Shaw Sisters

I recently subscribed to a mailing list for West Carroll Parish through rootsweb. The URL is listed on my blog page if anyone is interested in subscribing. While looking through old posts to the mailing list, I noticed one about some Shaw sisters. As I read further, I found that one of them was my GGgranmother! I was pretty excited, but knew that the post being four years old might dampen my success in contacting the person. I emailed anyway and got a prompt reply. We have been exchanging information for a few weeks now, and I've found out quite a bit that I hadn't known before. A lot of the information I've received is also documented, which is even better. I will give a brief overview of these sisters here, and if anyone is interested in them, please blog about it and I'll provide more info.

Virginia Shaw
Born 1822 in Louisiana
Married James L. Cawthon 23 Oct 1859 in Carroll Parish
Died Btwn 1900 & 1910 in Richland Parish
Children - Thomas W., Albert H., and Benjamin F. (she also raised four children from James
L.'s previous marriage - James A., Mary A., George C., and William H.

Charlotte E. Shaw
Born 1824 in Louisiana
Married Amos R. Strong 17 Feb 1848 in Chicot County, Arkansas
Married David McCaskill in Chicot County, Arkansas
Died Abt 1878 in West Carroll, Louisiana
Children - Laura, Amanda, Rosana, Frank, and Amos

Margaret M. Shaw
Born 1825 in Louisiana
Married Richard M. Millikin 8 May 1845 in Carroll Parish, Louisiana
Died Abt 1883 in West Carroll Parish, Louisiana
Children - James Shaw, Robert C., Creed Tanner, Richard M., John D., and Margurite

Mary Shaw
Born 1826 in Louisiana
Married Henry Cooper 25 Dec 1845 in Carroll Parish, Louisiana
Married John Aaron 20 Aug 1859 in Carroll Parish, Louisiana
Children - Ellen, Mary V., George M., Margaret F., William (all Coopers) and Matilda A.
Aaron

Georgia Ann
Born 1829 in Louisiana
Married Enoch Guthrie 12 Oct 1847 in Carroll Parish, Louisiana
Died Abt 1910 in Texas
Children - Minerva, Florence, Ada, and William

The parents of these girls are listed as Samuel Shaw and Mary Dempsey - so far this is not documented. If anyone has more information, we would sure like to hear it.

William Clarke Quantrill

The man standing to the left in the picture with the four gentlemen is my Great Grandfather's brother, James S. Millikin. I learned from a Louisiana history book that he rode with Quantrill's bushwhackers and was present at the burning of Lawrence, Kansas. That was hard for me to believe as he was very young at the time. But, for my Hist 220 class I've been reading a book about Quantrill and his exploits and apparently it was common for him to recruit young teenage boys. Most of Quantrill's raids occurred in Missouri and Kansas, but apparently he ventured into Louisiana at some time for the purpose of recruiting. James S. Millikin also slept between the James boys at times. I chose to read about Quantrill because I wanted to know why he committed the atrocities he was famous for.
It seems he was a young man with big dreams and plans gone awry. Feeling like a failure, he got in with the wrong crowd and eventually took up their ways becoming their leader. This is such a familiar story even in our day. From other histories I've read, West Carroll Parish was a favorite place for Frank and Jesse James to lay low for awhile.

Millikin Farm

Before my father passed away, he gave me directions to the Millikin Farm. He said to go north 5 - 7 miles from Pioneer. Take Leggitt Crossing Rd east about 2 miles. The Millikin Farm is on the left side of the road and the burials are in the left hand corner as you face the property. The plantation house is now a hunting cabin.