MINDEN, LOUISIANA

The small city of 'Minden' is the parish seat of Webster Parish, in the U.S. state of Louisiana.
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It is located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish. The population, which has been stable since 1960, was 13,027 at the 2000 census.
Minden is the principal city of the Minden Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the larger Shreveport-Bossier City-Minden Combined Statistical Area.

Contents

Geography

Demographics

History

Minden's first casualty of the Iraq War

Vietnam War deaths

Korean War Deaths

Notable residents

Politics

Sports

Hank Williams married in Minden

References

External links

Geography

Minden is located at (32.616761, -93.283296) and has an elevation of .
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 31.0 km² (12.0 mi²). 30.8 km² (11.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.75%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 13,027 people, 5,166 households, and 3,430 families residing in the city. The population density was 423.0/km² (1,095.2/mi²). There were 5,795 housing units at an average density of 188.2/km² (487.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 46.34% White, 52.17% African American, 0.31% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.21% from other races, and 0.65% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.61% of the population.
There were 5,166 households, out of which 30.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.6% were married couples living together, 22.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.6% were non-families. 30.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.05.
In the city of Minden, the population was spread out with 27.0% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 17.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years, higher than the state median age of 34.0 years. For every 100 females there were 84.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $24,175, and the median income for a family was $31,477. Males had a median income of $28,401 versus $19,199 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,114. About 21.0% of families and 26.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 39.3% of those under age 18 and 20.1% of those age 65 or over.

History

Minden was established in 1836 by Charles H. Veeder. He named it for Minden, Germany. Veeder left Minden during the California Gold Rush and spent the rest of his life practicing law in Bakersfield, California.
In the middle 1840s, the Minden First Baptist Church was pastored by George Washington Baines, the maternal great-grandfather of future U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. Baines was a North Carolina native who came to Louisiana from Alabama and Arkansas and thereafter spent the second half of his life in Texas, where he pastored other Baptist churches. In 1969, Baines was honored at the 125th anniversary of the First Baptist Church. Former President Johnson came to the services. First Baptist is now pastored byWayne L. DuBose, a native of Mobile County, Alabama.
During the Civil War, a large Confederate encampment was located just east of Minden. It housed about 15,000 soldiers. Minden was a supply depot for the troops. Some thirty Confederate soldiers who died in the Battle of Mansfield and the battle of Pleasant Hill are buried in the Old Minden Cemetery.
Minden recorded the state's all-time coldest temperature, minus-16 degrees, on February 13, 1899, during the height of the Great Blizzard.
During the Great Depression, one of the two Minden banks failed, and a fire destroyed a major section of the downtown in 1931.
On May 1, 1933, a tornado destroyed some 20 percent of the residences in Minden.
The artist Ben Earl Looney was born in the Yellow Pine community in south Webster Parish and graduated from Minden High School in 1923. He taught art throughout the United States in a career from the 1920s until his death in Lafayette in 1981.

Minden's first casualty of the Iraq War

Sergeant Joshua Barrett Madden (born May 24, 1985) became the first Minden fatality in the Iraq War on December 6, 2006. Madden, who was assigned to 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division 25th Wolfhounds, died along with four of his fellow Task Force Lightning Soldiers. The soldiers were conducting combat operations in Hawija, Iraq, when the Humvee in which they were traveling exploded as a result of a roadside bomb planted by terrorists. Four other members of his unit also perished.
Madden, the son of two prominent Webster Parish families, was buried with full military honors on December 16. People held flags with hands over their hearts or solemnly saluted as they lined the Lewisville Road north from the First Baptist Church to Gardens of Memory to pay their respects.
The sergeant, a 2003 graduate of Minden High School, was reared in Sibley south of Minden. He was survived by his childhood sweetheart and widow, the former Aimee Danielle "Dani" Smock of Athens (married 2005); three-month old son Jaxon Levi Madden; his parents, Jerry Madden and Cindy Richardson Madden; one sister, and two brothers. He was a maternal grandson of the late Webster Parish Coroner Dr. Thomas A. Richardson.
During "A Time of Remembrance," held on May 20, 2007, on the grounds of the Washington Monument, Jerry Madden accepted the Gold Medal of Remembrance on behalf of his grandson, Jaxon Madden.
According to Cindy Madden, the most poignant element of the ceremony occurred when when approximately fifty children of fallen soldiers were called forward to receive their medal. "All of the kids came up to the front of the stage — everyone of them had a father or mother killed, and it just tore your heart out. (Jana Ryan, "Maddens attend tribute service," ''Minden Press-Herald'', May 28, 2007)

Vietnam War deaths

Minden lost ten servicemen in the Vietnam War:
(1) Marine Lance Corporal George Allen Branch (September 26, 1947 - August 18, 1968)
(2) Army Captain Allen Ross Culpepper (July 21, 1944 - May 18, 1969)
(3) Marine Corporal Paul Douglas Dukes (August 13, 1950 - August 31, 1969)
(4) Marines Lance Corporal David Allen Floyd (March 4, 1948 - March 1, 1969)
(5) Army PFC Billy Ray Foster (December 6, 1943 - June 15, 1966)
(6) Army Specialist 4 James Ronald Garcia (December 20, 1943 - June 17, 1967)
(7) Marines First Lieutenant David Lawrence Gloer (September 23, 1942 - July 21, 1968)
(8) Army Staff Sgt. James Wood Megehee (April 22, 1940 - September 7, 1969)
(9) Army PFC Phillip Murry Myles (November 24, 1946 - July 27, 1967
(10) Marines Lance Corporal Willie Purfoy Seamster (January 8, 1949 - June 15, 1968)
http://www.archives.gov/research/vietnam-war/casualty-lists/la-alpha.html

Korean War Deaths

Webster Parish lost eight Army servicemen in the Korean War:
Sergeant Jimmie R. Campbell, died while captured on May 19, 1951
Sgt. Douglas Carpenter, killed in action on July 21, 1950
PFC Everle Cox, killed in action on November 20, 1951
Private Clyde W. Elkins, killed in action on August 20, 1951
PFC Martin L. Hicks, killed in action on September 19, 1951
Pvt. Sherlyn Holloway, killed in action on July 31, 1950
Corporal Dennis M. Jones, killed in action on January 15, 1953
PFC Thomas O. Moore, Jr., killed on November 5, 1950

Notable residents

Politics

★ Robert F. Kennon, Democratic Governor of Louisiana, 1952-1956

★ John T. Watkins, served in the United States House of Representatives

★ John N. Sandlin, succeeded John Watkins in Congress from 1920 - 1936 when he unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Senate

★ Thomas Jerald "Jerry" Huckaby, a 1959 Minden High School graduate, served in Congress from 1977-1993. He represented the Fifth Congressional District, which did not include either Minden or Webster Parish.

★ Coleman Lindsay, former Democratic lieutenant governor, who served briefly from 1939-1940, under Earl Kemp Long.

★ Harmon Drew, Jr., Court of Appeals Judge (born 1946), a Democrat

★ R. Harmon Drew, Sr. (1917-1995), was a municipal judge and a Democratic state representative.

★ Tom Colten (1922-2004) served from as the first Republican mayor, 1966-1974. He later headed the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development under three governors of both parties.

★ Paul Aaron Brown (1932-1996), was elected mayor in 1989 but served only a year in the office.

★ Billy Henry "Bill" Robertson (born 1938), current mayor, elected in 1990

★ Everett Doerge former educator and former Louisiana House member, 1991-1998. Succeeded by his widow, Jean M. Doerge, also a former educator, a Democrat, and a native of Natchitoches Parish. She has since been reelected twice without opposition. Everett Doerge won the post in the 1991 general election by defeating the Republican Eugene S. Eason of Springhill by a margin of seventy-one votes.

Sports

★ David Allen Lee (born 1943) is a retired industrial executive in Bossier City in Bossier Parish who holds National Football League punting records during his tenure with the former Baltimore Colts from 1966-1978. Prior to his professional duties, Lee played for Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, the seat of Lincoln Parish.

★ Charles T. "Charlie" Hennigan (born 1935), originally from Bienville Parish, graduated from Minden High School in 1953 and played for Northwestern State University in Natchitoches before joining the newly-created Houston Oilers in 1960.

★ Fred Haynes (1946-2006), a 1964 Minden High School graduate, became a champion college quarterback at LSU, where he was affectionately known as the "Littlest Tiger" because of his modest physical size.

★ Larry Clinton Brewer (born 1948), a 1966 graduate of Minden High School, played successfully for Louisiana Tech and joined the Atlanta Falcons after college graduation but was unable to meet the commitment because of an injury. Brewer became a certified public accountant and worked in hospital management until his death of a drowning accident in 2003 while on a family vacation in Hawaii. He resided in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, near Tulsa at the time of his death.

★ Jimmy Upton (1949-2003) excelled in track and field at Minden High School and thereafter at the University of Louisiana at Monroe and was admitted to three halls of fame.

★ Nody Parker (1943-2007) excelled in baseball at the high school, college, and semiprofessional ranks. Parker was a pitcher and later a coach and sports writer.

Hank Williams married in Minden

Country singing icon Hank Williams, Sr., married Billie Jean Jones Eshliman, in Minden on October 18, 1952. The next day, the couple repeated the vows in two separate public ceremonies. Less than three months later, Williams was dead. A judge ruled that the wedding was not legal because Billie Jean's divorce did not become final until eleven days after she married Williams. Thereafter, Billie Jean married another singing giant, Johnny Horton. Horton died in 1960 and is buried in Hillcrest Cemetery east of Bossier City. [1]

References

1.
"Arcadia, Louisiana (LA) Detailed Profile" (notes),
''City Data'', 2007, webpage:
C-Arcadia.

2.
"Census 2000 Data for the State of Louisiana" (town list),
US Census Bureau, May 2003, webpage:
C2000-LA.

External links

★ Minden-South Webster Chamber of Commerce

★ Minden Press-Herald (local newspaper)