Shiloh Cemetery

Provencal

Shiloh is the oldest cemetery in Provencal according to Mrs. Mary Ann Donaho, a local resident. The village of Provencal was established in 1880 and local history says that the Dale family gave land for the burial of a Native American child who died circa 1880.1

Mrs. Donaho states, in an article published in The Natchitoches Times, in 1993, that the first marked or recorded burial is that of Mrs. Margaret Ellenora Carson Sanders in 1884, wife of Christopher Columbus Sanders and the mother of eight children. Mrs. Sanders' grave stone is broken and the day and month of her death is illegible; the adjacent stone is that of Willie Sanders, 24 Sep 1884 - 09 July 1892, son of M. E. and C.C. Sanders.

Immediately to the left of Mrs. Sanders' grave is a 'grave house', which, according to the small metal marker inside, marks the grave of Sarah Elizabeth Sanders Carson, no dates. In 1992 descendants commissioned Mr. Joe Bynog to restore the unique building, which was originally made of hand hewn boards, using square nails. 1.

Eric J. Brock, in an article published in the Shreveport Times on July 8, 1995, states that these 'grave houses' were often used by many of the early settlers of NW LA. The Pine Grove Methodist Church Cemetery in Sugartown, LA appears to have the largest number of these in existence. However, the most elaborate example of a 'grave house' is located in Evangeline, Acadia Parish, LA according to Mr. Brock: two stories tall, eight feet square, porches across the front, hinged doors, and real glass windows. 2.

On March 18, 1937, Dessie Lometer Moore was killed in the explosion of the New London, TX school; an explosion apparently caused by a natural gas leak. Her brother, a few years older, related that his classroom was in an adjacent building; that his class had been dismissed a few minutes early and that he had just crossed the street to walk home when the explosion occurred. Dessie Lometer Moore, twelve years of age, was among the 268 students and teachers killed in the explosion of the east Texas school. Her tombstone in Shiloh Cemetery bears a picture of the young schoolgirl.

Shiloh Cemetery is located on the side of a steep hill, extends down through a valley and up onto a lower hill to the west. The eastern hillside is badly eroded, despite efforts of individual families to shore up the plots. Many markers are tilted and several have fallen due to the erosion. Other markers are covered, or partially covered, by the shifting soil. The harvesting of pine timber on the northern hill in 1996 has added to the eroding effect of run-off waters.

There are approximately 127 known-marked burials in the cemetery. There appear to be several unmarked graves, and local residents say that some graves, located in the valley area, have been covered by the eroding soil from the hills to the north of the cemetery.

Memorial services are held at Shiloh Cemetery on the first Saturday after the first Sunday of June each year. Queries may be addressed to Ms. Mary Williams, P.O. Box 536, Provencal, LA 71468. Mrs. Williams provided much of the information relative to the various burials.3.

Location: Shiloh Cemetery is located approximately two miles west of Provencal: turn west off LA117 onto DeSoto Street at the Provencal School Gym. The road ends at the cemetery. 4.

Incomplete data- unmarked graves:

1 small, old stone beside Foster burial; no data on.

2 very old handmade stone, with Unknown written on; near Thomas graves.

3 broken stone next gravesite to right of Fonnie Bengaman stone, reading : He is at rest... Remainder illegible.

4 FOSTER, ??? A fairly new marker, but soil has covered so that only the top 10 inches above ground; no info available.

5 Unmarked grave to left of the Foster stone; Merbel Foster or wife of Merbel Foster.3

6 Unmarked grave in Moore plot: infant daughter of Mittie Amanda Freeman Dale Key and William Franklin Key.3

7 LONG, LUCY A. 23 May 1880 - 03 Oct 1888 dau of S. J. and V. A. Long Stone illegible except for given name; data from DAR 1957 reading.

This listing was submitted by Nelda Gass Liles.

**Markers are listed as read; additional data listed below each and enclosed in parenthesis.

BATES, ARCHIE L. 06 Mar 1878 - 08 Aug 1965

BATES, HELEN M. 26 Dec 1905 - 04 Dec 1977

BATES, MELINDA B. 22 Jan 1876 - 24 June 1959

BENGAMAN, EMMER no dates, mother

BENGAMAN, FONNIE no dates

BENGAMAN, JOHN no dates, Father

BOZEMAN, ARTHUR 03 Oct 1927 - 24 Mar 1954, son of Annie Bozeman Moss

BRASHER, PHILLIP 26 Nov 1880 - 15 Oct 1898

BUTCHER, MRS. F. E. 07 Nov 1852 - 16 Dec 1935

BUTCHER, J. W. 25 Apr 1833 - 18 June 1911

BUTCHER, MYRTLE A. BOOKER 03 Sep 1899 - 27 Oct 1981 m-o Jim, Nita, & Bud

BUTCHER, WILLIAM J. 23 May 1862 - 09 Apr 1914 Aged 53 years

CARNEY, RUBY ESTELLE 22 Sep 1912 - 12 Oct 1912, dau of John and Katie Carney

CARNEY, VANOWEN b-d 03 Nov 1930, dau of John and Katie Carney

CARSON, ANDREW JACKSON no dates, Small metal marker inside the grave house which supposedly marks the grave of Sarah Elizabeth Sanders Carson, no dates

CARSON, ROBERT F. 02 Feb 1884 - 02 July 1889

CARSON, SARAH ELIZABETH SANDERS no dates, Wooden grave house; small metal marker inside, no dates

DALE, ELIZABETH 06 Aug 1819 - 08 Sep 1890, Elizabeth McGraw Dale, wife of John Dale

DALE, JOHN 06 Feb 1810 - 27 Oct 1888 son of J. A. Dale husband of Elizabeth McGraw Dale

DALE, WESLEY no dates stone engraved f-o John Dale and Marda Benjamin f-o John Wesley Dale & Marda Amanda Dale Benjamin

FIELDER, EMMA L. 19 Jan 1869 - 24 July 1889

FOSTER, INFANT 07 May 1889 - 25 May 1889 son of A. T. and M. L. Foster

FRANKLIN, GERTRUDE 21 May 1892 - 11 Feb 1894 dau of M. P. & R. J. Franklin

FRANKLIN, MARION DAVID 23 Sep 1879 - 27 Aug 1892 son of M. P. & R. J. Franklin

FRANKLIN, MARY ELIZABETH 23 July 1881 - 15 July 1889 dau of M. P. and R. J. Franklin

HAYS, HERIOLD C. 28 Aug 1901 - 22 Oct 1905 son of John and Laura J. Hays

IVY, NELLIE M. ROBBINS 21 Nov 1898 - 24 July 1917, wife of Tom F. Ivy, dau of T. L. and Victoria McLemore Robbins

GOINS, BARBARA ANN 31 Aug 1947 - 02 Aug 1949, dau of Bennie Ray and Esther Moore Goins3. gr-dau of George Jefferson Goins and Alma L. Dowden Goins g-gr-dau of Richard Roland Goins and Susan West Goins g-g-gr-dau of Moses Goins and Louisiana Hoosier Goins g-g-g-gr-dau of William Moses Goins and Charlotta Elizabeth Nelson Goins 5. gr-dau of James Monroe Dowden and America Hays Dowden g-gr-dau of Abraham R. Dowden and Louisa Ann Daudy Dowden g-g-gr-dau of Hugh Dowden and Sarah Burgess Dowden g-g-g-gr-dau of James Dowden and Patsy Nash Dowden6.

HOLLAND, B. W. 26 Aug 1881 - 17 Mar 1930, Ben W. Holland husband of Ludie C. Holland

HOLLAND, CURTIS 15 June 1915 - 13 May 1919, son of Ben and Ludie Holland

HOLLAND, INFANT b-d 12 May 1913 son of B.W. and Ludie Holland

HOLLAND, LUDIE C. 25 Mar 1884 - 29 Dec 1972, wife of Ben W. Holland

HUDSON, DELLA ELVINA 09 July 1878 - 11 Jan 1956

HUDSON, MELINDA ELLEN 12 July 1858 - 03 Jan 1924

HUDSON, WILLIAM 08 Jan 1823 - 25 May 1931, Dates on tombstone indicate an age of 108; all four of the Hudson stones are alike, indicating placement at one time.

HUDSON, WILLIAM ELBERT 22 Aug 1911 - 02 July 1913

JETT, FLORENCE MOORE 20 Sep 1905 - 13 Oct 1968, dau of Jesse and Mary Moore

JONES, ELIZA 12 Sep 1830 - 20 Nov 1923 wife of John Madison Jones Eliza Brazzel Greenlee Jones Information indicates spelling should be Matison

JONES, IRVAN J. 16 Sep 1904 - 16 Feb 1920, son of William and Mollie Jones

JONES, JOHN MADISON 16 Jan 1819 - 06 June 1903, Information indicates spelling should be Matison husband of Eliza Brazzell Greenlee Jones

JONES, LOUIS L. 09 Sep 1902 - 03 Oct 1919, son of William and Mollie Jones

JONES, MOLLIE E. 23 July 1879 - 29 Nov 1972 wife of William M. Jones Mollie E. Richie Jones, wife of William Matison Jones

JONES, OSCAR BRITTEN 14 July 1900 - 04 July 1906, son of William and Mollie Jones

JONES, WILLIAM MADISON 16 Dec 1873 - 09 Feb 1957, husband of Mollie E. Richie Jones Information indicates spelling should be Matison

KING, AUDREY LEE b-d 12 May 1908 dau of Hugh and Audrey King

LANDRY, DADY OSCAR 29 Aug 1886 - 11 Sep 1945, moved to an Alabama cemetery in Oct. 1996 f-o Thomas Levaine Landry

LANDRY, THOMAS LEVAINE 12 Sep 1925 - 23 Mar 1928, moved to an Alabama cemetery in Oct. 1996

LONG, LITTLE EARL 21 Apr 1905 - 19 Aug 1906 son of Wm. and M. M. Long

McCALLISTER, G. W. 05 Mar 1870 - 22 July 1898

MOORE, DESSIE LOMETER 31 Mar 1925 - 18 Mar 1937, dau of Orie and Idella Moore On March 18, 1937 the New London, TX school was leveled by an explosion caused by a natural gas leak. Two hundred and sixty-eight students and teachers were killed. Dessie Lometer Moore was one of the students killed in this explosion. New London, TX was located between Kilgore, TX and Henderson, TX in east Texas, USA.

MOORE, GEORGE EDWARD 30 Dec 1894 - 27 Mar 1974 Pvt US MARINE CORPS husband of Ida E. Moore son of Jessie and Mary Moore

MOORE, IDA E. 07 May 1898 - 28 Dec 1980, Ida Ellen Craig Moore, wife of Orie Moore

MOORE, IDELLA 09 Oct 1905 - 21 Oct 1929, Idella Habbard Moore

MOORE, JESSIE ORIE 17 Mar 1904- 08 June 1959, son of Jessie and Mary Moore

MOORE, JESSIE SANFORD 23 Oct 1855 - 23 Sep 1920

MOORE, JOHNNY no dates Brother of Jessie Moore

MOORE, MARY E. DALE 28 Dec 1870 - 23 May 1955 wife of Jessie Sanford Moore

MOORE, MATTIE ELVIN 07 Jan 1908 - 12 Jan 1915, dau of Jessie and Mary Moore

MOORE, MAUDIE LORETTA 17 Mar 1901 - 29 Aug 1901, dau of Jessie and Mary Moore

MOORE, TODD 31 Aug 1962 -, son of Glen and Rachel Moore

MOORE, TROY LEON, Sr. 25 May 1937 - 20 June 1986, son of George and Ida Moore

MOSS, ANNIE H. 13 May 1900 - 14 Apr 1992

MOSS, BARBRA A. Mar 25- 1941 - not carved, double stone for Annie and Barbra Moss

MOSS, HOMER, Jr. 20 July 1933 - 24 Nov 1966

MOSS, SIMON GUY b-d 26 Feb 1891 son of S. and Mittie Moss

NOLLEY, CLARA 03 Apr 1893 - 21 July 1908

NOLLEY, EARL b-d 31 Oct 1915 son of Mr. and Mrs.. J. J. Nolley

NOLLEY, INFANT b-d 25 Jan 1909 son of J.J. and Nola Nolley

NOLLEY, ISAAC 09 Jan 1845 - 30 Oct 1892 aged 47 yrs, 9 mos, 21 das; born in Mecklenburg Co., VA

NOLLEY, JOHN J. 09 Oct 1873 - 13 July 1917 Woodmen of World marker

NOLLEY, JOHN J. 17 Sep 1907 - 03 Sep 1908

NOLLEY, MARELINA 05 Apr 1878 - 07 Oct 1897

NOLLEY, MEDORA 03 Apr 1855 - 13 Mar 1925

NOLLEY, MOLLIE V. 08 Nov 1884 - 12 Jan 1895

NOLLEY, PARLIE PRIM 1847 - 1921 wife of Isaac Nolley

NOLLEY, S. E. 08 Sep 1854 - 12 Feb 1902

NOLLEY, WILLIAM E. 03 Aug 1882 - 02 Jan 1892

O'PRY, JOSEPH05 May 1880 - 08 Apr 1907 Woodmen of the World marker; first grave inside gate

O' ROUKE, JOSEPH TOMMY 1906 - 1980 PFC US ARMY WWII

PAGE, BETTY BUTCHER 23 Dec 1882 - 04 July 1965

PRIDGEN, MATTHEW 1815 - 14 Nov 1901 m. Mattie Kellog in 1870

QUARLES, SAMUEL McENERY 26 Sep 1888 - 26 Feb 1890 son of J. H. & Emma C. Quarles

RITCHIE, AMANDA 18 Dec 1861 - 20 Jan 1916 wife of W. D. Ritchie Amanda Dale Ritchie

ROARK, IDA MAE 24 Aug 1880 - 02 Aug 19140

RITCHIE, W. D. 11 Feb 1853 - 14 May 1920, William Daniel Ritchie

ROBBINS, MILDRED 25 June 1926 - 23 Mar 1927 dau of Mr. and Mrs.. Ollie Robbins

ROBBINS, T. L. 24 Apr 1870 - 13 May 1930, husband of 1 Victoria McLemore Robbins and 2 Azile Kile Robbins f-o Nelllie M. Robbins Ivy, Lue Ann Robbins Ivy, Avis Robbins Burr Cato, Marie Robbins Peavy, Jack Robbins, Pete Robbins, and Benjamin Wells Sam Robbins

ROBBINS, V. McLEMORE 21 Oct 1879 - 07 Feb 1904, Victoria McLemore Robbins wife of Tobe Lee T.L. Robbins m-o Nellie M. Robbins Ivy and Lue Ann Robbins Ivy

RASCOE, C. A. 08 Oct 1886 - 11 July 1887 son of C. M. & I. L. Rascoe

SALTER, ANNIE HUSBANDS 29 Nov 1849 - 26 Sep 1891 wife of J. D. Salter

SALTER, JOHN J. Sep 1887 Infant son of John and Annie Salter

SANDERS, BENJAMIN 28 Mar 1883 - 06 Oct 1892 son of M. E. and C. C. Sanders

SANDERS, MARGARET ELLANORA 03 Oct 1857 - 1884 wife of C. C. Sanders

SANDERS, WILLIE 24 Sep 1884 - 09 July 1892 son of M. E. and C. C. Sanders

SASSER, BABY PEARL 11 June 1916 - 24 Dec 1919 dau of L. W. and S. A. Sasser

SASSER, BABY MARION 14 Sep 1924 - 29 Apr 1926 dau of L. W. and S. A. Sasser

THOMAS, CRAIG July 1914 - Sep 1920, son of Bonsal Thomas and Ada Jenkins Thomas

THOMAS, EARL Jan 1908 - July 1922, son of Bonsal Thomas and Ada Jenkins Thomas

THOMAS, JANE 09 Apr 1859 - 10 Mar 1930, Mary Jane Thomas wife of John B. Thomas

THOMAS, J. B. June 1925 - July 1926, son of Bonsal Thomas and 2nd wife, name unknown

THOMAS, JOHN B. Apr 1856 - Apr 1912, husband of Mary Jane Thomas

THOMAS, MAMIE Mar 1887 - June 1900, dau of John and Mary Jane Thomas

THOMAS, PAUL 10 Oct 1912 - 08 July 1913, son of Bud and Mattie Dale Thomas

THOMAS, PAULINE 10 Oct 1912 - 09 Oct 1919, dau of Bud and Mattie Dale Thomas

THOMAS, RUTH Sep 1890 - Oct 1893, dau of John and Mary Jane Thomas

THOMASON, ADDIE O. 28 Feb 1884 - 22 Dec 1908 wife of C. M. Thomason

THOMASON, ANNIE MAE 16 July 1890 - 13 Sep 1890, dau of Nute Thomason and Mary Dale Thomason Moore

THOMASON, D. B. no dates

THOMASON, K. O. 24 Apr 1905 - 18 Jan 1906 dau of S. M. Thomason

THOMASON, LIZZIE 03 Nov 1825 - 30 Apr 1962

THOMASON, NUTE no dates

TREADWAY, MINNIE B. 02 Sep 1886 - 04 Jan 1887

TUBBS, GLADDIS 19 Apr 1910 - 21 Apr 1911

TUBBS, INFANT11 Aug 1907 - 16 Aug 1907 son of B.F. Tubbs

WALTERS, FRANK 08 Apr 1902 - 30 Aug 1911 son of Mr. and Mrs.. Charlie Walters

WEAVER, ELIZABETH E. 10 Mar 1855 - 27 Aug 1904

WEAVER, FAY 29 Jan 1906 - 08 June 1906

WEAVER, J. L. 10 Mar 1859 - 27 Aug 1904

WIGGNS, J.C. 10 Oct 1851 - 19 Aug 1890, Joseph Columbus Wiggins husband of DeWittie Jane Ellzey f-o Ada W. Sanders, Janie W. Stephens, Mattie W. Sibley, Ela Wiggins, and Ernest DeWitt Wiggins son of William Washington Wiggins 1821 AL-1897 LA and Elizabeth Sheffield Wiggins 1832 AL-1916 LA g-son of John C. Wiggins and Isabelle Sparks Wiggins, AL and g-son of William Warren Sheffield 1810- and Martha Kelly Sheffield 1806-, AL g-g-son of Evan Sheffield 1781- and Delany Sheffield 1783-, AL5,7

WILLIAMS, FLOYD WILKERSON 21 Oct 1909 - 09 Jan 1991

WILLIAMS, OLLIE IRENE MOORE 07 Nov 1910 - 06 Nov 1994 wife of Floyd W. Williams dau of Jessie and Mary Moore

WOOD, ROBB 25 Apr 1876 - 06 Feb 1916

References-Sources:

1. Mary Anna Donaho, articles: The Natchitoches Times, May 26, 1994 and 1993.

2. The Shreveport Times, July 8, 1995.

3. Information furnished by Ms. Mary Williams, 1998.

4. Shiloh Cemetery tombstone readings, Jan. 03, 1998 by Mrs.. N. Liles, Sterling Liles, and Sheldon Liles.

5. Genealogical-biographical data from research files of N. Liles.

6. Data compiled by Robert Homer Moss, c. 1960, courtesy Mrs. Reba G. Jones.

7. Data compiled by Cecil Paul Wiggins, circa 1989-1997.