Wedding Wednesday - Knights Celebrate 50th Wedding Anniversary, 1947

John Henry Knight and Lillie Margaret Ballard Knight - 1947
Courtesy of Carolyn Seal Barbay and Deadra Doucet Bourke

John Henry Knight was born on August 14, 1871 to the marriage of William Bryant Knight and Sarah "Sallie" Myers.  He and his family moved from their home in Mississippi to Texas before coming to Louisiana and settling in the Sicily Island area.

Lillie Margaret Ballard was born on April 11, 1876 to the marriage of Oliver Goldsmith Ballard and Margaret Sargent Ballard.  

John and Lillie were married on December 5, 1897.  

John Henry Knight and Lillie Margaret Ballard Knight
Courtesy of Carolyn Seal Barbay and Deadra Doucet Bourke

The following children were born to this marriage:

John Barkley (1898-1977) m. Ursula Dupoint
Margaret "Maggie" (1899-1984)
Sallie Ione (1901-1977) m. Dr. Russell Usher Fairbanks
Olga Laura (1903-1977) m. Alvin Lewis Seal
Coan Ira, Sr. (1905-1977) m. Nora Louise Dennis
Rufus (1907-1966) m. Willie Evans
Ione Nellie "Babe" (1915-1994)

John Henry Knight died on January 30, 1956 and Lillie Margaret Ballard Knight died on April 5, 1960.  Both are buried in the Old Pine Hill Cemetery near Sicily Island.

Special thanks to Carolyn Seal Barbay and Deadra Doucet Bourke for allowing me to share their family photographs.

Wedding Wednesday - Bryan and Trichel, 1934

Monroe News Star - 6/25/1934

Mamie "Kidd" Bryan was born in Sicily Island on October 12, 1913 to the marriage of Joseph Henry Bryan and Mary "Mamie" Bennett.  Her siblings included Beatrice [Denham], Clara Myrtle, and Minnie Lea [Glasgow].

Severin Edward Trichel, Jr. was born in Harrisonburg on September 5, 1905 to the marriage of Severin Edward Trichel, Sr. and Sophia Azelia Furlong.  His siblings included Joseph Mortimer, Sosthenne Alouysious, Edwin Berchman, James, Clara [Floyd], Hazel [Lanier], Leo, and Clotile [Struwe].

On June 16, 1934, Kidd and Ed were married in Sicily Island at the home of her sister, Beatrice "Bea" Bryan Denham.  

Below are photographs of the Bennett/Bryan house that were taken in 2011.

Bennett/Bryan House - 2011

Bennett/Bryan House - 2011

As a side note, in 1971 the old Bennett-Bryan house was vacant and badly in need of repair.  Bea's husband, Earl Denham, bought the old Bennett estate and began the work of renovation.  Earl died in 1973 but with the help of Kidd and Edward Trichel, renovations on the old home were completed. 

[Source:  Our Island Heritage, Vol. 3, A Book of Biographical Sketches, compiled by Sophie Crawford Haley and Mickie Farmer Smith, 1978]

Wedding Wednesday - Henslee and Fairbanks

Joyce Marie Henslee Fairbanks

The above photograph appeared in the March 4 edition of the Monroe Morning World along with an announcement of the January 1, 1951 marriage of Joyce Marie Henslee and John Henry Fairbanks.

Joyce Marie Henslee was born to the marriage of Thomas Lester Henslee and Eva Marie Cruse.  John Henry Fairbanks was the son of Dr. Russell Usher Fairbanks and Sallie Knight.

John and Joyce Fairbanks made their home in Concordia Parish where they raised two sons and one daughter.  

John Henry Fairbanks passed away on August 19, 1985.  He is buried in the Old Pine Hill Cemetery in Sicily Island, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana.

Wedding Wednesday - Watson and Tarver, 1933

Monroe Morning World - 11/26/1933

Mary Ruth Watson was born on April 7, 1913 to the marriage of Aaron and Mattie Watson.  On November 16, 1933 she married Claude Lawrence Tarver who was born on October 15, 1907.  Claude was the son of Thomas Webster "Webb" Tarver and Juliette Posey.

Children born to the marriage of Ruth and Claude Tarver were Anita Claudette and Jerry Lynn.

Ruth Watson Tarver died on October 19, 1985.  Claude Tarver died on September 29, 1995.  Both are buried alongside their daughter, Claudette, in the New Pine Hill Cemetery in Sicily Island, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana.

Wedding Wednesday - Yancey and Chambers, 1936

Monroe Morning World - 6/7/1936

Luceil Hattie Chambers was born November 21, 1908 to the marriage of Edmon Clark Chambers and Lottie Arminda West.  

Record of Birth - Luceil Hattie Chambers

John Richard Yancey was born on November 16, 1907 to the marriage of Stephen Richard Yancey and Laura Morton Wood.

Luceil and John Richard Yancey were married on June 1, 1936.  

The following children born to this marriage:

Infant Daughter, b. 1940 d. 1940
John Richard, Jr., b. 1942
Stephen Clark, b. 1943 d. 2003
Cathleen Carson, b. 1945
Cynthia Luceil, b. 1947

Luceil Chambers Yancey died on February 28, 2004 and John Richard Yancey died on August 17, 1981.  Both are buried in the Old Pine Hill Cemetery in Sicily Island, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana.

Wedding Wednesday - Cloys Celebrate 50th Wedding Anniversary, 1958

Richard Harris Cloy and Pinkie Paralee Bowman Cloy

Monroe Morning World - 5/18/1958

Children born to the marriage of Richard Harris Cloy and Pinkie Paralee Bowman were:

Mary Nellie (m. James Wilton Hair)

Richard Frank (m. Mary Ella Foley)

John Edward (m. Jacquelyn Buell)

Anna (m. 1.  John Moses Cole; 2.  Garland Lyell Furr)

Jerald Hudson (m. Mary Louise Choate)

Wallace O. - (never married) - died in WWII

Charles Clay (m. Myree Wood)

Barnie Lee (m. William Perry Stubbs)

Jarvis Roan (m. Jean Furr)

William M. "Billy" (m. Marjorie Holmes)

Wedding Wednesday - Cruse and Peck Wed, 1941

Monroe News Star - 11/23/1941

Mamie Dell Cruse weds Henry Clarendon Peck

Mamie Dell Cruse was born on March 21, 1920 to the marriage of Mamie Couey and Reginald Gordon Cruse.  She was a little over eight months old when her mother died.  Her father remarried in 1922 to Lavilla Volentine.

In 1932, Reginald Cruse moved his family from Caldwell Parish to settle in Sicily Island.  It is here where Mamie Dell met and later married Henry Clarendon Peck in November of 1941.

Clarendon Peck was born on June 21, 1919 to the marriage of William Smith Peck, II and Barbara Estelle Woodward.  

One child, Henry Clarendon, Jr., was born to this marriage.

Mamie Dell Cruse Peck died on October 25, 2002 and Henry Clarendon Peck, Sr. died on January 24, 2004.  Both are interred in the Highland Park Cemetery in Sicily Island, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana.

Wedding Wednesday - Stutson and Baxter

Monroe Morning World - 9/16/1956

Transcription:

Miss Elizabeth Sue Stutson's betrothal to James Don Baxter, son of Mr. and Mrs. Don Albert Baxter, is announced by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harmon Harris Stutson.  Both families are of Sicily Island.  

The wedding will be solemnized on Saturday, October 20, at 5 o'clock in the afternoon in the Sicily Island Baptist Church.

Elizabeth and Don Baxter

Daughters of Don and Elizabeth Baxter are Susan, Brenda and Jane.

Photograph is courtesy of their daughter, Susan.

Wedding Wednesday - Franklin and Smith, 1946

Ruston Daily Leader - 5/20/1946

Mr. Elwood Smith was a Sergeant in the United States Army during World War II and was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.

He passed away on April 7, 2004 and is buried in the Highland Park Cemetery in Sicily Island.

Mrs. Yvonne Franklin Smith continues to live in the Sicily Island area near her daughters, Sharon and Glenda.

Wedding Wednesday - Seal and Roberts

Emma Jean Roberts and Bernard Cooper Seal - 1954

Monroe Morning World - 6/13/1954

Photograph is courtesy of Derene Seal.

Wedding Wednesday - Knotts and Fitch

Donna and Ned Knotts

Monroe Morning World - 9/20/1936

Edward Bowen "Ned" Knotts was the son of Walter Scott Knotts and Annie Gathings Bowen of Sicily Island.  Donna Fitch was the daughter of Henry Fitch and Donna Hanes of Arizona.


Photograph is courtesy of Sharon and Walter Knotts.

Wedding Wednesday - Frank and Nettie Smith Celebrate 50th Wedding Anniversary

Monroe News Star 9/30/1936

Francis Marion "Frank" Smith was the son of James Luther and Henrietta D. Smith.  He married Nettie Watson on September 19, 1886.  Nettie was the dauther of Elias and Sarah Mathis Watson.

The following children were born to the marriage of Frank and Nettie Smith:

Isom James
Jennie
Mollie
Jessie
Clayton Francis
William Edward "Buck"
Sadye
Sidney

Wedding Wednesday - Cupits Celebrate 50th Wedding Anniversary, 1957

Willie Earl Cupit and Mary Smith Cupit - 50th Wedding Anniversary, 1957

Willie Earl Cupit and Mary Augusta Smith were married in 1907 in Mississippi. At some point in 1920 and following the births of all but the youngest of their children, they moved from the Bude/Meadville area of Mississippi to Sicily Island, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana.

Willie and Mary Smith Cupit - 1907

The following children were born to the marriage of Willie and Mary Cupit:

Robert David "R.D."  (1910-1972) m. Theda Mae Benge

Rufus Millard (1913-1980) m. Rachel Maxwell

Ella Mae (1912-1978) m. Herbert V. Twiner 

Iva Rae (1916-1986) m. Joseph Wilson Lane 

Harold Elmer (1920-1993) m. Josephine Salario

Tim Leroy (1931-2008) m. Dorothy Butler

Photographs are courtesy of Pam Twiner Thompson, granddaughter.

Wedding Wednesday - Pearson and Barron

Virginia Pearson and Larry Barron
Married September 11, 1951

Wedding Announcement

Larry and Virginia Pearson Barron - 1961

Photographs and wedding anouncement are courtesy of Larry and Virginia's daughter, 

Karen Barron Egloff.

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.

Wedding Wednesday - Mount and Jones

Monroe News Star - 12/29/1961

Wedding Wednesday - Coney and Weston

Monroe Morning World - 7/9/1961

Johnnie and Beverly Weston circa 1990

Wedding Wednesday - Krause and Bondurant

Monroe News Star - 6/3/1966

Wedding Wednesday - Gambrell and Tarver

Monroe Morning World - 8/4/1957

Wedding Wednesday - Franks and Warren