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Benjamin Franklin Brian

Benjamin Franklin Brian was born November 28th, 1833 in East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, the son of Francis and Hannah Rogillio Brian. After his mother's death when he was only 13 years old, his father remarried to the widow, Salome Causey Thompson, and they moved in February of 1847 to Caldwell parish, Louisiana.

He was married on November 18th, 1852 by Esquire Williams to Roseanna Roe at Winnfield, Winn Parish, Louisiana, their marriage license being the first issued at Winnfield after the organization of that Parish.

When the was taken, we find the B. F. Brians living in Catahoula Parish. We do not know when they moved to Pollock, but we do know they were living in Rapides Parish (now Grant) in 1865 when he came home from the Civil War. He was a blacksmith by trade, running two forge blacksmith shops when war between the states broke out in 1861. He was rejected as a volunteer in the infantry, but joined the Cavalry and served the Confederacy four years and twenty days as Cavalryman, Courier and Scout. He was a Sergeant in Company C, Third Louisiana Cavalry, and acted as Courier from Alexandria to Monroe from August 28, 1862 to January 25, 1863 under orders of General Blanchard. He was paroled at Monroe on June 12, 1865 and came home after Lee's surrender to find his trade all gone, and a wife and six children to support. He resumed his blacksmithing on Fish Creek in Grant Parish (then Rapides) and continued until the railroads came in with modern machinery.

Taken from the official Louisiana Confederate Records: "B. F. Brian, Sergt. Co. C, 3rd Louisiana Cavalry. Acted as Courier from Alexandria, Louisiana, to Monroe, Louisiana, 8-28-1862 to 1-25-1863. Order of General Blanchard. Paroled at Monroe, Louisiana, 6-12-1865. Residence: Rapides Parish, LA."

Both he and his wife joined the Baptist Church early in life and he was soon ordained a Baptist minister which he followed until his death, being very active in Baptist life in his Parish.

On December 29, 1871 representatives from the Bethel, Philadelphia, Big Creek, Prospect, lat, and Simmons Chapel churches met with the Big Creek church in Grant Parish for the purpose of organizing a new association for the area between Little River and Red River, and south of the Central Association. The Convention adopted the Articles of Faith of the Ouachita Association as the basis of union and took the name of "Big Creek Association". The following ministers participated in the meeting: Daniel Slay, B. F. Brian, W. J. Lacey, and J. C. Hale.

Paxton, in his History of Baptists in Louisiana, records that B. F. Brian was present at all meetings of the Association until 1880 (the date of his book) and that he always attended as representative of the Little Creek Church. Other records indicate that he continued to serve and represent the Little Creek Church until his death in 1896. He preached the introductory sermon for the Big Creek Association five times in the first 19 years, the most number of times anyone ever preached for the Association in it's then history

Picture made in Pollock, Louisiana

Pictured left to right - Major William Penn Guynes, Lonnie Adams - married a Johnson, Ob Johnson, Jim Tracy (married Delia Gates), Doc Kitterlin, Dr. F. O. Maxwell, Mr. McMain, (Major of Pollock) - Mr. Lonnie Adams drove the jitney for Dr. Maxwell who owned it.

Taken from E. W. McDonald - 1984
"Major Wm. Penn Guynes and Benjamin Franklin Brian were political rivals, and this was after Benjamin Franklin Brian was old and had difficulty walking and used a cane. Joel McKay loved to tell this story as he was an eye witness. Benjamin Franklin and Mr. Guynes met and started their usual arguments and Mr. Guynes cursed Benjamin Franklin, who took his cane and came down on Mr. Guynes head right between the eyes and he fell down bleeding badly from the head. Benjamin Franklin stooped over and said, "Don't ever do that again or I might hurt you." Joel McKay, nephew of Benjamin F. Brian thought that he surely wouldn't want to see Mr. Guynes after Benjamin Franklin had really hurt him, if he hadn't that time".

Because Pollock was his home for many years, this insertion would be of interest: Oction, Louisiana, apparently was begun by Mr. William Walker, Sr., who operated a country store and the Post Office on the west bank of Dixon Creek, under the oaks a few yards south of the present and former roads between the present site of Pollock and Big Creek church. Some time near 1889-1892, Mr. William Walker moved his store, with the Oction Post Office, to the present site of Pollock and continued the Oction Post Office for some time before the name was changed. About this time, one of the largest sawmills in the south was built in Big Creek, called Big Creek Lumber Company (probably about 1893) with J. W. Pollock from St. Louis as Manager, and the Oction Post Office was changed to Pollock. After the change in name, it is understood that Fishville Post Office was merged with the Pollock Post Office, with Mrs. J. A. Hamilton (wife of Dr. Hamilton) Fishville Post Mistress, becoming the Pollock Postmistress.

In the annual Ouachita Baptist Association Minutes of 1872, Big Creek, Louisiana was named as the Post Office address of the Big Creek Baptist Church, with which the association met on the above date. This is conclusive proof that Big Creek (later named Fishville in honor of Dr. Fish of Alexandria) was already a Post Office before the association meeting in 1872. Brother Benson Maxwell, the "Sage of Fishville" had understood that Big Creek became a Post Office about 1875 and that Oction had become a Post Office some ten years later. The minutes of the above association shows that Rev. B. F. Brian was a member and that Rev. Henry M. Hutson was a licensed preacher in attendance.

Benjamin Franklin was beloved by all his neighbors and for many miles around they came to see him in his last illness. For many years in Eastern Grant Parish he had been a kind of Patriarch to the people; their doctor, their lawyer, their blacksmith, their preacher, a father to the widow and orphan and a patient arbiter of all their differences. He was elected to the Louisiana State Senate from the Parishes of Winn, Grant and Catahoula, serving from 1879 to 1883, and again from 1892 to 1896. His "Old Guard", a group in the House and the Senate who backed him, put the lottery out of business in Louisiana. No amount of politics or new ideas or new religion could wean him from his faith. He died of kidney trouble (Blight's Disease) on October 26th, 1896 at Pollock, on Big Creek, in Grant Parish, where he had lived for 28 years. He was 62 years, 10 months and 28 days old at the time of his death