African-American Woman Fishing In Monroe

Some photos leave you wanting more. This one does for me. It is a photo taken in Monroe circa 1930 of a woman sitting on the bank of a bayou/river fishing. Who was this woman? What was her story? What has she been through and seen? It is important that we record our family stories … Continue reading African-American Woman Fishing In Monroe →

The Architecture of the North Louisiana River Parishes

I have seen this book several times before. If you are interested in the architecture styles of some of the buildings in Ouachita parish, this book is for you! It is now digitized here: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/65859/65859-h/65859-h.htm There are several historic Ouachita buildings profiled in this book along with drawings.

Russians Visit Ouachita Parish

I was flipping through Gilbert Faulk's book "Twain" when a cute little section he apparently wrote in 1973 caught my attention. He talks about a visit from a group of Russian visitors during the height of the Cold War. For you "youngins" that may be reading, this would be like if some visitors came in … Continue reading Russians Visit Ouachita Parish →

For the Love of History Blog

My favorite Halloween blog has been posting this month! "For the Love of History" posts every October daily stories of North Louisiana murders. She has already told a few that happened in Ouachita Parish: https://erinantley.wordpress.com/2022/10/09/october-9-2022-ben-littlepage/ https://erinantley.wordpress.com/2022/10/18/october-17-2022-the-murder-of-tecumsah-claude-moore/ https://erinantley.wordpress.com/2022/10/23/october-23-2022-the-mildred-thomas-murder/ https://erinantley.wordpress.com/2022/10/10/october-22-2022-the-colony-cemetery/

A List of Old Ouachita Parish Plantations

A coworker of mine is working on organizing our vertical file materials and I got nosy last week and opened one of the vertical files she had on her desk. Inside was a couple of handwritten pages compiled by J.B. Filhiol, Sr. with the date of August 1946. The pages listed the plantation homes he … Continue reading A List of Old Ouachita Parish Plantations →

My 1,000th Post With Some Important Announcements!

First of all, thank all of you who have stopped by my little corner of the internet to read my ramblings! I wanted an outlet for all my little Ouachita parish history tidbits I happened to stumble across, mainly to keep for future reference! I am just tickled pink (and greatly humbled) that you all … Continue reading My 1,000th Post With Some Important Announcements! →

A “Hurricane” in Monroe

One of the regular readers of this blog suggested I check out this article posted to another blog about a "Hurricane" that struck the area in the 1800's. I really think this was a strong tornado rather than a hurricane! I recognized several of the plantations hit, such as Travelers Rest. https://louisianagenealogygirl.wordpress.com/2017/08/22/a-hurricane-in-monroe/

A 1938 Speech Study in Monroe

I have found that LSU has digitized some of their thesis books and have made them available for free download. One in particular has caught my attention. In about 1937, a Doctoral student named Grace E. Ingledue, decided to study the speech patterns of six life-long Monroe residents. The six persons she studied (all white) … Continue reading A 1938 Speech Study in Monroe →

Isaiah Garrett’s Ledger Book and Business Records 1838 – 1861

A few years ago, I told you that the University of Alabama had a Ledger book that once belonged to Isaiah Garrett. The library has digitized his materials and you can view them here: https://cdm17336.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/u0003_0004211/search/searchterm/isaiah%20garrett%20business%20records/field/source/mode/exact/conn/and It appears to be the account of all expenses Isaiah charged his clients for when he was a lawyer. If … Continue reading Isaiah Garrett’s Ledger Book and Business Records 1838 – 1861 →

Fort Miro

I found the above drawing of the layout for Fort Miro in our vertical files. A newspaper clipping in another file showed the same drawing and states it was found in the archives in Seville, Spain by Dr. Russ Williams. He redrew the original to better show the details.