November 2, 2008
the meauxs, historic homes, even the valedictorians, bear's corner, 42
Day Forty Two
"To those of you who are graduating this afternoon with high honors, awards, and distinctions, I say: 'Well done.' And as I like to tell the C students: You, too, can be President."
- George W. Bush -
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When I went downstairs for breakfast at 7:45 I was an hour early, having forgotten that last night was the time change. Bonnie had just started the preparations.
There were a couple of other people there, Mike and Bonnie Meaux, from Baton Rouge.
The Meauxs live in Baton Rouge and come to Jackson for an occasional weekend to get away from the "big city." Mike still works, but Bonnie retired when her mother became ill. She and I talked about bioidentical hormones for a few minutes as half of my brain attended to the conversation while the other half was asking "What exactly is the plural of Meaux? Is it Meauxs? Or Meauxes?" and "I hope they don't have a son named Mo, because we don't need no mo' Mo Meauxs."
Jackson has a number of houses on the National Historic Register, so after breakfast I took a stroll through the historic section of town.
On the way back to the B&B I stopped at the Centenary College Museum. There I was met by Nathan, the tour guide. I was the only one there, and for an hour and a half he talked about the history of not only the school, but of the city, region, and state as well. He's had this job for five years, and today is his last day. Tomorrow he'll be starting a graduate degree in history. He said that part of what's helped him understand his home state is that he's lived in "all five states in Louisiana." Knowing this is Louisiana, I thought I could name several of them, including the state of drunkenness, the state of confusion, the state of vigilance, and the state of constant emergency. However, it turns out I was completely wrong.
Apparently, there are five very distinct regions of the state, all of which are vastly culturally different from each other. Nathan has lived in all of them, having moved fourteen times in his twelve years of schooling.
Before Centenary College (originally called the College of Louisiana) was built, in order to go to school you had to be either Catholic or rich. People who were neither of those were leaving the state to get their education, so in 1825 the state government decided to build the college. It was initially very successful, having as many as 350 students each year. Graffiti with the names of 19th-century state governors, senators, and a number of other notable figures is still present on one of the outside dormitory walls.
The college began struggling during the Civil War, and faculty minutes dated 7 October 1861 have only three lines covering an entire page, written in a large bold hand: "Students have all gone to war--College suspended, and God Help the Right!"
During the war the school was initially used as a Confederate hospital, after which it was captured and recaptured by both sides during the conflict. There was even a battle on the campus itself.
The college never fully recovered after the war and, in 1895, the trustees were so desperate that they even allowed women to enroll (audible gasps from readers). Interestingly, the women didn't receive diplomas, just "certificates of completion." Even the ones who were valedictorians only received a certificate, which reminded me of the quote by Charlotte Whitton:
"Whatever women do, they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult."
Eventually the school merged with another college and moved to Shreveport. It is the 43rd oldest school in the country. When the East wing of the school was torn down, the bricks were used to make the Centenary Inn, where I’m staying.
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In addition to the school's history, Nathan let me know a few other facts about the town, such as there are 123 homes on the National Historic Register in Jackson. Considering the fact that the town is only 4.5 square miles, and the small number of residents, that has to be some kind of record. Ninety percent of the Historic homes are still private residences, and most of them are still owned by the same families who built them. He also told me that the same family has been running the pharmacy for four generations: the town's current pharmacist is a fourth-generation pharmacist.
Wanting to try a different cafe, I ate at the Bear's Corner Cafe this afternoon. I was told that, according to legend, Jackson was originally named Bear's Corner because of the number of wild black bears crossing nearby Thompson Creek. Reportedly, when the town was officially formed in 1815 it was named after Andrew Jackson because he and his troops camped here on their return trip to the north after the Battle of New Orleans that same year.
More eavesdropping on the only other people at the cafe:
"The book of Revelation tells us that the beast will have a mark on it.... the number 42. Obama is 42... "
I'll add a picture of The Bear's Den when I get back home in a few days.
I got a call from Klaus today. He's in DeRidder and will be staying there for several days. He picked up a cold and isn't feeling well. He did say that he'll listen to all of the songs that people recommended.
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distance: 0 miles
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