Parish History: Mrs. John H. Mosley, 1961, 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: February 9, 1961 Winn Parish Enterprise News-American Pioneer Days Of Parish Described By Mrs. Mosley Mrs. John H. Mosley of Winnfield entertained and ________ the large group who attended the February meeting of the ___________ Club. In a reminiscent mood, Mrs. Mosley vividly pictured the early pioneer days of the Hebron Community that she remembers so well not only from her childhood days but also from stories that she listened to from her grandparents as a little girl. Very keen interest was reflected in the faces of the audience as she read a list of the names of those original families as most of those present were descendants of these early families. "Winn Parish was established in 1852," Mrs. Mosley reminded the group and the earliest families lived in what was then called Catahoula Parish, one of the early large parishes of Louisiana. There were several reasons for the people's coming from the eastern states to this section of Louisiana" Mrs. Mosley continued. "Some of these reasons were: plenty of water, there were many springs and creeks; and abundance of wild game; beautiful forests, especially pine trees and good soil." With frequent light touches of humor mixed with a more serious history of the early days, Mrs. Mosley told of several personal experiences such as attending the wedding where the bride wore a black dress and the wedding table decorations were made by using a thimble to cut the dainty little cakes (the children could hardly wait for these to be served); her first train ride and crossing Dugdemona River in a skiff during high water when the banks were a mile apart. She then told of how hard people had to work to create sufficient interest to build the dyke across Dugdemona. Mrs. Mosley's father, Mr. J. T. Wallace, was very interested in education and as Superintendent of Parish Schools, introduced a new method of teaching reading. This method of reading flash cards supplemented the old fashioned ABC method and was such an improvement that it is used until now. However, at that time it was received with mixed emotions. Mrs. Mosley taught school in the parish for several years and also served as postmistress of the Winnfield Post Office. In concluding this interesting talk, Mrs. Mosley asked the question, "Don't you think we have a wonderful heritage from these pioneers who met all situations with courage and faith? Their first interest was in building a home and immediately after they organized a church." In a spirited round-table discussion that followed the fact was brought out that Hebron Baptist Church was organized in 1845 and the entire group agreed that we should treasure the memories of these pioneers who sacrificed so much to develop our parish. Delicious refreshments were served by the host and hostess, Mr. and Mrs. Irving Thigpen to the following: Mr. and Mrs. Sam Dulaney, Mr. and Mrs. R. A. Thigpen, Mr. and Mrs. Fleet Herring, Mrs. Etta Thigpen, Mrs. Clyde Herring, Mrs. Ruby Dulaney, Mr. and Mrs. B. E. Thigpen, Mrs. Roy Beavers, Mrs. B. E. McDaniel, Mrs. Wayman Erskins, Mrs. Crafton Thigpen, Mr. and Mrs. Hobson Myers, Mrs. Carrie Gregory, Mrs. Bell Mosley, Mrs. Rubie Hanks, Mrs. L. A. Boone, and Mrs. J. E. Rayburn.