Congressman McCrery Speaks To Chamber
BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The
Guardian-Journal
Congressman Jim
McCrery told the those who attended the 40th Annual Chamber Banquet Monday
night, that it was great to be back her in Claiborne Parish and to see so many
people from Homer and Haynesville in the same room. He said, "That's
progress!"
With that attitude and your dedication to look to the future
together, this year's theme "Field of Dreams: Build It & They Will
Come" is appropriate. McCrery said, "If people from all over
Claiborne Parish work together to achieve the things you know will give you a
chance to grow your economy, your population... you can do it."
McCrery
received a round of applause when he told attendees that while attending
Louisiana Tech, he met more good people from Claiborne Parish than from any
other parish in the state, and he knew
they had the capacity to move this area forward. Earlier in the day, he met
with a number of elected officials and business leaders. He said, "Some of
the things we talked about today are quite visionary."
McCrery gave
Chamber members a little peek into the future, telling them what he expected to
happen in the upcoming year in Congress. At the top of President Bush's list
are two extremely important, but extremely difficult issues. He wants to reform
Social Security and the Tax Code. Both of those fall under the jurisdiction of
the Ways and Means Committee, which he chairs.
With a slim
majority in the House and Senate, they will still need some Democratic votes to
pass any legislation. They will work with the President and with both Democrats
and Republicans to try to craft a solution that will preserve benefits to the
elderly. He said, "The Social
Security System has been a very very valuable tool since the Depression, to
prevent the elderly from falling into abject poverty." Since its
institution, the poverty rate of the elderly has gone down until it is now the lowest poverty rate of any age category
in our society.
"Social
Security has worked," said McCrery. "We don't want to damage
that." While we want to preserve it, we don't want to damage the budget
which provides funds for other things such as national security and roads.
CONGRESSMAN JIM McCRERY gave an overview of the upcoming year at the Claiborne Chamber of
Commerce Banquet held Monday night. Chamber President J. T. Taylor presented
McCrery with a plaque in top photo. Chamber Officers for 2005 (lower photo) are
President J.T. Taylor, Vice-President Steve Koskie, Secretary Melissa Watts,
and Treasurer Patricia McMullan. Serving
on the Board of Directors will be Dr. Edward Butler Sr., Yamada Burks, John
Wesley Cooper, Wesley Emerson, Ann Freeman, Kevin Greene, Melody Kelly, Beverly
Killgore, Fred Lewis, J.R. "Bubba" McClung, J.R. "Snap"
Oakes, Karlene Sanford, Brian Smith, and Gurvis Vines.
Weldon Kilpatrick Steps Down
Roy Lewis Elected Police Jury President
BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The
Guardian-Journal
Claiborne
Parish Jury President Weldon Kilpatrick announced at the Wednesday work session
last week, that he would step down as president on Thursday due to health
reasons, although he will continue to serve on the Jury. At the regular meeting
on Thursday, police jurors elected Roy Lewis to replace Kilpatrick as
president. When Roy Mardis declined to accept the nomination for
vice-president, jurors elected Jerry Adkins as vice-president.
Kilpatrick
handed over the gavel to Roy Lewis then excused himself, due to the death of
his sister.
DAVID MURRELL PLACED a monument at the Murrell Cemetery last week for his great-great
grandfather Joel Simeon Murrell, who died in Virginia of measles in 1862 during
the Civil War. Last year, he placed a marker for his great-great-great
grandfather Joel Waters Murrell in the Minden Cemetery where he is buried.
Murrell Descendant Sets Tombstone In
Cemetery
BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The
Guardian-Journal
Trekking
through weeds and stepping over limbs in the abandoned cemetery of "John
Murrell Senior," David Paul Murrell located the spot where he wanted to
set the monument he had purchased for his ancestor, Joel Simeon Murrell. He
then labored to walk the heavy monument across the wet ground, thinking maybe
he should have set it closer to the entrance. Once he completed his task,
however, he was glad he made the effort to place the marker near the resting
place of his ancestor John Murrell Sr., grandfather to Joel Simeon.
David Murrell
is a sixth generation descendant of John Murrell, Sr., the first permanent
white settler in Claiborne Parish. He is
married and lives in Canton, Mississippi, near Jackson, where he and his
wife have a 3-year-old son and are expecting their second child later this
year.
This was
David's fourth trip to Claiborne Parish. The first trip was in February 2002,
just days after his father died. The two had planned to make the trip together
but his father became ill and never recovered.
David said his
interest in family history first began while he was still in high school. He
remembers the stories his father, James Arthur Jr., had told him about how they
were descended from one of the South's most notorious outlaws by the name of
John Murrell. He did a little research on his own and discovered the dates for
this John Murrell did not match up with their family history.
Through the
internet, he found information on another John Murrell, the first permanent
white settler in Claiborne Parish.
John Murrell
arrived in North Louisiana in the summer of 1819, at a time when there were no
roads, only trails among the land covered with a dense thicket of brush,
briars, and vines. Murrell and his family
would settle about five miles southwest of Homer near a creek and his
two-story home would come to be known as Flat Lick Plantation.
Murrell would
be instrumental in establishing the first church, the first school, and the
first post office where he would serve as postmaster. In 1828, in the year
Claiborne Parish was created from Natchitoches Parish, Murrell's home would
also serve as the courthouse until Russellville was selected as the first
parish seat.
David and his
dad, James Arthur Murrell, Jr., made plans to visit Claiborne Parish. In 2001,
his dad became ill. The same year his son was born. Then in February 2002, his
dad died. Within days, David set out alone on his journey to North Louisiana.
He found the homeplace and cemetery. He visited the Ford Museum where he
discovered the important role his ancestor had played in those early days of
Claiborne Parish, and how he was still an important figure to residents of the
parish.
Visitor Sees Value In Cemetery
BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The
Guardian-Journal
Last September,
a visitor to the Old Homer Cemetery was so moved by her feelings, she left a note on the
Directory. The Old Cemetery is located a few blocks from the Courthouse Square
and is rich with the history of the town. The Cemetery opened the same year the
Town was incorporated, in 1850. Many of names on the monuments can also be
found in the records of the Claiborne Parish Police Jury and the Town of Homer. Most of the relatives of
those buried there have either died or moved away.
The last person
buried in the Cemetery was Anna Gladden Berry in November 1995. She lived near
the cemetery and was its chief caretaker for years until her death.
Over the years,
the Cemetery has been vandalized a number of times, in the 1960s and 1970s. In
1988, more than 80 percent of the markers were vandalized. It caused so much
distress to Mrs. Berry that five local
retired men took on the project to restore the monuments. Norton Tompkins, Bob
Brakefield, Jim Penuell, Dr. James Gladney and Dr. Pat Gladney worked eight
hours a day for two months, spending more than $800 to purchase materials to
epoxy the broken headstones. They sprayed Clorox to remove the mold and mildew
so the inscriptions could be read.
A LOCAL RETIREE recently discovered a note left by a visitor September 21, 2004 at the
Old Homer Cemetery. Megan Lee Neal, who left the note lying enclosed in a
plastic case on top of the Directory, said she found the place both sad and
peaceful
Looking Back At 2004...
The Homer Mayor
Recall, Town of Homer financial problems, selection of the I-69 corridor
through Claiborne Parish, the Homer Bypass, turn lanes on US Hwy. 79, plans to
build build a series of lakes in Claiborne Parish, drug arrests, vehicle
fatalities, tragic fires, burglaries, Homer and Haynesville school projects,
the U.S. Justice Department, fights at
school, family feuds at home, the drawdown of Lake Claiborne, and the release
from prison of former Haynesville Town Clerk Marilyn Bush were some of stories
making news in 2004.
The following
is a month by month recap of events that made headlines in Claiborne Parish
beginning in January 2004. The recap of the year will be continued in next
week's paper. ....to be continued in
upcoming issues.
