•Part 2
It is an honor to continue with our history compiled by Herman J. Foil in 1948 - a snapshot of an earlier era. When Foil mentioned bringing the history up-to-date it is important to remember that he brought it current, at the time -- post-World War II. I have made no attempt to paraphrase. So, here we go again, in the words of Herman J. Foil:
"The War of 1812 came along, and as you know, Louisiana was the land battle grounds for this War. The Battle of New Orleans took place on January 8th, 1815 after the peace treaty had been signed by England and the United States.
General Andrew Jackson marched down through Washington Parish from Tennessee, through Columbia, Mississippi, crossed the river at Fords Ferry at Angie and spent the night at John Alston's place. Bogalusa came in for some history, too, as General Jackson crossed Bogalusa Creek at Ben's Ford. From 1812 to 1819 there was no Washington Parish. All of the territory now known as St. Tammany and Washington Parish was called St. Tammany Parish during that period. Because of a quarrel, a division was made of St. Tammany Parish and the northern part was called Washington; named in honor of George Washington. On March 6th 1819, the State Legislature enacted: 'That the Parish of St. Tammany shall be divided by a line running East and West beginning at David Robinsons on the Tangipohoa River; thence, a direct line to Daniel Edwards on the Tchefuncta; thence, a direct line to the strawberry bluffs on the Bogue Chitto; thence, a direct line on the East to Pearl River. All the lands lying East and North of said line shall be called and known by the name of Washington Parish. That day, March 6th 1819, was one hundred twenty-nine (129) years ago. As I said before, March the 6th is the birthday of Washington Parish.
The town of Franklin was declared the Parish Seat of Washington Parish. The name of the town was later changed to Franklinton. The town of Franklinton was created by a 30 acre tract of land donated by John Bickham. The land was to be divided into lots and sold by the Police Jury for the benefit of the Parish. One acre in the center of this land was set aside as a permanent site for a Courthouse and Jail. Franklinton was made the Parish Seat officially on July 4th 1826 by Legislative Act. Bogalusa and Franklinton definitely have one thing in common as both birthdays are on the 4th of July.
We will move hurriedly along from 1826 as the Parish and State makes slow progress. After this period comes the War with Mexico in 1846. In 1861, the war between the States was declared. This has set the South back many years in its progressive march forward because the Carpetbaggers and other groups interested only in themselves plundered out the Southland from one end to the other. There are no veterans alive today that took part in this great conflict between the States.
Then came the War with Spain in 1898. We have a few veterans living in our Parish today that were with Teddy Roosevelt on San Juan Hill in the War with Spain. The great World War I came along, as you know, in 1917-1918. All of you know the effects of this war on our State and Nation far better than the writer. I shall not endeavor to make any comments on this war at all.
After World War I, as you are all aware, came the depression in the early Twenties, and the prosperous times during the late Twenties. After the financial boom and the stock market crash in 1929, our country headed into one of the greatest depressions that we have ever known. I believe it was during that time that we can mark down as the turning point of world affairs. We had the hectic days in 1930, 1931 and 1932, which brought about the bank holidays so that our banking institutions could be put on a sound basis. After that followed the days of the N.R.A., the E.R.A., the W.P.A., and all of the other alphabetical agencies. It is on record that the Federal Government from '32 to '41 spent large sums of money through those agencies and stated that it was necessary to be done so that our people would be fed and bring the country back to another Era of prosperity. You are the judge as to whether or not this experiment was successful. Time may help us make a decision in this connection.
Then came the sneak attack at Pearl Harbor and the great conflict of World War II was on. World War II is, also, so recent and so clear in our minds that it is not necessary for me to elaborate on it at this time."
From the columnist:
Noteworthy - John Bickham was my great-great-great-great-grandfather. And also, while we were first called Franklin, in 1826 some of our local citizenry convened in Baton Rouge before the Legislature to make the name official. It was thought that the delegation was comprised of Parish Judge, Col. Thomas C. Warner, Harvell Carter (grandfather of Judge Prentiss B. Carter), and Rev. Stephen Ellis. They encountered a similar delegation, seeking the same, from the town of Franklin in St. Mary Parish. Both sought the name of Franklin, but our delegation agreed to add "ton" to the name, becoming Franklinton. It was thought that the name derived from Benjamin Franklin, who was not only one of America's Founding Fathers but also inventor, scientist, printer, and publisher of his famous almanac.
And it wasn't until October of 1978 that Mayor Warren Greer issued a proclamation declaring Franklinton as The Fair City. With several hundred slogan choices submitted to WCG Radio Station's Identity Slogan Contest, the winning slogan was submitted by Bessie Knight. who had the earliest postmark.
•Stay tuned for the conclusion of Herman J. Foil's history of Washington Parish.
