Our History "Our Story"

What You May Not Know About Willie Temple!

Willie Temple
Photo Courtesty: Edwin Temple

Willie Temple was born in 1933 in Amite, Louisiana. There were six children born to the union of  Charlie Temple and Lena Vining Temple. His siblings were: Caretha, Doretha, Maude, Jacob, and Mary.  Willie grew on fifty-four aces farm on Bennett Road. His family raised livestock, and every kind of produce a farmer could grow. His father Charlie was married twice, first to Eliza Marshall. They had five children: Augustine, Elouise, Margie, Stanley, and Ellis.

Willie's mother and my great-grandmother Emma were sisters. Lena and Emma had the same father.  Their father Allen was married twice. His first marriage was to Emma's mother Rosa Hart. After Rosa passed away, he married Pheby Self. Pheby was Lena's mother.

This would make him and my maternal grandmother Josephine first cousins. He's one of the three first cousins my grandmother have living to this day. Everyone else had passed away that I'm aware of. If there are anymore living first cousin. I would really like to meet them.

No one knows what school he attended or if he went to school.  He could read somewhat said his son Edwin. He worked at the Amite Feed and & Co-op, as a delivery man. He delivered feed and other supplies to local farmers. He was employed at Louisiana Power and Light as a lineman. 

Everyone that knew him called him "Pap," some said they remember him smoking cigars. It takes my mother to talk about the role he played in registering African-Americans people as register voters. "He drove people to the voting polls," said Isabel Harrell-Cook. He was a very smart person she said. Willie farmed, he took some of his produce to J.D. Atkins packing shed. The next morning J.D., took the produce to the French Market in New Orleans to be sold. Some of Willie produce was sold around the town of Amite.  He used his horse "Jim" to plow the field until he purchased his mule called red. His favorite past time was playing cards with some of his neighbors in the community. 

Old Red

Sometime he would visit his sisters in Los Angeles, California. His mother Lena moved to Los Angles with her daughters until her death.  He lived his entire life in Amite, Louisiana.  Willie met and married Helen Johnson Temple and to their union, five children were born. Three of his sons served in the Military. Two sons in the Air Force and one in the Army.One son drove trucks for a living. His only daughter work at the St. Helena Headstart. One of his sons made Alaska his home. 

Many people in the community may not know that Willie put his life on the line to help register African-American people in Tangipahoa Parish to become register voters. Mother said that he was beaten up by some white men for taking the role he did. "He wasn't the same after the beat him," she said.  I want to say before we make a judgment about a person, we should take the time out to learn about that person. This month during Black History, Nurturing Our Roots would like to remember people like Willie who put their life on the line for equality. He knew that he had to do something to change the conditions for African-American people of Tangipahoa Parish, even if it meant him dying for the cause. Now in his 80s, he doesn't talk much about those days. He spends his time sitting on his front porch getting a cool breeze are enjoying the beautiful sunlight.