Ouachita Parish History Tidbits

Author: Lora Diane Peppers

  • Mary McCranie

    To me, the obituary for a little ten month old baby girl is the most moving tribute I have ever read. When I first read it, I had to get…

  • The Bloody End of Andrew Young Morhouse

    Colonel Abraham Morhouse was an adventurer and land speculator.  His travels led him to the Baron de Bastrop.  The Baron was eager to sell his land in Louisiana and Morhouse…

  • He Died a Hero: The Life and Death of Father Louis Gergaud

    This was written for Louisiana Road Trips Magazine in 2008: A call went out in France.  Priests were needed in Louisiana.  Louisiana was still mostly a frontier in the 1850’s,…

  • Downtown Monroe in 1947

    Neat photo of 3rd Street from the collection of the Ouachita Parish Public Library (photo #534). It is dated January, 1947. You can see Francis Hotel in the distance. On…

  • Day’s Last Stand: The Lynching of John H. Day

    I wrote the following article for Louisiana Road Trips back in 2008. When I found out that we had a Battle of the Little Bighorn survivor in Ouachita Parish, I…

  • The Bright-Lamkin-Easterling Home

    The yellow home in the foreground of both pictures is known as the Bright-Lamkin-Easterling home, located at 918 Jackson Street. The other home was owned by Mayor Henry Bernstein. The…

  • Interesting Biographical Sketches of Two Ouachita Representatives to the 1844 Louisiana State Convention

    In the September 5, 1844 Times-Picayune, page 2, are biographical sketches of state representatives. Two of the men, Isaiah Garrett and Jacob Humble, were from Ouachita. ISAIAH GARRETT. – Mr.…

  • The First Female Legally Hung in Ouachita

                The first woman to be executed is quite unusual, since she made it all the way to a trial and legal execution.  At the time of her death, the…

  • Russell Brooks/Morrow: The First Man Hung in Ouachita Parish?

    The Ouachita Telegraph, Saturday, May 13, 1871, Page 3, Column 2 First Man Executed in Ouachita. Two weeks ago we stated, upon information, that a man named Leslie was the…

  • North Grand and Walnut

    This area looks a tad different today. What you are looking at is the intersection of North Grand and Walnut Streets around 1920. The Bohemia Hotel sits where a parking…