HISTORY OF CALVIN, LA (Source: 1963 Northwestern State University Master's Thesis "History of Calvin" by W.E. Carpenter, Jr.; 1977 NSU Master's Thesis "History of Calvin" by Patsy Bonnette Carpenter. Used with their permission and submitted by Peggy Chandler Beaubouef.) ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** TIPS FOR SEARCHING RECORDS ON THE INTERNET Netscape & Ms Explorer users: If searching for a particular surname, locality or date while going through the records in the archives or anywhere....try these few steps: 1. Go to the top of the report you are searching. 2. Click on EDIT at the top of your screen. 3. Next click on FIND in the edit menu. 4. When the square pops up, enter what you are looking for in the FIND WHAT ___________blank. 5. Click on DIRECTION __DOWN. 6. And last click on FIND NEXT and continue to click on FIND NEXT until you reach the end of the report. This should highlight the item that you indicated in "find what" every place it appears in the report. You must continue to click on FIND NEXT till you reach the end of the report to see all of the locations of the item indicated. HISTORY OF CALVIN Calvin is a small, rural community located in Ward Eight of Winn Parish in section 4, township 11 north, range 4 west. It is situated on the Kansas City Southern Railroad, ten miles slightly northwest of Winnfield. State highways 156 and 501 intersect at Calvin. EARLY SETTLEMENT This area of Winn Parish was sparsely settled before the Civil War. In fact, before the war there was no town of Calvin. Prior to present day Calvin the area to the north of it was known as the Bethlehem community and to the south of it the Jerusalem community. To the west was the Sanders community. Beginning in 1839, land patents in T-11-N, R-4-W were granted. Given below is a list of those people, the section, and the dates the patents were granted. SECTION NAME DATE 1 Asia James Brent 1860 1 James E. Cox 1860 2 Mary J. Hinton 1859 2 Ruben Strong 1859 2 John C. Calhoun 1860 3 Golden W. Hicks 1859 3 Reuben Strause 1859 3 Lewis Neal 1857 3 James Cox 1859 4 Lorenzo W. Hicks 1859 4 Elizabeth Tally 1860 4 Elizabeth Tally 1855 4 Elizabeth Tally 1856 4 Elizabeth Tally 1850 4 Franklin Kelly 1855 5 Elizabeth Tally 1861 7 Joseph Franks 1830 7 Marshall Walker 1860 8 Jeremiah Duplessy 1857 8 Jeremiah Duplessy 1858 8 Samuel Hobart 1830 8 McCally Franks 1840 8 Jeremiah Duplessy 1860 9 John G. Grantham 1859 9 Elizabeth Tally 1857 10 Jeremiah Duplessy 1859 10 Stephen Jackson 1859 10 Solomon Aswell 1860 10 Thomas Cox 1857 10 Bryant Sholars 1851 11 Henry Powell 1851 11 Randall Sholars 1860 11 Solomon Desmond 1859 12 Robert W. Wood 1860 12 Ambrose Bryant 1858 12 Ambrose Bryant 1859 13 Samuel Martin 1859 13 Elijah Martin 1859 14 Samuel N. Loy 1859 15 Mitchell O'Neal 1860 15 Daniel C. Calhoun 1861 15 William W. O'Neal 1859 17 Edmund Rails 1860 17 Daniel C. Calhoun, Sr. 1859 18 John Elkin 1860 21 Elijah Martin 1859 22 William O'Neal 1859 23 Delande A. Hicks 1859 24 John Martin 1859 24 William Miles 1859 24 James S. Ratcliff 1859 25 Thomas J. Teddlie 1859 26 William B. Stovall 1859 30 Allen Franks 1859 31 Jeremiah Duplessy 1859 35 Lambert Mixon 1859 36 Andrew J. Compton 1859 Some of the earliest settlers in the Calvin area to secure land patents from the U.S. were Joseph Franks, Samuel Hobart, and McCally Franks. These were in 1839 and 1840 in sections 7 and 8, south of the present highway between Calvin and Sanders Chapel. It is possible that there were earlier settlers in the area but they did not obtain land patents, they simply used the public land and then moved on. Bryant Sholars and Henry W. Powell were next to get land patents in the Calvin area in 1851. They settled about a mile southeast of Calvin on "Meeting House Creek". Bryant Sholars settled on the west side of the creek and Henry Powell settled across the creek. There are people in the Calvin area today who are descendants of Henry W. Powell. Prior to the Civil War, women received land patents also. Among these was a lady named Elizabeth Tally. No other woman in all of Winn Parish ever secured title to as many acres direct from the U.S. government as Elizabeth Tally. The U.S. land office records show that from 1855-1861 she secured six land patents totaling 440 acres where the town of Calvin is now located. The 440 acres was a solid block of land. 280 acres in section 4 (center of present site of Calvin), 120 acres in section 5, and 40 acres in section 9. It was the largest single tract of privately owned land in all of Ward Eight at the beginning of the Civil War. No one in the area today has any recollection about Elizabeth Tally. However, the John O. Morris Confederate tax assessor's list of Winn Parish taxpayers in 1864 revealed that the owner of the 440 acres was Elizabeth "Kelly" - not Elizabeth Tally. A separate land assessment was found for a Franklin Kelly. It is believed that Elizabeth Tally was then the wife of Franklin Kelly, therefore explaining the difference in last names on the land patent and tax assessor lists. The only other individuals to receive land patents in section 4 (center of present day Calvin) were Franklin Kelly - 40 acres and Lorenzo Hicks - 120 acres. The 120 acres acquired by Lorenzo Hicks became known as "The Old Hicks Field." A story in connection with the Old Hicks Field illustrates very clearly the many hardships that the early pioneer settlers faced. Lorenzo Hicks and his young wife, the former Mary Ellen Gordy, soon after their marriage cleared a home site, built a log house, and cleared a small field with their own hands. They dug a shallow well on the place but lacked good drinking water so shortly after the birth of their second child, they decided to dig a well deep enough to get good water. They dug the well with their hands. They did complete the task but at a great expense. The intense work and exposure to the weather both figured in the illness and death of Mary Ellen Gordy Hicks. Today the Old Hicks Field is a beautiful country housing subdivision. The land owned by Mr. Hershal Lowe was developed into lots suitable for building home sites and sold to individuals. The list of land patents show large chunks of land was obtained during this time by the big time Red River Planters. Among these was Jeremiah Duplessy who owned the largest acreage of land in Ward Eight. He owned 520 acres of land in sections 8, 9, and 31. It is believed he settled the land prior to the dates of the land patents because records of an earlier history of Calvin written in 1935 show that in 1843, William Carter put his family in a wagon behind an ox team and started from Arkansas to Texas to make his home. Seeking rest from this tiresome journey, he stopped off at a spring in Ward Eight of Winn Parish. He bargained with Jeremiah Duplessy for a little pole-hut and decided to wait until the following year to complete his journey. Being rather successful the first year, he decided to make this his home. He reared two daughters and five sons on his homestead, namely Becky, Lou, Jim, Mike, Meredith, Calvin, and Bob Carter. Jim, Mike, and Meredith fought in the Civil War. Bob stayed with his father's homestead and his brother Calvin settled a place adjacent to it. Bob Carter, the last member of the original Carter family died at the age of 94 in 1939. Four of Bob Carter's children made their homes in Calvin until their deaths. They were Lou Maxey, Robert Carter, Robbin Carter, and Knobles Carter. Many direct descendants of the Bob and Calvin Carter live in Calvin today. In 1849, William Carter built a house on the old Carter home site. During this time there were few families in the area. Uncle Bob Carter related stories of when he was a grown man there were only about fifteen families in all of Ward Eight. Also, how they would all get together and drive their fat hogs and turkeys to market in Alexandria. The house built by William Carter was of logs which were chopped and hewn with a broad ax and it still stands today. It is 128 years old [in 1977] and has been the home of only three men: William Carter, Bob Carter, and Knobles Carter. Calvin and Bob Carter, sons of William Carter, built one of the first cotton gins in Winn Parish near the old spring on the William Carter place. Some time later a store was built by E.D. Powell near the Carter home site, and later sold to Mr. Cook Martin. It was built of pole and canvas. the first post office that served this area was located near the Carter home site. J.B. Wilson, father of Mrs. Bob Carter, was the first postmaster. As a result, the town was first located on the hill, one mile west of present day Calvin where the old Carter house now stands. The town was given the name Carter. In 1901, the Louisiana and Arkansas Railroad graded a road through this locality. In 1902, the steel was laid and the railroad was completed. That same year Mr. John Swanson of Dodson put in a $20,000 sawmill which later became the Dallas Lumber Company. Many settlers were attracted to the area because of the railroad and the sawmill. Level land and the coming of the railroad caused a complete shift from the original town to the present site of Calvin. Because of the similarity in the names of the town of Carter and the town of Castor, which was up the line, the railroad requested a change in the name. So the town of Carter became Calvin in honor of Calvin Carter, son of one of the first families to settle in this area, William Carter. In 1901, Calvin Carter gave the L & A Railroad Co. a right-of-way diagonally through his property and certain lots in Calvin. He deeded these nine blocks to the railroad. A verbal agreement was made between them that in exchange for the right-of-way the railroad was to build a depot and sidetrack and maintain it throughout the life of the railroad. The railroad company failed to keep the agreement. In 1928, when Huey P. Long became Railroad Commissioner he forced the railroad to live up to their agreement, and the depot was built in 1929. A section house and crew was maintained until the early 1950s. The section house was sold to the W.E. Carpenter, Sr. family and served as the home of Mrs. W.E. Carpenter, Sr. (better known as "Mama Carpenter") until her death in 1975. Probably one of the most prosperous times in Calvin history was around 1906, when a man by the name of Bill Grace moved a logging camp from Taylor, Arkansas to a spot about 2 « miles west of Calvin near the railroad. The camp was later sold to Robert and Henry Chandler but was still called the Grace Camp. This area was practically a community within itself. It had a commissary, a doctor -- Dr. Reed, who also treated people in the Calvin area. There were cabins built and empty rail cars moved in to house the many laborers needed for running the camp, construction of logging tram roads, and the logging operation. Farmers in and around Calvin also prospered from the Grace Logging Camp by selling farm produce and livestock meat to the people at the camp. Some old timers recall that the first money they ever made was gathering eggs and peddling them to the people at Grace Camp. On the south side of the track just opposite the Grace Camp, a man named Golden moved in a log camp. Later it was sold to Jerry Parker. All of this was before construction of roads in the area. To provide access to the forest land, a network of tram roads was built by the logging companies. The logs were loaded onto railroad cars using cattle and mules and pulled by a small steam locomotive to the main line and shipped out to Stamps, Arkansas. The roundhouse for this network of tram roads was at the Grace pond. It was a place to turn the logging trains around and refuel the steam engines with water from the pond. Each morning the workers met at the roundhouse to catch the trains out to the logging jobs. Prosperity from the logging camps, the railroad, cotton gin, the large sawmill, along with cattle raising and farming caused the town of Calvin to flourish into a thriving settlement with about two hundred houses, six stores, a saloon, and a hotel. The population at this time was approximately 1000. FIRSTS The first store in Calvin was the store owned by Mr. Cook Martin who had moved it from the old original site of Calvin. The first house in the present site of Calvin was built by Mr. Sill Milam and was located on the site of Mrs. Myrtle Anderson's home today. Both of these buildings were destroyed by fire. In the early 1900s a store was owned by McGinty and Bice at the site of the present Milam Lowe store. In 1914, Mr. Cook Martin built a two-story brick structure at the site of his first store which housed the Masonic Lodge meeting place on the top floor and a store on the bottom floor. A gas station was built on the corner beside the Cook Martin store by Jack Bice and was operated by Arnold Bice. In 1920 the station was sold to Mr. C.N. Chandler. In 1928, Mr. Chandler constructed a new building consisting of a store and a gas station. He operated the store and station until the late 1940s. At the present site of the George Lowe house was a hotel which had approximately ten or fifteen rooms. There was a doctor's office and drugstore in Calvin owned by Dr. Porter. The drugstore was located between the present post office and Anderson house in Calvin. Mrs. Myrtle Anderson related that Dr. Porter's drugstore served fountain cokes, another first for this small community. It is believed that the saloon was located where the Brady Bagwell house now stands. Stories are told of a livery stable at one time on the south side of the railroad. The cotton gin was located on the south side of the railroad where the Sarah Brock and Everett Thurmond house stands. The post office was located near its present site. Some of the early postmasters were: John Bice, Cook Martin, and J.B. Wilson. Three of the oldest continuous houses in Calvin are the H.R. Lowe house built in 1903 by Mr. Cook Martin; the Lucille Canerday house built in 1903-04 by Mr. Cook Martin; and the John Bice house built by Clemente Martin or possibly her brother, Mr. Teddlie, and now owned by Mr. D.E. Keiffer. Calvin became an incorporated town in 1951 with a population of 290. Claude Ray was the first mayor and C.W. Wardlow was the first marshal. W.S. Carter, Sr., Jessie Shelton, and Henry Wilson served on the first town council. CHURCH AND SCHOOL Prior to the early 1900s education had been provided by a system of home tutoring to those who could afford it. As the community grew the people realized the need for a school. In 1903, work on a school building began. During this time a Baptist minister came to Calvin and held a revival meeting under the old gin shed. People decided they needed a church in the community and since there was not enough children at this time for a school, they organized a Baptist church and met in the school building. In 1908, construction of the first church building began. A large portion of the money to build the first church was provided by Henry and John Chandler, owners of one of the logging camps at Grace. Charter members of the first church were: John Jones, G.W. Burnum, Sarah Burnum, Lee Bedgood, Sam Blake, E.D. Drummond, Ella Drummond, Mrs. M.E. Jackson, H.L. Jones, Trudie Blake, and J.M. Jackson. The first pastor was J.S. Ray. In the early days preaching was held only once a month. The people would meet each Sunday for Sunday School and Training Union but the preacher came just one Sunday of each month. A big step for Calvin Baptist Church was to go into full time ministry. During this time the church had no parsonage to house the pastors. They rented a dwelling from Wise Carter. It was located behind the James Martin house. About 1942, Curtis Jones became pastor. During his ministry the church decided to construct a parsonage. The C.C.C. camps were closing and the church purchased some of the camp buildings and Frank Carpenter moved the buildings to the church property located near the present church parking lot. The buildings were renovated into the first church parsonage that served pastors for many years. The first pastor to live in the new parsonage was Marvin Adkins. In 1968, a new brick church building valued at $40,000 was built. Elmer J. Pinder was pastor at this time. Another important event for the church was the presentation of a beautiful new organ in 1973 in memory of Mrs. Gladys Bullock. A few years later in 1973-74 a new brick parsonage was built in the area formerly known as "Hicks Field". In 1903, the first school was organized with Miss Gordie Puckett as teacher. In 1909 a two-story school building was constructed just in front of where the present school auditorium and cafeteria building stands now. It consisted of two classrooms on the ground floor and an auditorium on the second. Professor E.C. Bott was the first principal. The school grew slowly but steadily until the early 1920s. Reports of a disagreement over school matters led to the building of a school at the Grace Camp about this time. A number of children from the Calvin area went to the school at Grace. In 1922 a capable and ambitious young man by the name of R.E. Oxford came to Calvin as its education leader. Through his leadership, untiring efforts, and help from a number of citizens, Calvin became an accredited high school in 1925-26. Also, during his administration a $5000 addition was made to the old building. By this time the following schools had been united with Calvin: Rudd, Wattsville, Couley, and Shady Grove. Because he did not have a college degree Mr. Oxford had to relinquish his duties to B.L. Kerney in the fall of 1926. His administration greatly improved the library facilities and gave the school its first piano. Mr. L.R. Nelson served the school from 1928-32. The building facilities were becoming inadequate, thus in 1929 a $57,000 modern brick structure was erected. It consisted of seven classrooms, auditorium, library, laboratory, home economics department, storage room and office. This building is part of the present school facility. During the 1929-30 session the first home economics courses were offered with Miss Margaret Dunlap as teacher. In 1932 Roy Sanders was elected principal. In 1934, G.H. Walker came to Calvin as principal for seven years. He was followed by L.V. DeCou for two years. Decou was succeeded by K.C. Simmons. In the fall of 1946, G.H. Walker returned to Calvin as principal. Teachers were: Catherine Jones, J.W. Maxey, Lanell Wilson, Mrs. G.H. Walker, Mrs. F.M. York, Mrs. Irene Colton, Mrs. Ruby Gibbs, Fern Boyett, and Mrs. C.W. Wardlow. Mr. Walker served the school until 1969 when he retired. Mr. W.E. Carpenter, girls basketball coach and teacher became principal in the 1969-70 session. The citizens of Calvin take great pride in both their church and school. These two institutions serve as a strong foundation for the community. EARLY TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION When the early settlers came to Calvin, they came in wagons drawn by horses, mules, and oxen. The trails they followed had been made first by Indians and later blazed by hunters and explorers. On the Christie-Collins township map of 1932-33 was a marked road "From Alexandria to the Parish of Claiborne." It was within 2 « miles of the present town of Calvin. A branch of this road turned about five or six miles south of Calvin and went to St. Maurice which at that time was a river port and the nearest source of supplies for the Calvin area. Another road leading into the Calvin area came from the northeast from the earlier settled Gansville area crossing the Dugdemona River at a shallow ford which is called the Carter Crossing. The name is derived from the original William Carter family. The early settlers made trails from one homestead to another using them to travel to and fro for visits and to communicate with each other. The first road to Winnfield from Calvin probably followed a circular route through the Bethlehem Community and down what is now highway 1232. The present highway (156) was not built until 1923-24. A one million dollar bond issue was voted in Winn Parish and F.D. Harvey Construction Co. built the first gravel road to Winnfield from Calvin. In 1924 the Friendship to St. Maurice road was built through Calvin. The parish roads were maintained by horse drawn equipment until 1925 when the first motor powered grader was bought. It was a road grader pulled by an iron wheel tractor. The first automobile in Calvin was owned by Mr. Carl Robbins in 1915. Soon afterward Mr. Cook Martin, then the postmaster, bought a Model-T. From 1901-1944 the passenger train stopped in Calvin several times a day and was a popular means of travel. From 1944-48 Calvin became a Flag-stop. Persons had to flag the train in order to ride. In 1951 the depot was torn down and moved. A protest was raised by W.S. Carter Sr. because of the verbal agreement made by the railroad to his father to maintain a depot in Calvin in exchange for the right-of-way through his property. In answer to the protest, a small building was built and maintained by the railroad. It was moved the same year Mr. Carter died. From 1908-1918 many people in Calvin had telephones which they installed and maintained themselves. When the lines got old they became too costly to maintain. After this, there was just one phone in Calvin maintained by the telephone company at Mr. C.A. Robbins' for many years. In 1946 the Southern Bell Telephone Co. ran lines to Calvin and installed three party lines of eight phones. In 1961 and automatic switchboard was installed and in 1975 an underground cable system and direct dialing was added. RECREATION AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES The early settlers took advantage of every occasion to get together. Log rollings and house raisings combined work with play. At harvest time the farmers would gather to grind their corn at the Carter Grist Mill near the old spring. Syrup making was another social activity. Farmers gathered from near and far at a syrup mill to grind their cane and cook the sweet juice into fine ribbon cane syrup. This tradition is still carried on every fall at the C.N. Chandler mill in Calvin. Another event eagerly anticipated by the early settlers was the semiannual trip to St. Maurice. Mrs. Bob Carter related that three or four families would father and make the three-day trip in their wagons, camping along the way. The people in Calvin attended church whenever it was held at Sanders Chapel or at Bethlehem. This was usually once a month. About once a year a brush arbor meeting was held for a week or two by a circuit riding preacher. Stories related by Mrs. Myrtle Anderson and Mr. Newton Martin tell of a favorite pastime of the young people on a Sunday afternoon -- going down to the train station and meet the passengers getting off the train. Often times there would be forty to fifty people getting off the train. Calvin is a typical North Louisiana town. If it has a uniqueness, it is because of the characteristics of the people. It had its beginning for economic reasons and has survived because of sentimental reasons.