Friday's Photo: Frye's Store , Ringgold, Bienville Parish, Louisiana

This isn't a photo of the store itself, but I took this picture of this store flyer or sign while visiting the Frye family in California. I had it in my mind to write about and occasionally searched for new information, but I never found much. Charles Jefferson Frye, the store’s owner, was married to Allie Bell Trott, granddaughter of Josie Bryan. The obituary was part of Marguerite Cook Clark’s collection—she was a cousin of Allie Bell.

The only reference I’ve come across about the store was in a 1948 newspaper, leaving me uncertain about how long Mr. Frye owned and operated it. Despite my searches, much of its history remains a mystery—just one of many small, forgotten pieces of the past waiting to be rediscovered.

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page, where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

 

Diana

© 2025

“Frye's E. Side Gro Ringgold La,” The Bienville Democrat, 27 May 1948, p.6; database and images, The Digital Archives of The Bienville Parish Library (https://bienville.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=frye%27s%20store&i=f&by=1948&bdd=1940&d=01011850-12312022&m=between&ord=k1&fn=bienville_democrat_usa_louisiana_bienville_19480527_english_6&df=1&dt=10 : accessed 14 March 2025).

Frye's Store, signage, n.d.; scanned image, from the privately held photo collection of the Frye Family, San Francisco, 2019.

"C. J. Frye Expires at Age of 70 [obituary]," digital image, newspaper clipping, n.d., unidentified newspaper, from the privately-held collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2025. Obituaries were accessed and scanned at the home of Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter in Alpine, Texas, on April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016.

Friday's Photo: The Bienville Parish Home Demonstration Council

Myrtice Vinson
Bienville Parish Home Demonstration Agent

County (Parish) Home Demonstration Councils were first formed in 1924. The principal objectives of the county home demonstration councils were to develop leadership and to forward and extend home demonstration work among both women and girls through county-wide cooperation with all rural homemakers. These councils also served as a medium through which the local Home Demonstration Agent received information from community clubs and gave additional help to rural homemakers. 

The first meeting of the Bienville Parish Home Demonstration Club was on Friday, January 26, 1934. 

The article below describes the location and those women expected at the first meeting. These photos were probably not taken during that first meeting as the women are wearing clothing meant for warmer weather than expected in January. Additional photos, along with enlarged portions of the photos can be seen below. Any help naming the women in the photos is appreciated. 

Found at Newspapers.com

Mrs. C. J. Frye was a representative on the council during the first meeting and I am assuming she is in one of these photos as they were found in the Frye Family Collection. 

This photo was labeled Home Demonstration Council. Mrs. J. A. Roane.

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana

© 2019

Sources

Barry, Maggie W. and Swift, Helen H. An Organization Manual for the County Home Demonstration Councils. 1941.  Accessed 12 July 2019.  <https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d577/dce35fe7fab1d231b4310c3d4e7fa8b80252.pdf>

Family photographs from the Frye Family collection. Accessed June 6, 2016 and June 3, 2019. Used with permission.

"Farm Clubs to Organize in Bienville," The Times  Shreveport, Louisiana. 22 Jan 1934, p. 5, digital images, Newspapers.com: accessed 12 July 2019. <https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33801890/home_demonstration_council_in_bienville/#

Friday's Photo: Soldiers at Camp Beauregard

Camp Beauregard, Pineville, Louisiana - WWI

Camp Beauregard, named for Louisiana native and Confederate general, Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, is located in Pineville, Louisiana. The Camp was authorized by the War Department on July 15, 1917 so the photo was probably taken closer to 1918, but no later than 1919. The camp was closed in 1919, but at times used for National Guard training until 1940 when reopened. It was closed following WWII, revived in 1973, and currently serves as a training base for the Louisiana National Guard. 

This family member in this photo is Charles Jefferson Frye - first row, second from the end. Charles Jefferson Frye is not a Bryan descendant, but married to Bryan descendant, Allie Belle Trott, a grandaughter of Josie Bryan and Joseph Cook. Josie was the adopted daughter of James Bryan and Alice Wimberly and the biological daughter of Joseph Bryan and Sarah Wimberly. 

Thank you to the Frye Family for allowing me to post this photo. To see more about Charles J. Frye, check my post at this link. 

Diana

© 2016

"Camp Beauregard, near Alexandria Louisiana in World War II."  Web. 15 Jun. 2016. <http://www.alexandria-louisiana.com/camp-beauregard-louisiana.htm>.

Camp Beauregard photo courtesy of the Frye Family