Musings From My Dad

Fourteen years ago I interviewed my dad, Robert C. Millikin, about his life growing up in Louisiana. I thought maybe some of you out there might enjoy hearing about it. They lived on the Millikin plantation in West Carroll Parish and grew dates and cotton. There was a big cedar tree in back of the house with a gigantic bell in it, and when dinner was ready (2:00 - 3:00 pm), someone would ring the bell. This happened mostly during the harvest. This was the main meal of the day. Everything was cooked on a wood stove, and at night they used coal oil (kerosene) to see by. The bedroom section of the plantation house was built in a big round circle with the bedrooms around the outside and a fireplace in the middle. The bedrooms were all pie shaped. At one end of this section was the veranda that went into the other section of the house, which included the kitchen, dining room, and sitting room.
Outside in the yard was bare dirt with chickens running around to keep the grass out of it. They had no lawn mowers and were more interested in farming. Growing grass and mowing it were wasted efforts. Besides, there were enough green pastures and trees around to satisfy the craving for green things. There were four or five outbuildings close to the house.
My dad remembers sleeping on cots with no legs. They were hung from the ceiling by chains, and as long as you didn't roll over you were all right. There were snakes all over, as well as tarantulas and other creeping things, so the beds were hung so these things couldn't climb up and get in bed with you. My dad didn't actually live in the plantation house. That was where his grandma and grandpa lived. My dad's family lived in a shack on the property with chickens flying in and out as they were eating, and that was pretty typical for the time period and place.
My grandmother didn't really like living there because of all the disease, especially tuberculosis. Several family members died of this. Her parents lived in Dallas, Texas, so she would insist on going there periodically and staying for awhile. Grandpa wasn't very happy because then he'd have to find a job and all he wanted to do was farm.
My father's Ggrandfather, Richard Millikin, was supposed to have buried some gold (in a big black wash pot) that he acquired during the civil war. He buried it around the plantation somewhere, and my dad remembers digging and looking for it. Just before my grandma died, she believed that one of the cousins got it because all of a sudden this cousin turned up with more money than he was supposed to have. Who knows what the real story is! My dad remembers relatives coming and digging at various times during his growing-up years. Supposedly this gold was the reason Richard was shot and killed by carpetbaggers. They confronted him and demanded that he turn over the money to them or tell them where it was, and during the discussion, he tried to escape and they shot him.

Anyone interested in reading about life during this time period in West Carroll Parish should check out the following URL http://hometown.aol.com/plaideggs/ . Chris Hansen's mother-in-law says it's factual for the time. It is the history of one family in West Carroll Parish during the depression to WWII.