Horseshoe Drive House (NOW)

Morgan Wailes Walker House. This house is on what is known as Evergreen Plantation, on Horseshoe Drive. The Walkers raised all of their children here. The house is now on the National Register of Historic Places (1987). The house and property are now owned by some friends of the Walkers, who bought it from them when Mr. Walker died in the 1980s. The house was built in 1927.

 

We are guessing that when the house was built, several of these large trees were planted. Morgan had this plaque placed in one of the trees, and it has since grown to enclose the plaque. It reads "Genevieve 1927," which is when the house was built.

Unfortunately, there is a lot we don't know about the house and property, as there are not any people left that were involved in its beginning and operation. Jeff Horn, Sr. was our source, and was able to answer a lot of our questions, but there are still some things we don't know. We assumed this house belonged to some of the men who worked in the house or on the land. George Davis is one of those men, and perhaps this is where he stayed. Either way, this old dilapidated house near the big house was beautiful in its own way.

The large house is just completely beautiful. The family that owns it has added quite a bit onto it, but the front facade remains unchanged, except for the fact that it is hard to see from all of the foliage! It's lovely. Here is what it looked like long ago and here is a blog post I wrote about it, mostly photos from the 30s-50s.:

The "sleeping porch" off to the side of the house.

If you are interested in seeing pictures of the inside of the house, you can leave a comment here with your email address and I will contact you. Thank you!

Morgan Wailes Walker Wikipedia Article

I'm not sure who wrote this article, but if any of you have corrections, you might want to make them!

Morgan Wailes Walker, Sr. (August 20, 1893 – February 20, 1983) was a businessman from Alexandria, Louisiana, who was involved indairying, farming, bus transportation, hotels, banking, and education. He was a director of the Trans-Continental Bus system, which operated in time in more than forty states. Walker introduced Guernsey cattle into Louisiana and founded Cloverland Dairies. He was a past president and founder of Roemer Dairy Processing. He was chairman of the former Guaranty Bank and Trust Company of Alexandria. Walker served on the State Mineral Board during the administration of Governor Jimmie Davis.

Background[edit]

Walker was born in Dodson in Winn Parish to Ezriah Walker and the former Frances Marian Stovall. When he was nine years of age, young Morgan stepped on a thorn, which resulted in persistent pain in a lower leg. At the age of eighteen, he had the leg amputated at Mayo Clinic inRochester, Minnesota, but the problem persisted as "phantom pain", later believed to have been caused by a pinched nerve. Walker swore not let his disability hold him back from success in life.^[1] He graduated from both Dodson High School and Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, where he procured a degree in business. He was a classmate of future Governor Earl Kemp Long of Winnfield^[2] though he was part of the anti-Long faction in Louisiana's then all-encompassing Democratic politics.

In 1916, Walker moved to McNary in Rapides Parish to work at a large lumber company. Thereafter, he moved to Alexandria, the seat of Rapides Parish and the largest city in Central Louisiana, where during World War I, he organized a taxi service to transport soldiers from Camp Beauregard in Pineville to Alexandria. He later obtained a bus and founded the Interurban Transportation Company. Walker hired Joe D. Smith, Sr., a native of East Texas who had moved to Grant Parish as his bookkeeper. Smith's son, Joe D. Smith, Jr., later married into the family which owned the Alexandria Daily Town Talk, and through his role as publisher and chief executive officer of the newspaper, Smith, Jr., worked to promote the development of downtown Alexandria.^[3]

Walker met his wife, the former Genevieve James (September 19, 1900—March 8, 1960), when she was a passenger on one of his bus routes. Genevieve was the youngest of twelve children born to William Calvit James and the former Ella Elizabeth Robinson (died 1922). The Jameses lived in the house called "Eagle's Nest" in Boyce in northern Rapides Parish.^[4]

Thereafter, Walker merged a group of bus companies into Southern Bus Lines. He became a director of the renamed Trans-Continental Bus system, which operated in time in more than forty states. It was a forerunner of Continental Trailways, later absorbed by Greyhound Lines.^[1] In the 1930s, Walker and his wife launched a dairy with one cow. They first sold milk in their neighborhood. Walker introduced Guernseys into Louisiana and founded Cloverland Dairies. He was a past president and founder of Roemer Dairy Processing. Walker Farms were dissolved in 1978, but the family retained an interest in Walker-Roemer Dairies in New Orleans.^[2] Genevieve Walker, meanwhile, like son Morgan W. Walker, Jr., became an expert at horsemanship. The Walkers lived in a plantation house off Horseshoe Drive near the South Traffic Circle in Alexandria.^[1]

Walker was also the director of TCO Industries, a subsidiary of Holiday Inn. He was chairman of the board from 1970 to 1978 of the former Guaranty Bank and Trust Company of Alexandria, which was located on Third Street across from City Hall in the tallest building in Alexandria. Guaranty eventually became part of Capital One.^[2]

Community interests[edit]

Walker's main community interests were in public education and the Boy Scouts of America. He was a member and for a time the president of the elected Rapides Parish School Board. He was called "the father of Scouting in Louisiana" because of his work during the 1930s in reorganizing the group. His older son, Morgan, Jr., was an Eagle Scout. Walker was a past president of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, and he held membership in the American Dairy Science Association, the Masonic lodge, and the Shriners.^[2]

Walker died in Rapides General Hospital. Services were held on February 22 at St. James Episcopal Church in Alexandria. Interment was at Greenwood Memorial Park in Pineville. Walker was survived by a second son, Edgar Walker, two daughters, twenty-six grandchildren, and twenty-two great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his wife and two other daughters. He was also survived by a nephew, Dr. J. Paul Peters of Winnfield. Among his cousins was the retired United States Army Lieutenant Colonel William Stewart Walker, also of Winnfield,^[2] who was a pioneer in the development of the Republican Party in Louisiana. Stewart Walker made a strong but losing race in 1964 for the former Eighth Congressional District seat in the United States House of Representatives. He was defeated by the Democratic nominee, former State Senator Speedy O. Long of La Salle Parish. Still another cousin, George T. Walker, was from 1958 to 1976 the president of the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

Walker is commemorated through the naming of the Morgan W. Walker Scholarship in the field of dairy science at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.^[1]

Grandmother's Lullaby

Martha Annis Walker Horn used to sing a little lullaby to all of her babies when they were little. She learned the song from her mother, Genevieve James Walker, who made it up one day while hushing little Annis to sleep. Annis had many many ear infections as a child, and ended up losing most of the hearing capability in one of her ears. Needless to say, she needed a lot of soothing and singing to. She was the youngest of Genevieve's children, too, so Grandmother must have enjoyed the cuddle time just as much as her baby girl did.

Charlotte and Georgia had the beautiful idea to have some of the talented progeny of Genevieve and Annis record a version of the lullaby for posterity. And it turned out beautifully. JJ, son of Martha Horn, played his guitar and Sydney, daughter of John Horn, sang the lyrics. You can listen below.

Horseshoe Drive House (THEN)

Uncle Antony and Big Boy in front of the stables

Annis on her wedding day in front the large mirrors

Annis and Jeff on the Horseshoe Drive stairway, leaving for their honeymoon

Genevieve Walker in front of the stables

Genevieve Walker riding in front of the barn. The dairy was just to the left of the barn.

Horseshoe Drive house from the air

Below are pictures of Martha Annis Walker's childhood home on Horseshoe Drive in Alexandria, Rapides Parish, Louisiana, now placed on the National Register of Historical Places, known as the "Morgan Walker House."

Memories recorded from Neal Horn, Annis' youngest son: "I remember that we loved to slide down the banister on the stairs and Mama would always tell us about somebody who fell over the banister on the second floor and landed on that couch that was right under it. The other story she would tell is how Uncle Edgar told her to stick her head between the bars of the stair rail and she got her head stuck. They had to get one of the big black men that worked for PawPaw to cut the banister in one place, then pull the space open so she could get out.

The house had a very distinctive smell--especially the kitchen and the butler's pantry. I also remember the maroon carpet that was all in the downstairs and those curtains with the horse scenes on them in the room where the TV was. I remember that sometimes we would go up into the attic and look around. There was that fake horse tail up there and a lot of Christmas decorations including that white church that lit up on the inside.

There was a rose garden in the middle of the circle drive that was shaped like a heart that Mama said PawPaw had planted for Grandmother. There was a goldfish pond that was in the yard that was mostly algae and no goldfish anymore and we used to catch the minnows with strainers from the kitchen in it. There were also all of those orange trees and a pomegranate tree in the yard. I thought is was so fun to eat those pomegranates. There was also the house behind the big house where the Hickmans lived. I could never understand a word Mr. Hickman said--probably because he always had that huge chew in his mouth. We would sometimes go play in the stables back there or the old abandoned dairy, but there were always wasp nests in the stables. We also used to go play in that huge red barn. The upper floor was full of pigeons. I remember going to the office back there too. By then only Daddy's office was there, and Lois was the secretary. I remember there was a fake orange tree in the front room and a gumball machine that took pennies. Once when Mama went out of town before I was in school and I had to go there every day with Daddy. It was not fun and I'm sure Lois got sick of me. We also loved to go play in that bamboo patch that was past the oak trees. The bayou that was in front of the house was usually dry, except when it would rain really hard, and then we would go catch crawfish out there."

Cedar Grove and other Alexandria Area Plantations as they relate to the Horn/Walker Family.

Jeff Horn, Sr., July 2013: "The Cedar Grove on Bayou Robert must have been what I knew as "the Mc Adams Place. Under the picture it says it was demolished to build 'Land Mark" subdivision. I'm sure this is the case. The house was lived in by Sam Holcomb. The house and the porch is exactly how that house looked. Mr. Walker and Mr. Ed bought that plantation at foreclosure auction on the Rapides Parish Court House steps during the depression. Mr. Ed was head football coach at Old Miss and Mr. Walker told him that he could raise $10,000 and that if Mr. Ed could do the same they could buy something that would be worth a lot of money someday.There was 300 acres of that fine bayou front land and 200 acres of swamp land involved. There was a 50 acre pecan orchard on the front northwest corner. When Mr Ed died there was no estate exemption and Miss Georgia owed $75,000 inheritance tax since Mr ED's share was bought before they married and was his separate property. One night I came home on Mohon Drive and Miss Georgia was there in tears. She had just found out that the property was appraised at $175,000 and she must pay $ 75,000 tax in the next 6 months. She was shocked and of course Mr. Walker told her not to worry that they could "step" down to the Guaranty Bank and that Mr. Beasley would be glad to lend her the money. He said that it was not a good time to sell that it would be worth a lot some day. She was about 70 years old at the time and didn't have a lot of savings. The next day I went to the office with her and she begged Mr Walker to Buy her 1/2 interest. Mr  Walker sent her in to have coffee with Mrs Russell and shut his door. I knew he was serious when he shut his door! He told me the story about buying it at sheriff's sale with Mr Ed. He then said he didn't want to buy it. I was managing Ballina Farms at the time so he proposed that I  should "step down to the Bank" borrow $75,000 for Ballina and pay her that and give her a $100,000 note for the rest payable $10,000 + 6% interest yearly. She was overjoyed to say the least. She lived 9 years after that  in Baton Rouge near a neice in an assisted living home until her death. Paying the note off at the Bank along with operating loans and her yearly payment was not always easy to say the least but we had a good banker! It turned out very well years later. My last act as manager of Ballina Farms was to sell the 50 acre pecan orchard for $1,000,000."

Response from Georgia Louise Horn Simmons: "Oh my goodness, you are exactly right, Daddy!  This was the Mc Adams Place!!  How amazing is that?  What an investment that was (in addition to helping Aunt Georgia)!  They think this house could have been as old or older than Kent House.  (Kent House construction began in 1796.)  It was one of the very few that survived burning during the Civil War.

I also found out that PawPaw's house is on the original site of Evergreen Plantation, so I guess that is not a made-up name.  (On the National Historic Register, Paw Paw is listed as the builder of the current house, with period of significance as 1925-1949.  I can't tell if any part of that home was original.  It would make sense to me that the alley of oak trees now on the side of the house could have been the original "oak alley" entryway that was typical for so many plantations, but that is just me talking and nothing that I have read.)  

The original house on Evergreen was one of the few plantations not burned during the Civil War, but no pictures of it are in the book.  It was said that Francis Sprigg (who was a relative of the owners of Flowerton, Evergreen and Inglewood Plantations) assisted with the convalescence of a Union Colonel Jones who had major battle injuries that occurred near Alexandria.  He left a written message that the properties of the Flower family were not to be burned by Union troops.

And finally, the old home where the Owens lived was originally Juliett Plantation, so that isn't made up either!!  Now that I think about it, I'm sure that when they add these names to the National Historic Register, someone does the research to make sure the original name is restored."   

There were two Cedar Groves in the Alexandria area (Cedar Grove Bayou Rapides and Cedar Grove Bayou Robert.

The thing that is so confusing is that several different sources have the picture of the Bayou Robert Cedar Grove and list Mrs. Grundy (Asa) Cooper as the owner.  Apparently those are wrong, or maybe the Cooper family owned both of them at one time.  They weren't that far apart and all of this gets very convoluted and confusing!!

Regarding Cedar Grove Bayou Robert, this book says that "In the 20th century, Cedar Grove was farmed by Morgan Walker..." so it sounds like we do have a connection to that Cedar Grove as well.

I knew that Mama (Martha Annis Walker Horn) had a picture of the Bayou Rapides Cedar Grove home that pre-dated our house.  It looked a lot more similar to the house we lived in and it had an outside staircase and a balcony.  I've been unable to locate that picture anywhere until tonight and I finally found it in a book called:  "From This Valley:  A History of Alexandria, Pineville, and Rapides, Louisiana Vol. 1."  Here is the website:  http://www.redriverxpress.com/From-This-Valley-Vol1.html.

Genevieve James Walker

GENEVIEVE JAMES was born on 19 Sep 1900 at *Red Store, near Boyce, Rapides Parish, Louisiana to William Calvit James and Ella Elizabeth Robinson. She was born in her parents' home, "Eagle's Nest."

Genevieve's childhood home, Eagle's Nest, near Boyce, Louisiana

Sammye and Pat Carlyon (Genevieve's sister Berenice's children) around the back of Eagle's Nest

Genevieve on the porch

Young Genevieve

Young Genevieve on hillside

Genevieve on bank

Genevieve on car

Genevieve (on left) with friend, Bobbie

Morgan and Genevieve Walker

Genevieve James Walker

Genevieve, in her home, helping her daughter "Teency" (Genevieve Walker) on her wedding day, 1953

Adjusting Annis' veil, 1958

Genevieve on her"prized stud" champion show horse, "Rex Sensation"

Genevieve in front of stables at the Horseshoe Drive house, Alexandria, Louisiana

Riding Rex Sensation

Genevieve on horse

Winner's Circle

Genevieve (right) and her friend, "Ms. Smith (wife of Joe D. Smith)" at a Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) event

Morgan and Genevieve, later in life

Genevieve passed away on March 8, 1960 in Alexandria.

Transcription of Genevieve James Walker's obituary in the Pineville News, 10 March 1960
"Final Rites Held for Mrs. Walker

Funeral services for Mrs. Morgan W. Walker, 57, wife of the president of Continental Southern Bus Lines, were held at 3 pm Wednesday at St. James Episcopal church with burial in Greenwood Memorial Park.

Mrs. Walker died at her home Tuesday afternoon after a lengthy illness. Mrs. Walker was the former Genevieve James, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Calvit James of Bayou Rapides, members of a pioneer Rapides parish family. She had been active in church affairs, and in the work of the DAR, and was a member of the JT Charnley chapter, Order of Eastern Star.

In addition to her husband, who is president of the Rapides parish school board and active in civic affairs, she is survived by two sons, Morgan W. Jr., and Edgar, both of Alexandria; four daughters, Mrs. EC Hall, Jr., of Sumter, SC, Mrs. James H. Galloway and Mrs. Borron J. Owen of Alexandria and Mrs. Jeff J. Horn of Cheneyville; two brothers, Fielding and DeWitt James, Boyce; four sisters, Mrs. Berenice Carlyon, Mrs. Alice Daigre and Mrs. Lula Mae Hickman, Boyce, and Mrs. Aza Cooper, Alexandria; and 15 grandchildren."

Remembrances of Genevieve's youngest child, Annis, taken from "Living Out on the Horseshoe," a cookbook and memoir of sorts compiled by Annis' daughter, Georgia.

"My mother was born on September 19th, 1900 in Boyce, Louisiana. She was the youngest of 14 children and was raised on the home place called 'Eagle's Nest.' Even as a child, she was known for her horsemanship.

She met my father when she was about 21 years old. Daddy had started a taxi service . . . He later obtained a bus and founded the Interurban Transportation Company. His first bus route was from Alexandria to Boyce. My mother rode his bus back and forth to town.

Her brothers and sisters were less than enthusiastic about their relationship. He was quite a few years older, balding and an amputee. They used to say, 'Genevieve is going to marry that bald-headed, one-legged old man that will never amount to a hill of beans.'

Genevieve's mother had suffered a stroke prior to their meeting and was bedridden. Mama never introduced Daddy to her in order to protect her dignity. She died in February of 1922. My parents (Morgan and Genevieve) married in September of that same year.

Mama raised every animal known to man. She had these Belgian Shepherd dogs that were show dogs. Sometimes they would start barking at night. I would hear Mama get up and go over to the window. The old wooden sill would clatter as she flung it up and yelled 'Heerrruggghhh!' Those dogs would shut up.

One time she got these monkeys from a man that wanted to get rid of them. The biggest one's name was Mike. He was mean as he could be, but Mama wasn't afraid of the devil.

One day, Bessie (the cook) closed herself up in the wash house, yelling. We realized that Mike (the monkey) had gotten out and was walking around the yard. As he passed Mama's Boston Terrier, Bing (below), he just scooped him up under his arm. After a while, he put the dog down and climbed up in one of the pecan trees. Everyone was terrified except for Mama. She went out there and commanded that monkey to come down and get in his cage. And he did! Mama could do anything."



Neal's Memory: Mama always said that Grandmother drove a pickup truck because "she never knew when she might have to haul something."

The Alexandria Garden Club Year Book 1937-1938, Charter Members, lists Genevieve's name here.

A transcription of the cemetery records of James-Henderson (Henderson Hill) Cemetery, near Red Store, (where many of Genevieve's ancestors are buried) can be found here.

*Red Store is the area surrounding a store (or which once surrounded a store) in Boyce, Louisiana

Everyone, please post any corrections or stories you remember hearing about Grandmother here, too. Thank you!

Morgan Wailes Walker

Morgan Wailes Walker, 20 Aug 1893-20 Feb 1983

Below, a transcription of Morgan Wailes Walker's obituary, from The Winn Parish Enterprise News American Newspaper, 23 Feb 1983, found here.

Morgan W. Walker, Sr., 89, of Alexandria, Louisiana, a prominent and successful Alexandria business man, died at Rapides General Hospital Sunday. Funeral services were held at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, February 22, 1983, at St. James Episcopal Church in Alexandria with burial in Greenwood Memorial Cemetery.

Mr. Walker was a graduate of Dodson High School and Louisiana Polytechnic Institute, now Louisiana Tech University, in Ruston where he was a former classmate of Winnfield native Earl K. Long who later became a governor of Louisiana.

He left Winn Parish about 1916 to work at a lumber company in McNary, Louisiana, which at the time was one of the largest lumber operations in the area. He moved to Alexandria where he eventually merged a group of bus companies, finally serving as director of the Trans-Continental Bus System which has operated in more than 40 states.

Mr. Walker was director of TCO Industries, a subsidiary of Holiday Inns. He was chairman of the board from 1970 to 1978 of Guaranty Bank and Trust Company of Alexandria. He was a former member of the State Mineral Board during the administration of Governor Jimmie Davis.

His business interests extended to the dairy industry after he and his wife began their dairy in the 1930s with one cow and selling milk to their neighbors. He was known to farmers and dairy men as the "father of Guernseys in Louisiana," and expanded his dairy interests in Central Louisiana by founding the Louisiana Guernsey Cattle Club. Walker founded Cloverland
Dairies and was past president and founder of Roemer Dairy Processing; although Walker Farms were dissolved in 1978, the family retained an interest in Walker-Roemer Dairies in New Orleans.

Mr. Walker's main community interests included education and he was known as "father of Scouting" because he was instrumental in reorganization of Scouting in the 1930s. A past president of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce he was also a member of the American Dairy Science Association, Oliver Lodge No. 84, F. & A. M., the El Karuba Temple in Shreveport and the Cenla Shrine Club in Alexandria.

Mr. Walker is survived by two sons, two daughters, 26 grandchildren and 22 great grandchildren. His wife died in 1960, also two daughters predeceased him. He is also survived by a nephew, Dr. J. Paul Peters, and a cousin, W. Stewart Walker, both of Winnfield, as a number of other Winn Parish relatives.

Morgan Wailes Walker, young portrait.

Morgan Walker and Genevieve James, perhaps an engagement photo?

Morgan with a wedding gift from his parents, a heifer. This photo was probably taken in 1922, the year of his marriage. Genevieve milked the cow and delivered milk early in their marriage. Eventually, Morgan and Genevieve started Walker's Cloverland Dairy.

1922 Interurban Buslines. Morgan started a taxi service transporting soldiers from Camp Beauregard (Pineville) to Alexandria during WWI. He later obtained a bus and founded the Interurban Transportation Company.

1924 Interurban Buslines Transportation Company, Third Street and Fulton Street, Alexandria, Louisiana

1925 Interurban Buslines bus barn, Morgan Walker is first from the left. (Click to enlarge.)

Interurban Buslines with students from Mansfield Women's College, in front of Hotel Bentley, Alexandria, Louisiana. Uncle Gordy (William Gordon Walker), Morgan's older brother is on the hood. This company grew and eventually merged with two other bus companies to form Southern Bus Lines, a forerunner of Continental Trailways. Morgan met Genevieve one day as she boarded the bus he was driving.

Walker's Cloverland Dairy, which eventually became Walker-Roemer Dairies "Home of Golden Guernsey Milk."

Morgan Walker and his younger sister, Aunt Iver (Basheybe Iver Walker [Peters] in the foreground) with others, unidentified. Morgan referred to his sister as Ivy.

Morgan and his youngest son, Edgar Walker, probably taken about 1937

Morgan and his father, Ezriah Walker. This picture was taken around the back of the house seen below. In his later years, Ezriah lived with Morgan's family.

The house "Out on the Horseshoe," where Morgan and Genevieve raised their six children. Horseshoe Drive, Alexandria, Rapides Parish, Louisiana

Morgan Walker and his youngest daughter, Annis, on her wedding day, 24 May 1958

Morgan and Genevieve Walker, leaving St. James' Episcopal Church (Alexandria, LA) after Jeff and Annis Horn's wedding, 1958

Morgan (far right) on a fishing trip with friends in Cuba

Morgan with Ed Walker, his "double first cousin."

Cuddling (and sniffing) his baby girl, Annis

"Daddy on the mule," Mama called this picture. She said that he was such a joker, she has no idea why he was on that mule!

Morgan and George Davis, the Walkers' horse groom, who worked for the Walker family for many years.

Morgan and his wife, Genevieve James Walker

Morgan Walker reading to one of the Horn children (Martha?)

Standing amongst the flowering trees

MORGAN WAILES WALKER, son of Ezriah Walker and Frances Marian Stovall
b. 20 Aug 1893 in Dodson, Winn Parish, Louisiana
m. 3 Sep 1922 in Alexandria, Rapides, Louisiana
d. 20 Feb 1983 in Alexandria, Rapides, Louisiana
bur. Greenwood Memorial Cemetery, Pineville, Rapides, Louisiana

Remembrances of her Daddy, by Martha Annis Walker Horn, taken from the cookbook compiled by her daughter, Georgia Horn Blissett, 2005.

"My father, Morgan Wailes Walker, was born on August 20th, 1893 in Dodson, LA. When he was about nine years old, he stepped on a thorn and began to have problems and pain in his foot and leg. The doctor thought he might have TB of the bone, so he took him to New Orleans to be treated. He stayed in the hospital for about three weeks and was so lonely he cried every night. Surgery ruled out TB of the bone, but didn't correct the problem. His foot and leg still hurt him so badly that he had to walk with a little crutch.

Finally, when he was about eighteen years old, Daddy told his doctor that he wanted his leg amputated. Before taking such drastic action, Dr. Pankey took him the Mayo Clinic for evaluation. Doctors there were also unable to identify the source of the problem, and they removed his leg just below the knee.

Years later, Daddy was told the pain was probably coming from a pinched nerve. He had phantom pain in that leg for the rest of his life. I believe his handicap was probably the making of him. He was determined not to let it hold him back."

"At mealtime, Daddy invited anyone that happened to be in his office at that time, whether they be king or peasant."

Photographs of Interurban Buslines found here, posted by Matthew Hall.

Louisiana State University's Dairy Science Department offers a Morgan W. Walker scholarship. For more info, click here.

The "Morgan Walker House," the house on Horseshoe Drive, is on the List of Registered Historic Places in Louisiana. They are looking for information on the house. Click here to help.

There is a crate from Walker-Roemer Dairies for sale for $25 here.

PLEASE CONTRIBUTE ANY CORRECTIONS OR ANY OTHER INFORMATION OR MEMORIES YOU MAY HAVE ABOUT MORGAN WAILES WALKER. Thanks!

I got the following information concerning the Morgan W. Walker Dairy Sciences scholarship at LSU on 8 Aug 2006. Dr. Ronald Gough, a retired faculty member from the Dairy Sciences department, sent me this information. Dr. Gough worked in the Dairy Science Dept for over 30 years, so he is the one I contacted:

"The Morgan W. Walker Scholarship was established during the tenure of Dr. J.B. Frye, Jr. Dr. Frye was very much involved with the Louisiana dairy industry for his entire tenure at LSU. His leadership ran very deep in this area and involved both dairy farms and dairy processing plants.

The Morgan W. Walker Scholarship is 25 plus years old. Morgan Walker was very active in the areas of dairy farming and dairy processing. Morgan W. Walker was selected as the 1950 Louisiana Dairyman of the Year by the LSU Dairy Science Club. This award has been given annually to those individuals who are leaders in the Louisiana dairy industry from 1947-2006. What I remember most about him was his ownership in the Walker-Cloverland Dairy Plant on McArthur Drive in Alexandria, close to the South Circle. This area is now filled with retail stores. If my memory serves me correctly this dairy plant later was known as Walker-Roemer Dairy. I believe C.E. Roemer who owned a plant on Airline Hwy. called Roemer Dairies, forged a partnership with Morgan W. Walker. At one time the name, Walker-Roemer was on both plants. The plant in Alexandria closed first with the New Orleans location bought out by Browns Velvet Dairy (Brown's Dairy) in New Orleans."

Dr. Gough also spoke with Dr. J.D. Roussel and asked him if he remembered Mr. Walker. Dr. Roussel is a retired faculty member of the LSU Department of Dairy Science. Roussel was a former student in the Dairy Program at the old Dean Lee Center (LSUA) north of LeCompte. He remembers Morgan W. Walker very well and said that he can see part of the Walker property he remembers when he is traveling on I-49—just out of Alexandria going toward Shreveport.