the house, says his family is deeply rooted in St. Maurice Plantation history. According to his father, Tom Small, a yard man for the Teddlies, Luther's great grandmother was a slave for the Prothro family on St. Maurice Plantation. "My Papa told me that Aunt Sissy, my great grandmother, was a slave for the Prothros and she died of the yellow fever when it hit the family," Small says. Luther Small says that when Boullt took over, his family was no longer connected with the plantation, but his father came to work at the house at the age of 12, when the Teddlies bought the mansion. "Papa really thought a lot of Mr. Ed Teddlie. He named one of my sisters Iva Alexa and another's named Ruby after three of the Teddlie girls," Small relates. In fact, Small says that his oldest brother was named Edward after E. W. Teddlie himself. The Small family made St. Maurice Plantation their home from 1957 to 1970 and according to Luther, "During that time I was here I had over 4,000 visitors from all over the United States come to see the place." Due to the masses of people coming to see the mansion, Luther says he knew the value of the place, but didn't have the money to restore it. "I hated to let it go, but I sold it so it could be fixed up. I think they done a wonderful job and it looks like my daddy used to tell me about the place." "It's worth looking at now," Luther says of the St. Maurice Plantation, and the big house still holds a special place in his heart. An old picture of the Teddlie family on the front porch of St. Maurice Plantation House was identified by both Mrs. Harrison and Luther Small. Luther's father, Tom Small is in the picture, along with a Negro woman identified as Aunt Laura Boullt. According to Luther, Laura Boullt was the daughter of Aunt Bella Holmes Boullt and Dr. David H. Boullt. Bella was apparently Boullt's Negro mistress cited earlier in this story. (Note: something is amiss here, as Florestine was the mistress of Dr. Boullt, however, Laura referred to above could have been a child of his by another woman, or possibly a grandchild). Mrs. Harrison relates the story of Laura Boullt having the picture of her father, a white man, on the mantle in her cabin. A NEW LIFE In 1970, the St. Maurice Plantation House was purchased by three Winnfield men, one of them Winnfield Architect Robert Smith. Smith has completely restored the house to is original luster and St. Maurice Plantation mansion will open to the public Easter Sunday, April 2, the start of a new era in Winn Parish history. The St. Maurice Plantation House is now occupied by world-renowned artist Mrs. Cacatua Squires, who played a large part in its restoration. Several months back, Mrs. Squires moved her studio from Saline Lake in Winn Parish to the St. Maurice home, and has begun the restoration of antique furnishings for the house. Mrs. Squires, St. Maurice Plantation artist in residence, is an outstanding Louisiana artist who has studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, Millsap College, Northwestern and Northeast of Louisiana, with special workshops under Adrian Brewer, Marie Hull, Frederick Taubes, Donald Pierce, DeForest Judd, and many others. She has exhibited in many regional and national competitive shows and had many one-man shows including shows at El Instituto Mexicano Northeamericano de Pelaciones Culturales de Neuevo Leon A. C. Mexico. Before devoting her full time to art work, Mrs. Squires followed the professions of photography and interior decorating. She is a well-known colorist.