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Tensas Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The name "Tensas" is derived from an Indian tribe. The parish seat is St. Joseph and, as of 2000, the population is 6,618. St. Joseph is located adjacent to the Mississippi River levee system though the river itself is several miles away.
There are three communities in Tensas Parish, Newellton, St. Joseph, and Waterproof. All are linked by Highway 65, which passes just to the west of each town.
The developed Lake Bruin State Park lies to the east of St. Joseph. Lake Bruin is an oxbow lake created by the meandering of the Mississippi River.
Tensas Parish is served by a weekly newspaper, the Tensas Gazette, circulated Thursdays in St. Joseph.
Tensas Parish is among the last three parishes in the state to have a 911-telephone service. Republican Congressman Rodney Alexander of Quitman, whose district included Tensas Parish, announced late in 2005 that a $100,000 rural development grant through the Department of Agriculture would help the parish to establish the emergency system. *
Tensas Parish were desegregated at one time in the fall of 1970. However, the schools remain de facto segregated by parental decisions. The lion's share of white students attend the private Tensas Academy. Nearly all blacks go to public schools, where few whites are registered. Enrollment in the public system has been declining in recent years.
Racial politics
The parish is 55 percent black, according to the 2000 census. Prior to January 1964, when fifteen blacks were permitted to register, there were no black voters at all on the Tensas Parish rolls. Tensas was the last of Louisiana's 64 parishes to register any blacks as voters.
In 1962, the parish, with only whites registered to vote, gave the Republican Taylor W. O'Hearn a surprising 48.2 percent of the vote in a race for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Democrat Russell B. Long. Tensas Parish also voted for Republican presidential nominee Barry M. Goldwater in 1964, when few blacks were yet registered.
After the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, large numbers of Tensas Parish blacks finally were able to register to vote. These new black voters were staunchly Democratic. Thereafter, the parish has been a Democratic stronghold. However, some white Democrats have continued to win some public offices in the parish, including Sheriff Ricky A. Jones and several school board members.
In 2004, Republicans ran more strongly than usual in Tensas Parish. The Democratic ticket of John F. Kerry and John Edwards carried Tensas Parish by only 16 votes. The tabulation was 1,460 for Kerry-Edwards and 1,453 for President George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney. In 2000, Democrat Albert Arnold Gore, Jr., won Tensas Parish by 250 votes. The Democratic electors polled 1,580 votes that year to 1,330 for the Bush-Cheney ticket.
In the 2004 U.S. Senate election, Tensas Parish gave a plurality to the Republican candidate, Congressman David Vitter of St. Tammany Parish. Vitter polled 1,145 votes (41 percent) compared to 881 ballots (32 percent) for his chief Democratic rival, Congressman Chris John of Crowley. There was no general election to determine if Vitter would have surpassed 50 percent plus one vote to obtain an outright majority in this traditionally Democratic parish. *
The New York Times, January 7-8, 1964
Tensas Parish notables
Near Newellton is the Winter Quarters Plantation restoration, where Union General Ulysses S. Grant and his men spent the winter of 1862-1863, prior to launching the assault in July 1863 against Vicksburg, Mississippi, to the northeast of Tensas Parish.
World War II Major General Claire Chennault of the "Flying Tigers," though born in Commerce, Texas, was reared in Waterproof in southern Tensas Parish.
Newellton is the birthplace of a prominent black American economist and business leader, Andrew Brimmer, the first black appointed (by President Lyndon B. Johnson) to the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C.
Harry Butler (1895-1977) and his wife Alice Richardson Butler (1910-1995) relocated to St. Joseph from Baton Rouge on his retirement from Ethel Oil Corp. They opened Butler's Lakeview Lodges, a mobile home court, on Lake Bruin catering primarily to weekend sportsmen but family gatherings as well. Mrs. Butler was the maternal aunt of former State Senator Claude B. Duval (1914-1986) of Houma in Terrebonne Parish. She was only four years his senior. Duval was an unsuccessful candidate for lieutenant governor in 1964. He lost to C.C. "Taddy" Aycock of Franklin in St. Mary Parish. Duval served three terms in the state Senate and was particularly known for his debating talents, insight, and wit.
Tensas Parish educators
The school board is traditionally the largest employer in Tensas Parish.
(1) Charles Ed Thompson, Ed.D., a native of Tensas Parish, became the school superintendent in 1970. Thereafter, Thompson became a high-ranking official in the Louisiana Department of Education in Baton Rouge.
(2) Neal L. "Lanny" Johnson (born 1940) and his wife, (3) Carol S. Johnson (born 1941), have both served as superintendent of Tensas Parish schools. Lanny Johnson became the superintendent of the financially troubled neighboring Franklin Parish in 2004; Mrs. Johnson serves in Tensas Parish. Lanny Johnson was a Democratic state representative from Tensas and Franklin parishes between 1976 and 1980 and a former school superintendent in Monroe. The couple, who reside near St. Joseph, began their education careers on the faculty o fDavidson High School in St. Joseph in the 1960s.
(4) Julia Ann "Judy" O'Neal (born 1947) was named "Teacher of the Year" at Tensas Parish Elementary School in St. Joseph again in 2005. She also received the honor in 2004, 1996, 1993, and 1992. The long-term St. Joseph resident is a 1965 graduate of Davidson High School and a 1969 graduate of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, where she earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education. She completed her master’s +30 at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. She is also certified as a supervisor of student teachers. Miss O'Neal first taught in the 1969-1970 school year, then took another job in St. Joseph, but she returned to Tensas Parish schools in the 1971-1972 year. As of 2006, she had 36 years of teaching experience in Tensas Parish schools, having instructed previously at Davidson High School (elementary grades) and the now defunct Lisbon Elementary School in Waterproof. Miss O'Neal, who is also the music director of the St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, was inspired by her sixth grade teacher to enter the field of education. She says that she attempts to recognize each child’s abilities and to make her classroom a challenging environment. She believes that teachers must have certain qualities to be successful — self-respect, resourcefulness, honesty, and the ability to complete a task to completion.* http://www.diocesealex.org/default.aspx?tabid=252
(5) Fred V. Ferrington (born 1948) graduated from Waterproof High School in 1966 and thereafter attended Louisiana Tech University. He taught English at the former Lisbon Elementary School in Waterproof during the 1971-1972 school year. He later went into journalism to utilize his writing and editing skills. He is the editor of the Catahoula News Booster in Jonesville.
(6) William Randolph "Randy" Achey (pronounced ACHE EE) (1952-2006) taught principally English and history at Newellton High School from 2000 until his death on April 3, 2006. He was born in Ft. Belvoir, Virginia, and graduated in 1970 from Baker High School in Columbus, Georgia. He was a journalism graduate of the University of Georgia at Athens. He was in business for 23 years and returned to obtain a master's degree and certification in education at the University of Montevallo in Montevallo, Alabama. He taught in Birmingham prior to his relocation to Newellton. He was designated "Teacher of the Year" at Newellton three times during his short tenure and the parish "Teacher of the Year" as well for 2001-2002. His memorial service was held in the Newellton gym. Achey was married in 1981 and divorced in 1997. He was survived by two sons, Will Achey, who was a student at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge at the time of his father's death, and Tom Achey, who was living in Alabama with his mother. *
(7) George "Tinker" Prince (1924-1992) of St. Joseph was a business education teacher for many years at Newellton High School. He had a reputation as a hard-working, caring teacher who provided practical training for students going into the business world. He was retired at the time of his death. He was a member of the Roman Catholic Church. Prince is buried in Newellton. He is survived by his wife, Agnes Prince of St. Joseph, and a son, Keith Prince of Houston, Texas.
(8) Russell Dew (born 1942, Tarboro, North Carolina) and his wife (9) the former Iylene Bonita Cruse (born 1949, Catahoula Parish), came to Davidson High School in 1970. He taught mathematics, and she was the home economics instructor. He had taught the previous year at Newellton High School as well. Mr. Dew is a graduate of East Carolina University in Greenville. Mrs. Dew is a graduate of what is now the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
The Dews left St. Joseph in 1978 and moved to her hometown of Harrisonburg, where they taught in the Catahoula Parish schools. They left Harrisonburg in 1987 and relocated, first, to Many in Sabine Parish and, then, to Hughes Springs, Texas, in Cass County. They have both retired from teaching. They have two children, Jon Russell Dew (born 1973) and Carla Denise Dew (born 1975). Carla married Brian L. Kinnard (born 1973) in the Hughes Springs First Baptist Church in 1995, and they live with their three children in Greenville, Texas, in the Dallas suburbs. Brian and Carla met in college; they are graduates of Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches. Jon, who is single, is a 1992 graduate of Hughes Springs High School. He is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and a paramedic and emergency technician in Rowlett, Texas, also in the Dallas suburbs.
(10) Willard Cully Turner, Jr., (born September 27, 1946) is a native of Clarksdale, Mississippi, and a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. He began his teaching career in the Tensas Parish schools in 1970. He taught driver's training and coached in both Newellton and, later, Waterproof. He left Tensas Parish in 1973 and taught for a time in Monroe. He later returned to his native Mississippi to fulfill a boyhood dream of being a firefighter. And he has been with the Richland, Mississippi, Fire Department (east of Jackson) for more than 25 years. He is married to the former Mary Jane Hammond (born 1956), and they have a son, Willard Cully Turner, III, (born Christmas Day 1989). Mrs. Turner is a former attorney. http://66.218.69.11/search/cache?p=willard+cully+turner&prssweb=Search&ei=UTF-8&fr=FP-tab-web-t&x=wrt&u=members.tripod.com/%7EMcCoin_Geneology/index-13.html&w=willard+cully+turner&d=CqsjPzmtMvvF&icp=1&.intl=us
(11) William E. "Bill" Vosburg, Ed.D., (born 1940) a native of New Roads in Pointe Coupee Parish was named the principal of Newellton High School in 1970, the first semester of desegregation. The then 30-year-old Vosburg was given the task of maintaining standards and order during a difficult transition period. Vosburg later left education, and with his wife Beth relocated to her hometown of Ruston, where he went into business with his father-in-law. They have a son, William, Jr., born 1969.
Tensas Parish in 1900
St. Joseph numbered no more than 720 residents (and Tensas Parish, 19,070) at the turn of the twentieth century, most engaged in cotton growing and related river work. The pages of the Tensas Gazette between 1890 and 1914 often read like notes from a church social and still do to a great extent. Almost everybody in St. Joseph's white society seemed to know everybody else, from the mayor to the sheriff to society belles to the druggist, and the bailiff at the parish jail, a kindly old "colored" man, as African-Americans were then called, named "Collins."
Members of the Tullis family were frequently mentioned, including the Gazette's then publisher and editor Hugh Tullis, a lawyer who would go on to become a state judge. This was the same Tullis family that had slaves on its St. Joseph plantation and who remained prominent social and political leaders in the parish for many years after the Thirteenth Amendment ended chattel slavery. It was the same Tullis family whose matriarch, Sarah Tullis, had educated at least one slave in defiance of Louisiana law.
The old newspaper was filled with events and scenes from the lives of white people in the Delta region before and after 1900. The people who toiled to support their way of life, the slaves and freedmen, were a mere faceless backdrop to the stories. Entire columns in the Gazette were given over to quaint descriptions of the most arcane happenings of small town life. http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/9239/9239.ch01.html
Geography
The parish has a total area of 1,661 km2 (641 mi2). 1,560 km2 (602 mi2) of it is land and 100 km2 (39 mi2) of it (6.04%) is water.
Adjacent parishes
- Madison Parish (north)
- Warren County, Mississippi (northeast)
- Claibiorne County & Jefferson County, Mississippi (east)
- Adams County, Mississippi (southeast)
- Concordia Parish (south)
- Catahoula Parish (southwest)
- Franklin Parish (west)
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 6,618 people, 2,416 households, and 1,635 families residing in the parish. The population density was 4/km2 (11/mi2). There were 3,359 housing units at an average density of 2/km2 (6/mi2). The racial makeup of the parish was 43.43% White, 55.38% Black or African American, 0.05% Native American, 0.12% Asian, 0.29% from other races, and 0.74% from two or more races. 1.25% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 2,416 households out of which 30.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.10% were married couples living together, 20.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.30% were non-families. 29.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.14.
In the parish the population was spread out with 26.50% under the age of 18, 10.00% from 18 to 24, 25.10% from 25 to 44, 22.90% from 45 to 64, and 15.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 97.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.20 males.
The median income for a household in the parish was $19,799, and the median income for a family was $25,739. Males had a median income of $26,636 versus $16,781 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $12,622. About 30.00% of families and 36.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 48.20% of those under age 18 and 29.60% of those age 65 or over.
Cities and towns
Louisiana parishes | Tensas Parish, Louisiana | American educators
"Tensas Parish, Louisiana"