The History of the Irving Family of Roseland, Louisiana

Dora Curry Irving

When I was a child growing up in Amite, my mother used to take my three brothers and I to Big Zion cemetery in Roseland, Louisiana, to clean the graves of my grandparents. The two wooden building across the road from the cemetery caught my eye. All my life I wanted to know more about those two buildings.

So I decided to knock on somebody door to get some information about the two building. The door that I knocked on was a lady by the name of Sandra Watson Turner. I asked her could she tell me something about those two building. She said I grew up in the two story building and the little house next door was a packing house for produce. I felt like a kid in a toy store! I can't explain how excited I was to talk with someone who had first hand information.

The first thing she told me was about her "Papa Will." She said that her Papa Will and all his brothers were farmers. I searched for them on the census and found Wilbert, his wife and children in the 1940 United States census. Wilbert and Dora had six children; Ora Belle, Lois, Wilbert, Irene, Gloria, Leontine Irving.

Irene Irving Watson Turner

Wilbert parents Lemuel and Susie had eleven children; Wilbert, Alice, Ethel, Lucy, Alma, Ralph, Lemuel, Robert, Tom, Charles Edward & Roscoe Irving. Lemuel was born in 1854 and died on July 18, 1942 in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana. Lemuel donated the land for Big Zion A.M.E. Church in Roseland, Louisiana.

Lorriane Lizana provided information about the occupations of Lemuel and Susie McKnight Irving descendants. Alice Irving Vernon was a farmer seamstress, Wilbert Irving, Sr., a carpenter, Roscoe was a carpenter, Lucy Irving Collier was a midwife, Alma Irving Wood Perry was a farmer and school teacher.  Lemuel Irving, Jr., a farmer and  factory worker, Ralph Irving, Sr., farmer, was a school bus driver. 

Sandra went on to tell me about her Cherokee grandmother Dora. Dora was a midwife and a natural healer. I asked Sandra if she had a picture of her grandparents, she said yes. I was delighted and anticipated looking at the photograph of the woman who delivered so many baby in the area. She came back with a picture of her grandmother Dora. Sandra recalled how her grandmother Dora healed her and her sibling when they were ill. I wish that someone would have record the knowledge and information Dora knew about natural healing. Irene Irving Watson Turner is Sandra's mother.

When I got home I went straight to "Family Search" to look at the census records to search for Dora's parents. Her parents Peter and Delilia had twelve children; Franklin, Victorine, Katie, Oscar, Soloman, Joe, Samuel, Annie, Richard, Clara, Dora, and Laurence Curry.  Peter was born in Mississippi and Delilia was born in Louisiana. According to the 1900 United States census, Peter was fifty-two and Delilia was thirty-three. Dora was born in 1896 and died in August of 1981 in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana., she is buried in Big Zion Cemetery.

Mt. Gillion Baptist Church in Arcola, Louisiana

Original Bell

One of the oldest church in Arcola, Louisiana, is Mt. Gillion Baptist Church.  It was organized on June 1,1895 by Rev. Robert Vernon and Deacons; W.M. Smith, S.E. Longs and Clerk; C. Lampkin. Anthony said that he could remember two men by the name of Mr. Tate and Mr. Lott ringing the church bell with someone passed away in the community.

I'm going to call Rev. Johnny Milton to see if I could get the history of the church. The history of the church can tell you a lot, especially if your family members attended a church in community. Its alway good to look to the church for your family history as well.
I very familiar with the Vernon history and now I would like to know about the deacons of the church. Anthony said that the bell is the original bell. Although no one rings the bell anymore.

Church cornerstones are important as well. The names of the organizers and founders can be found on them. In this case it list the name of the deacons. I can imagine before they bricked the church it was a wood building with wood pews and hardwood floors. "Who knows!" I maybe able to find a picture of the church before they bricked it. The earlier churches was wooden. I remember the church I attend a child was a wooden white church.

Mt. Gillion Baptist Church Cornerstone

I didn't see a cemetery behind the church at all. "Where did they buried their members?" Anthony said that his mother is buried in Big Zion cemetery, Roseland, Louisiana.  Come to think of it, it was the only church that I saw back off in that community. One day I hope that I can document the history of all the churches in Roseland, Amite, Fluker and Kentwood, Louisiana. Some of these churches serve as a one room school for the African American children in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Some may even have records of the early years.

Its up to us to record and document our own history and heritage. Each one of these communities has such rich history that it would be terrible not to record and document it. I hope others will open up and share their family history, photographs and documents so that I can record and document it.

Old Milk Dairies in Arcola, Louisiana

Old Milk Dairy owned by Mook Tillman 

Today I decided to turn down a road off Hwy 51, in Arcola, Louisiana. My curiosity had got the best of me and I wanted to see if I could find any old buildings and talk with anyone who was sitting on their front porch on this beautiful sunny day.

As usual I just pull up and start talking to people as if I have been knowing them all my life. I saw this man walking to his house and I pulled into his driveway and introduce myself and then I asked him about the old building down the road from him. He thought I was talking about the old milk dairy. He said I'll get in my truck and follow you back there so you can show me which building you're talking about.

After he saw the building he decided to show me several old milk dairies in the area. One was owned by an old black man by the name of Moots Tillman. Mr. Tillman was married to Louise.  The Arcola community had many milk dairies, he could recall only one being owned by and African American man. As we drove around the area he pointed out some of the larger dairy farms and horse ranches. I found the land in Arcola to be beautiful and woody. It is somewhat hilly, with tall pine trees. Most of the people who live in the community is related and they're living on land that had been in the family for several generations.

Old Milk Dairy-Photo Credit: Antoinette Harrell

"Some dairy farmers wasn't milking with machine at that time, they were milking by hand," said Anthony. He said that he remember some of the people who owned the dairies. "A lot of the old folks have die off and their descendants was living on the properties, "he said.

Anthony used to milked cows for a man named Bob Kirby. He said that after the cows were milked the dairy owners would set the milk containers out and the truck would come by and pick them up.  Milking cows wasn't the occupation for Anthony, so that job was short lived. I'm so happy that he shared what history he could recall about old dairy farms in Arcola. Like the history of sawmills and timber companies, milk dairies provided jobs for the local people who lived in the surrounding area. I was just as happy to see some of the old building still standing. Some of them are falling apart, but for the most part many of them are still standing.