Sylvester Q. Breard, “Syl” to his friends, was a regular patron of the library. Being descended from one of Monroe’s earliest families, he had a deep love of local history. Before he passed away in 2018, he wrote two published local history books that you can look at in the Genealogy Department of OPPL.
The first one is “Sycamore Hall” which relates the story of the Ludeling and Hudson families. It also goes into detail about the murder of a Ludeling cousin, Bernard Dinkgrave. There are random little tidbits also thrown in about some of the other area plantations and a bit about his own family, the Breards. The book was self-published back in 2005, so finding copies to buy are rare.
Syl’s last book is called “Early History of Monroe”. If you want a nice overview of the area’s early history through the eyes of the Breard family, that is easy to read, this is it. It was published in 2012 by Pelican Publishing. You can get this one on Kindle, but it will cost you!
Rest in peace Mr. Breard!
Ouachita Parish History Tidbits 