Written by Dr. Tim Hudson Between 1876 and 1882, a sad drama played out on the McLelland farm located two miles northwest of Bernice near the Claiborne Parish line. The saga occurred between an elderly couple, David Ward and his wife, Ellen Brazeal McLelland Ward, and the step-father of Ellen’s grandchildren, Thomas N. Bailey and … Continue reading Greed, Betrayal and Eviction of the Elderly at Shiloh Louisiana 1876 – 1882

Written by Dr. Tim Hudson David Arent was born in 1831 in Strasbourg, a German-speaking city in France near the German border. After his birth, Arent's family moved north to Bergzabern, in Germany, which his brother, Julius, was born in 1841. The Arents were Jewish, and David and his brother immigrated to America in the … Continue reading Mysterious Assassination

Written by Dr. Tim Hudson William P. Mabry settled near Shiloh in about 1855, living on a farm on the western edge of Union Parish. By 1885, he was a man of sixty years. Late on April 19th, W. C. Henderson, Walter Ferguson, Jack Melton and Calvin Skinner met at nearby Pisgah Baptist Church and … Continue reading Murder and Vengeance

Written by Dr. Tim Hudson William R. Manning arrived in Ouachita City in the latter 1860s with his wife, Virginia, and he obtained employment as a grocer. By 1875, they had two young children. For some time, Manning suspected that a local widower, a Mr. W. R. Reese, was engaging in "improper relations" with Manning's … Continue reading A Crime of Passion

Written by Dr. Tim Hudson Since the earliest Europeans arrived in what is now Union Parish, young male residents have answered the call to defend their homes, state, and country. The War Between the States remains the conflict during which the largest number of Union Parish soldiers perished, both in battle and from disease. This … Continue reading Killed in Action

Written by Tim Hudson These biographies describe the lives of men and women of African ancestry who managed to make the incredible transition from the status of slave to successful farmer in Union Parish, Louisiana following the abolition of slavery and prior to the implementation of the Jim Crows laws of the 1890s.   Samuel … Continue reading From Slave to Freeman to Successful Farmer

Researched and Written by T. D. Hudson 11 April 1923 issue of the Farmerville "Gazette" Killing in Ward Ten Last Friday about ten o'clock in the forenoon, one Base Bales shot and killed J. D. Aulds at the latter's store at Point in Ward 10 of this Parish. The information we have says that Bales … Continue reading The Murder of James David Auld, Jr.

Researched and Written by T. D. Hudson French & Spanish Control of Louisiana (1540 – 1803) After Hernando De Soto's exploration of the Mississippi Valley during the 1540s, we have little evidence of any European activity in the Ouachita River valley until the latter 1600s. European interest in the region then came in three distinct … Continue reading A Brief History of the European Settlement of Union Parish Louisiana 1540 – 1850

Dr. Tim Hudson Enoch Albritton was born in 1771, Pitt County, North Carolina. Family tradition has that Enoch was the son of James Albritton, Jr. and Mary Arnett. This is supported by the process of elimination (James Jr.'s nephews are all known), but no proof has yet been found that gives the children of James … Continue reading Enoch Albritton and Penelope Frizzle

Written by Dr. Tim Hudson One hundred fifty years ago this winter, Union and Confederate forces began the struggle for control of Vicksburg, known as the Gibraltar of the Confederacy. Located on the bluffs high above the Mississippi River, Vicksburg's natural defenses afforded the Southern troops command of the river, blocking Union navigation on the … Continue reading The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou: The Opening of the Vicksburg Campaign December 1862

Written by Dr. Timothy D. Hudson In 1884, Mr. Samuel S. Kirkpatrick moved to Farmerville from Monroe and secured employment as a druggist at the Farmerville Drug Store. Within a few months, he and Farmerville native Abraham Stein had purchased the drugs portion of the store, and they operated it under the name S. S. … Continue reading The Ida Schuster Story: Love, Betrayal, Tragedy in 1885 Farmerville

Written by Dr. Tim Hudson During the latter half of the nineteenth century, Daniel Stein was one of the most prominent citizens of Farmerville and most well-known businessmen of north Louisiana. During the 1860's, Stein worked in Louisiana's  thriving steamboat industry, served in the Confederate Army's Quartermaster Department, and then assumed ownership of Farmerville's two … Continue reading Colonel Daniel Stein: Farmerville Entrepreneur Extraordinaire

Written by Dr. Tim Hudson Elder Lawrence Scarborough arrived in the Bayou Corney area about 1825, the earliest American to settle there. He chose a spot on the Corney where today's Barnes Bridge Road crosses the bayou, then eastward to Ten Mile Creek. When he arrived on the Corney his only neighbors were a small … Continue reading Elder Lawrence Scarborough – Earliest European Settler on Bayou Corney

Six Daniel(s) Brothers (L-R back) Andrew Willis (Will), Guthrie, Oliver, (L-R front) David Richard, Floyd, Joe   Written by Dr. Tim Hudson This violent saga resulted from the ill-fated 1898 marriage in Farmerville of  Sudie McQueen and James Marion Taylor, Jr. Both Sudie and Jim came from well-known pioneer families who arrived in the Bayou … Continue reading The Taylor-McQueen Saga: Murder and Retribution