EWELL, John
- Evergreen
John Ewell, planter, Evergreen, La. Mr. Ewell is a gentleman who has been exceptionally successful in his career as a planter, and owing to his desire to keep out of the old ruts, and to his ready adoption of new and improved methods, together with energy and shrewd business tactics, he has acquired an extensive land area, embracing at least 2,000 acres, with 650 acres under cultivation. The principal part of his broad acres are devoted to the culture of sugar cane, and his plantations one of the finest in the State. He was born in Bedford County, Tenn. August 14, 1814, grew to mature years in that state, and there received his education. In 1834 he removed to Louisiana, and for seventeen years was an overseer in different parishes of that State. In 1843 he removed permanently to Avoyelles Parish, and in 1849 purchased the plantation where he now resides. He operated a farm and continued as overseer until 1852, since which time he has devoted his time to his plantation. In 1853 he was married to Mrs. Martha Lewis, daughter of Jonathan Koen, a native of Georgia, and two children were the fruits of this union: Penelope (now Mrs. Y. T. Heard) and Virginia. Mrs. Ewell died in 1860. Mr. Ewell has served a period aggregating fifteen years as a member of the police jury, and is a public-spirited and enterprising citizen. He and family are members of the Baptist Church, in which they are active workers and esteemed members. He was for many years president of the board of trustees of Evergreen Home Institute, and was one of the founders of the same. He is a Blue Lodge Mason at Evergreen Lodge. His parents, John and Mary (Kennerly) Ewell, were both natives of Virginia, in which state they grew to mature years, and in which State they were married. In 1798 he removed to Tennessee, and there the father’s death occurred in 1827 when fifty-six years of age, and the mother’s in 1862 at the age of eighty-three years. The father was a farmer and was quite a prominent man. Grandfather Ewell came to Virginia from Wales, and Grandfather Kennerly came to Virginia from Germany.
EWELL, William M.
- Evergreen
William M. Ewell, planter, Evergreen, La. No worthy reference to the agricultural affairs of this parish would be complete without mention of Mr. Ewell among other, engaged in tilling the soil. Besides enjoying to an unlimited extent the confidence and respect of all who know him, he comes of an old and respected family of Virginia. Mr. Ewell was born in Bedford County, Tenn., on March 20, 1830, and his parents, Leighton and Susan (Blanton) Ewell, were natives of Virginia and Tennessee, respectively. Leighton Ewell removed with his parents to Tennessee when a boy, grew to manhood, and received his education there, and followed the life of a planter. He died when about only twenty-five or thirty years of age, leaving two children, one a sister, besides our subject. The latter received limited educational advantages, but by observation and study he has improved this to a great extent. He moved to Avoyelles Parish in 1849, and shortly afterward was engaged as overseer for a prominent planter in that parish. Later he embarked in the mercantile business at Evergreen. In 1853 he was wedded to Miss P. A. Miles, daughter of Lemuel Miles, one of the pioneer settlers of Avoyelles Parish. In 1861 Mr. Ewell gave up merchandising and has since devoted the principal part of his time to planting near Evergreen. In the year 1861 he went out as a volunteer in Company H, Sixteenth Louisiana Infantry, operated with the army of Tennessee, and was in all the engagements of the army up to the fall of Vicksburg. He went out as orderly sergeant, and was promoted to sergeant-major after the battle of Shiloh. From the fall of Vicksburg to the close of the war he was engaged as the special agent of the treasury department of the Confederate States to receive money at Richmond, Va., and transmit it across the Mississippi. It was paid out at Shreveport, La., and at Marshall, Tex. Mr. Ewell was engaged in this business until the close of the war. Since 1858 he has been a notary public and magistrate most of the time up to the present. For years he has been mayor of Evergreen, and has always been interested in local politics. He is a prominent Mason, and has occupied prominent positions in both the home and State lodges for thirty years. He and his estimable wife are members of the Baptist Church. Their family consists of four children: L. B., Susan E. (wife of Dr. J. J. Roberts, Hillsboro, Tex.), William V. and M. B. Mr. Ewell’s farming operation are conducted in a manner indicative of a progressive, thorough agriculturist, and he is a man of industry and enterprise.
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