"WHERE WILL THE COURTHOUSE BE?"

New Courthouse located in Benton, built 1893. BPLHC Collection; 0000.001.011

The April 27, 1882 issue of the Bossier Banner reported that in the issue for April 13, 1882, the Banner reported on moving the Bossier Parish Courthouse.

“We notice in the Bossier Banner of the 13th inst., that a bill will be introduced at the meeting of the next Legislature to move the Court House from Bellevue to Benton.”

“We believe that we are representing the voice of the people when we state that an action of this character, by our Representatives is decidedly premature, and is in strict violation of the wishes of the citizens. Although a large majority are for removal, yet they do not propose to be deprived of their franchise in being forced to vote for a point that they do not consider suitable for a parish site. We claim this right as citizens and tax payers, to have a voice in the location of the parish site, which we are deprived of if such a bill is introduced in the Legislature and becomes a law.”

“If it is the intention of our Representatives to act in conformity with the wishes of the people and the good of the parish generally, we suggest that they introduce a bill in the Legislature looking to the removal of our parish site, and provide for holding three separate and distinct elections, to accomplish the purpose: 1st. Election for ‘Removal.’ 2nd. Election for all points put in nomination. 3rd. Election to decide between the two points that have received the greatest number of votes.”

“This will give general satisfaction to all parties.”

“In removing the Court House, it is expected to add greatly to the convenience of the people in going to and from the place, and if a law is made giving us the right to settle our own matters, by election, everyone will be satisfied with the result. But, if we are to be taken in hand by the Legislature, and have our Court House question decided by designating the point we are to vote upon, without giving us a voice in the matter (except ‘Hobson’s choice’ [a choice of taking what is available or nothing at all]), we had better petition our law makers at Baton Rouge to select the spot for the Court House and place it there.”

“In the event the proposed bill is introduced and becomes a law, and Bellevue and Benton the only points we are allowed to vote for, in this case the cherished hopes of the father of the bill would be thwarted, and the babe would be still born.”

“Although we feel that the act of removing the Court House is assuredly necessary, for the interest and welfare of the parish, and place it at some healthy spot; but before we will be coerced into the measure of voting and locating the parish site at a place so little suited for it as Benton, we will continue to cross the bridge, and have a good time with the Bellevue people for another season. [Signed] MANY VOTERS.”

After several fraudulent elections and vote buying, the Courthouse was finally moved to Benton in 1890 under somewhat surreptitious circumstances.

To learn the rest of the story of the Bossier Parish Courthouse visit the Bossier Parish Library History Center.

By: Ann Middleton

Second Sunday Showing for May

"MOLLIE BANKS GRAY 'GRAND OLD LADY'"

Miss Mollie on her 90th Birthday

This is the final segment of the April 11, 1947 Plain Dealing Progress article about Mollie Banks Gray by Rupert Peyton.

“Mrs. Gray was born at Mount Holly, Ark., the daughter of Rev. A.R. and Mary Fitzhugh Banks. Her father was a pioneer Presbyterian minister in the South and delivered the first Presbyterian sermon in Shreveport more than a century ago. He served for 25 years as pastor at Rocky Mount and also founded the Cottage Grove Church near Benton, which he also served. He was a noted scholar in Greek and Hebrew and although not a lawyer, assisted his friends in preparing legal documents in his time. Her mother was a member of the famous Fitzhugh family of Virginia, which was related to the Washington family.”

“Mrs. Gray was one of six children. She and a sister, Mrs. Carrie Cryder, of San Antonio, Texas, are the only survivors. She is the mother of three children, Glen E. Curry, of Texarkana, Robert H. Curry and Mrs. Annie Bell (W.B.) Boggs, of Shreveport. She has 11 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.”

“When a young woman, Mollie Banks married Robert H. Curry, a well-to-do farmer of Rocky Mount. Mr. Curry served with distinction in the Louisiana Legislature during the famous lottery fight. C.G. Rives, of Shreveport, several years ago wrote a story which revealed Mr. Curry[‘s] sterling character. It was during the lottery fight, Mr. Rives said, that the lottery people offered Mr. Curry one day’s receipts from the lottery for his vote. This amounted to about $75,000. He voted against the lottery and turned down a fortune. Mr. Curry died in 1892, leaving his young widow with three small children. However, Mrs. Curry faced the future with fortitude and determination and by diligent efforts kept her family together and reared and educated her children. Shortly after Mr. Curry’s death she moved to Plain Dealing where she has made her home for 50 years.”

“To earn a livelihood for herself and family, Mrs. Curry bought the lumber salvaged in the dismantling of two old churches and had a carpenter build her a modest combination home and boarding house. This little boarding house soon became famous. School teachers made it their home during terms and traveling men found it a haven of rest and good eating in their travels. Mrs. Curry’s chicken dinners became the talk of the ‘drummers’ of the day and fortunate was the salesman who could arrange his affairs so as to stop at Mrs. Curry’s hotel while calling on their trade in the nearby territory. With the income form the hotel she was able to pay off the mortgage.”

“After Mrs. Curry remained a widow for 16 years, she married J.S. Gray, a merchant of Plain Dealing, now deceased. However, she continued to operate the hotel, and its fame increased. Among the former patrons of this hotel who are living in Shreveport and who enjoyed the sumptuous repasts it afforded are George Hearne, Walter Crowder and Henry O’Neal.”

“Mrs. Gray’s interest in civic and social affairs widened with the passing years and has never subsided. She is diligent and faithful in church work and is the friend and confidant of hundreds of people, young and old. Many young people still find her home a mecca of pleasant pastime.
She is a member of Pelican Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.”

“Mrs. Gray takes great interest in current events and newspapers. Nothing occurs in her
community that she misses. It was this interest that resulted in her becoming a newspaper
correspondent, serving many years for the Journal as the Plain Dealing representative. It is
proverbial among the members of the press that ‘if a chicken crosses the road in Plain Dealing,
Miss Mollie will know about it.’”

“If you do not know Miss Mollie you may to the Curry home this Sunday afternoon. The woman
with the broadest smile, happiest look and cheeriest conversation will be Miss Mollie.”

“Belated, I want to thank this grand old lady for retrieving my cap long, long ago.”

To learn about other Bossier personalities, visit the Bossier Parish Library History Center.

By: Ann Middleton

Pages Past book club: Valiant Ambition

Pages Past: An American History Book Club

Thursday, May 3rd at 6pm 

History Center Meeting Room - 2206 Beckett St in Bossier City

Our next book selection is Nathaniel Philbrick's Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution. 

Stop by the History Center to check out a copy of the book!

From Amazon: In September 1776, the vulnerable Continental Army under an unsure George Washington (who had never commanded a large force in battle) evacuates New York after a devastating defeat by the British Army. Three weeks later, near the Canadian border, one of his favorite generals, Benedict Arnold, miraculously succeeds in postponing the British naval advance down Lake Champlain that might have ended the war. Four years later, as the book ends, Washington has vanquished his demons and Arnold has fled to the enemy after a foiled attempt to surrender the American fortress at West Point to the British. After four years of war, America is forced to realize that the real threat to its liberties might not come from without but from within. 

Valiant Ambition is a complex, controversial, and dramatic portrait of a people in crisis and the war that gave birth to a nation. The focus is on loyalty and personal integrity, evoking a Shakespearean tragedy that unfolds in the key relationship of Washington and Arnold, who is an impulsive but sympathetic hero whose misfortunes at the hands of self-serving politicians fatally destroy his faith in the legitimacy of the rebellion. As a country wary of tyrants suddenly must figure out how it should be led, Washington’s unmatched ability to rise above the petty politics of his time enables him to win the war that really matters.

"HAPPY 85th BIRTHDAY MISS MOLLIE"

As promised in last week’s column, this is the first of a two-part article written by Rupert Peyton in appreciation to Mollie Banks Gray. It has appeared before in the Bossier Press-Tribune but reading about this wonderful woman is always fun. The article originally appeared in the Plain Dealing Progress on April 11, 1947.

“That was the year that Roosevelt the First shook his big stick, an earthquake shook San Francisco, the boll weevil crossed the Rio Grande and cotton rose to ten cents a pound. That was the year that the cyclone tore Gilliam and Bolinger to splinters, blew down Uncle Hi Simpkins’ barn, tore up Papa’s back rail fence and, incidentally killed several people. That was the year they put the mosque dome on the Plain Dealing bank, the Great Van Amburg Circus came to town, Old Man Winn got drunk and made himself a spectacle of supine inebriation on the roadside, where he was viewed with varying degrees of horror by the pious brethren and sisters of Walker’s Chapel and Old Salem.”

“That was the year I met Miss Mollie.”

“I am just one of a million persons who have met this Grand Old Lady of North Louisiana, South Arkansas and parts thereabouts, but my first meeting with Miss Mollie was a bit unusual. For the sake of the newcomers to the land of Ark-La-Tex, ‘Miss Mollie’ is none other than Mrs. Mollie Banks Gray. But if you have lived in these parts for an appreciable time you already know that. Although Mrs. Gray claims Plain Dealing as her habitat, all North Louisiana have some sort of claim to her citizenship, for she is at home in most any part of the area that she goes.”

“On that day fate brought me in contact with Miss Mollie for the first time. I was a very small boy who had come to town to purchase a brand new suit of clothes which, if the cotton crop was good enough occurred once a year about ginning time. As the boll weevil had not crossed the Smith and Wesson line from Texas, the crop that year was good enough to afford me a $3.50 hand-me-down at Mr. Frank Kirthley’s store. After I became the proud possessor of said suit, with cap to match, I had to stroll in my finery down Palmetto Avenue. (Yes, there’s a Palmetto Avenue in Plain Dealing, but nary a palmetto grows on it). I came to the site where they were building the bank. I was fascinated by the dome which was quite incongruous to the scene— Mohammedan architecture in a citadel of Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians.”

“As I gazed upon this unusual piece of structure, two boys bent upon deviltry approached me, snatched my cap and fled. I pursued them, yelling my indignation as loudly as possible. My tormentors were having the time of their lives when suddenly a sharp command spoiled their malicious fun.”

“’Give back that boy’s cap!’ a woman’s voice rang out with authority. With a meek ‘yes, Miss Mollie,’ the lads returned my cap to me. That’s how I met Miss Mollie. My rural timidity prevented proper expression of thanks, but inside I was a very grateful boy. The years that have passed since that event have deepened my appreciation of this grand old lady and, come next Sunday, April 13, I expect to join with a throng of relatives and friends in paying homage to her on her 85th birthday. In honor of the occasion, all of Mrs. Gray’s children and grandchildren will hold open house for her at the home of her son and daughter-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Curry, 202 Preston Avenue, from three to five p.m. All of Mrs. Gray’s friends are invited to this informal affair. Of course, if they all come it will take special trains and buses to transport them.”

Read more about Miss Mollie in next week’s column and visit the Bossier Parish Library Historical Center to find out more about her.

By: Ann Middleton

MOLLIE BANKS GRAY AND POLLY

The April 11, 1947 issue of the Plain Dealing Progress ran yet another tribute to Mrs. Mollie Banks Gray.

“In his inimitable and versatile style, Rupert Peyton is this week paying a most just and merited tribute to one of North Louisiana’s greatest characters, Mrs. Mollie Banks Gray.”

“Without presuming to assume a counterpart role in this just ecomium to ‘Mamma Gray,’ the editor, being one of those who spent many happy days under her faithful guardianship in his early sojourn in Plain Dealing, feels that he must add just a little to the very pertinent observations of Mr. Peyton.”

“To us, as the local school head, she is always the embodiment of that appellation accorded her and that most beloved character, J. T. Manry, the ‘Maximi Amici’ of the Plain Dealing High School. This attribute was given in 1940 at a great spring field day. It goes without saying. No one has ever challenged this appellation.”

“In lighter vein, never will fade from our memory this scene: Polly seated on Mamma Gray’s shoulder or on the marginal limits of the piano’s keyboard, head bobbing up and down and responding to Mamma Gray’s exhortation of ‘Sing, Polly,’ with the most mystifying shrieks or squeaks ever heard by mortal man, strangely harmonized to the martial notes of ‘Dixie’ or the lamentative tones of the ‘Mocking Bird.’ No one ever questioned the reality of Polly’s singing on such occasions.”

“Polly, however, before migrating to Plain Dealing, had definitely been contaminated by city ways and speech, and many were the times when with the visiting persons present—and they were always welcomed at the Gray hostelry—Mamma Gray would receive her greatest shocks, for Polly’s singing would suddenly be turned into anathemas not to be matched by those of the proverbial sailor. No, with all her prayers and efforts on her behalf Polly never became a ‘Christian.’”

“Reverting to Mr. Peyton’s observation that the Gray Hotel was always the haven for school teachers, it might be added that while the kind hostess made no claims of running a matrimonial bureau, nevertheless her batting average at this point is authoritatively claimed to be 100 per cent. We are not here prepared to dispute it, either.”

“Finally, thank you Rupert. We have never published an article with the eclat that this has given us.”

In the upcoming 2 weeks issues of the Bossier Press-Tribune you can read the above referenced article by Rupert Peyton. And, to find out more about Mollie Banks Gray, visit the Bossier Parish Library Historical Center

Gray Hotel
Bryce Turnley Collection; 1997.062.028

By: Ann Middleton