The Gillis Family

Gillis House 1923-1933

While posting the stories about the Gillis House, I became curious about the Gillis family.  It is told that the Gillis family only lived in the house for a short time but I still felt the need to learn more about this family and how they came to own a home in Sicily Island.

From a 1980 edition of the Catahoula News-Booster, Will Peck, IV, gave the following account:

Shortly after the house was begun [by the Lovelace family], the Civil War broke out.  Hard times fell on Lovelace who had invested almost all of his funds into cotton, a commodity that hit the market during the war.

It was during this period of financial difficulty for Lovelace that New Orleans broker, Alfred B. Gillis, whose name became synonymous with the home, came into the picture.  Gillis mortgaged the house and property of Lovelace and after Lovelace could not repay the funds, Gillis foreclosed.

Gillis was apparently a sensitive man for he remarked even then that he wanted the Lovelace family to one day get the house and property back.

Although Gillis never actually resided in the house for a long period of time, he and his wife made frequent visits to the estate, holding parties and often entertaining guests.  Instead, Gillis hired Israel Scott to manage the plantation.

Indianapolis Sunday Star, October 6, 1912
Courtesy of Chronicling America

Marcelin Gillis was born on August 21, 1824 in Hanles Prysmors, Laniculle France.  He arrived in New Orleans aboard the French ship Le Valliant on January 21, 1843 at the age of eighteen.  His occupation was listed as Accountant.

The 1850 U.S. Census shows Marcelin Gillis living in the Trinity area of Catahoula Parish.  His occupation was shown as Merchant.

On May 25, 1854, Marcelin Gillis married Caroline Nancy Griffin in Catahoula Parish.

A son was born to this marriage in 1855. His name was Alfred Barr Gillis.  It is this Alfred Barr Gillis who once owned the Gillis House in Sicily Island.

He attended law school at Washington & Lee University in New Orleans and in 1879 he was listed as a practicing attorney in New Orleans.

A U.S. passport application was filed and issued to Alfred Barr Gillis on April 24, 1880.

On April 12, 1888, Alfred Barr Gillis married Lucille Winchester Bohn who was born on May 22, 1864.  She was the daughter of Auguste Bohn and Lucille Winchester  Their marriage took place in Orleans Parish.

The following children were born to the marriage of Alfred Barr Gillis and Lucille Winchester Bohn:

Lucille, 1889-1954 (m. John Duncan Minor, 1876-1937)
Alfred Marcel, 1892-1971 (m. Marcie Caffery, 1893-1991)
Daphne W., 1895-1973 (m. Edward Caffery, 1889-1982

Alfred Barr Gillis died on June 15, 1914 and Lucille Winchester Bohn Gillis died in 1957.  Both are buried in the Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana.  Alfred is buried with the Gillis family and Lucille is buried with the Bohn family.  Tombstone photographs were taken by FindAGrave member, Barbara Munson.

Gillis Family Tomb

Gillis Family Tomb

Jean/John Gillis (brother to Marcelin)

M. Gillis

Caroline N. Gillis

Alfred B. Gillis

St. Michael Caffery (possibly a grandson of Marcelin)

Colonel Marcel Gillis (son of Marcelin)

Bohn Family Marker

Auguste Bohn

Lucile W. Bohn

Fergus Bohn

Lucille Bohn Gillis

Special thanks to Kendell Coney Horton for forwarding the newspaper article and photograph of the Gillis House provided to her by Bill Lambert of Natchez, Mississippi.  Kendell is a descendant of Israel Smith Scott and Emily Mason Turpin.  Bill is a descendant of the Crawford family who once lived in the Gillis House.

The Gillis House ~ Tales and Remembrances, Part 4

The Gillis House, 1923-1933

The following transcript is from the recollections of Flora Kathryn Crawford Eschenburg who lived with her family in the Gillis House from 1923 to 1933.  Flora was born in 1912 and passed from this life in 2004. She was the ninth of twelve children born to the marriage of Samuel Cooke Crawford and Rachel Victoria Seal.  It is believed by family members that the scene in the above photograph was probably on a Saturday afternoon with the help waiting to be paid before going into town.

Our home was the ideal setting for Halloween parties and we made the most of it.  We would have someone dressed in sheets in the huge front yard greeting the guests as they arrived.  Upon entering the house, they were required to go up the stairway where one of us dressed as a witch would tell fortunes.

The guests were then directed down the hall and through the attic where they were greeted in the dark by someone who shook their hands while holding a cold, wet glove.  They progressed through the attic, crawling over sacks of cans and other noise makers, and exited down the back stairs.  The usual Halloween games would begin, with a favorite being bobbing for apples.

Until the time Huey P. Long became Governor, most rivers had to be crossed by ferries which ran from 6:00 a.m. until 12:00 midnight.  To get to Harrisonburg, our parish seat, we had to cross the Ouachita River ferry.  During the spring months it was not unusual for the rivers to rise and leave their banks.  

During one of these high-water times, my sister and I entertained some boys from Harrisonburg with stories of the Gillis House.  One story was about our guest room upstairs.  In that room, it seemed to be impossible to keep the covers on the bed.  Throughout the night, the occupant found it necessary to retrieve the covers that had slipped off.

Our guests were so enthralled by the stories that they failed to watch the time and it was midnight before they realized.  They had no choice but to spend the night in our guest room. They were awakened more than once during the night trying to find the covers.  They were wide-eyed when they came down the stairs the next morning and vowed that they would be more time conscious in the future.

My sister, Sophie, came home from college to teach at the local school.  She moved into the Gillis House and chose for privacy what had previously served as the guest room.  She battled the "ghosts" for the covers for two years, but took courage from the fact that our brother Dub's room was next door.

We looked forward to visits from Mr. Peck [William Smith Peck, II].  He and a friend, Dr. Gordon, had lived in the Gillis House during their bachelor years.  He told us about the room at the top of the stairs.

Anyone sleeping in that room might be awakened by a presence.  According to those who experienced it, the being appeared to be a headless woman who would walk to the mantle over the fireplace, turn, and walk quietly out of the room.  The occupant was left frozen with fear.

Mr. Peck also told us about a strange happening on the road to the Gillis House.  The road led along the banks of a lake.  The rider had to dismount and open a gate in order to continue down the road that led into the plantation.  As the rider led his horse through the gate and turned to fasten it, he would be approached by a man in disguise who seemed to look the rider over and disappear, never causing harm.

The year was 1933.  The date was December 3.  It was the year of the World's Fair in Chicago.  I was home for the weekend.  My sister Dot and I were sleeping in the front bedroom and were awakened by the calling of one of the field hands that worked for Papa.

He had been in a fight and was badly cut.  He was bleeding profusely.  Both Dot and I grumbled over the fact that we would have to clean up the porch the next morning.  To our surprise, that job was taken care of in another way.  The house caught fire within the heavily plastered walls and we were unable to reach the source.  The fire spread and the house burned to the ground ending the many good times we had there.

It was believed that a mouse may have started the fire by carrying a match into the walls.  But who knows.  Maybe the ghosts just finally got tired of trying to run us out and decided to burn us out.

The day the Gillis House burned still remains one of the saddest days in the memory of the Crawford family.  We lost more than possessions.  We lost a cherished way of life.  

I always believed that loss helped bring on what I thought to be an early death of Papa.  He died of a heart attack shortly after his 65th birthday in 1935.  He died doing one of the things he loved the best--hunting.

The house was rebuilt on the same foundation, but life there was never the same.  I remained there for two years before leaving for Texas in 1936.  I left behind my youth and took with me memories never to be forgotten.

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Special thanks to Joan McLemore, daughter of Dell Crawford Meadows, for allowing me to share their family history and memories of the Gillis House on Roots from the Bayou.

Note:  Parts 1-3 of the 'Gillis House' can be found in the Tags List on the right-hand side of this blog.

The Gillis House ~ Tales and Remembrances, Part 3

The Gillis House, 1923-1933

The following transcript is from the recollections of Flora Kathryn Crawford Eschenburg who lived with her family in the Gillis House from 1923 to 1933.  Flora was born in 1912 and passed from this life in 2004. She was the ninth of twelve children born to the marriage of Samuel Cooke Crawford and Rachel Victoria Seal.  It is believed by family members that the scene in the above photograph was probably on a Saturday afternoon with the help waiting to be paid before going into town.

With a family as large as ours, it was necessary for everyone to carry out their assigned chores. Our regular fall job was to pick the dried black-eyed peas, shell them and sack them.  The filled sacks were then stacked on the back porch near the attic steps.  

One night we were awakened by the sound of peas being scattered all over the porch floor.  Papa was certain that the cows had gotten into the yard and had been successful in stretching their necks and tongues to reach the pea sacks for a midnight snack.  When Papa checked, not at all happy that his sleep had been disturbed, no cows were to be found and the peas were still neatly stacked.

The family cemetery for the early settlers of the area was about two hundred yards from our house.  I had an occasion to attend a funeral at the cemetery before we moved into the Gillis House.  A relative of the owner who lived in Natchez, Mississippi, died and his body was brought to the Gillis place for burial.  

Since he was someone prominent and was related to the owner and one of the most important members of our small village, school was dismissed so that anyone who wanted to could attend the funeral.  Being of a curious nature, I went along with others. 

The funeral was conducted by a Catholic priest from Natchez.  To my young mind, he was dressed in a peculiar robe and cap and spoke in a language that I could only suppose was Latin.  I had heard of the Catholic Church, but had never seen a priest or attended any of their masses. Therefore, it seemed strange to me to see him sprinkling Holy water and making the sign of the cross.

The experience stood out in my mind for a long time.  I never dreamed I would so soon be living as a neighbor to the cemetery where the burial had taken place.  My brothers and sisters and I loved to roam through that cemetery and read the headstones and wonder about the people who had lived and died so many years back.

It afforded entertainment for friends who visited us, and we would spend Sunday afternoons exploring.  Some evenings, as we looked from our house toward the cemetery, we would see one or more light moving around.  We were never able to determine who or what caused these eerie lights.

Much to the regret of the community, the present owners demolished all the tombstones, even though they were burial sites for relatives and certainly held much history.  Now the cemetery is nothing more than an enlargement of the field that once joined it.  Crops grow there just as though the cemetery never existed.  Bits and pieces of tombstones are scattered around, but not enough to piece together the history of the place. [*See footnote]

Unexplained footsteps were a common occurrence around the Gillis House.  We usually gathered in our living room to do our homework.  Sometimes we would hear steps walking along the long side porch past the room.  We would get up to see who was missing from our group that might be trying to frighten us, but everyone was always accounted for.  

The front doors to the house were big, thick double doors that opened near the long stairway.  On more than one occasion, footsteps were heard climbing the stairs.  Our brothers had their rooms upstairs and it would have been easy to dismiss the steps as being theirs, but often they were either studying with us, or they were not at home.

One fall evening, Mr. Peck [William Smith Peck, II] was driving home from town and was stopped by strangers.  After satisfying their curiosity as to his identity, they released him unharmed.  When he reached his home, he called for our father, brothers and friends to help search for the unknown assailants.  

The search took place at night and Mama and the younger children were left alone.  We closed ourselves up tight in Mama's room and huddled together for comfort.  Papa had been gone some time when we heard footsteps in the hall.  Mama called to them, but got no answer.  

She went to Papa's closet, got his gun, and called to the intruder again.  Again she received no answer.  We will never know if the footsteps were those of the strangers, or those of our resident spirits.

We often heard the piano in our living room play with no one at the keyboard.  I recall that I was home recuperating from surgery when my landlady and her two daughters came to pay a call.  I shared some of the tales about the house, including the one about the playing piano.  

As I was telling the tale, the piano began to play.  The lady and her daughters made their excuses and left.  I know they were dreading the drive home.

To Be Continued...

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Special thanks to Joan McLemore, daughter of Dell Crawford Meadows, for allowing me to share their family history and memories of the Gillis House on Roots from the Bayou.

*Footnote:  The great-granddaughter of William Smith Peck, II, requested that a footnote be added to this post.  Per their family records, the original Gillis Cemetery has never been in cultivation.  Over the years, cows broke through the fence and stampeded over many of the tombstones.  Several years ago, the granddaughter of William Smith Peck, II, had all remaining tombstones cleaned and the original cemetery is still intact.

Note:  Parts 1-2 of the 'Gillis House' can be found in the Tags List on the right-hand side of this blog.

The Gillis House ~ Tales and Remembrances, Part 2

The Gillis House, 1923-1933

The following transcript is from the recollections of Flora Kathryn Crawford Eschenburg who lived with her family in the Gillis House from 1923 to 1933.  Flora was born in 1912 and passed from this life in 2004. She was the ninth of twelve children born to the marriage of Samuel Cooke Crawford and Rachel Victoria Seal.  It is believed by family members that the scene in the above photograph was probably on a Saturday afternoon with the help waiting to be paid before going into town.

The Crawford family moved into the Gillis House near Sicily Island, Louisiana in 1923.  Papa was always a bit superstitious.  He would never begin a new job on a Friday, believing that if he did, something would happen to prevent him from finishing it.

Among his other superstitions, I think he believed in ghosts.  Mama, however, always believed that there was an explanation for everything.  Nevertheless, as we grew up, many an event took place in our new home that Papa attributed to ghosts, and for which Mama could never find her explanation.

Some might think that living in a haunted house would be a trial, but Papa said that any ghost that could survive the twelve Crawford children was welcome to share the place.  We spent some of the happiest years of our lives in the Gillis House.

The house had been a showplace in its time, but it had been vacant for several years.  The main floor of the house consisted of four 20' by 20' rooms and a kitchen, each with sixteen foot ceilings and fireplaces.  

The kitchen contained two very large pantries which seemed to be a necessity when feeding a family of fourteen.  There was a main hall with a cross hall at the end forming a T.  The house had porches on every side which were accessible from every room except two.

The second floor contained four 20' by 20' rooms with fireplaces, a main hallway, and an attic that opened at the end of the hallway.  In all, there were eleven fireplaces in the house.

A long stairway containing twenty-two steps led from the first to the second floor.  I know there were twenty-two steps because I counted them every time I had to climb them which seemed to make the climb shorter.  The banister was made of a beautiful wood we always thought to be mahogany.  There was also a back stairway that led from the attic down to the back porch.

Of course we had heard stories about the house.  When a new family moves into a long-vacant, reputedly haunted house, the neighbors are only too happy to share the tales.

Former residents of the house had not been a happy group.  When we noticed a large stain on the floor of the room we were to use as our living room, we were told that a man had been stabbed to death in that spot.  The blood had soaked into the wood and no amount of cleaning could remove the stain.  

Upon further inspection of our new home, we noticed bullet holes in the wall of the porch outside the living room.  Mr. Peck [William Smith Peck, II], the owner of the plantation which my brother Bud was the foreman, told us that a former resident had been enjoying a summer evening when he was shot by a man who stood outside the yard fence.

Then there was the well-known fact that Mr. Nichols who had lived in the house at one time had committed suicide.  Apparently he had been despondent, mounted his horse, and solemnly told his wife goodbye.  He rode the animal down to the lake and into the water where he cut his throat.

At one time, the house had been used as an entertainment hall.  Many dances were held there with music provided by famous name bands and guests coming from far away places.  Names and addresses were left on the white walls all over the house.

One band came from New Orleans many times, and the house was the stage for the famous Bud Scott Band. 

When we moved in, Mama made us scrub all the names and addresses off the walls.  Our oldest brother Dub, however, insisted that they be left on the walls of his room.

These tales did not deter us, and we completed our move late one fall evening.  After supper our first night in the house, we all gathered about the fireplace in our parents' bedroom.  We heard a horrible noise which seemed to have come from the horse lot nearby.  

From the sound, Papa thought one of the horses had his head stuck in an empty feed bucket and was banging it about trying to free himself.  Papa and my brothers rushed to the lot only to find everything quiet and peaceful.  The horses were enjoying their evening feed.  It seemed as if the ghosts were unhappy to have their home invaded and were trying to frighten us away.

The "ghosts" made their presence known in a variety of ways those first few months.  

Mama was cooking the noon meal when she heard a noise that sounded as though the bookcase at the top of the stairs had been overturned, scattering the books down the stairs.  When she went to investigate, the books were all in place and the noise could never be explained.

One night after we had all gone to bed, we were awakened by a loud noise from what we thought was the kitchen pantry.  Empty jars used for canning the vegetables grown in our garden were kept there.  The sound convinced us all that perhaps the family cat had inadvertently been locked in the pantry and in his desperate struggle to get free had knocked every jar from the shelf.   Mama and Papa hurried to free the cat and right the damages.  No cat was found and all the jars were in place on the pantry shelves.

Our landlord, Will Peck, would drop by from time to time and visit.  We would share with him the strange things we were experiencing.  He would in turn tell us of the tales he had heard through the years.  We were convinced they were true.  

One story he told was about a local woman who died and was buried wearing her diamond ring. Grave robbers exhumed her body to steal the ring.  In their haste to leave the scene, they neglected to rebury the body.  It was rumored that the woman's fretful spirit wandered the area seeking her final rest.

To Be Continued...

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Special thanks to Joan McLemore, daughter of Dell Crawford Meadows, for allowing me to share their family history and memories of the Gillis House on Roots from the Bayou.

Note:  Part 1 of the 'Gillis House' can be found in the Tags List on the right-hand side of this blog.

The Gillis House ~ Tales and Remembrances, Part 1

The Gillis House, 1923-1933

The following transcript is from the recollections of Flora Kathryn Crawford Eschenburg who lived with her family in the Gillis House from 1923 to 1933.  Flora was born in 1912 and passed from this life in 2004. She was the ninth of twelve children born to the marriage of Samuel Cooke Crawford and Rachel Victoria Seal.  It is believed by family members that the scene in the above photograph was probably on a Saturday afternoon with the help waiting to be paid before going into town.

INTRODUCTION
Gayle Eschenburg Evertson

One of my most cherished memories of childhood was listening to my mother and her brothers and sisters tell stories.  There was a talent among the twelve siblings of the Crawford family for spinning a tale that would hold the listener spellbound.  

My favorite stories were those about the Gillis (Juh lees) House, a home on the Peck Plantation in Sicily Island, Louisiana, that was home to the Crawfords.  

It was haunted.

Entertainment at teenage parties at my home or the homes of my cousins included all the typical activities like eating, giggling, talking about boys, listening to  records and dancing.  But the highlight of the evening, when we were feeling bold enough, was to plead with my mother to tell ghost stories about the home in which she spent her youth.

The lights would be dimmed, everyone would huddle together in serious, awe struck quiet, and Mother held the stage.  Nothing  compared to the chills we experienced as we listened to the stories of unexplained events that invaded the lives of those who lived in the Gillis House.

All these stories lived vividly in the memories of those who experienced the phenomena, but as that generation began to die, I became concerned that these stories would be lost.  Of the twelve Crawford children, only three remain.  

While my generation delighted in the hearing, we were woefully inadequate in the retelling.  After years of pleading, I finally impressed upon my mother the importance of putting these stories in writing, so that her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and any others who follow, will have an account of the mysterious events that were part of the Gillis House and the Crawford family.

What follows are the remembrances of my mother, Flora Crawford Eschenburg, and my aunt, Sophie Lee Haley.

Stay tuned for Part 2...



Special thanks to Joan McLemore, daughter of Dell Crawford Meadows, for allowing me to share their family history and memories of the Gillis House on Roots from the Bayou.

Travel Tuesday ~ In Search of the Gillis Cemetery

Frank "Merle" Finister

The Gillis Cemetery is located on a knoll overlooking Lake Lovelace (now known as Lake Louie) in Sicily Island. 

Lake Lovelace

An incomplete list of those buried in the Gillis Cemetery include the following:

Roy Lee Enright, 1894-1918
Marion Jennie Lovelace Stone, 1814-1872
Frances A. Lovelace, died 1851; age 16
Samuel Lightner, died 1828; age 19
Samuel Gordon, died 1829; age 30
George Peniston, 1837-1842

I have wanted to locate and photograph this cemetery for quite some time.  While back home for a few days last week, my sister, one of my brothers and my daughter joined me in my search for the Gillis Cemetery.