Notable figures in Louisiana history buried at Old Rapides Cemetery

Editor's note: This is the fourth and final installment in a series about the Old Rapides Cemetery which is the oldest cemetery in Rapides Parish.

Buried in the Old Rapides Cemetery in Pineville are notable historical figures who shaped not only the foundations of Rapides Parish and Louisiana but also the United States.

It's a place where Louisiana history can be taught, said Mike Tudor, a historian with the Historic Rapides Cemetery Preservation Society. A Spanish commandant, U.S. senators, congressmen and governors are buried there. So are the namesakes of towns.

The cemetery is located on Hattie Street near the Gillis-Long Bridge, better known as the Jackson Street Bridge. The site is where the house of the first Spanish Commandant Etienne Marafet Layssard of El Rapido Post once stood.

Old Rapides Cemetery dates back over 200 years to when the territory was under Spanish rule. There are about 2,300 known graves at the cemetery but that may only be a small number of people who were buried there. It is possible that person after person is buried on top of each other.

"The oldest single known grave that is marked - that's the keyword - marked - is right here," said Mike Wynne, another historian with the Preservation Society.

The gravesite is that of Pierre Baillo III who died in 1809 when he was 15 years old. He was the son of the founder of Kent Plantation House, Pierre Baillo II who is buried nearby.

"He's buried here and many members of his family are here," said Paul Price, another historian with the Preservation Society.

Kent House is a Creole-style plantation house built around 1796 on a land grant from the King of Spain. It is the oldest known structure in Central Louisiana and is one of the top tourist attractions in the area.

The last Spanish commandant of El Rapido District, Enemund Meullion who died in 1820, is also buried there along with his wife Jeanette Poiret Meuillion and bodyguard Cyprian Escoffie.

"He was the commandant about the year 1800. He was also the last commandant under the Spanish government authority right before the Louisiana Purchase of 1803," said Price.

Meullion was a Revolutionary War veteran though this area and Louisiana were not involved in the Revolutionary War, said Wynne.

In 1779, Meullion took part in the expeditions of  Spanish Gov. Bernardo de Galvez to capture British forts and posts in Manchac and Baton Rouge. 

For his service, the Daughters of the American Revolution placed a marker on his tomb in 1930.

"When you think of Colonial times, I think of powdered wigs and George Washington," said Price. "Well, it's Colonial times down here too, but it was French and Spanish Colonial and there were no states."

"There's not a story in American History that we can't find a connection in this hallowed ground right here," said Wynne.

The founder of Alexandria, Alexander Fulton, is also buried in the cemetery but in an unmarked grave. He died in 1816.

A tall, white monument marks the grave of his wife Mary H. Wells Fulton Hooper.

"We believe he is buried over there," said Wynne. "He died first. She remarried Thomas Hooper." 

The United Daughters of the Confederacy put up a monument marking her grave.

Fulton and William Miller were fugitives from the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania before they came to the Louisiana Territory which at the time was not part of the United States, explained Price.

"Miller and Fulton, they were both grain farmers up there and all the grain farmers had their own stills," he said. "And what they didn't drink they sold."

To pay off the Revolutionary War debt, Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the treasury under President George Washington, raised taxes on whiskey.

"Well, that was not popular in western Pennsylvania so much so that anybody who tried to collect the taxes - they got bad treatment," said Price.

Fulton and Miller, said Price, robbed a mail carrier and found out someone was giving information to the government. 

Because they robbed a mail carrier and due to other offenses, they had to leave Pennsylvania, he said.

For their actions, they were also charged treason, said Tudor, and they bought property in Louisiana to escape those charges.

"People don't know that history," said Tudor. 

"They still teach the Whiskey Rebellion as the first example of the authority of the Federal government to enforce the tax," said Price. "Who resisted the tax? Alexander Fulton. Where did he go? Here. What did he found? The City of Alexandria."

James Madison Wells who was governor from 1865-67 during Louisiana's Reconstruction Period is also buried there along with his wife Mary Ann Scott Wells and son James Madison Wells, Jr.

"James Madison Wells is a fascinating character from Reconstruction," said Wynne. 

He was appointed governor and got into a big disagreement with Union Gen. Philip Sheridan who was the appointed military governor over Louisiana and Texas. As a result, Sheridan fired Wells.

"This was after the Civil War when the North controlled Louisiana," said Wynne. "We were in Reconstruction and we were a military district."

Wells died in 1899 at his summer plantation home Sunnyside in downtown Lecompte, said Wynne. The home is still exists and is unrestored. He is also related to Fulton's wife, Mary H. Wells Fulton Hooper.

Also buried in the cemetery is George Mason Graham who died in 1891. He is known as the father of Louisiana State University because of his commitment to the university and his long service on the Board of Supervisors.

LSU started out as Louisiana State Seminary for Military Learning at the original campus site on the outskirts of Pineville. He oversaw the building of the first university buildings.

Graham is also the founder of Tyrone Plantation Home located on Bayou Rapides Road.

His wife Mary Eliza Wilkinson Graham and son Duncan J. Graham are buried next to him. 

Henry Boyce, the namesake of Boyce, is buried at the cemetery. He was a federal judge and U.S. senator.

Capt. Chittenden Edwin Ball, the namesake of Ball, is also buried there.

"And we're just telling a few stories," said Wynne.  "It's just fascinating the people in here and I'm still learning things everyday."

The preservation society, under the leadership of Tudor, would like to see a cemetery district that would include all four cemeteries located in downtown Pineville. The Rapides Cemetery, the Methodist Cemetery, the Jewish Cemetery and the Mount Olivet Cemetery would be promoted as a historical tourism destination. 

At a meeting of the Pineville Downtown Development District, Mayor Clarence Fields said the designation of a historic cemetery district would be referred to the August 10th meeting of the Pineville City Council.

Wynne and Price put together a pamphlet that highlights aspects of the cemetery for visitors that includes the stories of 26 varied individuals representative of the community.

Volunteers are being sought to act as tour guides and help with the upkeep of the cemetery.

"We're going to try to have a whole volunteer group of docents who will lead these tours, particularly for the eighth-graders," said Tudor. The eighth grade is when students learn Louisiana history.

The pamphlet would be the catalyst for publicizing cemetery tours to visitors who can self-guide or take a guided tour with a volunteer. It would be available at the Alexandria/Pineville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau.

"This is really a diamond that's always been here but we're really going to make it shine," said Tudor.

Those wishing to volunteer to do tours or maintenance can contact Mike Wynne at (318) 487-8805 or Paul Price at (318) 201-5560 or pprice9706@aol.com.