Vidrine - Evangeline Parish

IMAGES
of America

EVANGELINE PARISH

On the Cover: Ville Plattes Main Street is seen about 1905, as enthusiasm was building to create the Parish of Evangeline. Although the town was small, it was poised to grow with the new parish. The street is unpaved, but newly dug ditches help control runoff. Sidewalks are being laid for the convenience of pedestrians. Commerce is good, as indicated by the many stores along the street. (Courtesy of Pam McGee.)

IMAGES
of America

EVANGELINE PARISH

Jane F. Vidrine and Jean S. Kiesel

Copyright 2014 by Jane F. Vidrine and Jean S. Kiesel
ISBN 987-1-4671-1178-2
Ebook ISBN 9781439645338

Published by Arcadia Publishing
Charleston, South Carolina

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013951274

For all general information, please contact Arcadia Publishing:
Telephone 843-853-2070
Fax 843-853-0044
E-mail
For customer service and orders:
Toll-Free 1-888-313-2665

Visit us on the Internet at www.arcadiapublishing.com

To the people of Evangeline Parish, who love their heritage.

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In preparing this book, we have benefited from the assistance of many people; in fact, without their help, we never could have succeeded. First and foremost, we thank our supervisor, Dr. Bruce Turner, for his full support during this project. Thanks are due to the entire Special Collections staff and the Deans Office of the Edith Garland Dupr Library at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette for their generous support as well.

The people of Evangeline Parish have been so generous in sharing their photographs and their knowledge; we cannot thank them enough. Special thanks go to Pam McGee, who spent countless hours guiding us, encouraging us, and providing many photographs from her own collection. She also pointed us to many others who had photographs and information to share. We are also grateful to Lynn Landreneau for her support and assistance.

We would like to also thank the Ville Platte Mayors Office, Ville Platte Chamber of Commerce, Evangeline Sheriffs Office, Evangeline Parish Library, Pine Prairie Village Hall, Diocese of Lafayette Archives, UL Lafayette Center for Louisiana Studies, Evangeline School Board Office, Evangeline Clerk of Court, and the Ville Platte Gazette, especially David Ortego for all his help.

Many residents of Evangeline Parish shared their photographs and stories for this book. These include Bernice Ardoin, JoAnn Burnett, Rayford and Delores Chapman, Mitzi Duos Cochrane, Joyce Coreil, Bobby Dardeau, Richard Deshotel, Deen Fontenot, Sister Helen Fontenot, Rollins G. Fontenot, Wendel Fuselier, Kathleen DeVille Godchaux, Kathryn Lebleu Guillory, Alice Bacon Guillotte, Sandra Himel, Annette Duos Johnson, Jackie Jones, Leah Kiesel, KVPI Radio, Warren Lafleur, Janis Landreneau, Allison Sonny Launey, Runnie F. Matte, Linda McGee, Jo Anna Miller, Kermit Miller, Mike Miller, Clarence Rivers, David Simpson, Elvin Soileau, J.D. Soileau, Kathleen Eastin Soileau, Teresa Van Atta, Barbara Johnson Vautrot, Tim Veillon, J. Kilren Vidrine, Vietnam Veterans Chapter No. 632, and Merlyn Yielding. If we have left anyone out, please be assured that we value your contributions highly. This book could not have been written without your help.

Thanks go to Arcadia Publishing, especially our editors Jason Humphrey, Mary Margaret Schley, and Maggie Bullwinkel for their valuable assistance.

Finally, we especially want to thank our families, Roland R. Vidrine and Leah and Sara Kiesel, for their love and support during this project and always.

INTRODUCTION

Evangeline Parish, located in central Louisiana, encompasses the hills and piney woods of the northern part of the state as well as the prairies and wetlands of the south. Culturally, too, Evangeline merges the English-speaking families who settled the northern part of the parish and the French-speaking groups who settled in the south.

During Colonial times the area was part of the Opelousas Post, governed from the outpost at Opelousas. The fort was established by the French to guard against Spanish encroachment from Mexico. After Louisiana was ceded to Spain in 1763, the Spanish colonial government promoted settlement around the post. The land was well suited for agriculture, and the prairies were ideal for raising cattle. Some of the first settlers in Evangeline Parish were retired French soldiers from the Illinois country who preferred to move to Spanish territory rather than remain in Illinois under British rule when France lost nearly all her colonies in North America after the French and Indian War. At about the same time, the first English-speaking families began settling farther north in the piney woods around Bayou Chicot, the first English settlement west of the Mississippi River. Settlement on the prairies of southwest Evangeline Parish came later. A few Acadian families moved onto the prairies in the early 1800s, living on isolated homesteads, tending cattle and raising crops to feed their families.

Evangeline Parish does not include any of the major waterways that would have provided the principal means of transportation from Colonial days until the coming of the railroad. Consequently, settlement came late to the area. William Darbys map of Louisiana, published in 1815, shows a road (more likely a rudimentary trail) between Opelousas and Alexandria, roughly following the route later taken by US Highway 167. A few small settlements were located along this road in what later became Evangeline Parish: McDaniel and Hanchett to the north, and Fontenot farther south. These settlements bore the names of important residents, probably the largest landowners or keepers of inns or stores, and would later be known as Turkey Creek, Bayou Chicot, and Ville Platte, respectively. The names also give a good indication of the ethnicity of the people who settled each area: Anglo-Saxons in the north, French to the south. The topography indicates how Ville Platte (French for flat town) got its name, for old beds of the Red River made hills around Opelousas and Bayou Chicot, while the land in between is quite flat.

Evangeline was one of the last parishes established in Louisiana. It was long a part of St. Landry Parish, but as the population grew in the late 19th century, the parish seats distant location became more burdensome. It was 70 miles or more to Opelousas from some sections of the parish, a journey that could take two days by horse and buggy over bad roads. Yet it was necessary to go there to pay taxes, get a marriage license, pursue a lawsuit, or file any number of official documents. Furthermore, political interests in the southern part of St. Landry dominated parish politics and were accused of neglecting issues more important in the northern section. Interest in creating a new parish surfaced around 1890. Advocates in Bayou Chicot, Pine Prairie, and Ville Platte held citizens meetings to promote the idea, but they could not get the necessary support. The idea continued to attract attention, however, while political leaders from other parts of St. Landry lobbied the legislature in opposition. By 1905, interest in forming a new parish was so great that opponents held a mass meeting in Opelousas, while proponents met in Ville Platte. P.L. Fontenot, who represented the area in the state legislature, introduced legislation creating Evangeline Parish in 1908. It passed both houses unanimously and was signed by Gov. J.Y. Sanders, but it was declared unconstitutional by the state supreme court a few days later. More mass meetings followed, culminating in a special election on April 12, 1909, to decide the question. The vote was in favor of division, with Ville Platte chosen as the parish seat. Fontenot introduced new legislation, more carefully drawn up, in the 1910 session of the legislature, and it became law.