Tag: Confederate Veterans

A Great Ouachita Parish Genealogy Resource

Many genealogy societies are beginning to place their magazines online. When you are doing genealogy research, you may not think about genealogy society newsletters and magazines. They are great research tools! Some have information you will absolutely never find anywhere else. Among the societies that are digitizing is the Ark-LA-Tex Genealogical Association. They have scanned … Continue reading A Great Ouachita Parish Genealogy Resource →

The Red Knights: An Unknown Confederate Unit

While browsing along the other day, I stumbled across this little document found in the Boston Anthenaum. It has no date on it, but it clearly was printed during the Civil War. It was calling on local men in the Monroe area to organize a rifle company to fight the Federal army (I won't use … Continue reading The Red Knights: An Unknown Confederate Unit →

The Ouachita/Key House: Monroe’s Confederate Hospital?

The Ouachita Hotel, was located where the park is now at the corner of 3rd and DeSiard. It was built in 1861 by Sloan and Mason. In 1890, F.G. Key bought the building and it became the Key House. In 1895 a case of Smallpox broke out at the hotel which made the Shreveport paper: … Continue reading The Ouachita/Key House: Monroe’s Confederate Hospital? →

A Yankee Buried by Confederate Veterans

One of the sweetest stories I have found, concerns the burial of a Union veteran handled by the Henry W. Allen Camp of United Confederate Veterans.             Fifteen or so years ago, a lady contacted me for information on a Union soldier that had been buried in the Old Monroe City Cemetery.  She was indexing … Continue reading A Yankee Buried by Confederate Veterans →

Judge William Wood Farmer, Jr.: Lawyer, Legislator, Civil War Captain and Respected Judge of Ouachita Parish

I wrote this article back in April, 2011 for Louisiana Road Trips Magazine.                 William Mills Farmer was born March 29, 1840 in Union Parish, the only son of William Wood and Pamela Ann Mixon Mason Farmer.  He was named for his father and paternal grandfather Mills Farmer, whom Farmerville, LA was named for.  His … Continue reading Judge William Wood Farmer, Jr.: Lawyer, Legislator, Civil War Captain and Respected Judge of Ouachita Parish →

A Tantalizing Civil War Map

I was exploring the National Archives online catalog, when I found some Confederate maps they have in their collection. One in particular intrigued me: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/171031936 A big problem is that it has no key. I can guess some of what it is, such as towns, swamps, rivers, roads, land owners, etc... What intrigues me is … Continue reading A Tantalizing Civil War Map →

Rare letters from a Former Monroe Mayor to his Brother.

This letter comes from the collection of the Tennessee State Library. https://dp.la/item/7e8ec396f9f15af0fd3f96f41953b620?q=Monroe%2C%20LA&page=6 It is a two page letter from Arthur Hambleton Harris to his brother George Carroll Harris in Nashville. The Civil War had just broken out and he was trying to get his brother in a regiment with his relatives. You really see how … Continue reading Rare letters from a Former Monroe Mayor to his Brother. →

Unknown Mealy Photo Identified!

The second Mealy photo I won, just felt SO familiar! When I got to work Monday morning, I began thumbing through my transcription of the Monroe Evening News World's Fair Edition newspaper from 1893. Lots of men had the same hairstyle and looked very similar (I'm looking at you policeman Perry McCabe!). It seems this … Continue reading Unknown Mealy Photo Identified! →

1865 Letter from Bernard H. Dinkgrave to James Muse Dabbs

https://louisianadigitallibrary.org/islandora/object/oplib-orv%3A84 This letter was also included in the Dabbs collection. it is a letter written by Bernard Dinkgrave from a hospital in Alexandria. If you want to read a transcript of the letter, just click on "Details". It is quite an amusing read and just a little naughty! "Bennie" would be assassinated a few years … Continue reading 1865 Letter from Bernard H. Dinkgrave to James Muse Dabbs →