Zachariah Taylor Bennett, Sr. and Family

Editor's Note:  The following information was written by Beatrice "Bea" Bryan Denham in 1977 to be included in Our Island Heritage, Vol. 3, 1978, compiled by Sophie Haley and Mickie Smith.  Photographs have been added by the Editor.

Zachary Taylor Bennett (1849-1914), was the son of Bartholomew Bennett of Virginia, and Mary Caroline Flynn, whose father and mother, Thomas Flynn and Ann Pipes, came to the Feliciana Country from Pennsylvania.  Bartholomew died in 1853, when Zack was only four years old, but his mother was very successful in managing the plantation and slaves.  After the Civil War most of the slaves remained to work on the plantation.  Zack married Sarah Jane Myers (1850-1909).

Old Pine Hill Cemetery, Sicily Island

Old Pine Hill Cemetery, Sicily Island

They had fourteen children, four of whom died in infancy.  During this time they also accumulated more land, a cotton gin and live stock.  The red clay hills of Feliciana did not produce the bountiful crops of cotton that were common in the delta soils of Louisiana along the Mississippi, so Zack moved (1890) from the house in which he was born to what became known as the Bennett Place, on the banks of Lake Louie on Sicily Island.  He brought several negro families with him, some of whose descendants are still living on the Island.  He found the good land he was seeking, and two years later moved his family.  His children had gone to a private school in Clinton, but when they came to the Island the schools were quite poor, usually of three months' duration.  Transportation from the house on the lake was a problem, so he bought a small house in the village, and his daughter Mamie kept the younger children there during the school terms.

The Bennett family became active members of the old Pine Hill Methodist Church, driving a wagon from their home on Lake Louie, bringing "dinner" with them for a community "dinner on the ground."  They had a morning service once a month.  After dinner they visited in the cemetery.  Later in the afternoon, there was usually a second service.

"Miss Mamie" (1875-1953) and "Miss Minnie" (1878-1931) are still remembered for their ministrations to the sick.  When Mr. and Mrs. Frank Smith became the parents of twins, Sadye and Sidney, Mrs. Smith was very sick for several months.  The Bennett girls took the twins home with them and cared for them until their mother was able to take over.  I found among my mother's papers and letters a sheet of paper with a drawing of two sets of baby hands and feet labeled "Sadye's and Sidney's."  They spent many hours at the bedside of the sick when malaria, pneumonia and typhoid fever were the worst enemies.  Neighbors in those days gave of their services as long as there was need.

In 1903 the Bennetts bought the house which is still owned by a member of the family, and they moved from the place on the lake.  The house was acquired from Thomas W. Perrin, who had remodeled it and added the second story. 

Bennett House, 2011

Bennett House, 2011

Zack built a big livery stable where Dimple's Fabric Shop is now located.  He also had a contract to take the mail to Harrisonburg, which, though the Parish seat, had no transportation system linking it to the remainder of the Parish.  The dam and locks in the Ouachita River were built about this time, and the livery stable became a thriving business, taking workers and "drummers" to Harrisonburg.

The boys of the family had now become of marriageable age. 

The eldest, Edward Phares Bennett married Magnolia Gordy.  This family has established itself around DeQuincy. 

Zack, Jr. married May Carter, whose family had come to Catahoula Parish before 1810, but whose father and mother were living on Sicily Island before 1900, on what in later times became the Knight corner store.  Zack's and May's children moved away and their grandchildren live in Bunkie, Morgan City, Houston, and one is a judge and lawyer in Marksville.  By Zack's second wife, Minnie Rollins, there are two sons living in Harlingen and Houston, Texas. 

Emmett Bennett married Georgia Higgins, daughter of Thomas Higgins and Mattie Hanks, whose house and store have been demolished.  Emmett's daughter, Myrtle, recently died in Lake Charles where she had been a nurses' supervisor for many years; their son, Willard Bennett, also lives in Lake Charles, but teaches special classes at L.S.U.  Emmett's second wife, Isabelle May, had three daughters who now live in California and Massachusetts.  (Editor's Note:  Tombstone for Emmett and Isabel is courtesy of Melissa Daigle at FindAGrave.com)

Rigmaiden Cemetery, DeQuincy, Calcasieu, Louisiana

Old Pine Hill Cemetery, Sicily Island

The youngest son of Zack Sr. was Owen Langworthy Bennett who married Fannie Copeland.  They and their children live in California.  "Lank" became a telegrapher under the tutelage of Mr. John "Jack" McNair, and worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad until retirement in California.  He returned to the Island to visit many times before his death in 1968, enjoying the renewal of old friendships with the Krause "boys", Penistons, Smiths, and many more.

Two daughters, Alma, a beautiful girl of nineteen, and Willie, a little girl of twelve, died of malaria while the family was living on the lake. 

Old Pine Hill Cemetery, Sicily Island

Old Pine Hill Cemetery, Sicily Island

Mamie "Mary" Bennett married Joseph Henry Bryan, whose grandfather, Thomas Bryan was an early settler and sheriff of Catahoula Parish in 1825.  The Bryans were the only descendants of the Bennett clan to grow up in Sicily Island.  Two daughters live in Baton Rouge, the other in New Johnsonville, Tennessee. 

Old Pine Hill Cemetery, Sicily Island

Old Pine Hill Cemetery, Sicily Island

Minnie Bennett married U. R. Sorey of Rayville, cattle and cotton farmer, who was a widower with five children.  Minnie had no children of her own, but reared those of her husband.  (Editor's Note:  Tombstone photograph for Ural Roscoe Sorey is courtesy of Natalie Maynor at FindAGrave.com)

Masonic Cemetery, Rayville, Richland, Louisiana

Old Pine Hill Cemetery, Sicily Island

Emma Bennett married Simeon Vick and went back to Clinton, and later to Baton Rouge, where she has one daughter and several grandchildren living today.

Myrtle Bennett married Henry Markham Krause, Sr., but died at nineteen, six weeks after their marriage.

Old Pine Hill Cemetery, Sicily Island