a JEFFERSON DAVIS PARISH article

Cultures of Acadiana
a look at the French, Cajun, Creole, and Native American cultures of south Louisiana
(a project of Carencro High School - 721 West Butcher Switch Road, Lafayette, LA 70507)

Lafayette (LA) Daily Advertiser, October 28, 1997

Yankee settlers gnash their teeth

by Jim Bradshaw

Memories of the Civil War and of Reconstruction still rankled in 1912, when Jefferson Davis Parish was created and named for the president of the Confederacy. It seemed an unlikely name for a place settled mostly by Midwesterners.

Most people think it was simply spite that made Gov. L. E. Hall give the choice of the new parish name to the Daughters of the Confederacy. When they chose to honor Davis, the Iowans and Midwesterners settled there demanded another name. They threatened to fight to return the area to Calcasieu Parish if something wasn't done.

But cooler heads prevailed. The Daughters pointed out that, during Reconstruction, loyal sons of the Confederacy had had to accept new parishes named Lincoln and Grant. Now, they said, the shoe is on the other foot. At the same time, they named the other parishes separated from Calcasieu after Confederate Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard and after Henry Watkins Allen, the Confederate governor of Louisiana.

This article is copyrighted © by the Lafayette (LA) Daily Advertiser and is used with permission. This web site was originated through a grant awarded to Carencro High School (Joel Hilbun/Bobbi Marino, Grant Administrators) by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education from the Louisiana Quality Education Support Fund - 8(g).