Printice A. Darnell, a Veteran for Veterans

 In honor of Veterans Day coming up on November 11th, this column is dedicated to Mr. Printice Darnell, whom I had the pleasure of interviewing in June of 2014, about two years before he passed away. Interviewing him was recommended to me by our patron, Lynda Methvin, the daughter of Mr. Darnell’s former roommate at the Northwest Louisiana Veterans Home in Bossier City. Mr. Darnell, a World War II Veteran who served in the U.S. Army from 1944-46 in New Guinea, Philippines and Japan was a passionate advocate for Veterans in Louisiana.

Printice A. Darnell was born Sept 21, 1918 near Arcadia in Bienville Parish. Soon after, his family moved to Bossier City so that his father could work at Louisiana Oil Refining. Printice became Salutatorian of the 1935 graduating class of Bossier High School. While in school he worked for Milady Cleaners with most of his business on Barksdale Airfield (now Barksdale Air Force Base). He was married with one daughter when he was finally drafted, as he had hoped, into the Army in 1944. When his prior work experience was discovered, he made Staff Sergeant from Private Frist Class in three days in order to run the military laundry on the island of Honshu in Japan.

Following a post-War divorce, he married Lois Lynn (to whom he was married for 63 years until her death in 2011) and had two more daughters. He had his own business, Darnell Cleaners in Bossier City, for 20 years. He ran for the office of Bossier City Marshal and for State Representative but lost by just a few votes to be in the runoff for marshal and by only twenty votes for representative, despite refusing to take any money at all in political fundraising, with the exception of $25.00 an acquaintance insisted he take, since he believed so strongly that public office should not be ‘bought.’

He became Post Commander four times at his local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and later State Commander and served on national VFW committees. For 15 years he held the position of Bossier Parish Service Officer for the Louisiana Veterans Affairs. Service Officers assisted veterans with their pension applications and other formalities. In 1981, Mr. Darnell urged Governor Roemer to allow the Veterans Affairs Commission to keep the Parish Service Offices when all but a few were slated to be abolished. Governor Roemer responded, ‘You want the job?’ and put Mr. Darnell on the Veterans Affairs Commission.

In 1988-1992 Mr. Darnell was appointed Director (now Secretary) of the Louisiana Division of Veterans Affairs. It’s not something Mr. Darnell, who quipped “I was lucky, I was not smart,” ever imagined he would be but he is proud of his accomplishments in that position. He was able to keep Parish Service Officers in every parish but one (that shared with a neighbor parish) when those positions were again threatened and to get an increase for veterans’ disability pensions.

The accomplishment Mr. Darnell is most proud of was establishing the Louisiana Veterans’ Home in Monroe (the second in the state, after Jackson’s) and establishing an honor guard available for Louisiana veterans’ funerals, not just for those of high-ranking officers, something the military branches said they had no funds to do. Though he described himself as one who ‘goes crazy’ if he’s not working (this was a man who asked for and got a job at Louisiana Downs at age 87), he did enjoy the “exemplary attention” when he became a Veterans Home resident at the Northwest Louisiana Veterans Home in Bossier City.

Mr. Darnell passed away in July of 2016 at the age of 97.

If you would like to see a transcript of his interview, or any other interviews in our oral history collection, please stop by or contact the History Center. We are located 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.org

For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok

Article by Pam Carlise

Photos: Printince Darnell in 2014

Campaign Card for Printice A. Darnell, Candidate for Marshal, Bossier City, La. And Ward 2

This Month In Bossier Parish History

 November: Through The Years!

Nov. 1: Happy National Authors Day!

Bossier Parish has some amazing authors! 

All of the mentioned authors’ lives, lived, or is affiliated within the parish of Bossier.  Their books are also available for check-out or reference use at the Bossier Parish Libraries.

Gypsy Damaris Boston 

Books: 

• Pink Hair 
• Hurry before the magic ends 
• Dear Louisiana...Love Gypsy 
• Rainbow Fairies

Jeffrey S. Girard

Books:

•  The Caddos and their ancestors : archaeology and the native people of northwest Louisiana
  
•  Caddo connections : cultural interactions within and beyond the Caddo world   *co-authored with: Timothy   K. Perttula, and Mary Beth Trubitt.
•         Plus several articles

Clifton D. Cardin
 Books:

• Bossier Parish headstones : a complete inventory of all known cemeteries, family plots, and lone burials
• Bossier Parish history, 1843-1993, the first 150 years
• Bossier Parish
• Doing research in the Bossier Parish Courthouse : a guide to the resources and materials within the Bossier Parish Clerk of Courts Office in Benton, La.
• Proud to be in Bossier : a retrospective

Bertha Cooper Harris
Book: The Courage to Rise Again
She is also an amazing artist.

Yarborough, Neill A. (Col.)
Book: History of Bossier City, Louisiana, from the early years (1833-2006)

 

Adams McDainels

Book: Hotshot Bernie

Taneka Fuller

Book: Taylor’s Strawberry

Gene Baratitini

Books:

• The history of the Bossier City Fire Department : (1925-2005)
• Duty calls : Bossier City firefighters' historic Hurricane Katrina search & rescue and EMS mission

Nov.11: Veterans Day

        To all military personnel past, present and future, thank you for your service!

* Photos are of Bossier Veterans

William Gaston Boney (b.Aug. 29, 1898) in Naval uniform. C. WWI 

Registered for the draft in Forbing, Caddo Parish              

1997.004.006 Railey Collection

1943: Ausbon Leon Stokes in uniform sitting on bench  

1997.042.010  

1940’s: Claiborne Sykes  

2019.045.112   Jones Collection

1940’s: Richard Roark Bradford (1932-2002) in naval uniform.  

Back says: "Guess who?" and is addressed to 

Mr. SJ Bradford of Mooringsport, LA 

2002.035.201 McKim Collection

1916: William Hollis Bradford, trumpeteer, Troop R. 6th Cavalry 

2002.035.206  McKim Collection

Nov.13, 1905: The death of Lucille Mercer

Tells of Lucille Mercer and the Taylortown Tower 

Taylortown Methodist Church has experienced more than its fair share of catastrophes before falling into disrepair, including three major floods, a fire, and supposed hauntings. The only remnant of the church that still stands is the brick bell tower. Legend has it that at midnight, you can hear the screams of a woman and the tolling bell in the crumbling bell tower.

A true story of lost love and unexpected death surrounds the remains of the church. Miss Lucille Mercer and her fiancé, Jére Burns, were set to marry in December of 1905. Lucille became ill with swamp fever and died in November 13, 1905, just before her wedding day. Her heartbroken spirit supposedly dwells in the bell tower, crying over her misfortune. The Bossier Banner printed Lucille’s obituary and a remembrance poem.

There are a few other haunting tells that circle around the Old Taylortown Tower but this being one of the more prominent,  for the church was built on the land donated by her father, Mr. W.D. Mercer Sr.

Top: c.1900's: Jessie Lucille Mercer (1885-1905, aged 19) and Jere Burns c.1905
       2013.034.049 Antrobus Collection
Middle and Botom: 1889: Taylortown Methodist Church 
                                1966: Old Taylortown Church Tower Elm Grove 
                                1999.094.025

Nov.17, 1921: Weekly news from 100 years ago

        * All newspaper clippings are from Nov.17, 1921 issue of the Bossier Banner, the relating photos are from our database.

Redland School is progressing nicely. 

1920’s: Red Land Graded School.  Plain Dealing, La.

1997.054.009      Findley Collection

Vera King visited home folks on Saturday and Sunday.

1920’s: Vera King 

2000.032.015    Barnett Collection 

J.A. [John Allen] Byrd had some good 1921 ribbon cane syrup for sale. 

Fred Byrd, John Allen Byrd and unknown, 1910 

2002.004.031  Parham Collection 

Plain Dealing community:the post office will closed practically all day for the national holiday.

C.1910’s: Plain Dealing Post Office and Mail Wagons. 

1997.062.167  Turnley Collection 

 

Plain Dealing's New Town Hall

Plain Dealing Municipal Complex, 1979. Johnnie Parham Collection: 2002.004.078.

Forty-one years ago today, Plain Dealing’s new town hall was officially opened, with some 200 residents, local officials, and well-wishers on hand for the ceremony. During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Mayor Leon Sanders stated, “We’re very proud of this building. It’s been a long time in the making, and I know the people of Plain Dealing can be especially proud when they walk in this building because it’s paid for.”

When the town council voted to build the new town hall in 1976, they were hoping to receive help with funding for the new building from the federal Economic Development Administration and constructed within a year. When they learned there would not be funding help from the federal program, Mayor Sander’s declared, “we’re going to build it one way or the other.” A bond issue did not fund the project; instead, funding came through the town’s budget, funds accrued from sales tax and water sales, and 40,000 revenue sharing monies.

Flag-raising ceremony, 2 Dec. 1979

Part of the ceremonies included a flag-raising. The Roach Strayhan Holland Post of the American Legion and the Wykes-Strange Veterans of Foreign Wars donated the flag pole. The local veterans that performed the flag-raising ceremony were World War I veterans Carter McKinney, Clyde Allum, and Sid Weeks; Viet Nam veteran Frank Bradley, and William Arnold, a veteran of the Korean Conflict. Plain Dealing’s ex-mayor, Doug McKellar, a World War I veteran, also participated in the flag-raising ceremony.

Plain Dealing’s Board of Aldermen - Mrs. Tommie B. Nance, Billy Weeks, Vernon Malone, David Malone, and Earl Peters served on the opening’s officiating committee. “Other dignitaries present at the opening ceremony were Bossier City Mayor Marving Anding, Bossier Parish School Superintendent John McConathy, Bossier Parish Clerk of Court Wilna Mabry, Benton Mayor George Forrest and Senator Foster Cambell.”

Mayor Sanders used the ceremony as an opportunity to honor 21 Plain Dealing residents, who were members of the volunteer ambulance service. These men and women were Julia Budwah, Sallie Chandler, Angela Cox, Barbara Cox, Mary Elizabeth Crawford, Charles Dibbler, Jeanette Dibbler, James Foster, Velma Hightower, Rebecca Lewis, Ann Lusk, Vernon Malone, Jeanette McCalmon, Ava Merrill, Thomas Merrill, Dianne Nuckolls, Rhonda Singletary, Arthur Turnley, Marion Turnley, Billy Weeks and Caroline Wilson.

Leon Sanders c. 1939, Flow Whittington
Bigby Price Collection: 1998.046.113.

Sanders explained to the crowd that each of these men and women “completed 81-hours of training to be certified as emergency medical technicians.” He also stated, “The volunteers provide 24-hour-a-day staffing for the ambulance which the town recently received through a grant.”

The new town hall building, located on the corner of Arkansas and Palmetto Streets, offered 5,500 square feet of space and “was constructed at a cost of just under $250,000.” Providing a large town meeting room, offices for all town officials, including the police and fire chiefs, the water department, town marshall, and the volunteer emergency ambulance service.

When Sanders passed away in 2004, the then-current Plain Dealing Mayor David Smith wrote about how Leon Sanders left his mark on Plain Dealing. As Plain Dealing’s mayor for 40-years, Sander’s had a lot to be proud of, including building this new municipal complex. In

Smith’s article, he states, “It will be named the Leon Sanders, Jr. Municipal Complex in 2005 in his memory.” Though the name did not change in 2005, it was not long before the resolution became a reality.

By: Amy Robertson

In Honor of Our Veterans

On Veterans Day we take a moment to give thanks to the men and women who have served our country so valiantly. Ordinary men and women who unselfishly left their families, their homes, and their lives, not for recognition or fame but for the duty they swore to our country.  It is our duty as Americans to honor the memory of those who have given so much of themselves to protect our freedom.

A year after the signing of the treaty to end World War I, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11, 1919 the first commemoration of Armistice Day. Speaking the following words he honored those who fought for our freedoms and the freedoms of others:

“To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…”

In 1926, Congress made Armistice Day an annual holiday to honor veterans both past and present. President Dwight D. Eisenhower officially changed the name from Armistice Day to Veterans Day in 1964.

Long before we ever had a specific date dedicated to honor those who serve, the importance of the debt of gratitude we owe them was verbalized by President Abraham Lincoln in a letter dated November 21, 1846 to a Mrs. Lydia Parker Bixby. Upon learning that she was the mother of five sons who all died in the Civil War fighting to preserve the unity of the United States, Lincoln wrote,

“…I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the republic they died to save…”

Keeping the history of our veterans alive is just one of the goals of the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center.  Among our collections are oral histories, letters, documents and photos from battles our veterans have participated in. We take great pride in sharing and displaying our archival information for the public to enjoy.  Within our archives is a collection of World War II photos taken by Col. John Duty Collins while he was stationed in England.  These photos are an invaluable look into the daily life and destruction war places on countries.

Corp. Charlie W. Dieball, USMC, former P.O.W.

On a personal note of the author, I would like to send a special thank you to my grandfather Corp. Charlie W. Dieball of the United States Marine Corps., for his enduring spirit and unselfish acts when faced with the atrocities of being a prisoner of war.  Corp. Dieball was held in the Mukden, Japanese POW camp for 3 years. Throughout his imprisonment he fought the odds to make daily notes of camp conditions, fellow prisoners, punishments prisoners had to endure and without hesitation he documented the deaths that occurred within the camp.  It is an honor to have such a legacy from someone so close to my heart.  Our veterans have fought and secured our freedoms and it is with great pride that the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center says thank you to our veterans for their service.

Learn more about local veterans 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.

Veteran Slim's Unique Travel Mode

John H. Wheeler, better known as ‘Slim’ by the locals, was a native of Bossier Parish, born in 1879. He lived in Plain Dealing for the majority of his life. At the age of 19, Wheeler fought in the Spanish-American war. After the war, he made his living as a tonsorial artist, which is a fancy way of saying a barber.

He ran his shop in Plain Dealing for 27 years until he sold it in 1928 to his son Howard A. Wheeler, who began working with him several years prior. Doing so allowed him the freedom to divide his time between the tonsorial arts and performing his duties as constable.

Wheeler became paralyzed from the waist down at some point early in his life; however, it is not clear whether it was a result of being in the war or if he later became disabled. Being confined to a wheelchair did not stop him from working or from getting around town. In 1937, he purchased a motorized wheelchair so he could expand his traveling options.

The law in Plain Dealing required that he not drive his motor chair faster than 23 miles per hour in town, though his motorized wheelchair topped out at 16-miles per hour. This did not stop him from going wherever he pleased, including long-distances. His first trip was to his church in Cottage Grove, where he enjoyed the church service and dinner on the grounds. “He said in only took 50-minutes to drive from Plain Dealing to the little church.”

While Wheeler was famous around town for his mode of transportation, it would not be long before his fame spread. In 1938, he made his first long-distance trip to Lake Charles, La, to visit his sister, Mrs. George Robinson. Wheeler traveled 420-miles roundtrip starting at 8 a.m. on a Wednesday and arriving at his sister’s home at 1:45 p.m. the next afternoon. Though his chair came equipped with a light, he chose not to drive during the night hours.

His gas-powered chair got between 80 and 85 miles per gallon, and the one-horse power motor ran on one cylinder and had two speeds in drive and one speed in reverse. The chair was described as being much like a typical wheelchair in appearance for that day and time, except it had bicycle tires in place of the standard wheels, and it had a stick lever for steering, as seen on older automobiles.

It cost just over $250 in 1937, the equivalent of just over $4,500 today. In the event of rain, all Wheeler had to do was pull out his handy dandy umbrella that he kept tucked under the left armrest. He also had a small garage built at the end of his front porch to house his motorized chair. He could make the transfer from his house wheelchair to his road wheelchair unassisted.

After his trip to Lake Charles, he led a parade of Plain Dealing High School Lions fans and supporters with about forty cars decked out in Plain Dealing High School colors and signs through Bossier City. But his longest trip was still to be had, as he planned to travel all the way to San Antonio, Tx, for the Spanish-American Veterans meet.

By: Amy Robertson