Mr. Louis A. Vernon, Architect " The Great Grandson of A Slave

Louis A. Vernon

Louis A.Vernon, architect, was the designer of this present structure. He finished his early training at Mt. Canaan Elementary School, he attended Dillion High School and Southern University. However, his course was interrupted when he was called to serve his country. He returned and finished his course at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

He later returned back to Louisiana as an architect and instructor of mathematic at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. From there he transferred to Wilburforce University in Ohio where he taught architecture until his death. This structure stands a monument to the memory of a brilliant young man who was the great grandson of Robert "Free Bob" Vernon. 

Robert was born in 1832 in Rankin County, Mississippi as a slave. He died July of 1915 in Tangipahoa Parish. He was the father of seventeen children: Willie, Riley, Georgia, Lula, Jim, Nancy, Isaac, John, Florence, Emma, Guy, Sam, Owen, Toby Stamp, Anna, Lettie, and Robert Vernon, III. 

Robert "Free Bob" Vernon
A Former Slave 

He watched as his first wife and sons were sold off as slaves on a plantation in Mississippi. Robert worked hard to purchase his freedom. He later moved to Louisiana where his father Robert Vernon lived. He built a cabin on one hundred and sixty acres; his father told him that if he worked hard to cultivate the land for five years, he could become the owner of the land. Robert took the challenges on and began working hard on two plots of land. 

Source: Booklet of Glyniss Vernon Gordon. The book didn't indicate what building and where it is located.