Misc: The House That Crossed the Creek, John & Henry Collins, 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 ********************************************** SOURCE: "the sassafras", Vol. 1, No. 1, December, 1978, published by the Calvin Folklore Society. (Permission to use granted submitter by Linda Dupree, sponsor.) [NOTE: The Calvin Folklore Society was a student organization of Calvin High School dedicated to the preservation of oral traditions -- the local folklore of the area. Articles in "the sassafras" were written by the students after research and interviews with older citizens of the area. Faculty sponsors were Linda Dupree and Steve Bartlett.] THE HOUSE THAT CROSSED THE CREEK by Lisa Williams It is often said of an old house that if it could speak, it would have many interesting stories to tell. So it is true with the home of Mr. John and Mr. Henry Collins, brothers living together a few miles north of Calvin, Louisiana. Their home has a truly unusual story. The time was autumn, 1933, when the two brothers acquired a home by extraordinary means. Mr. John Collins owned a T-Model car for which he had no use. Mr. Ritch [Richard] Chandler had a home and since he was moving to West Carroll Parish he needed an automobile. Mr. Collins, having very little money to even operate the automobile, traded his car to Mr. Chandler for a home. The house, built around 1909 by Mr. Chandler's father, was located half a mile from Carter's Crossing on Dugdemona in Ward Four of Winn Parish. The brothers had been living in an old log cabin, over 100 years old, built by their grandfather, Mr. Jimmy Walker. Up until the time of the swap, the brothers and their family had lived in the log cabin, now long gone. They wanted to move their new home a few yards from the log cabin, but how could they when their new home was on the other side of Dugdemona Creek! In those days, when a problem arose a person had to make up his own solution for it. What did they do? John and Henry set out and tore down the 28 foot long by 30 foot wide structure. They kept "purt-near all of the building there was there, that was any good," recalls Mr. John Collins, except some of the sills and blocks. They kept the roof, made of shingles, and covered the rebuilt home with them. All the material torn down was loaded onto a horse- drawn wagon and taken across the creek at a ford where the water was low. It was no easy task and it took all of the fall and winter to tear down that house, move about 15 loads of lumber and rebuild the house as near as possible to the way it was first built. By the first of March, 1934, the home was on the other side of Dugdemona Creek. The house today is almost like it was before it was torn down but there are a few minor changes to the house, such as the construction of a kitchen because the other one had been torn out. Years later the back porch was closed-in to make another room. A few years ago, the front porch was restored since the old one had begun to decay. The front of the house is made from mostly cypress boards and the back is of pine boards. The house sets up off the ground on pine blocks. The home was heated for years by a mud fireplace and chimney until an easier way of heating -- gas was introduced. Electricity was added in the 1950's. How do you build a mud chimney? Build a frame by nailing sticks on strips of wood across four posts on the inside, forming a hollow box from the ground to above the roof. Mix crabgrass or pine straw with the mud. Crabgrass is better because it is longer than pine straw. The mud used is sandy clay. "Sandy clay's better than regular old clay to build one because regular clay's bad to 'crackle' up." Mix the mud and grass in chunks call "mud cats." These "cats" are daubed on the frame, inside and outside over the chimney, lining the frame. Of course when a mud chimney was partly washed away by rain, or it "crackled up", it is easily repaired by adding more "mud cats" where they are needed. The inside of the chimney did not wash, though. Yes, old houses could tell many stories if only they could speak. Yet, could they all tell the same story as this home of Mr. John, 76 years old, and Mr. Henry Collins, 73 years old, that stands so serenely beneath the shade of the china-berry and oak trees? Can any other house boast about crossing Dugdemona? [NOTE: The Calvin Folklore Society was a student organization of Calvin High School dedicated to the preservation of oral traditions -- the local folklore of the area. Articles in "the sassafras" were written by the students after research and interviews with older citizens of the area. Faculty sponsors were Linda Dupree and Steve Bartlett.]