Friday's Photo: John Sledge

This photo came from the collection of Mary Virginia Martin Smith. She wrote that this and other photos marked with "ne" were from a photo album given to her mother, Anna Laura Martin, by a Sledge cousin, Niler Edwards of Bienville Parish, Louisiana. Although Mary wrote Niler, the cousin's name was probably Nila. The album originally belonged to Nila's father, Henry Collin Sledge. 

John Sledge was the brother of Henry Collin Sledge. I have seen his name written as John A. and John Aaron. While looking for information about the community of Iverson, John Sledge was seen in some of the records. I know that he was a merchant and postmaster. According to information at Find A Grave, he was married three times. His first wife, Sarah, was the daughter of Miles L. and Sarah Lawson Bryan who may have been closely connected to my Reddick Bryan family of Bienville Parish. 

Looking at other photos in this collection, I saw two unidentified photos that looked very much like the man in the above photo. What do you think? 

John Sledge's obituary with an additional, but very fuzzy, photograph can be seen here. 

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

© 2022 

Sources

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24290958/nila-edwards: accessed 22 July 2022), memorial page for Nila Sledge Edwards (22 Jun 1893–10 Jun 1969), Find a Grave Memorial ID 24290958, citing Providence Cemetery, Ringgold, Bienville Parish, Louisiana, USA; Maintained by Nancy E. Collins (contributor 47113696).

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/97619397/john-aaron-sledge: accessed 22 July 2022), memorial page for John Aaron Sledge (12 Apr 1840–14 Apr 1924), Find a Grave Memorial ID 97619397, citing Old Castor Cemetery, Castor, Bienville Parish, Louisiana, USA; Maintained by KC (contributor 46825020).

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106989397/sarah-sledge: accessed 22 July 2022), memorial page for Sarah Bryan Sledge (15 Jun 1842–28 Dec 1883), Find a Grave Memorial ID 106989397; Maintained by Samuel Taylor Geer (contributor 46925792)Burial Details Unknown.

JPERSONAL, The Times (Shreveport, Louisiana), 20 August 1898, p.5; database with images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106091932/j-a-sledge-of-iverson/: accessed 22 July 2022).

Narrative about 110A and the rest of Part 5, n.d.; scanned image, from the privately held photo collection of Mary V. Smith, Alaska, 2004. 

Sledge Photos 117, 122, and 127, photographs, n.d.; scanned image, from the privately held photo collection of Mary V. Smith, Alaska, 2004. 

Southern Postal Matters, The Times-Democrat (New Orleans), 7 March 1902, p.4; database with images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106091792/john-a-sledge-postmaster/: accessed 22 July 2022).

#52ancestors Post Twelve: The Bryan Cemetery in Bienville Parish - History, Photographs, and Disrepair

Whit Criswell Bryan, my father and great-grandson of Reddick and Elizabeth Regan Bryan, in the Bryan Cemetery, Bienville Parish, Louisiana.
September 1981

Reddick Bryan purchased 400 acres of land in the vicinity of the Bryan Cemetery in 1839 - Township 15-N, Range 9-W, Section 25. He was considered one of the early settlers in that area. John Knight purchased land to the west several years before and land to the south was purchased by John Fuller. Eventually, William Wimberly and later, James Bryan, would own land to the north of the cemetery. Son, Joseph Bryan, purchased land to the east around 1850.

Click here to see the Bryan Cemetery on Google Earth. 

The earliest marked burial in the Bryan Cemetery of Bienville Parish is that of Reddick Bryan who died in 1864. Was this the earliest grave or just the earliest stone marker surviving?

As in most old cemeteries, there are probably unmarked graves.  Elizabeth Regan Carr (daughter of John and Martha Regan) wrote in a pension request that husband, John Carr,  was buried in the Bryan Cemetery. His grave is not marked. There are several Bryan family members with no known burial locations. 

Another descendant of Reddick and Elizabeth Bryan remembers a black iron fence around the cemetery with graves around the fence. She remembers many unmarked graves and tells of a road crew destroying graves while putting in a road. 

Friday's Photo: P. P Cook's School, Iverson LA

Mrs. P. P. Cook's School, Iverson, La is written across the top of the photo. 

Who is Mrs. P. P. Cook? Sophronia Pauline Porter Cook? Mrs. Philip P. Cook? 

Or another Mrs. P. P. Cook?

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

© 2017

Source

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. Accessed April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016. Used with permission.