One of the jewels in our crown here at the Ouachita Parish Public Library is a ledger book. Back in 2016, if I remember correctly, a gentleman brought in a ledger book found in the walls of a house down in Logtown. He was representing the owner, who wanted to know if we would like to copy it. I JUMPED at the chance! Entries dated back to 1801. As I copied and examined it, I found a faint name on the back of it that said George Hamilton. It turns out, he was an early settler in the area that would become Sterlington. He was nowhere near Logtown! How this book got to the other end of the parish is a mystery. It looks to be a store ledger or maybe a boat landing ledger, noting credits and debits as well as lists of what was bought. The names in it began to make my jaw drop! Tennile, Bry, Barlow, McLawclhin, LeVillain, Lazare, Davenport, Morhouse… all HUGE names from our area. Here is a sample list of just a fraction of the names who have entries:
James L. Henderson
Benjamin Tennile
Edward Brooks
George Hamilton
James McLawchlin
Andrew Latting
Abraham Miller
Abraham Morhouse
James Barlow
William Birney, Sr.
Thomas Barlow
William Birney, Jr.
William Dawson
Hezekiah Kirkpatrick
George Stroop
Jacob Stroop
William Stroop
Hugh Stephenson
John Stroop
Elizabeth Wence
Josiah Davenport
John Dehart, Sr.
Thompson Clack
William Van Allen
Abraham Dehart
Joseph Kerkendoll
Arum King
George Stewart
Michael Stewart
Francis Duval
John Villard
Laurent Cavet
David Gleeson
Louis Francisco
Charles Gin
John Morrison
Peter Ditzler
Charles Auguste
William Leggitt
Isaac Ward
Joseph Owen
Thomas Moore Parks
Joseph Poiret
Michel LeVillain (Chapelle)
Richard Williams
Andrew Shaw
John Denning
John Allington
Patrick Poor
Andrew Morhouse
John Dewitt
John Harris
William Howell
John Meriwether
Conrad Haltzman
Joseph Egg
Francis Stokeley
Antoine Poisson
Christopher Kauffman
Joseph Piboto
James Gibson
John Dowell
Nathaniel Davies
Patrick Darby
Thomas C. Lewis
Frederick Foy
Madame Lazare
Christopher Owen
Henry Bry
John Dehart, Jr.
Francis Chevalier
Kearney (Indian) This one was jaw dropping!
Auguste LeRoy
John Hughes
Thos. & Jas. Buford
John F. Girod
Gabriel Scott
John Griffing
Solomon Kepler
Anthony Cabrara
James Griffing
John Herberard
Archibald Griffing
Swanson Yarborough
Joseph Ballinger
Moses Floyd
Jeremiah Griffing
John Ward
William Wood
David Reed
Hezekiah Kirkpatrick
John Dewitt
Joseph Cavet
Hugh Stephenson
These are, like I said, just a FRACTION of the names mentioned. Two years after I copied it, the owner decided to donate it to us. It is now very well protected in our Special Collections department. We hope one day to get an overhead scanner and put it online. What a priceless TREASURE! To see the bound copy (the original is too fragile to handle) get in touch with Special Collections and ask for the George Hamilton Ledger book, call number SC 976.387 Led.
Ouachita Parish History Tidbits 