In our last edition of The Basile Weekly, I noted that many times, names have great significance, including lessons from history. Locally, many names of great citizens and interesting locations have been lost to history. Names of towns, parishes, schools, and streets usually reference people who were of great importance in times past. Last week’s feature on the topic of forgotten names told the story of the origin of Wilburton Lane. This week, we want to share the background of Schambers Street.
 
Schambers Street’s significance
The road that runs in front of the Basile Care Center is named East Schambers. A separate road that extends from the west side of the St. Augustine Church Cemetery is called West Schambers. At one time, the two roadways were joined and ran behind the Catholic church. When the church purchased additional land for a cemetery, the church straddled the south side of Schambers Street and the cemetery was on the north side. Eventually, the road between the church and cemetery was closed and became church property thus separating Schambers Street into two parts. According to the late Asa Buller, Schambers was an important thoroughfare when it was first laid out because it continued northwest into the woods leading to a bridge that crossed the Bayou Nezpique into Allen Parish, leading on to Elton to the south and Oberlin to the north. This was the only local crossing of the Bayou Nezpique until the mid 1930s when the Highway 190 Bridge was erected.
 
Who was Schambers? The naming of Schambers Street was to honor L. F. Schambers, Jr., Basile’s first postmaster. First Basile post office L. F. Schambers, Jr., was not only the first postmaster of the new village of Basile beginning in 1906; but he was also the first postmaster in a small neighborhood located 3 1/2 miles south of today’s Basile. The post office there was originally named Schambers (April 24, 1888)). It was common at the time to name post offices using the name of the postmaster at the location. The post office there was inside Schambers’ grocery store, located in an area known as Berwick Point or Berwick Cove.

​F.E. Garrould replaced Schambers as postmaster on January 5, 1889, and for an unknown reason, the post office was renamed as Basile on January 25, 1889. Schambers reclaimed the postmaster position on June 10, 1893, but the name of the post kept the name of Basile.
 
Leader in new Acadia parish
Anyone looking through old copies of the Crowley Post Signal from the 1880s to 1906 will quickly realize that Schambers was not only the postmaster of the Berwick Point area but probably the most active community leader there. For a time, he was the local correspondent for the Crowley newspaper, served on the Acadia Parish School Board, and actually made repairs himself to the Berwick Point school, which at two separate times was called the Schambers school. He was a deputy sheriff, a notary public, and a justice of the peace.
 
Schambers moves northwest with the Basile post office
When a new settlement was laid out just northwest of the community in 1905 by landowners and business partners J.J. Lewis, Louis Bourg, and Gus Fusilier, it was believed that the new site would be called St. Louis. In 1906 as the railroad came through and homes and businesses began to be built in the new community, the post office in Acadia parish was closed and moved to the new settlement, keeping the name of Basile. Schambers made the move as well and retained the position of postmaster, continuing to handle the mail at his store (pictured above) which he and his son Mayo moved from its original site to the new settlement. By 1911, the place was incorporated as the village of Basile with 267 citizens, and Schambers continued as postmaster until July 24, 1914.
 
Schambers was more than just postmaster
In 1909 when locals organized a grade school at the new townsite, Schambers became one of the school’s trustees. He also served the village as mayor for one year (1916), replacing the town’s first mayor Dr. E.S. Taylor during a leave of absence during his terms as mayor which lasted from 1911 to 1917. In 1922, after Mayor Walter McCain was run out of town after only a few months in office, Schambers again stepped up to serve as mayor to complete the two-year term. (Records indicate that the mayor and council were elected to two-year terms prior to 1926.)
 
Schambers family
Schambers was born July 5, 1850, in New Orleans, a mere 10 years after his family moved there from Strasburg, France in Alsace-Lorraine. He received most of his education in New Orleans during the Civil War before the family moved to LaFourche parish. In 1870, his family, led by his father, L.F. Schambers, Sr., moved to Berwick Point on a 160 acre homestead on the vast Mamou Prairie in what was then a part of Imperial St. Landry parish. The Schambers family was among the first to settle the area that stretched from what is now the town of Mamou to the present community of Evangeline near Jennings.
 
In 1876, young Schambers married Severin Fusilier. Eight children were born to the couple, including Cleveland, who would become the village of Basile’s third police chief, serving the community in the police department for 44 years. For his leadership role at the original Basile settlement in Acadia parish as well as the new village site in what would become Evangeline parish, Schambers could be given the title of “Father of Basile”. A framed photo of the leader has been a part of Basile’s town hall for most of the town’s history.

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This picture was taken from the second floor of the Basile High School building by Willis J. Fruge, a seventh grade teacher at the time. It was the end of school day and kids and teachers are pictured heading home. (Bonnes Nouvelles, Buggy Tracks, July 2013)

This second photo shows kids boarding the old wooden school buses. Both phots are courtesy of James R. Fruge, son of Willis J. Fruge.

Vernon Clyde Fontenot, age 85, peacefully entered into eternal rest on Friday, October 14, 2016. He was born on October 5, 1931 in Basile, LA to the late Euclede Fontenot and Myrza Miller Fontenot Marcantel. He was preceded in death by his sister, Louella Fontenot McCauley. Vernon is survived by his beloved wife of 61 years, Catherine Giraud Fontenot, loving daughters, Mary Catherine Parrish (late Walt), Judeyanne Coudrain (Mark) and Jeannine DiFulco (Frank). He delighted in his grandchildren: Lauren Coudrain Zeringue (Brandon), Joshua Parrish (Kerri), Caroline Coudrain Janzen (Jeff), Jacob Parrish (Hope), Maria DiFulco Davis (Brian), Claire Coudrain Callon (Mark) and 9 great grandchildren. He is also survived by many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Mr. Fontenot was a proud member of the United States Marine Corp. for 4 years, serving stateside and in Japan. He was a retired auditor from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor's staff. He was a founding parishioner of St. Matthew the Apostle Catholic Church. Vernon enjoyed exercising, gardening, reading, camping, traveling and spending time with his family. The family wishes to express sincere gratitude to his caregiver, CeCe, Nurses Registry Home Health and Lakeside Hospice for their loving care. Relatives and friends are invited to attend the Funeral Mass at St. Matthew the Apostle Catholic Church, 10021 Jefferson Hwy., River Ridge, LA on Wednesday, October 19, 2016 at 12:30 pm, with visitation at the church beginning at 10:30 am. Interment will follow at St. Joseph Abbey Cemetery, 75376 River Road, St. Benedict, LA. Masses preferred in lieu of flowers. Bagnell & Son Funeral Home, Covington, LA in charge of arrangements. See FindAGrave.com for more details.

Vernon's family is included in the following Miller books:
Jacob Miller Family (2015) or Lulu.com and the Antoine Miller & Augustine P Manuel Family book or Lulu.com.

Murphy Miller, Sr. and my mother Mary Lillian Naquin on March 19, 1938, their wedding day.

Murphy Miller, Sr., his mother Elvena Sonnier Miller and children of Murphy and Mary L. Naquin, Garland Ann, Murphy, Jr. and Floretta Dale. (ca. 1950, Basile, LA)

Murphy Miller, Sr. weds Gladys Fruge on September 1, 1952.

The small town of Basile, named after Basile Fontenot in 1905, is where I lived from 1948 to 1955. We, my father and my two sisters, moved in with my grandmother, Elvena Sonnier Miller on the east side of Basile. It was a difficult time in all our lives. My Me'me're' (grandmother) Miller, who spoke no English, had been widowed since 1940. When my grandfather Salomon died his estate was worth $8,000 and he owed $6,000 to his brother Faustin.

My father divorced my mother in March 1948 and before the year ended he had married and divorced his second and third wife. No one will ever know if there was a real love for the women he married. I believe that he wanted someone to care for his three children. He married his fourth wife a few years later in 1952. She, Gladys Fruge, was a wonderful person and helped me and my two sisters at time when it was needed.

At age five, my sisters and I rose about 4:30 a.m. to go pick cotton during the summer months. The farmer came by in his truck and we rode in the back of the truck in the cool air before sunrise. For lunch we often had Vienna Sausage and plain white bread. We pumped water from the farmer's well for something to wash down the less than nourishing meal. After my lunch and before the afternoon picking started, I learned a lot in the barn's cotton bins. People with a good income and a good education were not picking cotton. On my sixth birthday, September 10, 1949, the cotton farmer paid me $3 when I was due $2.76 for the cotton I picked. I do not recall how many days work it took to earn that amount.

One of my Me'me're's (grandmother's)  sayings was "Un rien tout neuf dans un panier perce" which translates to " a little bit of nothing new in a bored basket". Another saying of hers was "A pieds, nus pieds; racacha (lampourde) dans les pieds. A selles sur dos, batons de mais sur les bras". It translates to "On foot, barefoot, cocklebur in the feet. Horseback riding, corncob under the arms".  I never forgot these two sayings which were repeated to me many times by my grandmother.  She also taught me to say the Catholic prayers in the Cajun tongue.  Unfortunately, I did not retain saying the Catholic prayers in the Cajun tongue. Since my Me'me're' spoke no English I too became fluent in my Cajun language and its culture.

Many of the local radio stations broadcast the news in the Cajun language and the Cajun music played along with the local news each morning and all day Saturday. There was always a big dance in the two dance halls that were very popular  and well attended in Basile. The Basile trash dump Supervisor was Nathan Abshire. He was also a very well known Cajun artist. He plays "Jolie Blond", the Louisiana National Anthem, and others in this YouTube. Nathan Abshire is the only person that I know of that can represent the Basile community.

When cotton season was over, I shined shoes walking the sidewalks of Basile and into the Bar's where men drank beer and smoked while they played cards. My father was never one to hang out in bars. He never smoked either. My father, a master carpenter, made me my shoeshine box. I charged $0.15 for a shoe shine. After all, it costs $0.09 to go to the local movie theater.

By the age of six I had smoked my first cigarette with Bobby Guillory, my best friend who lived across the street. As we smoked more, he would steal a pack in open displays at Theriot's Grocery Store. I was too scared to steal. I learned later how to shoplift in my teen years. One day a cyst grew under my left arm. Great! I did not have to pick cotton but I did have to go to the local Dr. who lanced it. If he used medication to deaden the area it was not effective. I hollered like a butchered hog. I remember recovering in my army cot style bed in the summer heat. No homes had air conditioners then.

Memere Miller's house had a pump when we first moved in and later there was running water. There was no indoor bathroom. We used the outhouse. My job each morning was to empty the pee pots that were used by me sisters, my grandmother and my dad and I.

I walked to school in our bare feet until it was too cold, then we slipped on the one pair of shoes we possessed. We purchased our new clothes from the "Monkey (Montgomery) Ward Catalog". Since my sisters and I did not pay for our school lunches, you could say we were on welfare. We were outcasts eating free lunches and our parents were divorced in a predominately Catholic community and we were living with our father. But as Cajun musician Johnny Janet said "Cajuns are tough, we are made of good stuff, life may be tough but we're going to make it sure nough."

At about age 7 or 8, we went to my Aunt Cina's home near Elton for a Sunday BBQ. After everyone went into the house, my cousin Cee Cee took me horseback riding and gave me several Goebel Malt Liquor beers. They were in small cans. I believe it was the first time I was drunk. When we arrived at home, my sisters and I went to the movie but I did not recall much about it. After the movie I went home and went to bed while it was still light out.

Perhaps you have some experiences you want to share and comment on regarding this blog message and your early experiences in Cajun Country. Perhaps you know of other people that I could name that are known beyond the city limits of "Big Basile" home of the Bearcats.
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Basile: Village incorporated in 1911 with 261 citizens
(The Weekly Gazette, Anniversary Edition, February 23, 1989, Ville Platte, LA)
By Bernice Ardoin

               In 1911 the Village of Basile was incorporated and L. F. Schambers became its first mayor. The population at the time of incorporation was 261.
               It is recorded that Dr. E.S. Taylor became the village's first elected mayor. J.S. Darbonne was chosen the first marshall of Basile and three councilmen were Amos Fusilier, Adras Chaumont, and J.E. Chaumont.
               The land was once a cattle range where many herds grazed.
               The Village of Basile was named in honor of a Frenchman who was one of the first settlers in the area.
               Early settlers in the small town, located in the southeastern corner of Evangeline Parish, were Charles Vige, John Clark, Charles Percy, Senena Sete, Lucian Langley, David Young, Sr. and several member in the Fruge family.
               In the early days, stock raising was well known in the small community.
               Missouri Pacific Railroad was constructed there in 1905 and many stores were opened in the community. Telegraph service was obtained in the small village shortly after the railroad was laid. A telephone exchange has been maintained there since incorporation.
               Many stores were soon opened in the area. Some of the earliest merchants were Tommy Louis, Lee Milsaps, Otto Meyer, Louis Chambers, J.S. Darbonne, and John Chaumont.
               Several timber companies: Putnam Brothers, Lacroix, and St. Maurice Timber, chose Basile as a location for their sawmills.
               The forests, along Bayou Nezpique, Blue, Durald and Castor, provide raw material for the large mills. Logs were cut and floated down the streams to the mills which were centered near the Missouri-Pacific railroad on the edge of the forest where Basile now stands.
               In 1906, the post office was moved from a location in Acadia Parish on the property of L. Chamberst to the Basile community. The community had been laid out in 1905 by Gus Fusilier, James J. Lewis and Louis Burk. The land for the small village was obtained from Garsain Miller, an early settler in Evangeline parish.
               The first school consisted of a small building, built in 1909. The school was maintained by the residents there. Miss Carrie Lee Northway, of Nashville, Tennessee, was the first teacher at the school. She taught seven grades to a student body, consisting of 34. From 1918-1925, the Methodist Episcopal Church operated the school, Evangeline Preparatory College.
               In the third year, there were three teachers: W.W. Fussell, Theresa Davis and Jena Bond, at the school. After four years, school's enrollment was up to 75 students.
               In 1913, a two-story structure was built for students through the ninth grade. N.D. Roberts was named principal. Following Roberts, were principals Eloi Fontenot, C.C. Clark, G. Cranford, B. Fitester, and Lester Soileau.
               Among the first graduates of the school were Hadley Fontenot and J.J. Darphin.
               In 1914, the Methodists built their first church. Shortly thereafter, the Baptists entered this territory and established their house of worship. Catholicism was brought into the area by early missionaries and in 1922 the parish of St. Augustine was created. It wasn't until later on that the Pentecostal Church was established.
               In 1925, another school was built. J.A. Babin was [the] first principal.
               In 1935 with the development of Tepetate Oilfield, the town became known for its oil industry. Today, a mayor and five councilmen constitute the form of government for the town, of a population of approximately 2,000.
               Later in 1940, the increase in population made it possible to change the name from the Village to the Town of Basile. The population was recorded at 1,103 and the number of aldermen was changed from three to five. David Young was mayor. Aldermen were Harry Aguillard, B. Carriere, Lloyd Evans, Deo Guidry, and Wesley Hebert. David Young resigned half way through his term and Sammy Stagg Sr. was named mayor.
               In 1956, local businessmen organized the Basile State Bank.
               In 1963, it was voted by property owners to add better facilities to the school. A vocational building was constructed and a new modernized lunchroom was built.
               The high school building there today was built in 1980.
               The economy of Basile, located on Louisiana Highway 371 and U.S. Highway 190, is based primarily on agriculture and mineral resources.
               The Evangeline parish town is located 28 miles southwest of Ville Platte, the parish seat, and only 11 miles from the Town of Eunice in St. Landry parish. There are seven churches: Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, and Pentecostal in the town.
               The Basile Weekly, the town's newspaper, was first published in 1963. Jim Clark is now publisher of the weekly paper.
               Each fall, Basile hosts the annual Louisiana Swine Festival. The festival started in 1966 and this November marks its 23rd annual event.