John A. Agan - Minden Perserverance and Pride

This photograph shows a political rally in Minden during the 1920s. As can be seen here, political rallies were among the highlights of community life in Minden. The high school or town band performed and several speakers would usually be heard.

Copyright 2002 by John A. Agan

9781439630532

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Library of Congress control number: 2002106922

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FRONT COVER: The Shreveporter was the first fast-speed passenger train to serve Minden. It made its first arrival in December 1927. The large crowd visible in this picture is particularly amazing since the train arrived in the pre-dawn hours of a Sunday morning.

The task of writing a community history would not be possible without the help of many persons. Those that have written of Mindens history and have preserved the story of our past provided the most significant assistance in telling our towns story. Most of those are acknowledged, but I must add all the previous and present administrators and staff of my current employer, the Webster Parish Library. Most of my sources for local history have been preserved by the library and I have made use of those sources for many years prior to my becoming a part of the staff.

Special recognition is due to four individuals who are now deceased. The first of these I never knew, Dr. Luther Longino, who was Mindens first historian and saved many important memories of Minden. The second was Mrs. Paul Campbell, who took up Dr. Longinos mantle and provided so much guidance and information to me in my local history work. Wayne Williams Sr., who served as superintendent of schools for Webster Parish, generously shared many pictures he had of the local school system. Finally, Mrs. James Watson, a member of a pioneer local family who passed away as this book was being finished, was always so willing to provide information about and images of Mindens past.

Particularly helpful in the production of this volume were two ladies: Faye Gordon and Joan Wiley Luck. Mrs. Gordon provided the cover image of the train the Shreveporter arriving in Minden, and also was a source of other significant images and insights into local history. Mrs. Luck provided a treasure trove of pictures from her ancestors in the Pratt, Vance, and Wiley families that have played such an important role in Mindens past.

The following individuals have provided information, advice, and images for both this book and my previous pictorial histories. These books would not have existed without their generosity and community spirit: Thad Andress, Sandra Brown, George Calvit, Tracy Campbell, Brian Carlisle, former Mayor Tom Colten, Mr. and Mrs. Major DePingre, Judge R. Harmon Drew Jr., Virginia Fox, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Griffith, Freddie Louise Haynes, Dr. Christine Hunt, Ben Hunter, Henry Hobbs, Nila Johnson and the Minden Press-Herald , Melba Lowery, Jeri McCormack of the Webster Parish School Board, Lonnie Maddry, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mattingly, Mr. and Mrs. Luther Moore, Webster Nation, Mildred Norman, Cynthia Garrison Payne, Wanda Pittman, Mayor Bill Robertson, Jimmy Rogers, Sam Samuel, George Turner, Mr. and Mrs. J.S. Willis, and Mr. and Mrs. Marcus Wren.

Finally, I must acknowledge the help of my mother, Juanita Agan, who served as a secretary, picture gatherer, information collector, proofreader, editor, and inspiration in this project.

To many Americans, the name Louisiana conjures up images of New Orleans, beautiful Catholic churches, the sounds of a French patois being spoken by the residents, Spanish moss hanging from the trees, voodoo, Cajuns, and bayous and swamps full of alligators. However, Louisiana is a state with a tremendous cleavage, both geographical and cultural. It seems that most of the United States is unaware of the northern portion of Louisiana, largely dominated by red clay and piney hills (although we do have our bayous and even alligators). The community that is portrayed in this book is the quintessential north Louisiana town. While settlement in the southern half of the state began in the early 1700s, north Louisiana was sparsely settled at the time of Louisianas statehood in 1812.

In fact, the heart of north Louisiana, in the area between the Red and Ouachita Rivers, was largely unsettled until the 1830s. Minden is located in this section of north Louisiana. It is strongly Protestant and dominated by Anglo-Saxon settlers with a strong mixture of German and Scotch-Irish heritage. These first residents were simple people who believed strongly in the work ethic. The wave of settlers that came in the 1830s and 1840s across the newly opened Native American territories in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi populated the community in its formative years. When examining the family history of the oldest families, one finds that most of them were originally residents of South Carolina or Georgia who set out to find new homes on the frontier. In most cases, they were of modest means and came to the newly opening lands to seek their fortune.

The land in northwest Louisiana was not suited to large-scale plantation agriculture. A few large cotton plantations did emerge along the bayous, yet the typical farmer in the Minden area owned fewer than a half-dozen slaves. The absence of a dominant agricultural presence allowed Minden to become a commercial city from its earliest years, first drawing its trade from nearby Bayou Dorcheat and later from the railroads that were finally completed in the area during the late 1800s. Many of the first families became wealthy through commercial interests and are still residents of the Minden area today. Interestingly, the few families who made the bulk of their income from plantation agriculture have nearly all vanished from the Minden scene.

In later years, timber, railroad, and munitions would all become the industrial leaders in the Minden area. It was this diverse economic base that helped Minden to overcome a unique number of tragedies, including fires, storms, and simple changes in the economy, and always bounce back, often stronger than before. In the single traumatic year of 1933, at the height of the Great Depression, Minden saw nearly one-third of its downtown area destroyed by fire, the largest of the two commercial banks in the town fail, a killer tornado claim 28 lives and destroy nearly one-third of the dwellings in the town, a devastating 17-inch rainfall in one day that destroyed the cotton crop, and the political assassination of a local official. Yet, within a decade, Minden was thriving as she never had before. That resilience is the reason for the title of this volume Minden: Perseverance and Pride . Enjoy this story of a small community that used hard work and civic pride to overcome its setbacks and become a wonderful place to live and rear a family, a town that is moving forward while still maintaining the history and traditions that made it succeed. Minden, Louisiana, a town that I am proud to call home.