Jackson Parish

By Katherine Smith Rowell

Jackson Parish was formed in 1845, and settlers traversed treacherous territories, thick brush, and waterways to take advantage of cheap government land. The pioneers--mostly farmers--transformed a vastly forested area into several thriving communities. The Tremont Lumber Company founded the mill towns of Eros and Chatham in the early 20th century. Simultaneously, the Arkansas Southern Railroad's arrival brought settlements to Quitman and Ansley. In 1903, Jonesboro was officially declared a town after it reached 1,000 residents; eight years later, it claimed the parish seat from Vernon, which had held that title since 1846. A new courthouse was built in Jonesboro the following year. Weston, Stovall, Walker, and Midway provided churches and schools for a growing population. Hodge staked claim in the paper and packaging industries by the 1920s, and the 1940 song "You Are My Sunshine" by Jimmie Davis, a Beech Springs native and Louisiana's "Singing Governor," forever changed the way Jackson Parish would be remembered. These memories, and more, are chronicled in Images of America: Jackson Parish.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Sep 14, 2015
• ISBN: 9781439653227

Katherine Smith Rowell

Katherine Smith Rowell lived in Jackson Parish for over 20 years. Rowell's interest in genealogy, particularly in that of her ancestors, and in parish history motivated this pictorial account. The author utilizes current and past residents' photographs to keep the history of the "Sunshine Parish" alive.

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INTRODUCTION

Before the Louisiana Purchase, Jackson Parish was part of the Natchitoches Country, possessed by Spain and France. This great expanse of territory was ceded to the United States by France in 1803. In 1804, the territory was divided by Congress into two parts; the portion to the south was known as the New Orleans territory, and to the north was the District of Louisiana. The Jackson Parish area, along with most of what would become the state of Louisiana, was a part of the territory of Orleans until Louisiana was admitted to the Union in 1812.

Most of the early transportation in north Louisiana was by water, though there were some well-used trails. The Old Natchitoches Road ran from Lake Providence to Natchitoches and was used extensively by the Indians to transport salt from Louisiana salt works to the many Indian villages along the route. It was also a part of Sieur de Bienville’s route in 1700 on his trip from Lake Providence to Natchitoches.

Many of the early arrivals to this area were hunters, trappers, or traders bartering with Indian tribes. There was no settlement in the area until John Stowe arrived in 1802 with a land grant from the government of Spain. After the Louisiana territory became the property of the United States and after the organization of the parish, more settlers began to enter the area and communities began to form.

During the administration of Gov. Alexander Mouton, Jackson Parish was created by Act 38 on February 27, 1845, by combining territory from Ouachita, Union, and Claiborne Parishes. The boundaries were fixed by Act 179 of 1846. The parish was named in honor of Pres. Andrew Jackson, hero of the Battle of New Orleans and seventh president of the United States. He died June 8, 1845.

Jackson Parish, located almost in the center of the northern half of the state, is primarily forest. The parish is in the heart of a rich pine belt and is part of what is known as the Hill Parishes. The land is rolling hills with creek bottoms and springs. When the first settlers came, they found a vast wilderness filled with wild game for food as well as soil and a climate that would produce the crops necessary to feed themselves and any livestock. They found land that would produce the southern staple—cotton, a cash crop.

The people drawn to the Hill Parishes by the offer of cheap farmland represented many ethnic groups, but it was the Scotch-Irish who proved to be the driving force of the parishes. These people were hard-working and had strong faith that they would succeed in a new land. When they came, one important institution they brought with them was a strong Protestant religion. The overwhelming majority were Baptists, while Methodists and Presbyterians made up the remainder of the population. Catholicism was mainly in south Louisiana, which was dominated by the French population, though there were a few Catholic churches in north Louisiana before the Civil War. Organized religion was introduced to the area in 1821, and in 1841, the Louisiana Baptist Convention was organized in nearby Bienville Parish.

By act of legislature in 1846 (Act 173), Vernon became the seat of Jackson Parish. Vernon was never a large town, but it was centrally located in the parish. According to the 1850 census, there were over 5,000 people living in Jackson Parish. As settlers from the East moved in, little communities appeared everywhere. The men and women who traveled so far for cheap farmland found themselves faced with treacherous waterways and densely packed forests. The land had an overabundance of timber. The trees that once grew in the parish were large; one tree could take a week and an entire community to cut down and move.

The presidential election of 1860 was an emotional one, and its outcome proved to be a matter of life and death. When the votes were counted, Jackson Parish had given strong support to the Southern Democrat John Breckinridge. The voters of the South could not stop the tide however, and Abraham Lincoln was elected president. Louisiana held its convention on January 23, 1861; three days later, the state withdrew from the Union.

Many families in Jackson Parish were divided by the Civil War and found one son fighting for the South and another for the North. During the war, Louisiana sent 56,000 troops to fight. Nine thousand stayed in home defense units, and when it was over, 15,000 men were lost. The war caused hardship in the communities. During this time, it did little good to grow cotton to sell. Cotton was ginned and taken by wagon to creeks and bayous that flowed in the Red and Ouachita Rivers, then transported to the textile mills of the Atlantic seaboard. However, the Union fleet controlled the Mississippi River and much of the Red and Ouachita Rivers, so the cotton could go no further than a gin or storehouse. Many farmers also found their produce being used as forage for the horses and mules of the armies that passed through the areas. With the loss of fathers, husbands, and sons, the families left behind struggled with little food and no one to work the fields.

The struggles did not end with the war. Reconstruction brought its own set of troubles. Men who came back from the war found farms devastated and could not afford to pay laborers to help work the fields. The newly freed slaves had no money and no land themselves. It was then that sharecropping and share-renting methods began to appear.

In 1892, the railroad made its way into the parish. It was constructed 12 miles north of Vernon, which began to see its population dwindle as people were drawn to the railroad and the new towns near it. Railroads could be the life or death of a town. The Tremont Lumber Company saw potential in the timber of Jackson Parish and built a railroad south, creating the town of