Haughton's Early Days

The Village of Haughton
This unique picture of Haughton, Louisiana, was taken in 1910, from atop the church bell tower. A wagon loaded with a bale of cotton proceeds to the railroad depot. the three-story building in the center is the Crume Hotel. At the far left is the store of T.H. Lawrence, which was the last surviving building, until 1997, when it was dismantled. the white house on the right would burn in the 1950s. Behind it is the Edwards' home, which would burn in the 1990s. Fire has been a strong enemy of Bossier Parish's early homes and towns. Emma Patillo Collection: 0000.003.033-2

When William Purvis Haughton moved his family to Bossier Parish, he had no idea that the land he pioneered along with the Lawrence family would one day be named after him and would continue to grow as it has. Haughton's beginning goes back roughly forty years before it was officially designated as such on Sept. 1, 1884, when the VS&P railroad changed the community known as Lawrenceville to Haughton.

The name change was because when the railroad came through Lawrenceville, the train station was named Lawrence Station, but there was already a Lawrence Station in Mississippi. Dr. Paul Andrew Lawrence, the son of pioneer David Lawrence and son-in-law of William Haughton, chose to change Lawrence Station of Lawrenceville to Haughton Station. And the community from that point forward has been known as Haughton.

Being chosen as a location for a railroad station set into motion a significant growth spurt for Haughton. During the summer of 1884, the railroad was built through the community. The Bossier Banner reported on July 10, 1884, "Lawrenceville, situated ten miles south of Bellevue, on the Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railroad, is having quite a boom in business and improvements. There is life and bustle everywhere, and our new railroad town evidently has a bright future before it, in which well directed industry and liberal investments will surely be well rewarded. Success to the new town and its progressive citizens."

A few days later, the first U.S. Post Office opened with Luther E. McDade as postmaster. Of course, the post office name changed from Lawrenceville to Haughton a little over a month after the community's name was changed. The second postmaster was Milus W. Haughton, son of William.

The community continued to grow, and when talks of moving the Parish seat from Bellevue started, the citizens of Haughton wrote a letter to the editor of the Bossier Banner with their bid to be chosen for the new location. The letter was dated May 7, 1885, and was published a week later. It reads as follows:

"As there is a great deal of talk about the Parish site removal, and some little bidding for the Court House, the citizens of Haughton and vicinity desire to be heard. We will give ($3,000) three thousand dollars and one lot of ground for the parish site. Our land ranges in value from $125 to $1000 per lot; and we will give a suitable lot worth at least $500. If parties do not believe that we are in earnest, let us be awarded the parish site and the cash will be forthcoming. In the early days of Rome the crown was put up to the highest bidder, and the money this derived was given to the people. — In this, we propose to assist the people of Bossier in building a new Court House and jail. If any other community offers this amount we may raise our bid, but think that those who get the advantage of the parish site, should pay for that advantage. We are willing to do so."

The letter continues with boastings of the fruitfulness of the land, its commercial advantages, and schools. The amount of cotton they shipped out in 1884 was 3,000 bales, and the fact that they paid more for cotton than any other place. Pointing out that "everything argues in favor of Haughton. We have six business houses, boarding houses, livery stables, saw mills, and everything that constitutes a first-class village, with the ambition of a town — Within the present year Dr. Lawrence, Messrs. McClanahan, Davis, Grounds, Bullock and Odom, have built residences, and Messrs. Bryan, Radcliff, Bodenheimer, McKinney and J.F. Edwards are constructing residences. If any town, or neighborhood in the parish can beat this showing of a town less than a year old, we would like to hear from them, especially if they will offer more for the Court House."

That same year a Baptist church house and Methodist church house were erected. P.B. Holt became the editor and proprietor of the first newspaper, the “Haughton Democrat.” The village held its first election that fall, where the people elected Henry Bodenheimer as their first Mayor and for Trustees, Dr. Paul Lawrence, J.F. Edwards, J.W. Elston, D.H. Cale, D.E. Griffin, and J.G. Grounds. Come Christmas time; the people put up a community Christmas tree in the schoolhouse where they gathered on Christmas Eve. The first telephone was installed in June of 1889.

The village of Haughton continued to grow. With a population of over 1,000 inhabitants, Governor Edwin Edwards, through proclamation, reclassified the Village of Haughton to the Town of Haughton in Sept. 1975. Currently the largest town in Bossier Parish, and once it reaches a population of 5,000, it will be eligible for reclassification as a city.

To learn more about Haughton, visit the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center at 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City. Be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on Tiktok, and check out our blog, http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.

By: Amy Robertson

Bridging Two Cities in the 1800s

In 1862 a man by the name of James Oliver Nuckolls migrated to Bossier Parish with his family. Two years later, at the age of 17, he joined the Third Louisiana Battalion Army and served the duration of the war between the states. After the war, he returned to Bossier Parish, where he settled in Plain Dealing. Here, he farmed the land, married, raised a family, and lived out the rest of his days.

In his later years, he enjoyed writing about days gone by. One of his writings provides details of old Red River crossings during bygone times. He wrote this recollection upon an "urgent request" from his friend J. T. Manry on Feb. 29, 1932, just three months before his death. The Bossier Banner-Progress published his story Mar. 10th.

Jones' Landing, Va., vicinity. Pontoon bridge over the James, from the north bank. United States Virginia Jones' Landing, None. [Between 1860 and 1865] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2018666613/.

He begins by describing the first bridge to connect Bossier City to Shreveport. According to Nuckolls, "The first bridge across the river at Shreveport was a pontoon bridge. It was constructed by placing a number of skiffs parallel and close together and laying across heavy plank for flooring. It made a very substantial bridge. It was built chiefly to facilitate military operations. My own company, the Third Louisiana Battery of Light Artillery, crossed on it the last year of the war."

Other articles have appeared over the years that mention the pontoon bridge during the war. William S. Ingram was a long-time newspaperman who managed both the Shreveport Journal and the Shreveport Times during his career. He enjoyed writing historical pieces. In an article published by The Shreveport Times in 1926, he states, "Nathan Hirsch, the father of Willie R. Hirsch, lived for many years with Mr. Levy, and during the Civil war guarded the pontoon bridge which crossed the Red river near Cotton street..."

Eric J. Brock, a long-time local historian, wrote many articles and books about Shreveport and Bossier. In an article he wrote for The Shreveport Times, he states, "In 1864, a pontoon bridge was built crossing Red River from near the Confederate Navy Yard (established to build ironclads and located on the riverfront about where the Expo Hall and Harrah's now stand) to the Cane Place - "Elysian Grove." This bridge was destroyed a year after the war by massive flooding. Another bridge was also built, connecting Fort Turnbull to Bossier Parish, just south of Battery Ewell."

In Nuckolls' article, he explains that after the pontoon bridge was gone, ferry steamboats were used to provide transportation of people, stock, and wagons across the river. One of the ferries in operation for a long time was the Sterling White, captained by Ben M. White. In 1881, the Red River's water level became too low to operate his ferry. He was granted permission to install a pontoon bridge until the water level returned to his steamboat's navigable level.

The use of ferries between Bossier City and Shreveport came to an end when the first permanent bridge was constructed in 1884. The VS&P railroad bridge had a wooden deck that allowed wagon and pedestrian traffic to cross. There was a toll fee for wagons and pedestrians to cross. Nuckolls tells about the new bridge and informs his readers, "I was collector of the tolls on the bridge during 1906 and 1910, and everybody going east or west had to pass me."

VS&P bridge with wagons and pedestrians crossing, 1884. Neill Yarborough Collection: 2006.034.018

Recording history by writing stories of days gone by, like Nuckolls and others have done, provide future generations with historical facts that might not otherwise be known. The Bossier Parish Libraries History Center has been the primary repository for the history of Bossier Parish since 1999. What do you want to know about Bossier Parish's history? Visit, call, or email the Bossier Parish Library History Center for help with your research. We are at 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City, 318-746-7717, history-center@bossierlibrary.org.

By: Amy Robertson

Louisiana's Health Exhibit Train

The Louisiana Health Exhibit Train in Plain Dealing c. 1911. Bryce Turnley Collection: 1997.062.171.

In 1910 Dr. Oscar Dowling, a prominent oculist in Shreveport, became the president of the Louisiana State Board of Health and instituted a massive campaign on public health reform. In an article in the Times-Democrat, Sep. 2,1910, Dowling was quoted as saying, “I shall try to make my administration of the affairs of the State Board of Health as efficient as possible. By means of an educational campaign, I hope to arouse a deeper and more popular interest in health matters the State over.”

He set out to teach every community in the state about personal hygiene, sanitation, mosquito control, and disease prevention. He assembled a small team of lecturers and assistants that traveled with him on the health exhibit train, which consisted of three cars; two 75-foot cars for exhibits and a Pullman car for living quarters. The Queen and Crescent Railway Company provided the train.

The health exhibit train debuted on Nov. 1, 1910, at the State Fair in Shreveport, where Dr. Dowling invited all physicians, dentists, and representatives of the press to be special guests of his “gospel of health on wheels.” When the fair was over, the train was parked at the Market Street crossing for its\ first public viewing. According to Henry Oyen, “Every city, town or village – 256 in all – of more than 250 inhabitants was visited, inspected and lectured. Where the railroads didn’t run Dowling went in motor cars or carriages. On the narrow-gauge tracks hemounted a railway hand car and pumped himself over the line. Where other methods of transportation failed he walked; in the bayou parishes launches and rowboats were called into service.”

An article in the Shreveport Journal, Jan. 7, 1911, states that one of the exhibits “tells a story of prevention of disease. Arranged on a table in the center of the room are twenty glass jars. In these are sections of the human form, not of wax or composition, but actual specimens. These sections, which have been prepared by Dr. Edmond Souchon, show the progress of tuberculosis in various stages of development. Set up along the sides of the car are transparent views prepared from photographs taken by Dr. P. T. Talbot on his recent tour of inspection of the state. There is also an interesting exhibit furnished by the Louisiana Anti-tuberculosis League. A model of a sanitary closet constructed according to the plans of Dr. Charles Wardell Stiles, the noted hookworm expert, is also on exhibition.

“Constructed according to the plans furnished by the United States department of agriculture is the framework of a model dairy in miniature. Some interesting charts prepared by Dr. Gustave Mann of Tulane, show the food values of various food exhibits. There are microscopes and other aparati, milk coolers, pails, aerators, and model school furniture of the latest design. … There is also an exhibit of bacilli cultures prepared by Dr. Jones, showing the effect of fly contamination. An interesting pathological exhibit of preventable diseases prepared by Dr. Charles W. Duval, by courtesy of Tulane University, is also in the car. Dr. William Ernest Walker’s oral hygiene exhibit attracting much attention. Additional exhibits on blindness and milk appliances have been recently added. Quantities of literature, consisting of cards, banners, etc., calling attention to the evil of flies and spitting, and also containing statistics on various diseases, are distributed from the car.

“The daily program covers a full day’s work. The car is open from 8 o’clock in the morning until 10 and sometimes 11 o’clock at night. In the mornings Miss Morris and Dr. Porter visit and inspect the schools and talk to the children. Miss Morris also meets the ladies and organizes school improvement and civic leagues. The doctors make the sanitary inspections of the towns. At night illustrated lectures, slides and moving pictures are given. These evening entertainments are free and a cordial invitation is extended to the people in the surrounding country, as well as those in town, to attend the meetings.”

In 1911, Dr. Dowling received an urgent invitation from California to bring the health train to them, which he obliged, presenting his health exhibit train at the American Medical Society Convention, making stops along the way. The popularity and effectiveness of the health train kept it going in Louisiana for well over a decade, and this method of educating citizens and improving public health quickly became adopted by other states.

Before going to California, the health exhibit train completed its first state tour and stopped in Plain Dealing in May of 1911.

By: Amy Robertson

Dr. Paul Lawrence: Man of Many Hats

Dr. Paul Lawrence C. 1890
Emma Pattillo Collection: 0000.003.040

Dr. Paul Lawrence is remembered as the one-legged, horseback doctor of Haughton. Though he served this rural community for fifty years as a doctor, it is not how he made his living. That is because during the 19th Century, doctors, especially frontier doctors in rural areas, were rarely paid in cash. Instead, they were often paid in-kind with whatever produce, services or goods were available to the patient. Because of this, he was a man of many hats.

Lawrence first came to Bossier Parish in 1851, when he was only twelve-years-old, moving here from Mississippi with his family. He obtained his education from Fillmore Academy. Then, in the fall of 1860, Lawrence began his medical studies in New Orleans at the University of Louisiana, known today as Tulane University.

With tensions rising between the states, he came home in Dec. 1861 and enlisted in the Robin Greys, a Bossier Parish company of the 19th Louisiana Infantry, Company B, The Army of Tennessee. The Army of Tennessee was the principal Confederate army operating between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River.

During the Civil War, Lawrence sustained two injuries, one to the shoulder in 1863. After a six-month recovery, he rejoined his company, and two months later, he suffered an injury that required the amputation of his right leg. After convalescing in Mississippi with relatives until he was well and able to travel, he returned to Louisiana, wasting no time in resuming his medical studies in the summer of 1865.

Mary "Mollie" Jane Haughton C. 1890
Emma Pattillo Collection: 0000.003.040-2

In 1867, Lawrence returned to Bossier Parish and began his medical practice. He married Mary (Mollie) Jane Haughton, daughter of Harriet (Hassell) Haughton and William Purvis Haughton, whom the town is named after. When the railroad first came through the area, it was initially called Lawrenceville, after Dr. Paul Lawrence as the train depot, often referred to as Lawrence Station, was located on land that was formerly owned by him. On Sep. 1, 1884, Lawrenceville officially became Haughton.

As mentioned earlier, Lawrence was a man of many hats. Besides always being on call as the town’s physician, he was also a third-generation cotton planter, as well as a merchant, owning and running a general mercantile and cotton brokerage business, Lawrence & Son. After his death, his youngest son, Thomas Humphrey Lawrence, who partnered with him at the store, changed the name to Lawrence & Company, and it remained open until his retirement in the 1950s.

Even after retirement, Lawrence continued to superintend his farm until his death. As a retired physician, he would still provide medical services when called on, whether filling in when a doctor was not available and assisting in surgeries when requested. He was a prominent member of the community, and he gladly served it in various ways, from serving as a voting commissioner to being a member of the Bossier Parish School Board, and later as a member of the Board of Trustees for Haughton white 

schools.

Lawrence was appointed by the Bossier Parish Police Jury as a Health Officer for the Fillmore area in 1878 in response to the threat of dangerous and contagious diseases, such as smallpox and yellow fever. In 1885, he was on the building committee for the Methodist Church in Haughton, which has been in the same location on E. McKinley Ave for 120 years.

He was nominated to represent Bossier Parish as a delegate for the Democratic State Convention. And, he was a delegate for the Louisiana State Division, United Confederate Veterans in 1914. When he died in Nov. 1934; he was the last Robin Grey soldier to die.

When driving down Hwy. 157, about a half-mile south of the red light in Haughton, sits Dr. Paul Lawrence’s old house, which is now a historic site.

C. 1900. Dr. Paul Lawrence is shown standing with his family in front of his south Haughton home. From left to right are T. Humphrey Lawrence, Mary Lawrence (sister to Paul), Dr. Paul Lawrence, Eva Lawrence, Myrtis Lawrence, Mary Haughton Lawrence (wife of Paul), Sudye Lawrence(youngest of nine children), and Lucille Lawrence. (Clifton Cardin Collection: 1999.089.003)

L&A Railroad Establishes Princeton

Mrs. Perry at the Central Point South Princeton train sign in Princeton, La, 1996.
Kenneth R. Perry collection: 1998.048.003.

In the early history of Bossier Parish, the steamboats and later the railroads influenced the movement of the populace. Communities like Fillmore and Bellevue suffered because they were not selected as depots when the railroads came in 1884 (VS&P) and 1888 (Cotton Belt), respectively. Likewise, Haughton, Benton, and Plain Dealing grew because they did become depots during that time. In 1909 the L&A Railroad was built establishing Princeton as a depot. The first train passed through on November 2, 1909.

We can’t be confident as to how Princeton got its name because there are at least two different accounts. Both accounts agree that the community was named for early settler Joseph Wilson Prince, Sr. It has been written that Princeton was named when it was established as a train depot. One account is that Joseph’s wife Dollie McDade Prince was given the honor of naming the community for the sake of the train depot. Her first choice was Princeville. Since this name was already in use at another train depot, she decided on Princeton and was quoted as saying, “Princeton is a pretty name.” However, Joseph Wilson Prince, Sr.’s great-granddaughter, Dorothy Watson Glover, believes that Ella Cooper Watson named the community after her beloved deceased stepfather, Joseph Wilson Prince, Sr. (1833-1902).

The railroad caused the little community of Princeton to change from being just a quiet farming community to a bustling railroad depot community. On March 24, 1910, it was announced in The Bossier Banner that Mr. Burge of Minden was erecting a store.

In an article found in The Bossier Banner on August 11, 1910, the writer describes Princeton as having “a store, a freight room, and several residences,” but not a post office. The writer notes, “things bear the appearances of being exceptionally busy during weekdays for a little flag station.” He also writes that Mr. F. E. Burrage served as the ticket and freight agent for the L&A while running his store and raising chickens. Bellevue sawmill was one of Burrage’s freight customers shipping thousands of feet of lumber, such as pine cross ties and piles. “A number of the piles, sixty feet in length and skinned from end to end ... were consigned to the creosoting plant in Bossier City and will later be shipped to West Texas, where they will be used in the construction of a new railroad.” The writer finishes by opining that, “Princeton is admirably located to become a trading and shipping point of local importance and no doubt it will develop into such within the next year or so.”

By September of that same year, the first Post Office was opened at Princeton with Allie J. Burrage as postmaster. On January 31, 1919, the post office was discontinued in Princeton with all mail being sent to Haughton, but it was re-established on October 30, 1922, with Clara M. Crawford as acting postmaster.

Over the next few years, Princeton continued to grow. By 1914 it had a sawmill that was producing about “20,000 feet of lumber daily.” Their railroad depot went from being a “little shack” to “a large and commodious depot.” An express office was planned along with the promise of telegraph and telephone facilities. A new school building was constructed and filled with new desks and equipment. “Land in and around Princeton was beginning to be hard to find.” And apparently so were wives according to an article by an unknown writer in The Bossier Banner on March 5, 1914, “Princeton can boast of a high, salubrious, free-from-malaria atmosphere, of an intelligent, broad-minded and progressive community, and six or seven of the handsomest, most industrious and good all-around young bachelors that can be found anywhere. If you girl readers doubt this last statement come and see for yourselves.”

By the beginning of 1915, the cross arms and insulators arrived for the telephone lines which were run by Cumberland Telephone Company in April. Finally, the telephone box was installed in May, making it possible for the Princeton community to communicate with the outside world via telephone.

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

Note: The History Center's collection database could use more historical photographs etc. of Princeton, La. If you have any you would like to donate; please contact the History Center today (318.746.7717). If you do not wish to part with your photographs, but would like to share them, we are happy to scan them to add to our collection.

By: Amy Robertson

Bossier City's First Railroad

Photo of wagons crossing the VS&P bridge entering Bossier City, c.1900.
Neill Yarborough Collection: 2006.034.018

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad which is the connection of the Central Pacific Railroad with the Union Pacific Railroad spanning from the east coast to the west coast. This major accomplishment was completed in 1869, however, it was 1884 before Cane’s Landing (now Bossier City) received its first railroad the Vicksburg, Shreveport, & Pacific (VS&P) Railway.

The VS&P was building their railroad in 1882 from Monroe to Shreveport when they approached Caddo and Bossier Parishes about assisting them in bridging the Red River. The parishes agreed to help. They also decided to floor the bridge with thick timbers to allow for wagon and pedestrian traffic and charge a toll which would, over time, offset the cost of building the bridge. For the first time, people would be able to cross the Red River from Cane’s Landing to Shreveport without taking a ferry. The VS&P eliminated the Sterling White ferry boat, which had been the only mode of crossing the river at that juncture.

In the summer of 1882, Mr. Peter Scully of St. Louis arrived in Shreveport to prepare to start building the VS&P bridge. He was contracted to construct the piers of the VS&P railway bridge. Mr. P. C. Livingston was contracted for the setting of the stone and the brickwork on the piers. Livingston was an experienced builder and brickmaker of Monroe, La and made all the bricks for the bridge at Monroe. Mr. W. E. Crume was the engineer of the VS&P railroad track with Major T. G. Dabney serving as the chief assistant engineer.

Over 1300 tons of steel were used in laying the tracks and building all sidings from Monroe to Shreveport. The tracks were laid at the rate of over one-mile per day. Convicts completed much of the grading work under the supervision of Captain Sanchez and Captain Husted. In addition to the convicts, there were over one hundred hands hired to work on the railroad. The VS&P provided service running east to Jackson, Ms and Savannah, Ga.

On May 8, 1884, the VS&P crossed Dorcheat Bayou and began laying tracks in Bossier Parish and was approaching Lawrenceville (now Haughton) on May 23. The VS&P bridge crossing the Red River, just north of Horseshoe Casino, was completed on July 1, and the railroad was within two miles of Shreveport on July 7. At last, at 4:30 pm on July 12, 1884, the last spike was driven completing the VS&P Railroad.

On July 17, 1884, The Bossier Banner announced the completion of the VS&P railroad from Monroe to Shreveport hailing it “The grandest event in the history of Bossier Parish!!!” and stating, “After many years of anxious, patient waiting, the Iron Horse has come at last, and we greet its arrival with great rejoicing.” What had started over thirty years earlier was finally complete.

The old VS&P is currently used by the Kansas City Southern (KCS) Railway Company.

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

By: Amy Robertson