Sports Center Saturday - Lady Tigers, 1948

Lady Tigers Basketball Team - Sicily Island High School, 1948

Kneeling (LtoR):  Patsy Seal Dennis, Maureen Cupit, Mary Lou Mount White, Virginia Pearson Barron, Bernice Bruce, Margie Evans Poe

Standing (LtoR):  Betty Gambrell, Wanda Sue Passman McGuffee, Emma Jean Roberts Seal, Eloise Barron King, Virginia Dent Price, Mickey Salter Thurman

Photograph is courtesy of Karen Barron Egloff.

Sunday's Obituary - Julia Davis Denham

Monroe News Star - 12/31/1958

Julia Davis

Born on March 24, 1881

Daughter of

Goodrum Preston Davis and Tabitha Margaret Smith Kendrick

Wife of

Cecial Robert Denham

Died on December 30, 1958

Buried in the Old Pine Hill Cemetery

Sicily Island, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana

Sunday's Obituary - William Benge

Monroe News Star - 8/24/1949

William Marion Benge

Born on September 2, 1893

Son of

Thomas Leonard Benge and Mary Hazeltine Mayo

Brother to

Anna, Thomas Lee and Rose

Husband of

Emma Frazier

Father to

Leroy, Mary Lou, Evelyn, Mildred and Dorothy

Died on August 24, 1949

Buried in the Old Pine Hill Cemetery

Sicily Island, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana

Photograph by FindAGrave member, Karen Klemm Pinckard

Sports Center Saturday - Sicily Island Basketball Tournament, 1971

Monroe News Star - 2/12/1971

Wedding Wednesday - Pearson 50th Wedding Anniversary

Abbott and Bertha Pearson -  April 13, 1980
Courtesy of Karen Barron Egloff

Pearsons Celebrate Golden Anniversary

Mr. and Mrs. Abbott Pearson were honored April 13 with a reception by their children, Mr. and Mrs. Carey Pearson, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Cater and Mr. and Mrs. Larry Barron.

Courtesy of Karen Barron Egloff

Approximately 115 guests were present to help the honorees celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

Out-of-town guests were:  Mr. and Mrs. Herbert McKay, Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Cowart, Johnny and Kelly and Mr. and Mrs. Gene Brasher, Bradley and Misty Partin of Baton Rouge.

Also:  Mr. and Mrs. Robert McKay of Columbia; Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Pearson, Mr. and Mrs. Sarville Purvis, Mrs. Mattie Hall, Mrs. Wilma McCarver of Jonesville.

Also:  Mr. and Mrs. Horace Blair, Mrs. Mable Brooks of Wisner; Mrs. Gladys Opely, Gene Pearson of Winnsboro; Mr. and Mrs. Gene Egloff, Angel and Onice [Aimee] of Monroe; Mrs. Helen Kent, Mr. and Mrs. Laverne Bryant, Lucy and Corina of Pollock and Mr. and Mrs. Carey Pearson, Page and Dan of Bossier City.

Courtesy of Karen Barron Egloff

Abbott and Bertha McKay Pearson had the following children:

Barbara Jean
Dora Virginia
Carey W.

Sicily Island's Answer to Germany's Peace Offensive, 1918

The following article appeared in the October 17, 1918 edition of the Quitman-Wood County Democrat in Quitman, Texas:

The Krause quoted in the article was undoubtedly one of the sons of Gotleib and Caroline Rotham Krause.

The Liberty Loan mentioned in the article was actually Liberty Bonds that were first used during WWI to support the cause of the Allies.  Private citizens purchased bonds to show their patriotism by supporting the military effort.  Once the war ended, these bonds were redeemed for their purchase price plus interest.  

On November 11, 1918 (less than a month after this article appeared in print) Germany surrendered to the Allied Forces.  

Approximately $17 billion was raised through Liberty Bonds to fund the war effort of the Allies.

Sunday's Obituary - Rosalie Ford

Monroe News Star - 5/28/1941

Rosalie Ford

Born on November 12, 1882

Daughter of

David Poole Ford and Mary Helen Oliphant

Sister to

Alonzo, Ophelia, Edwin, John, Ida Mae, Lula Grace and Mary

Died on May 25, 1941

Buried in the Old Pine Hill Cemetery

Sicily Island, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana

Sports Center Satruday - Island Trackmen Involved in Accident, 1934

Monroe News Star - 4/23/1934

Friday's Faces From the Past - S. I. Elementary School Teachers, 1968-69

El Tigre, 1968-69 edition

Mrs. Joy Vaught (1st Grade) - Mary Joy Miller was born on December 12, 1934 to the marriage of Mary Artie Garrison Miller and Byron Kingston "B. K." Miller, Sr.  She married Henry Gordon Vaught and had one daughter, Mary Eva.  She died on June 26, 2012.

Mrs. Deleta Peniston (4th Grade) - Deleta Furr was born on November 10, 1909 to the marriage of Levi Wray Furr and Emma Cordelia Girault.  She married Homer Ellis Conn.  Following her first husband's death, she married John Willard Peniston.  She died on November 3, 2003.

Mrs. Irma Enright (2nd Grade) - Julia Irma Stutson was born on December 16, 1904 to the marriage of Zebulon York Stutson and Lottie Johnson.  She married Clarence Edward Enright, Sr. and was the mother of Clarence Edward, Jr., James Wilmer, John Richard, Julia Eleanor, Charles Allen and Thomas Leslie, Sr.  She died on July 18, 2000.

Mrs. Anita Oliphant  (3rd Grade) - Anita Bondurant was born on August 20, 1905 to the marriage of Yelverton Bondurant, Sr. and Pearl Ensminger.  She died on May 14, 1995.

Mrs. Sophie Lee Haley (5th Grade) - Sophie Lee Crawford was born on October 24, 1910 to the marriage of Samuel Cooke Crawford and Rachel Victoria Seal.  She married Claude Benton Haley and was the mother of one son, Charles Michael.

Mrs. Bernice Taylor (6th Grade) - Bernice was the wife of Reverend Luther W. "L. W." Taylor who served as pastor of the Sicily Island United Methodist Church.  Their children were Joy, Mike, Keith and Wayne.

Mrs. Mae Cruse (Special Education) - Mary Grace "Mae" McKay was born on January 13, 1909 to the marriage of Thomas Columbus McKay and Annie Adelot Punchard.  She married Joseph Clarmon Cruse and was the mother of David, Joe Keith and Marcia Ann.  She died on October 15, 1994.

Sunday's Obituary - Claus Robert Wilson

Monroe News Star - 9/25/1953

Claus Robert Wilson

Born in Stockholm, Sweden

March 26, 1864

Husband of

Annie Vaughn

Father of

Charlie D. and Emily (Spears)

Died on September 24, 1953

Buried in the Old Pine Hill Cemetery

Sicily Island, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana

A New Home for the Old Sicily Island Videos

Roots From The Bayou now has a YouTube page where all of the old home movies captured by my grandfather will reside.  I will be removing the movies from the "Old SI Videos" tab at the top of the blog page and replace them with a link to the YouTube page, RootsFromTheBayou.

Videos can be viewed on the YouTube page by clicking on the "Videos" tab or on the "Playlist" tab. The "Playlist" tab has the videos grouped by subject or event.

If you enjoy a video, please click on the "Like" button.  If you'd like to see more videos as they are added, please click on the red "Subscribe" button.

Although the quality of some of the videos is poor, I hope those who view them will enjoy a walk down memory lane or perhaps catch a glimpse of what Sicily Island looked like back in the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s.