"FORMER BOSSIER MAN WRITES OF DAYS AT OLD BELLEVUE"

The Bossier Banner published the following in its October 1, 1936 issue.

“One of the Banner’s old-time friends and a constant subscriber is L.C. Snider, prominent insurance man of Rockford, Ills. Lately, while sending in his renewal subscription, he took time to pen a newsy letter, telling of extreme weather in Rockford this summer and last winter and commenting on old times and former friends back at old Bellevue.”

“The letter, because of its interesting nature, is printed here in full.”

“September 23, 1936

The Bossier Banner
Benton, La.
Dear Banner:

I am enclosing my check for $3.75 to cover three years subscription to The Banner, as per statement enclosed.

I was interested in a statement appearing in a recent issue of the Banner about the character of the weather we have been having this year. This article said the highest temperature ever recorded in Benton or Bossier Parish was 110 degrees in the shade and this year a maximum of 109 ½ degrees was reached. Well, here in Rockford, which is about 42 degrees north latitude against approximately 32 degrees north latitude for Benton, we had an official temperature in July of this year of 112 degrees. In February we had 24 degrees below zero, and that’s variety, climatically speaking, I would say.”

W. H. Scanland, Jr. washing down the handset type forms.
Scanland Collection: 0000.004.167

“Recently I noted a visit paid by W.H. Scanland, Jr., of Dallas, Texas, to old Bellevue. I went to school with him, as well as with all of the other members of the Scanland family. My father’s law office in old Bellevue adjoined The Banner office on the south and the sound of the press— run by hand of course—as it turned out its neatly printed editions, is a memory which time cannot eradicate. My brothers, Ross and Thornton, were pals of John and Abney Scanland. I shall always be interested in the Scanland family and note with both interest and pleasure the success attained in their chosen walks of life by this family.”

“Mr. J. T. Manry was a great friend of my father’s, as was also the late lamented N.W. Sentell. I remember Mr. Manry very well. Well, after all, there are no friends like old friends and, as I sit musing over boyhood scenes, I can see the faces if many of those stalwart man and women now long since resting serenely in burial spots scattered here and there throughout the parish. Stalwart citizens, whose virtues were many and whose achievements are a permanent record in the communities in which they lived.”

“Wishing ‘The Banner’ continued prosperity, I am, Sincerely yours, L.C.Snider.”

The Bossier Parish Libraries History Center offers many remembrances such as this one. Come by and enjoy reading them.

By: Ann Middleton

GOATS CLIMB ABANDONED REFINERY STAIRS TO SURVIVE

Walter Clyde and Jimbo with goats.
Scanland Collection; 0000.004.038

The January 3, 1952 issue of The PlantersPress carried the following story.

“In the suburbs of Bossier City there is a herd of goats whose climbing probably would compare with that of almost any mountain-climbing animals.”

“These amazing animals were publicized last Saturday in the Shreveport Journal, as follows:”

“Goats have always been labeled as hard-headed and very dumb critters, but a herd belonging to Bossier Parish Chief Deputy Steve Norris has found a way to escape stray dogs which have been killing them off during the years.”

“The herd, now made up of about twenty-five animals, is pastured at the abandoned Cities Service refinery just outside of Bossier City. The abandoned property has been the herd’s home for about seven years.”

“The old towers of the refinery are the refuge of the goats from their would-be killers and are also used as their air-conditioned bases, being closer to any available breeze during the summer. The goats obtain access to the towers, which stand almost 75 feet high, by means of steel walkways to the high perches.”

“And, as far as is known, the sure-footed beasts have never made a misstep and taken the hard way out toward the dinner table, Norris said.”

When Norris first pastured the herd at the refinery there were about 75 goats in it. But the marauding dogs have chased the creatures, killing some of them and driving others to their death in water holes on the property.”

“A goat, unlike most other animals, cannot swim. And sometimes they even die when they get into water, even though their heads may never go under the surface. It has been surmised that the goat suffocates or dies of a paralysis.” [A little research proves this to be false. Goats can, indeed, swim.]

“But the Norris herd has found the escape route and is gradually increasing.”

“The goats can usually be seen climbing the ladders to the tower tops during the early morning or late evening. The ascension is sometimes witnessed by passing motorists, who find the sight entertaining.”

“One woman found no entertainment in it several years ago, it is reported.”

“Upon seeing the goats atop the towers and roaming the stairways above the ground, she drove to the Bossier City police station to request that the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals be informed to make the owner remove the animals from the dangerous perch.”

To discover more anomalies from Bossier Parish visit the Bossier Parish Library History Center.

By: Ann Middleton

W. P. O'Neal, Small Town Boy and a Big Time Financial Story

The O'Neal Store at Bellevue 1900's-1910's

In her latest column for the Bossier Press Tribune, “The Bossier Parish Boy who More than Made Good,” our Director Ann Middleton excerpted the words of a writer for the June 28, 1928 issue of The Bossier Banner who took pleasure in introducing a friend, former playmate and schoolmate named W. P. O’Neal, known to him as “Pierce:”

“Mr. O’Neal was born and reared at old Bellevue, removed with the members of his father’s family from that place to Benton about the time the town became the parish seat and his employment during the days if his youth, when not a student in the home schools, was to clerk in his father’s general merchandise store, both here and in Bellevue.  He left Benton for New Orleans twenty-eight years ago, and we happen to know that he reached that city with only 75 cents in change in his pocket—and fewer changes of underwear in his weather-beaten suitcase.  But he had the determination to succeed—bulldog tenacity—and did.  Being stranded and in a city, among strangers, did not daunt him in the least, as his rapid rise in commercial life reflects.  Recently he was elected president of the Louisiana Bankers’ Association, which is the highest office the bankers of the state can bestow upon any one of their members."

I would add that “Pierce” ‘made good,’ no doubt, but he was also lucky. Mr. W.P. O'Neal was president of the Louisiana Bankers Association for the year 1928-29 in a "bull market." Imagine the year his successor must have had for 1929-1930, the time of the Great Stock Market Crash of (late) 1929. Ironically, the mass of stories like Mr. W.P. O'Neal's, rural Americans emigrating to cities with hopes of a more prosperous life in the rising industrial sector, is often blamed as a significant factor in the crash. While American cities prospered, major migration from rural areas and the resulting neglect of US agriculture created financial hopelessness among American farmers and instability for the US economy.

Photos from the Scanland collection

The History Center has a wonderful collection of early 1900s photographs taken by Mabel Abney Scanland Jones. Mabel is the daughter of William Henry Scanland, Sr., the editor of the Bossier Banner newspaper. She used her Kodak Brownie camera to snap photos of her family and friends around Benton and Bellevue. Frequently, when people think of older photos, they expect to see the subjects with serious faces and stiff poses. This is not the case with Mabel's photos; rather, she captures candid images of laughing couples, her joking brothers, children playing with pets, and scenes of everyday life in Bossier.



In the above photo (0000.004.150) we see one of the Ogden sisters staging a hold-up of Mabel's older brother, William Henry Scanland, Jr., and another Ogden girl.



Above (0000.004.042), Mabel and her friends, Bess Wheless, Susan "Pearl" Dortch Colbert, and Octavia Hunter all pose with their hands on their chins. One girl is unidentified.



In this photo (0000.004.190), Mabel's younger sister, Mattie Belle (right), smiles with her friend Irma Stinson.

Mabel's oldest brother, Dr. John Milton Scanland, moved to Montana and became a physician and superintendant for the Montana State Hospital. The family traveled by train to see him and Mabel brought her camera along for the trip. She took pictures of several depots along the way and some snowy scenes - perhaps it was her first time seeing snow! John Milton married a doctor's daughter and was a frequent traveler, making transatlantic crossings aboard the Mauretania (sister ship to the Lusitania) and the Olympic (sister ship to the Titanic).

After researching census records, it seems like Mattie Belle stayed in Montana with her brother for a time around 1920. She met her husband, Ewing Montgomery, in Montana and the couple had moved to Los Angeles by 1930.

Mabel stayed close to home, marrying Dallas Jones.