Notes:

History of Claiborne Parish, Louisiana
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ridge/3724/claiborne_parish.html

Spring Lake Plantation

By Irene Shields Moreland

The roads were winding, narrow, hot and dusty in summer, and muddy and cold in winter. They went by everyone's house, and each landowner worked the portion that belonged to him. The traveler could pinpoint the financial status of a planter by the way he kept his portion of the road. Often it ran across a creek and sometimes it ran down a creek-bed for quite a distance. In wet weather, the traveler was often stranded, having to wait for the water to go down before going in either direction. Visitors to the country plantations were few and far between, and even passing strangers were usually welcome. When relatives came, they brought all the children, usually ten or twelve and a week or two was the average stay. All in all, the roads were the only means of communication, and human nature was eager to hear what was going on outside the plantation.

Such was the case as late as 1915 at Spring take Plantation. When Claiborne Parish was opened to settlers, with land grants and cheap acreage, the great covered-wagon trains from Georgia and Alabama, coming from north in Arkansas, began to stop, and some of the people who were on their way to Texas, because of a severe seven years drought and epidemics of sickness, stopped to recuperate and settled here for good. It was one such rest-stop that began Spring Lake Plantation.

Between 1850 and 1852, Mr. Ambrose Augustus Phillips, formerly of Georgia and then of Alabama, brought his family to Claiborne Parish. This family group at that time included Phillips, who was 48 when he came to Louisiana, his wife Elizabeth Frances Grimmett Phillips, 45, their children, William, 18, Mary Amanda, 16, Susan, 15, Emily, 11, Hope, 9, Seaborn, 7, and Henry Addison 6 months. Along with the group was Mr. Phillips' twin brother, Henry R. Phillips, and three brothers of Mrs. Phillips, Thomas Grimmett, age 13, William Grimmett, age 11, and Henry Grimmett, age 9.

All these, along with 100 slaves and the livestock Mr. Phillips brought from Alabama, settled at Spring Lake, and by 1852 they were well on the way to building the big house and clearing the plantation. The house, planned by a Mr. Golden, consisted of eight large rooms and a central hall downstairs, repeated on the second floor, with a small balcony above the front door on the second floor. The third floor was never finished, but was sealed and floored and was livable. Quite often the boys in the family slept there. On the top was a widow's walk which commanded a view of the fields surrounding the house. The kitchen was at first separated from the main house, as was common in houses of that time to lessen the fire hazard but by 1888 it had been joined to the rest. There were porches on the front and back, and long windows with shutters. The house was of lumber cut and finished on the place; and the hand-fluted columns across the front were two stories high. The house was never completely finished, for the builder joined the Confederate Army and never came back.

The house was surrounded by large oak trees and faced the main road, which ran at the edge of the front yard. The present Spring Lake was not formed until the railroad was built and the road-bed formed a dam. The first lake was nearer the house and was not as large as the present lake, nor so deep.

1852 until the war in 1865, Mr. Phillips worked the plantation with his slaves. When the war was over, he found himself, as did so many others, financially and physically unable to run the place. In 1866 he was making plans to sell when his wife died on July 12. He placed her in a metal coffin, preserved the body in alcohol, and made plans to carry it back to Alabama; after some months, however, he sold the plantation to the Kerr family, buried his wife on the home grounds, and moved his family to New Orleans, then to New Iberia. He died in 1869 and is buried in New Iberia.

Mr. Phillips had employed a tutor for his family, but in 1867 the Kerr family established the first public school in the community and called it the Kerr School. Parents of the children contributed to the salary and took turns boarding the teacher. The children and teacher walked to school, and all grades were taught, from the first on up.

Mr. J. B. McFarland bought the plantation from the Kerr family in 1888, the year the railroad first made regular runs. At this time the Phillips and Kerr family cemetery was moved to the Old Homer Cemetery.

The McFarlands lived at Spring Lake from 1888 to 1912, and during these years, with the coming of the railroad, Spring Lake Camp Meeting was born. The train from both North and South made special trips in the late afternoon to bring crowds. There were also many families who came and camped the two or three weeks of the meeting, usually in August after the crops were laid by. The family cottages were lattice, usually with dirt and sawdust floors, and the whole family, young and old, came to the meeting. Provisions were brought, and the family cow and sometimes the calf came along, tied to the back of the wagon. Camp Meeting was a time of spirit renewal. The tabernacle had a mourner's bench, and testifying, shouting, and much rejoicing took place. It was also a time to relax and visit with neighbors and friends one seldom saw at any other time.

There were at least two services a day and often they lasted two or three hours. The floor was covered with sawdust, and the babies and small children slept on the outside edge on quilts. This was handy in case they cried or needed to be carried out. The lake was used for baptizing and bathing water, but the drinking water was brought out from town and sold by the glass or gallon. Camp meeting was a time when men and women experienced salvation, but it was also a time when many romances started, and occasionally a wedding took place.

In 1912, Mr. McFarland having died, the plantation was sold to the J. W. Allison famfly. Mr. and Mrs. Allison, their son Alec, Alec's son, a widowed daughter and her son and daughter, Rebecca, who later became an envoy to Italy, were in residence.

The Allisons sold stock in the plantation to the Great Northern Land Company and developed the place into more or less an experimental station. Many experimental plants and animals were tested. This included blooded horses, holstein and jersey cows, Mexican pigs, chickens, geese, turkeys, rabbits, peacocks, pigeons, canaries, bermuda grass, all kinds of feed grains and vegetables. Mr. Atkins Bailey and Mr. M. P. Wyatt were the overseers. A Mr. Young was the dairy expert; Mr. Flanigan was in charge of the beef stock, and a Mr. Bolsy was the horticulturist. These last three were brought over from Germany and could hardly speak English.

The house was redecorated and running water was piped from the spring. A brick house was built over the spring and is the only building left on the place today. A large dairy was built, as well as many barns, tenant houses, and houses for the overseers. A large orchard was planted, and the pecan trees from this orchard remain. This was a time of great hospitality, when the young people from homer were invited out for parties and week-end visits.

Mr. Allison had business interests in Dallas, and while there in 1918, he was electrocuted. On December 6, 1918, the wife and heirs sold the plantation to Mr. J. R. Kennedy . The Kennedy family lived at Spring Lake until some time in the 1920's. The Camp Meeting tabernacle was floored and used for a dance pavillion. Several dry years made for financial loss, and much of the beautiful furniture was sold. About 1924 the house burned to the ground, and the Kennedy family moved into the dairy house until they sold the place to a Mr. Thrash and moved to California. Since then the Spring Lake Plantation has had a number of owners. At present it is owned by the Yandell Wideman estate and is a tree farm. All through the years there has been a legend of buried treasure on the home grounds, and quite often in the morning a large hole will be found which was not there the night before. I never heard of anything any one found, but once saw a hole large enough to put a car in. Of course the house was supposedly haunted from the time Mrs. Phillips was kept there before burial, and many shivery tales are told about those events.

Spring Lake was used by the L&NW Railroad for water for the engines, and they still own the lake itself. Where the big house stood, only pine trees, thick and shady, still stand, and only the tile spring-house remains of all the buildings that were on the place.

We think of those as the "good old days." Just for the moment, we should remember the Phillips family-husband, wife, brothers, children- and the problems they faced in getting to Claiborne and setting up here. Food, clothing, housing, medicine, and hundreds of other things were lacking when they came. How they brought homes and fields out of the forest and made this a good life is staggering. They have passed on, but we all owe them a debt of gratitude for their part in making Claiborne Parish the pleasant place it is today.

{Also see "Page 19-Spring Lake Plantation House" in the corresponding photo album located in the Claiborne Parish LA GenWeb Archives.}

In June, 1850, the new jury organized, with James B. McFarland, of Ward 5, president; Thomas Henderson, of No. 1, Reuben Warren, of No. 2, Joslin Jones, of No. 3, Robert C. Adams, of No. 4, Tatum M. Wafer, of No. 6 and Silas Gamon, of No. 7 being the members. The president was empowered to make a deed of one acre to each incorporated religious society at Homer.

James married Elizabeth Ann Logan on 25 Jan 1855. Elizabeth (daughter of William Logan and Joanna Carson) was born on 27 Mar 1817; died on 16 Jul 1897. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Birth: 21 Mar 1793, TN
• Residence: 1820, Ouachita, Louisiana, United States
• Residence: 1830, Claiborne, Louisiana, USA
• Residence: 18 Nov 1847, Athens, Claiborne, Louisiana, United States
• Residence: 1850, Township 19 Ward 5, Claiborne, Louisiana, USA
• Residence: 1860, Ward 5, Claiborne, Louisiana, USA
• Residence: 1870, Ward 5, Claiborne, Louisiana, USA
• Death: Aug 1878, Athens LA

Notes:

From the History of Claiborne Parish, Louisiana
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ridge/3724/claiborne_parish.html

It was about this time, too, that Mr. James Brinson of Ouachita parish, commenced his monthly preaching at John Murrell’s house. Assisted by Mr. Arthur McFarland, they soon established a church (Baptist of course) and kept up regular services for many years. These were the first Baptist preachers in the parish. To show how our section was improving, and what notoriety it was gaining, sometime in this year, 1822, Harrison & Hopkins of Natchitoches, sent up a small stock of goods in charge of a Frenchman by the name of Forshe, who opened up in a small cabin close to Murrells. But he went off on whiskey, and in a year or two lost his stock in trade and ran away.

A quote from History of the Baptists of Louisiana, by William Edward Paxton: "In 1820 James Brinson, an ordained minister from Tennessee, settled not far from the present town of Vienna at a place called Upper Pine Hills which was then in Natchitoches Parish later Claiborne Parish, and now in Lincoln Parish. In the same company came his son-in-law, Arthur McFarland, who afterwards became a preacher, Christopher Koonce, James Whitson, and his brother-in-law A. F. Nelson and their wives. Most of these were Baptists, and in 1821 constituted the Pine Hills Church which joined the Louisiana Association in 1822. James Brinson and John Dapson extended their labors westward into the northern part of what was then Natchitoches Parish. Near the present town of Minden they found a few Baptists among whom were John Murrell and Hewitt Drew, the father of Governor Drew of Arkansas and of Judge H. Drew and Harrison A. Drew. Here they gathered a small church in 1823 called Black Lake from a bayou of that name near which it was located. Black Bayou heads near where the John Murrell home was built about seven miles west of Homer and it flows into what is now Black Lake near Campi."

Athens was selected as the seat of justice in 1846. Charles L. Hay settled on the present Keener farm in 1825. Thomas Leatherman, the Butlers, Crows and others hitherto named, were identified with this section. In 1832 the first camp-ground was established close by. In 1846 the school building and a large area of ground were donated for parish seat purposes by John Wilson. The flowing spring was a consideration in adopting this site. Kiser kept a small general store, Saunders P. Day was tavern-keeper, Arthur McFarland filled the dual position of postmaster and Baptist preacher, John Kimball lived on the Frazier lands. Col. Lewis was also here and all the parish officers. A Methodist Church, known as Ashbrooks, was erected in 1830; in 1839 the Missionary Baptists held meetings in the schoolhouse; in 1851 the first Presbyterian society of the parish was organized near here at old Midway, but soon after moved to Athens. On November 7, 1849, the academy of school building, in which were the offices of the parish, was burned with all the valuable records and documents-the only things of value destroyed. In 1850 the grounds were reconveyed to Wilson, and he was also granted a sum of money in consideration for the burning of his school-house. The fire was considered at the time to be carried out by conspirators, who desired the destruction of part of the records, and to carry out their desire destroyed all. New Athens is east of the old town on the Louisville & Northwestern Railroad.

80 Arthur Meenes MC FARLAND. 21 March 1793. "Arthur McFarlin married Hallen Brinson, 7 Oct 1815. Sponsor John McFarlin." ("Wilson County, Tennessee Marriage Bonds," found in ANSEARCHIN NEWS, Periodical of Tennessee Genealogical Society 1977:42.) - (1830 Claiborne Parish, Louisiana census, page 242: Arthur McFarland). Birth: 21 MAR 1793 in Wilson County, Tennessee , Death: AUG 1878 in Athens, Claiborne Parish, Louisianna
81 Holland BRINSON. Hollen Brinson Hallen

Arthur married Helen (Holland) Brinson on 7 Oct 1815 in ,Wilson Co., TN. Helen (daughter of Rev James Jesse Brinson and Patience Elizabeth Purser) was born on 10 Apr 1795 in Craven County NC; died in Athens LA; was buried in 1859 in Old Athens Cemetary, Claiborne Parish, LA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Holland Brinson
• Birth: 10 Apr 1795, Craven Co., NC
• Death: 1859, Athens, Claiborne Parish, LA

Other Events and Attributes:

• Possessions: 1784, Nashville; Purchased Lot #78 in Nashville. Sold same lot in 1791. Deed Book A, p. 34, and 164.
• Possessions: 13 Oct 1791, Davidson Co., Tennessee; Purchased 113 acres adj. John Walker from Joseph Shaw
• Possessions: Mar 1792, Davidson County (now Wilson); Preemption claim 640 acres on Stoner's Creek adj. James Harris. Becomes Grant #397. This creek runs from the Cumberland R. near the Old Lebanon Rd. to below Mt. Juliet
• Possessions: 1796, Davidson County (now Wilson); 640 acres between Cedar Lick Creek and Spencer's Creek adj. Martin Armstrong, North Carolina Grant #1089 to John McFarlin as assignee from Alexander McFarlin #1089
• Residence: 1820, Wilson, Tennessee, United States
• Residence: Abt 1824, Wilson County, Tennessee
• Death: 24 May 1824
• Probate: 8 Aug 1824, Wilson, Tennessee, USA

Notes:

John PORTER McFARLAND 1784 John Porter McFarland - b. abt 1750 Ireland d. 5-24-1824, Wilson Co. TN; served from N.C.troops as a pvt; served at the Siege of Yorktown in 1781 and fought with Gates at his defeat (DAR Nat'l #'s 355108 & 332408);
received three land grants from N.C.: #1090 Davidson Co,TN, 640 acres btw Cedar Creek and Spencer Creek (now in Wilson Co), as the heir of his brother Alexnder McFarland;
#397 640 acres, Book #80, p. 341;
entry #826, issued 6-26-1793 on the head of Stones Creek; married Nancy Menees in Fort Nashboro (Davidson County) in 1783. His first son, James Menees was the second white male born in Middle TN, 1-10-1784. John and Nancy raised 9 children in Wilson Co. TN, current Mt. Juliet area. (Florence Parman)

Tennessee Land Grants, p. 68:
McFarlin, John (Davidson Co.) 640 acres, N. dist, bk C-3, p. 17-18, g#1089, Warrant #3364 assignee of Alexander McFarland, soldier
McFarlin, John (Davidson Co.,) 640 acres, N dist. Bk G-7, p. 190, g#397, Warrant #826

160 John Porter MC FARLAND. b. abt 1750 Ireland d. 5-24-1824, Wilson Co. TN; served from N.C.troops as a pvt; served at the Siege of Yorktown in 1781 and fought with Gates at his defeat (DAR Nat'l #'s 355108 & 332408); received three land grants from N.C.: #1090 Davidson Co,TN, 640 acres btw Cedar Creek and Spencer Creek (now in Wilson Co), as the heir of his brother Alexnder McFarland; #397 640 acres, Book #80, p. 341; entry #826, issued 6-26-1793 on the head of Stones Creek; married Nancy Menees in Fort Nashboro (Davidson County) in 1783. His first son, James Menees was the second white male born in Middle TN, 1-10-1784. John and Nancy raised 9 children in Wilson Co. TN, current Mt. Juliet area. (Born Paris, TN, resided in French Lick (now Nashville) TN, married Nancy Mennes.)The following information from Gary Morris , November 2000.

SOURCE: DAR Patriotic Index North Carolina, and LDS Ancestral File.

LAND: 1781 TENNESSEE, Davidson County. Jno McFarland, 7 Dec 1781, bought land
from William Ellis of Cumberland District.

TAXLIST: 1788 TENNESSEE, Davidson County. John McFarland.

PLACE: Probably lived in Davidson County, that part which later became Wilson
County.

CENSUS: 1820 TENNESSEE, Wilson County. John McFarland 001011 - 01101. Page
385.

SOURCE: LDS Ancestral File says son of Duncan McFarland and Elizabeth PORTER
(which probably is incorrect, since this couple lived in Augusta County, VA,
and probably did not have a son born as late as 1768). Indicates John had a
brother Thomas, born about 1770 in Scotland.

SOURCE: Mrs. Parman of TN says son of Arthur (b. Scotland) and Elizabeth
Porter. Also that Arthur was son of Duncan McFarland, born about 1700 in
Scotland.
John and his brother Thomas landed in USA in Charleston, SC "in time to
sign up and fight in American Revolution". He was made a Leiutenant. All
this information from her grandfather who did research about 1930.

RESEARCHER: (1999) Florence L. PARMAN Mt. Juliet,
TN.

HISTORY: John McFarland arrived in Charleston, SC about 1765. His brother
Thomas joined him in this country.

RESEARCHER-EMAIL: (2000) James McFarland

NOTES: (FROM JAMES MCFARLAND) John Porter McFarland's son Ben Menees McFarland( b April 4 1803, d July 19 1878 Wilson C. TN) left a manuscript that tells the McFarland family history to John and James Sommers (his Somers Grandchildren). The second paragraph begins; "Our oldest ancestor, that I know of traditionally was Duncan McFarland who was born near Edinburgh, Scotland. He was the father of Walter and Tabby, and Tabby was the mother of the famous Rob McGregor. Walter had a son that he called Arthur who went to ireland and there married Elizabeth Porter, sister of Commodore Porter of Revolutionary fame." Ben Menees continues; "The fruit of this union was a girl whose name I have forgotten and three boys - Alexander , Thomas and John(My GGGrandfather John Porter McFarland)." ***( Note: My aunt said that they always said "Alexander the one they called Arthur".)**** _______There were two John McFarlands that were listed in most early Tennessee documentation (North Carolina till 1796). One was John Porter McFarland, listed in Claytons History of Davidson County Tennessee 1780-1880 p 58. "Names of persons who were in Davidson county in 1787, being the first year in which the tax of land and polls was taken---" The second lived in Knoxville. In fact there is a park in the older part of town that is named after him. He is mentioned in many of Nolechukie Jacks(Gov. Severe)papers. _______John Porter McFarland is listed in "Membership Roster and Soldiers the Tennessee Society of the DAR 1970-1984 Vol 3 p 505 gives his birth date as 1750. His wife and 11 children are listed, and who they married. Where this document gets confusing is that his son Benjamin Menees m Susy Young but it fails to say that Susy m 1847 is his second wife, His first was Penia Dun who died 1845. Susy and Ben had a son Ben Franklin McFarland who is my Grandfather.
Birth: ABT 1750 in Scotland or Ireland
Death: 24 MAY 1824 in Lebanon, Wilson County, Tennessee

Father: Arthur Walter McFarland b: ABT 1725 in probably near Edinburgh, Scotland
Mother: Elizabeth Porter b: ABT 1725 in Ireland

Marriage 1 Nancy Menees b: ABT 1766 in North Carolina
Married: 1783 in Fort Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee

161 Nancy MENESS; MANESS; Mennes. of Virginia. b: ABT 1766 in North Carolina

There is also the John Porter McFarland who immigrated to America 1774 on the ship Commerce which landed at NY on February 1774, served in the Rev. War and met and married his wife Nancy Menees in Fort Nashboro (now Nashville). He received a land grant for 660 acres from N. C. for his Rev. War service and when it was safe to leave the fort settled his land grand in what is now Wilson Co., TN and raised his family.

Birth:
Parent's names have been passed down by tradition. No documents.

DNA:
Cadet. BY674>BY7798>BY7799. Because there is no FT64717, it means this line descends from the earliest chiefs before the 1400s.

John married Nancy Menees in 1783 in Fort Nashboro, TN. Nancy (daughter of James Manees, daughter of James Menees) was born in 1762 in Virginia; died in 1835. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Nancy Maneese
• Birth: 1758
• Residence: 1830, Wilson, Tennessee, USA
• Death: 1835, Wilson County, TN

Other Events and Attributes:

• Death: Mt Lebanon Cemetery 2 mi so of Gibsland LA
• Name: James J. Brinson Jr
• Birth: Abt 1761, New Bern Craven County NC

Notes:

He was a Captain in Wilson Co. Tennessee Tax District. He lived in
Sumner Co. Tennessee in 1799. Served in the war of 1812. Left
Tennessee about 1816-1817 for Louisiana with wife's parents. He
established Baptist churches in North Louisiana. Lived in Claiborne
Parish Louisiana in the earely 1820's. He and his wife were charter
members of Providence Church (June 11, 1825) near Athens, Louisiana.

James married Patience Elizabeth Purser on 14 Apr 1783 in Craven County North Carolina. Patience was born about 1761 in Bath County, VA; died on 4 Oct 1850 in Athens, Claiborne Parish, LA; was buried in Athens, Claiborne Parish, LA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Birth: 1761, NC
• Death: 4 Oct 1850, family cemetery in old AthensLA

Arthur married Elizabeth Porter in 1747 in Ireland. Elizabeth was born in 1725 in Ireland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Ellizabeth Porter

Notes:

Sister of Commodore Porter. this does not seem likely--the years do not work for his life and her life.

Notes:

Elders James Brinson & Arthur McFarland, Alexander F. Nelson, and Christopher Koonce
Baptist minister James Brinson and his wife Patience Elizabeth Purser, together with their daughter Holland and her husband Arthur McFarland, arrived in the Upper Pine Hills shortly before 1820 from Wilson County Tennessee. Accompanying them were Brinson's brother-in-law, Alexander F. Nelson, and son-in-law, Christopher Koonce. Together with the Honeycutts and Farmers, these Tennessee newcomers founded the Pine Hills Baptist Church in the Upper Pine Hills, in the vicinity of modern Vienna and Downsville. Brinson preached the first documented Baptist sermons in the Ouachita Valley, and he ordained his son-in-law, Arthur McFarland, soon after arriving in Louisiana. Brinson established churches across northwestern Louisiana in the 1820s, including many in modern Claiborne and Webster Parishes. In addition, he became active in the Louisiana Baptist Association in the early 1820s after his church joined that body. The delegates elected him as the moderator of the 1827 Associational Meeting held near Minden at the Black Lake Church that Brinson had helped to found a few years earlier. When they first arrived in Louisiana from Tennessee, Brinson, McFarland, Nelson, and Koonce first settled in the Upper Pine Hills, on the upper reaches of the waters of Bayou d'Arbonne near Vienna and Downsville. By 1826, Brinson had temporarily moved to Natchitoches Parish, leaving McFarland in Ouachita. By 1830, Brinson, McFarland, Nelson, and Koonce moved into the far reaches of Bayou d'Arbonne into Claiborne Parish, where Brinson died on 5 September 1831. In November 1832, Arthur McFarland, Haywood Alford, and John Impson served as ministers of Pine Hills Baptist Church. McFarland continued his ministry in Claiborne Parish until sometime after 1860 [20].

James married Kezia Linton about 1755. Kezia was born in Hayword County, NC. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]