Benton: The First Bossier Parish Library, September 1940

 In 1925, the American Libraries Association selected Louisiana, out of twelve competing states, to be the recipient of a $50,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation to establish rural public libraries. The Louisiana Library Commission then selected Miss Essae (pronounced “Essay”) Culver, a 42-year-old librarian who had fallen in love with library work as a student at California’s Pomona College and who’d helped establish libraries in Oregon and California, to begin the project in Louisiana. She decided to work with a northern parish and a southern parish in which to establish a library system, Ouachita and Jefferson Davis. It wasn’t long after those first two projects before she set her sights on Bossier Parish, holding “mass meetings” across Bossier in 1928 to support the founding of a library system.

These meetings were arranged by the local library committee under Mr. J.E. Williams, of Benton, the executive secretary, who was also Bossier Parish Supervisor of Schools. Mrs. S. C. Barr, president of the Bossie Parish PTA, “made a forceful address” at one of these meetings, as did Mrs. Volney V. Whitington of Benton and other “very enthusiastic” people, as reported by the Bossier Banner-Progress on December 13, 1928. Well-practiced speaker Miss Culver held the “undivided attention of her hearers,” and the local social pages noted that Miss Culver also had a local dinner invitation while in the area, enjoying a turkey dinner at the “Wendt home,” likely the home of J.R. Wendt, parish engineer, who lived in Benton with his family as neighbors of the Bossier Banner office.

With Louisiana recovering from the great flood of 1927 and the nation entering the Great Depression in 1929, creation of public library systems stalled. In the meantime, Miss Culver encouraged the formation of readers’ clubs in the parish, for which the state library commission could supply books. However, it was a Depression-era government program that also helped the library project come to fruition. In 1940, the Bossier Parish Police Jury approved the formation of a parish library system on a “demonstration” basis, to be funded by the State Library of Louisiana for one year with the Work Projects Administration (WPA) providing several assistant librarians and custodians.

A New Deal agency, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), renamed the Work Projects Administration in 1939, employed 8.5 million people between 1935 and 1943. One initiative of the WPA was to sponsor nationwide, state-level library demonstration projects to encourage the development of library services to underserved populations and to extend rural service while simultaneously providing temporary work for the unemployed.

The Louisiana Library Commission supplied the demonstration library books. In an agreement between Bossier Parish and the State Library, the state also provided a bookmobile and other equipment, while a parish tax was used to maintain and expand library services. A headline in the local Planters Press newspaper from August 22, 1940 announced, “Library Books Reach Benton on Wednesday.” The article mentioned that the work of remodeling the old Post Office building for the library was going forward and the fixtures would soon be completed. It also said that once the books were arranged, the library would be ready to open to the public.

Located in the parish seat and serving as the Bossier Parish Library headquarters, the Benton library was the very first of the Bossier Parish libraries to open, on Friday, Sept 20, 1940. The library opened in Benton’s 1910 post office building, one of the oldest buildings in town. The opening was marked by a program featuring Miss Essae Culver and Mr. J. O. Modisette, an attorney who was chair of the state library commission. Elisabeth Williams, who came, along with the initial set of library books, from a demonstration library in Arcadia in Bienville Parish, served as Bossier Parish librarian from 1940 until her retirement in 1967. Because it was considered library “headquarters,” she worked from the Benton library.

The November 7, 1940, issue of the Planters Press noted that since the opening of the Parish’s four libraries that year (in Bossier City, Benton, Haughton and Plain Dealing) and having a book mobile on the road, 5,705 books circulated and 1,493 people registered as library users. At the end of that first demonstration year, the Police Jury approved the library on a permanent basis with the passage of a one-half millage sustaining tax in June of 1941, which was approved by Bossier Parish voters. By the end of 1944, the Benton Branch had circulated 5,885 books for a full year, and, along with the new branch located within the school in Elm Grove, had a perfect circulation record; all of the circulating books were accounted for.

In 1959, the Benton library moved from its original building to more modern (and air conditioned!) quarters on the corner of Sibley and Sixth Streets, just half a block away. This location proved to be too small when library usage increased in the late 1980s, so the building was renovated and expanded in 1987 to provide a dedicated children’s area, magazine display shelves, and a casual reading area. The current Benton Branch building was constructed and opened in 2006, just down the street from the Bossier Parish Courthouse.

The Bossier Parish Libraries no longer has a bookmobile, but we now have six branch libraries plus the Central Library and History Center complex. We also have an outreach service for homebound patrons. To see us in person, please visit the History Center at 2206 Beckett St, Bossier City, LA and are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary. For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.

Images: 

• 1950s. State Librarian Essae M. Culver showing Audubon prints that are part of the Louisiana State Library collection. Photo: State Library of Louisiana Bossier Parish Library in Benton, LA, 1941.
• Bossier Parish Library,  Headquarters/Benton Branch with Louisiana Library Commission Bookmobile.  Sign donated by the Coca Cola Company. May, 1941. Photo: State Library of Louisiana
• Entrance to Bossier Parish Libraries Benton branch c.1966. Bossier Parish Libraries History Center photo.

Article by: Pam Carlisle

Community Exchange Established in Benton

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933
United States Library of Congress's
Prints and Photographs division
digital ID cph.3c17121

The consumer economy ground to a halt, and an ordinary recession became the Great Depression, the defining event of the 1930s. It was the worst economic disaster in American history. When Franklin D. Roosevelt took office, he established many economic relief programs to help restore the banking system, create jobs, provide affordable housing, and various other forms of relief.

The Federal Emergency Relief Agency or FERA, often called ERA, aimed to alleviate household unemployment by creating new unskilled jobs in local and state governments. FERA provided work for over 20 million people and developed facilities on public lands across the country. Community commodity exchange sites were a result of the agency's work.

The purposes of the community exchanges were explained in a letter by H. M. Gallagher, Louisiana state ERA engineer, “The purpose is to obtain some large ramshackle building, convenient to a railroad spur which may be used to include a canning center, warehouse, store room, shoe shop and other facilities. It stated that other quarters might be desired for live-stock pens and a furniture shop.”

“The plan of operations is to exchange canned goods and articles made at the center for live stock and country produce. It is desired that the police jury and the city share the expense of providing quarters for such a center.”

The following article from the Bossier Banner, Jan. 10, 1935, details the plans for a Bossier Parish community commodity exchange:

“Bossier Parish may be the first in the state to boast of a community exchange, where clients of the ERA may come to exchange whatever surplus they have for products they need. This appointment was made before a meeting of the Police Jury yesterday afternoon, by a representative of the ERA.

“It is understood, from the President’s recent message to Congress, and from other sources, that the ERA shortly plans to swing from a relief organization to one that will more or less pay its way. Those who receive help, in the form of money, seeds or other goods, will be allowed to pay for them in produce, livestock, wood or whatever they may have in the form of surplus.

“The Bossier community exchange will be located in Benton, the site being adjacent to the present Ward Two Highway barn. Most of the land is owned by the Police Jury and the Town of Benton. The remaining land to be used will be leased, free of charge, from local citizens.

“It is understood that the buildings will eventually form a compound, that is, they will be built in a square. The first unit is to be a warehouse, wherein goods may be stored, after being exchanged. A community workshop, where furniture or other articles can be made, a community canning kitchen and possibly other buildings, will, in the long run, be included in the project.

“The Police Jury and Town of Benton are to assit [sic] in the plan by providing the materials to be used in the building. The Police Jury is being held this evening, to work out the details, of what each group will do. The ERA will provide half the materials and all the labor.

Arthur Milton Wallace
Mayor of Benton for 12 years
Margaret W. Jones Collection
 2019.057.056 

“Work on the building is expected to get under way within a very short time. Additional details of the plan will be furnished the Banner’s readers in forthcoming issues.”

Plans for the exchange called for the donation of the use of the necessary land, for a period of five years, by the town. The exchange was built jointly by the Town, Parish, and the ERA, with the latter furnishing half of the materials and all of the labor. A.M. Wallace was mayor of the Village of Benton during that time. The exchange was partially located on lot one of block 39 of the Village for which he secured the lease from the Police Jury for the duration of the program.

By: Amy Robertson

The First Bossier Parish Fair

The first mention of having a "country fair" was in January of 1899 when a farmer wrote "The Bossier Banner," expressing the importance of having a fair. He asked readers to consider the idea of planning one for the fall and inviting farmers to discuss it at the following Farmers' Institute Club in Benton. When the meeting took place on the 8th of March, it was motioned and seconded that the Farmers' Institute Club would hold a fair that fall.

In June, the club met and elected seven executive committee members to plan the fair, one from each ward of the Parish and Ward 1 of Caddo. The following were elected: Ward 1, J.W. Atkins; Ward 2, J.W. Jeter; Ward 3, N.W. Sentell; Ward 4, W.J. Johnston; Ward 5, J.T. Manry; Ward 6, G.S. Majors, and Ward 1 of Caddo, J.M. Sentell. The committee elected N.W. Sentell as chairman, Dr. C.H. Irion as secretary, and W.H. Scanland as treasurer.

That August, details of the plans for the fair began appearing in "The Bossier Banner," building the excitement. The fair would take place in Benton on Sept. 12th, 13th, and 14th. When announcing the dates, the writer admonished, "Every citizen in this parish should feel an interest in the fair and do all in his or her power to make it a success." The desire was to have an exhibit of something from every farm in the parish.

Preparation for the fair required a lot of construction. The exhibition hall was forty by eighty feet and two stories tall with a sheet iron roof that hung over several feet, providing shade and wire netted sides. There was a regulation half-mile track with grandstands to seat over 500 for viewing races and baseball games. There was an 'eating house" where the ladies of the Presbyterian faith served all kinds of delicacies, raising monies for the building of a Presbyterian church in Benton. Stalls and pens were built to house livestock.

The fair opened with an address from Mr. Rydon D. Webb when Governor Foster when circumstances prevented him from attending. The state agricultural association held a farmers' institute during the fair. A black brass band from Shreveport was in daily attendance. Each day a baseball game was played between the Ivan and Benton teams; Benton won each game. There were horse races, sprints, and other entertainments.

A beautiful oak grove near the fairgrounds was reserved for campgrounds for travelers who wished to camp out during the fair days. Local hotels offered reasonable rates. And special rates were arranged with the railroad; the Cotton Belt Route sold tickets at one and one-third fares, with a minimum of 50 cents.

After the fair, it was reported that "The attendance was greater than any one anticipated, even surpassing the most sanguine expectation of the managers. There were in attendance both Tuesday and Thursday fully 1000 people, and to say that there were 1500 present on Wednesday would be placing it at a low estimate." Wednesday was Veterans' Day, with special programs prepared on their behalf.

The first Bossier Parish Fair was a success in every way. To learn more about the history of the Bossier Parish Fair, visit the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center, 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City. Can't come in, call 318-746-7717 or email history-center@bossierlibrary.org with your request. Follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on Facebook, @bplhistorycenter on Tiktok, and check out our blog, http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.

By: Amy Robertson

Cottage Grove Holds First Columbian Club Affair

Heinze, Hermann, A. Zeese & Co, and World'S Columbian Exposition. Souvenir map of the World's Columbian
Exposition at Jackson Park and Midway Plaisance, Chicago, Ill, U.S. A. Chicago: A. Zeese & Co., Engravers, 1892.
Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2010587004/>. 

Aug. 10, 1893, was Louisiana Day at the World's Fair: Columbian Exposition in Chicago, IL. This world's fair celebrated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the New World in 1492. Dedication ceremonies for the fair were held on Oct. 21, 1892, but the fairgrounds were not open to the public until May of 1893 and ran for six months closing in Oct.

The planning began nearly ten years before the dedication ceremony. Many prominent civic, professional, and commercial leaders from across the nation participated in the fair's financing, coordination, and management. The total cost of the fair was approximately $46,000,000, which is the equivalent of nearly 1.4 billion dollars today. There were forty-six countries, 34 U.S states, and 4 U.S. territories with buildings at the exposition.

To have a state building or headquarters meant having a proper representation of their resources at the world's fair. Early estimates suggest that the appropriation needed was at least $75,000. But, the Louisiana legislature only appropriated $36,000, and $12,000 of that was earmarked for the two commissioners, which ruffled quite a few feathers. Since $24,000 was not enough money to provide proper representation, Columbian Clubs began to form throughout the state.

In an article appearing in the "Weekly Shreveport Times" on Mar. 5, 1893, the writer stated that "Louisiana was too poor – floods and legislative inaction throwing the burden of making a display upon the women of the state." An article in "The Bossier Banner" on Aug. 11, 1892, supports this statement; it reads as follows:

"It is to our credit as a parish that the ladies, always active and enthusiastic in any good cause, are evincing interest in organizing for the purpose of raising funds for our State exhibit at the World's Fair. That we have at present two Columbian Clubs, one at Cottage Grove, and one at Benton, both organized with good membership, surely speaks well for the ladies of said places and vicinity, reflecting great credit on their public spirit."

Martha "Mattie" Gilmer Swann c. 1905
Ann Fitzpatrick Graham Collection: 2003.007.016D

The writer goes on to list the names of the officers for both clubs, all women. And then admonished, "Surely all will help this cause, and before snother [sic] month rolls by we hope to have not two Columbian Clubs in Bossier parish, but a dozen, if need be, that every community of ladies may do what they can to help make a 'record' for our parish in the State work."

Earlier that year, Dr. W. M. Abney, President of the Police Jury, with the unanimous approval of the jurors, appointed Martha “Mattie” Swann as the parochial delegate from Bossier Parish to the World's Fair. She was instrumental in the organizing of these local clubs. Shortly after the article ran announcing the two Bossier Parish clubs, she visited Plain Dealing, where a third Columbian Club was organized in this parish. Again, the officers of the club were made up entirely of women from that community.

These clubs held elaborate affairs to raise money for the Louisiana State Exhibit building at the World's Columbian Exposition. The Columbian Club at Cottage Grove held the first of these affairs at Swannhaven plantation, home of Mattie Swann. Guest enjoyed supper and entertainments complete with recitations, tableaux, soliloquies, instrumental duets, horseshoe quartets, and other musical numbers. The night was concluded with an address from Mrs. Julia Rule, Pansy of the Times, "to arouse enthusiasm in our State Columbian work."

Swannhaven Plantation, Cottage Gove, Louisiana, c. late 1800s
Ann Fitzpatrick Graham Collection: 2003.007.007

Next, the Benton Columbian Club prepared a feast that was given at the Union Hotel supper-room. The write-up in the “Shreveport Times,” provides the following description. “The contributions to this supper were most generous, and some responded who were not members of the club; long tables groaned ‘neath the weight of delicious salads, cakes, beautiful jellies and appetizing pickles – all ‘home products’ – as were the barbecued meats, daintily trussed turkeys and chickens galore!”

Both events were filled with dancing and merriment, and the ladies' efforts were rewarded by the “...large and appreciative crowds, whose patriotism and pride in our fair State’s representation at the coming magnificent exposition...”

Louisiana Day, Aug. 10, 1893, World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, IL
Source: Digital Research Library of Illinois History

The Louisiana state building was an exhibit of authentic southern architectural style and was divided into eight rooms. One devoted to the Acadian exhibits, from the quaint old French colony in the lovely Bayou Teche country. Another room was devoted to the relics of the French and Spanish days of Louisiana. Richly carved antique furniture of a former Governor, which was usually kept at the museum of the Capitol building at Baton Rouge, filled one of the rooms.

There were eleven beautifully carved panels designed and executed by women of the State. And many other interesting articles, including a veranda of Louisiana woods, where each visitor was given a seedling of a cypress tree, resulting in the spread of cypress trees to areas where they were not native, of which many can be found in West Virginia.

When it comes to agriculture, there was also a double-decked Chinese pagoda, artistically finished off in rough rice, where samples of rice were given to the ladies that visited. In a massive pillared veranda made of sugar cane were displays of syrups, molasses, and sugars, including the old sugar-loaf cakes. There was an exhibit of ramie hemp and other fiber plants, corn, and tobacco.

Of course, it wouldn't be a true representation of Louisiana without its food and music. So naturally, a Creole kitchen served all the southern delicacies for which the state is noted, and a Creole concert company entertained the many visitors.

The World’s Columbian Exposition was the most significant world's fair in U.S. history and one of the most important in the history of world expositions. The Ferris wheel made its debut at the fair, as did the brownie, among other things. The architecture shaped the country's style for the next 25 years and the exhibits were more impressive than anything seen before. It introduced the concept of the midway, a lively entertainment zone, a feature that soon became a staple of virtually all future expositions.

By: Amy Robertson

The Honoree of Mayfield Street

In 1916, Zella Mayfield was born Zella Ruby Cullen, the ninth child of William B. and Hannah Cullen. Her mother was known as “Momma Cullen” due to her popularity as a midwife in Benton, La. Raised by an Italian family, her father received a good education. He graduated in 1882 and then went to college, becoming an educator in Bossier Parish.

The Cullen’s saw to it that their children, all eleven of them, were educated. Mayfield attended school at Linwood, a Rosenwald school in Benton that had three rooms, one for grades 1-3, one for grades 4-7, and the third room served as a kitchen for preparing meals for the students. Starting in fourth grade, she attended the Bossier Training School, where she finished high school. Many children would stay in the dormitory during the school year, but she remembers walking three-miles to school instead.

Following in her father’s footsteps, Mayfield was an educator in Bossier Parish for 31-years. She started teaching before going to college, which was she said was allowed if a person completed 12th grade. Like most educators, Mayfield attended college during summer breaks. The colleges she attended include Northeastern, Louisiana State University, Wiley College, and Stephen F. Austin.

Her teaching career began at Oak Ridge, a small one-room schoolhouse. She also taught at Linwood, the Rosenwald school that she attended as a child. Eventually, she started teaching at Carrie Martin when it was only an elementary school—reassigned, later, when integrating public schools began in Bossier Parish, to Plantation Park Elementary School in Bossier City.

After her teaching career, Mayfield had plans to travel and see the world. As a Benton native and life-long resident, Zella Mayfield loved her community. Friends and neighbors urged her to seek public office, so she did, cutting short her plans to travel and see the world. In an interview, Mayfield said, “she couldn’t walk away from a public life – she was committed to helping her fellow man.”

Her political career began in 1986 when she became an alderman for District 2 of Benton. When she ran for re-election in 1992, she said that “she wants to see the town improve over the next four years, including improved care for the elderly and securing a new, enlarged town hall.” She held that seat for twelve years. During those twelve years, Mayor George Forrest resigned, and she served as pro-tem Mayor of Benton after his resignation and while waiting for Joe Stickell to take office.

Mayfield led efforts to improve the Bossier Parish Health Unit, for which she received honors in 1994. She was an active member of the Bossier Parish Concerned Citizens group, focused on improving education, voting rights, and community-related issues.

In 1997, former Mayor Stickell led the effort to name a town street in Benton in Mayfield’s honor. He asserted, “Zella Mayfield is a people person. She makes decisions to benefit the whole town of Benton. She’s a very influential person for blacks and whites here.” …

“Mayfield Street was so named in honor of Mayfield’s long-standing dedication to her neighbors.”

To learn more about Zella Mayfield and other women who made a difference in Bossier Parish, visit the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center, 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City. While you are here, you can view an exhibit honoring some of these women.

Bossier Parish's First Librarian

Portrait of Mary Elisabeth Williams by A. Menosco.
Bossier Parish Library Collection: 2000.093.001.

Before the first Bossier Parish library opened its doors, Elisabeth Williams was already working behind the scene to establish the public library system in this parish. After earning her degree in Library Science from the University of Illinois, she began her career in Tennessee at the Cossitt Public Library in Memphis. Then she worked for the Louisiana Library Commission in Baton Rouge and opened and operated the demonstration library in Arcadia as the Bienville Parish librarian.

Opening and operating demonstration libraries involved much more than ordering, cataloging, and shelving books. A vital role as the head librarian was the promotion of the library. Williams would speak to groups of people throughout the parish to explain the importance of having a public library and how to obtain books.

At a Lions Club meeting, “She explained how this new service is being provided to the people of the entire parish – through branch libraries in Benton, Bossier City, Plain Dealing, Haughton and Elm Grove (the latter having been opened two weeks ago) and a regular weekly ‘bookmobile’ tour of the parish, covering 300 miles and serving all of the smaller communities of the parish.”

Elisabeth Williams (left) and Jessica Boatner (right) providing books to children
in Bossier Parish's first bookmobile. Source: The Shreveport Times, Feb. 14, 1941.

“She also explained that library service of this type costs about $15,000, or about a one-mill tax per year. This year, however, the service is being provided as a demonstration project, with the State Library Commission, the WPA and the Bossier Parish Police Jury cooperating.” She urged that the police jury be requested to vote a special tax to support the library, and she encouraged citizens to get behind the library to make it permanent.

With the demonstration period scheduled to end on Sept. 1, 1941, the Bossier Parish Police Jury felt the urgency to secure the public library’s continuance. On June 12, 1941, the following announcement appeared in the Bossier Banner. “The Bossier Parish Police Jury held a regular meeting, at the Court House, in Benton, Tuesday afternoon of this week, at which time it was voted to levy a half-mill tax, for 1941 and 1942, to continue the Bossier Parish Library system for more than a year.

“A delegation of more than 25 women and men, from every section of the parish, appeared before the Jury to speak in favor of the library. It was decided not to call a special one-mill tax election for the library’s support. Considerable discussion was had before the vote was taken and only one juror voted against the final motion.”

Williams continued as the head librarian of Bossier Parish until she retired in 1967. Before her retirement, she “went on to found the Red River Parish Library in 1962-63 and she administered the two-parish library system.” She was a member of the American Library Association, the Louisiana Library Association, and the Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority. She was president of the Caddo-Bossier Library Club and the business manager of the Louisiana Library Association’s publication, ‘The Bulletin.’

The Bossier Parish Library has proudly provided access to an array of materials, programs, and technologies that inform, educate, and entertain the residents of this great parish for the past eighty years. To learn more about the Bossier Parish Library’s history, visit the BPL History Center at 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City.

Blind Man Hunts Again

Walter Hill was a Benton resident and avid outdoor sportsman who probably planned to spend his retirement hunting and fishing at the Sailes Hunting Club in Bienville Parish. On May 13, 1975, a valve on a storage tank filled with anhydrous ammonia malfunctioned while working, causing severe damage requiring 27 surgeries and four transplants. In the end, the Doctors were unable to restore Hill’s sight. Now, legally blind, he was forced into early retirement and feared that his disability would prevent the retirement he always imagined.

Walter Hill and "Junior" Williams
Shreveport Times Photo by Reeves Feild

Hill learned that there’s not much one can’t do, where there is passion, will, and good friends. It was not long, maybe about a year or so after the accident, he began fishing again with the help of a friend, part-time fishing guide, Vardaman “Junior” Williams of Williams and Son Plant Farm in Keithville.

Ten years later, he learned that his neighbor, Margaret Stewart, loved to hunt and fish, so he made her a deal, “if you get me there, I will pay all of the expenses.” From that point forward, Hill and Stewart began “hunting” and fishing together. Though he could not hunt, he enjoyed being in the woods and sitting in the deer stand.

Over the years, Hill lost his wife, Dorothy, and eventually, he and Margaret married on Valentine’s Day 2006. As a mother of a legally blind son and an avid hunter herself, she started making phone calls when she heard of a blind person in Texas hunting using a laser sight and partner. Margaret called the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries to learn that, in Louisiana, this would be illegal. Next, she called Louisiana State Representative Henry Burns, a long-time friend, and resident of Haughton. 

Burns went on to sponsor a bill (HB 39) through the Louisiana legislature, which was signed into law by Governor Bobby Jindal, just in time for hunting season. “The new law authorizes the use of laser scopes by visually impaired hunters while hunting with a sighted individual.” Louisiana is the 17th state to pass such a bill allowing the blind to hunt with the assistance of technology and a sighted partner.

The last time Hill shot a gun for hunting purposes was on New Year’s Day in 1975, just five and a half months before losing his sight. Finally, with the new law in place and family and friends’ help, Hill could do more than sit in the tree stand. It was the winter of 2010 when, once again, Hill experienced the thrill of hunting when he shot his first deer since becoming blind 35-years earlier.

The most important message that Hill would want readers to take from this is “not to be afraid of doing things with people who are handicapped.” He did not take lightly the challenge and effort it took for his friends and family to help him fish and hunt. Hill stated, “You don’t realize how much it meant. When I caught that first bass, I almost cried. Margaret and Junior helped give me my life back.” 

Learn more about the local history by visiting the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center, your leading source for local history. We are located adjacent to the Central Library branch at 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City.

Whether you want to learn about local history or research your family history, we are here to help in person or online, www.bossierlibrary.org/research/history-genealogy. Be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB and check out our blog, http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/. 318-746-7717, history-center@bossierlibrary.org

By: Amy Robertson

U.S. Postal Service and Bossier Parish

First US Postage Stamps, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, issue of 1847, 5c and 10c

Did you know that Benjamin Franklin greatly influenced how the postal service operates today in the United States? His work in postal services began in 1737 when the British Crown appointed him as the postmaster of Philidelphia. Franklin was dismissed as postmaster in 1774 because the British Crown felt he was too sympathetic to the colonies as he vocalized support for their independence.

On Jul. 26, 1775, the Second Continental Congress appointed Benjamin Franklin as the first postmaster general of the United Colonies. The Declaration of Independence created the United States in July 1776, making Franklin the first postmaster general of the United States.

The Articles of Confederation and the Constitution were both written to ensure the vital services were preserved. In 1792, President George Washington signed into law the Postal Service Act, which established the United States Post Office Department as a permanent part of the Federal government.

General Jean Pierre Baptiste Bossier
Charcoal drawing by John J. Audubon, Nelson
Museum, Kansas City.
Patrick D. McAnany Collection: 2001.044.001

Louisiana’s first post office was established in New Orleans in 1804. It wasn’t until 1843 that Bossier Parish was carved out of Claiborne Parish, and that same year General Pierre Bossier began his term as a congressman for Louisiana’s fourth district. According to the official Bossier Parish historian, “One of the first actions taken in 1843 by the newly elected General Bossier in the U.S. Congress was to obtain postal service for his namesake, Bossier Parish.”

General Bossier introduced a bill to authorize a survey for a postal route from Shreveport to Bellevue by way of Willow Chute and on up to Conway, Ark. Unfortunately, General Bossier died of tuberculosis just 13 months into his term, before his efforts for a postal route were realized.

The first post office in Bossier Parish was established at Red Land on Nov. 20, 1846, with Jerome Bonaparte Mading serving as the first postmaster. After nearly 63 years in service, the post office in Red Land was discontinued on Apr. 15, 1909.

This year, the Benton post office celebrates its 150th anniversary as the oldest post office in Bossier Parish; it was established in March 1870 with Elias O’Neill serving as the postmaster. Through the implementation of the Rural Free Delivery, postal mail was delivered to Benton residents, beginning in 1907 before this time residents had to travel to the post office to retrieve their mail or pay a private delivery service.

Unidentified postal carriers for the RFD (rural free delivery) in Plain Dealing C. 1910
Buelah Findley Collection: 1997.054.054

Another fascinating part of postal history in Bossier Parish can be discovered in the Apr. 17, 1913 issue of The Bossier Banner, where the following article appeared.

“Our fellow townsmen Mr. Edwin W. Doran has been granted a patent on a mail box indicator. The device accurately indicates the last hour the box was ‘robbed’ by the postman, thus serving as a convenient guide to the public when wishing to post letters. It is particularly intended for use in cities, but would be practical anywhere. Mr. Doran has received encouraging communications from the postmaster general and others regarding his patent and he will no doubt later reap considerable pecuniary gain from it.”

Bossier Parish currently has seven post offices located in Benton, established 1870; Bossier City, established 1891; Elm Grove, established 1902; Haughton, established 1884; Plain Dealing, established 1888, and Princeton, established 1910.

The History Center is excited to announce that our branch of the Bossier Parish Library System will be re-opening our doors to the public this Monday, July 6. Until then, we are here to answer your calls and emails. What do you want to know about Bossier Parish History? Email history-center@bossierlibrary.org or call us at 318-746-7717.

By: Amy Robertson

Sam Willer and Agudath Achim

The Samuel and Sarah Willer Family, 1926. Seated, left to right: Rosa W. Gamm, Sarah and
Samuel Willer, and Goldye W. Watner. Standing, left: Ethel W. Eltis, Clara W. Groner, Lazarus
Willer, and Rachel W. Braunig.

Sam Willer’s naturalization documents reveal that he immigrated to the United States in 1885 from Russia-Poland. According to an interview with two of his grandchildren, Willer left his home country because he did not want to serve in the Russian Army. He left his wife and four children and set sail for America, where he would establish a new home for his family. With his uncle, B. Willer, living in Shreveport, it was logical for him to come here.

When Willer first arrived, he started out peddling goods, buying merchandise in Shreveport, and traveling into the rural areas of Caddo and Bossier selling his wares. After four years of living on separate continents, Willer was finally able to bring his family to live in their new home in Benton. He purchased land in Benton, built a home, and farmed the land, growing cotton, and raising cattle. And he also built and ran a general merchandise store, S. Willer & Son.

In Bossier, Willer is most famous for chartering a steamboat to fetch supplies for those stranded in Benton during the 1892 flooding of the Red River. But, he is also known in the Jewish community as having an instrumental role in the organization of the Agudath Achim Synagogue in Shreveport, which is still serving the local Jewish community today. While Bossier Parish had their fair share of Jewish residents, the overwhelming majority lived in Shreveport, which is why this part of Sam Willer’s story is on the other side of the river.

It all began when he joined a small group, comprised of five practicing Orthodox families in Shreveport, called Beth El. The significance of his joining the group is that he made it possible for them to form a minyan. A minyan is a quorum of ten men (or in some synagogues, men and women) over the age of 13 required for traditional Jewish public worship.

At the same time, there was another small Orthodox congregation in Shreveport by the name of Beth Joseph. These two groups realized that there is strength in numbers, and they joined together to form Agudath Achim in 1902. According to the Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities, “In 1904, the congregation began construction of a new synagogue, but work was soon halted due to one of the outbreaks of yellow fever that frequently plagued the city. The strain of the epidemic posed a serious challenge to the new congregation’s synagogue construction project. At the height of the epidemic, trains were forbidden to enter or leave the city, and health officials fumigated every home in the town. The small community lost members, and those remaining lacked the funds to continue the synagogue construction project.”

“In this period of great trial, the citizens of Shreveport exemplified the spirit of solidarity and friendship that often arises from adversity. When news spread of Agudath Achim’s setbacks, Jews and Christians from across the city stepped forward to provide the needed funds. On September 8, 1905, much of the town crowded into Agudath Achim’s ‘magnificent edifice’ to participate in the new synagogue’s consecration service. Speakers included Agudath Achim’s Rabbi H. Wolenski and Shreveport Mayor Andrew Querbes. The crowd also included city council members, members of the Reform B’nai Zion Congregation, the Catholic chief of the Shreveport Fire Department, and many prominent local figures.”

Their first building was located at the corner of Fannin and McNeill Streets. As the congregation grew, they built a new synagogue in 1938 at Line Avenue and Margaret Place, which is now Rutherford House. In 1980, they built their third and current synagogue, which is on Village Green Drive in South Shreveport.

Before the formation of Agudath Achim, the members of Beth El pooled their monies together, and they purchased land for an orthodox Jewish cemetery located at Walnut and Yale Streets in the Allendale neighborhood of Shreveport. When the two groups formed Agudath Achim, the new combined congregation, which totaled 58 original members, assumed ownership of the Orthodox burial grounds, which became known as Agudath Achim Cemetery. Sam and Sarah Willer are buried there, along with other pioneering families of the area. 

By: Amy Robertson

Spotlighting Mamie Edwards Stinson McKnight

To wrap up women’s history month, this writer would like to spotlight Mamie Edwards Stinson McKnight, a Bossier Parish native who made a difference in this parish. She was born into a family of highly influential and esteemed members of the parish and married the same.

Mamie was born in Haughton, LA, in 1887 to John Ford Edwards and Hattie Wyche Edwards. However, she lived the majority of her life in Benton, LA, after moving there with her family after her father became a Bossier Parish Deputy. In 1904, Edwards was elected as the 12th Sheriff of Bossier Parish, where he served until 1920.

When it comes to law enforcement, her Grandfather, Major Robert Emmett Wyche, was the 10th Sheriff of Bossier Parish. He is recorded as the first democratic sheriff elected during reconstruction in 1878, after serving in the Civil War, until his untimely death in 1889.

As for Mamie, she is recognized as one of only two students in the first graduating class of Benton High School in 1904, in which she and Francis “Frank” Worth Scanland were also the first to be awarded diplomas during the first commencement exercise in the school’s history. Mamie attended every graduation at Benton High School until she was no longer physically able to. In 1963, the Shere Khan, Benton High School’s yearbook, was dedicated to her in honor of being in the first graduating class. At that time, she was the oldest living graduate and was affectionately called “Mamie Dear.”

Being the first female graduate of Benton High School was not the only first for Mamie. She was also the first acting postmistress for the Benton Post office from Jul. 10, 1919 until Apr. 5, 1920. By the way, did you know that March 2020 is the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Benton Post Office?

She was among the first of the women to register to vote in Bossier Parish after the 19th Amendment was ratified on Aug. 18, 1920. Her name appeared in The Bossier Banner on Oct. 7, 1920, along with 160 other women of this parish that had registered to vote since the first woman, Mary Bixler, registered on Sept. 17, 1920.

Mamie was always involved in the community, on Aug. 28, 1913, she attended the first meeting of the Woman’s Club, The Domestic Art Club, as a charter member and as the club’s treasurer. She also served as the Chairman of the committee for constitution and bylaws for the Benton Self-Culture Club, which organized on Sept. 15, 1915.

In 1918 she served as a committee member in charge of securing a furnished workroom for the Benton Branch of the Shreveport Chapter of the American Red Cross. The group was working on knitting and sewing garments to be given to soldiers overseas, as well as hospital garments and bandages.

She loved history and her affiliations with the following groups is a testament to this fact. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution; Colonial Dames of America; United Daughters of the Confederacy; American Legion Auxiliary; and the North Louisiana Historical Society. From 1946-1951 she served as the Benton Town Secretary. She was a former member of the Bossier Parish Library Board, a member of the Benton United Methodist Church, and the Women’s Society of Christian Service.

In 1953, Mamie served as the Bossier Parish 110th Anniversary program chairman., which was “marked by talks on little known facts of historic interest which occurred in Bossier Parish.” Guest speakers included Lilla McLure and Rupert Peyton. She headed up the Benton chapter fundraising event during the 1956 Bossier Parish Cancer Fund campaign.

Mamie is among dozens of women that have made a difference in Bossier Parish, some of these women are on display in our current exhibit at the History Center. To learn more about Bossier Parish History and the women who made a difference, visit, call or email the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center at 2206 Beckett St., Bossier City. We are your Bossier Parish history repository.

As I write this, COVID-19 is rapidly changing our day to day lives. Keep an eye on our website www.bossierlibrary.org for updates on what the Bossier Parish Libraries can offer during these difficult times. If you are not able to visit the library for any reason, know that we provide access to most of our databases through our website, including the History Center’s collections database. You can access e-books, audio-books, movies, and music through these databases from your computer or phone. Please, take measures to protect yourselves and those around you that are of high risk. Be vigilant, and together we can get through this.

By: Amy Robertson

History in the Name: Bossier Parish Cities and Towns

The Parish of Bossier is a medley of communities that includes two cities, three towns, two census-designated places, as well as several unincorporated communities. Names for these communities were inspired by the area’s physical features, given in memory of an early settler, or after an individual that made significant contributions to the development of that area.

Bossier City is the highest populated municipality in the parish, and like many other communities, it has had more than one name. The first European settlers of the Bossier City area were James and Mary Cane, who had a plantation called Elysian Grove, which was about 600 acres in size. The plantation’s port or ferry landing was known as Canes Landing, and sometime after the Cane’s opened a store near the landing, the area became known as Cane City.

Near the end of the nineteenth century, a small village was laid out by Mary Cane’s granddaughter and her husband, changing the name to Bossier City. Bossier was later incorporated as a village in 1907 by Gov. Blanchard. Bossier City was named in memory of Pierre Evariste John Baptiste Bossier, the same U.S. Congressman that Bossier Parish was named after. In 1843, he was elected to represent Louisiana’s 4th District in the Twenty-Eighth Congress, the same year that Bossier Parish was created.

General Pierre Evariste Jean Baptiste Bossier C. 1820-30.
Clifton Cardin collection:1997.065.001

Shreveport is the second city that resides in Bossier Parish, but only small portions of it. It is easy to assume that the Red River perfectly divides Caddo and Bossier Parishes, and at one time, this was true. However, over time through natural and artificial causes, the course of the river has changed. The boundaries of the two parishes were designated based on how the “Old River” ran; however, the river has moved east over the years. Making it so that areas of Shreveport seem to be in Bossier and areas of Bossier seem to be in Shreveport.

The Shreveport downtown airport, Wright Island, Shreveport Aquarium, El Dorado Casino, and the Charles and Marie Hamel Memorial Park are all in Shreveport, Bossier Parish, Louisiana. Boomtown Casino is in Bossier City, Caddo Parish, as well as most of Cane’s Landing, and a portion of the eastern bank of the river south of Jimmie Davis Bridge. Therefore, parts of Shreveport are in Bossier Parish, making Shreveport the other city within the parish.

Shreveport was named in honor of Captain Henry Miller Shreve, who not only made the Red River navigable in 1838, but he also made contributions to the settlement of the region. Shreveport was first called Shreve Town after the real estate brokerage firm, Shreve Town Company, in which Captain Shreve was an owner.

Captain Henry Miller Shreve by artist George
D'Almaine Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org

There are two accounts of how the town of Benton received its name. In one account, it is said that it was initially called Ben’s Town after a merchant by the name of Benjamin Looney, who was reported as being the first merchant in the area. The other account is that the town of Benton was named in honor of Thomas Hart Benton, a United States Senator from Missouri. He played a critical role in developing the west by building roads west of the Mississippi, including the road from Arkansas into Shreveport, which passed through Lewisville, Plain Dealing, and Benton operating as a stagecoach line for many years.

Daguerreotype of United States Senator Thomas Hart Benton, C. 1850.
Image courtesy of the Harvard University Library.
Source: Harvard University Library, Weissman Preservation Center
found on  https://commons.wikimedia.org

The town of Haughton, which is expected to qualify to become a city after the 2020 U.S.
Census, started as Lawrenceville. When the VS&P railroad came through in 1884, the name was changed to Haughton on Sept. 1 of that year—named after one of the original settlers, William Haughton. The Lawrence’s and Haughton’s once owned all of the lands that make up Haughton today.

William Purvis Haughton
Source: http://bebossier.com/2018/03/history-of-haughton/

Before the Civil War, there was the Plain Dealing Plantation that was operated by George Gilmer. When the Shreveport and Arkansas Railroad, commonly known as the Cotton Belt Railroad, was announced to be coming through the area in 1888, S.J. Zeigler a businessman and the husband of a Gilmer descendant that owned the Plain Dealing property, selected the property to establish a village. It was briefly known as Guernshein after a prominent railroad company stockholder, but it was soon renamed to Plain Dealing after the plantation. It was chartered in 1890 and became incorporated as a town in 1928.

George Oglethorpe Gilmer owner
of Plain Dealing Plantation
Source: ancestry.com

To learn more about these and other communities in Bossier Parish, visit the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center at 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City.

By: Amy Robertson

The First Bossier Parish Fair

 Every year in October, the State Fair of Louisiana comes to town, but did you know that Bossier Parish had its own fair?

W. B. Boggs looking east on East Palmetto Avenue, Plain Dealing, La.
Bryce Turnley Collection: 1997.062.332

W. B. Boggs issued the following invitation in The Bossier Banner on Feb. 23, 1893, “In accordance with a resolution of the Bossier Parish Farmers’ Union, at the January meeting, I hereby call a meeting of the citizens of Bossier parish and South Lafayette county, Ark., at Plain Dealing, on Saturday, the 11th day of Mach, 1893, at 10 a.m., for the purpose of organizing the North Bossier Fair Association.”

“Every citizen is cordially invited and earnestly requested to be present.”

Officials of the Bossier Fair Association were John M. Sentell, president, Dr. C. H. Irion, secretary, and Mrs. W. H. Scanland, treasurer. A week before the first fair in 1899, they distributed posters throughout the parish to advertise and provide information about the upcoming fair.

Advertisements ran in the newspapers for train tickets on the Cotton Belt Route to the fair, such as this one seen in The Times, “On account of Bossier fair to be held at Benton, September 12th to 14th.. Inclusive, the Cotton Belt Route will sell tickets at one and one-third fares, with minimum of 50 cents. Tickets on sale September 11th to 14th., inclusive, with return limit September 15th.”

Dr. C. H. Irion, c. 1900.
Bossier Parish Library History Center Collection: Ed 007.004

The first Bossier Parish Fair was held on Dr. C. H. Irion’s property in Benton Sept. 12-14. The following account of the opening day of the first fair appeared in The Times on Sept. 13, 1899.

“Benton, Sept. 12. - The opening day of the Bossier fair was a decided success. The weather was all that could be desired, the assembled multitude was in a fine humor, and everything passed off smoothly and pleasantly and to the entire credit of the management.”

“Dr. C. H. Irion, who has been the leading spirit in this enterprise, has worked incessantly since its inception, and his indefatigable efforts are bearing rich fruit. As superintendent of the fair he is here, there and everywhere, and in connection with his able and active corps of assistants, nothing is overlooked or neglected in any particular.”

“It was hoped and confidently expected that Governor Foster would be able to attend the opening day, but circumstances prevented it. Had the governor been here he would have met a reception that would have done his heart good.”

“Excellent music was furnished by a colored band from Shreveport,”

“The opening address, welcoming the people to Bossier’s fair and capital, was delivered by Mr. Rydon D. Webb, and was a happy effort that won for the speaker the enthusiastic applause of his hearers.”

“The people generally, as well as the farmers, are taking great interest in the success of the fair. Visitors are numerous and more are coming from all directions. Shreveport is already fairly represented and many more of her people are expected to-morrow.”

“The hospitable people of Benton are leaving nothing undone that will contribute to the pleasure and comfort of their guests.”

“It is expected that the crowd will be greatly augmented to-morrow. All who wish to have a really enjoyable time are cordially invited to be present. The fair continues for two days longer.”

Grandstand and racetrack at Plain Dealing c. 1910s, used during the Bossier Parish Fair.
Beulah Findley Collection: 1997.054.045

1941 Bossier Parish Fair Catalog and Premium List.
Marilyn B. Light Collection: 1999.020.025

The Bossier Parish Fair was a great success in the first couple of years. However, the third year was not so successful, and the endeavor was abandoned until 1906 when it was reorganized. From 1906 through 1941, the Bossier Parish Fair was held annually in Plain Dealing.

In 1905, the Shreveport Times took up the question, “why not a state fair for Louisiana?” The very next year 1906, the first State Fair of Louisiana was held in Shreveport, and once the Bossier Fair was over, the exhibits would be moved to the State Fair.

To learn more about the Bossier Parish Fair, visit the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center, 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City.

Bossier Parish Exhibit at the 2nd annual Louisiana State Fair, 1907.
Mary Wheeler Corley Colelction: 2003.026.141

By: Amy Robertson

Red River Baptist Church: 170-Years of History

Red River Baptist Church's new sanctuary (left), old shale block building built 1947 (center), parsonage (right). Bossier Parish Library Collection: 2010.024.017

One hundred and seventy years ago on the “Saturday before the 4th Lord’s day in August 1849...” (August 25, 1849), Red River Baptist Church was organized at the request of thirteen men and women. The charter members were James Engram, J. G. & Caroline Curry, Dudley & Matilda Curry, Peter & Jane Curry, Adline Pouncy, William & Nancy Perrit, Selenor Romby, and Thomas & Louisa Hamilton.

They were led in the organization of the church by Reverend M. S. McDonal and Reverend Allen Winham from the outgrowth of the mission work of Caney Creek Baptist Church. Rev. Winham served as the pastor for the first fifteen and a half years (longest-serving pastor in the history of this church), except for a few months in which Rev. McDonal served as pastor.

During the nineteenth century, the church met only once a month, and on their next meeting, the newly formed church happily welcomed seven new members, including two slaves. In fact, the church minutes reveal that a large portion of the church’s membership was composed of slaves, who later formed a separate church.

It was recorded in the church minutes on the fifth Sunday in June of 1862 that the church met at Gold Point on the plantation of Wm. Pickett. On that day, the largest number of baptisms to occur in one day, in the history of the Red River Baptist Church, took place. According to the church minutes, Rev. Winham gave a sermon and afterward “a door was opened and invitation was given for the reception of members, when 48 presented themselves for baptism who being examined were received and baptized the same evening.” The names of all those baptized were recorded in the minutes as well.

All we know about the original meeting place is what’s described in the minutes of the organization of the church as “the meeting House in the neighborhood of ‘Willow Chute.’” Sometime around 1859 or 1860 the church moved to Wallace Springs or “Old Red River Cemetery,” located on the road to the Linton community. And, in the 1880s, services were held at the Pine Grove Schoolhouse.

It was November of 1901 when a majority vote was given to be built a permanent church house near Linton. A one-room frame building was erected in 1902 at the church’s current location and served as the church house until 1947 when the groundbreaking was announced for the construction of a new shale block building. The shale block building was a one-room structure that featured electric lights, ceiling fans, and butane gas heat.

Groundbreaking for new shale block church house, Linton Rd. 1947
Carol Young Collection: 1998.081.053

The 1950s was a time of rapid expansion for the church starting in 1951 when three Sunday school rooms were added onto the shale block building. Then, in 1952, a committee met to discuss building more Sunday School rooms, which resulted in a new building, that later became the parsonage. In 1955, the building committee agreed to finance the construction of a four-room Sunday School building. Finally, in 1957, the church approved the parsonage to be enlarged.

Ten years later, in the spring of 1967, a committee was formed to investigate the possibility of building a new Church building. But two years went by before plans were approved for a new sanctuary. On September 12, 1971, a dedication service was held for the new sanctuary, which was constructed with brick veneer, all-electric central air and heat, and was fully carpeted. Perhaps more importantly than the dedication service, the Red River Baptist Church celebrated their 122nd anniversary on August 29, 1971, in the new sanctuary.

In the fall of 1970, advertisements were placed in the newspaper for the shale block building to
be sold to someone willing to move the building. For some reason, the building was not sold, and
church records reveal that it was converted into classrooms and an assembly hall. On July 6,
1977, groundbreaking took place on a new educational wing built behind the sanctuary, which
was later added onto in the spring of 2000. On August 1978, the old shale block building was
torn down. A three-hundred seat sanctuary was added on around 2001 or 2002.

There have been two cemeteries established by the Red River Baptist Church, one at the
“Wallace Spring” location and one at Linton. The first cemetery at the “Wallace Spring” location
west of Cypress bayou on the Linton-Vanceville Road has been there for well over a century.
The second cemetery is located adjacent to the current church location and has been in use since
about 1904 and was expanded in 1958 or 1959.

During the last 170 years, Red River Baptist Church has “regularly sent messengers to various
districts states and-southwide [sic] Southern Baptist gatherings, and supported associational
missions, state missions, home missions, foreign missions, orphanages, Christian education and
benevolences of many kinds.”

All are welcome to join the 170th homecoming celebration on August 25, 2019, at 10:45 a.m.
with a fellowship meal afterward. It is located at 3301 E. Linton Road, Benton, La.

To learn more about the history of churches in Bossier Parish, visit the Bossier Parish Libraries
History Center at 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City.

By: Amy Robertson

Benton Courthouse Ball

The interior of the old Bossier Parish Courthouse at Benton. James M. Henderson, the clerk of court at that time, is seated. Grace Larkin, who would briefly succeed Henderson upon his death is wearing a dark coat. Gladys Thompson is standing next to Grace. Collection ID: 0000.005.019

Bossier Parish Courthouse at Benton C. 1910s
Bob Burford Collection: 1997.070.002

Bossier Parish Courthouse at Benton C. 1910s
Abney Dell Scanland Flynn Collection: 1999.136.046

In 1888, the parish seat for Bossier Parish was moved from Bellevue to Benton. In January of 1892, the Bossier Parish Police Jury entered into a contract for the construction of the new Bossier Parish Courthouse to be built in Benton at the cost of $23,684. This courthouse was the third one in Bossier Parish history, but it was the first one built in the new parish seat of Benton. The lot in which it was built on was donated to the parish for $1. Gibson and Oliff Construction were the builders, and Seaborn H. Young was the brick-maker and building inspector. The courthouse was accepted by the Bossier Parish Police Jury as being completed on May 9, 1893. For the dedication of the new courthouse, a grand ball was given there on June 10, 1893.

The following article describing the ball was published in The Bossier Banner on Thursday, June 15, 1893.

“Last Thursday night, one entering the Court room of our beautiful new Court House, which was brilliantly lighted, was reminded of Hans Anderson’s descriptions of Fairy-Land.”

“Bossier has had many delightful balls and her fame for the elegance of them extends beyond the confines of the parish, but none has been more enjoyed than the one given last Thursday night.”

“The ladies were dressed with such elegance and taste as betoken refinement and culture – their tasty and varied toilets were the admiration of all present. The gentlemen, neatly attired, bore themselves with a grace and gallantry peculiar to our Southern born men.”

“It made the hearts of the old beat in unison with those of the young, to hear the music played in dance measure, and see one couple after another glide through the intricate figures of the different dances. The beauty and grace of our daughters of the South are displayed nowhere to a greater advantage than when rendering homage to Terpsichore.”

“It was a delightful entertainment in every respect, and as such was a charming display of that characteristic hospitality for which our people are celebrated. Everything was properly arranged and this proved to be the most enjoyable affair of the season, long to be remembered by those, who, amid the flow of unity and good cheer, gave substantial evidence of their appreciation of the occasion.”

“It was late when good nights were said and feet were turned homeward, while the unanimous verdict was that it was a complete success.”

People came from as far as Palestine, Texas to attend the grand ball to dedicate the opening of this glorious new courthouse which served as the Bossier Parish Courthouse for the next 79 years. It was 1972 before the fourth and current Bossier Parish Courthouse was built on a 15-acre tract of land that was donated by the James Edward Burt, Sr. estate in honor of their father.

To learn more about the history of the Bossier Parish Courthouse or for a list of those in attendance at the ball, visit the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center, 2206 Beckett St., Bossier City. Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter.

By: Amy Robertson