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The Autobiography of Belle Howard Mayfield

As the cottage is being renovated, more and more hidden treasures are revealed. Recently, Forrest, with Bolin Construction Company, was removing the flooring upstairs in preparation for new electrical and duct work. Tucked neatly in the floor joists, he found five crumbling sheets of paper, the top titled “Autobiography of Belle Howard Mayfield.”  As of this point, I can find information online about Mrs. Mayfield and can tie her to north Louisiana. But I’ve yet to be able to tie her to the cottage.  Maybe someone reading can provide the missing link. I’m transcribing the autobiography below word for word, down to the punctuation. Due to tears in the aging paper, some words are unreadable and those are replaced with xxxxx.

Autobiography of Belle Howard Mayfield

I was born in Carthage, Miss., in 1854, January first.  We moved to Louisiana (we started to Texas) when I was about two years old.  My father was a northern man from Vermont and had been in the mercantile business in Carthage with Mr. Townsend. I was the fifth child of a family of seven:-

Eugene—’45
Hector—’47
Edgar—’49
Gertrude—’52
Pella—’54
Hulvatus—’56
Mary—’58

When we came to Louisiana, we stopped in Vienna to visit the Townsends who had come west the year before; and Mr. Townsend persuaded my father to stay and go in business with him again.

About the first thing I can remember is sitting in my father’s lap while he read Godey’s Ladies Magazine to mamma at night. And then I remember his trips to New York when he would go to buy goods.  When he returned he would bring us such good things to eat, such as raisins, loaf sugar (it was in big hard cone shaped blocks always wrapped in blue paper), Ju-Ju paste (it came in sheets) and chewing gum–none of these things could be bought in Vienna, and beautiful Paisley shawls and lovely bonnets he brought mamma.  The young ladies of the town used to borrow mamma’s beautiful things for special occasions.

We always keep a cook, a nurse and a boy; they were the only slaves my father owned. Aunt Rose was the cook, and Jack was the boy we brought with us from Mississippi.

The most vivid recollection of my early childhood is the death of my father in April, 1861-of congestive chill.  I was seven years old. During the war I learned to cadr and spin. Mamma bought some homespun and made us dresses; we wanted them because all the other girls were wearing them.  We had all sorts of beautiful materials in my father’s store, -silks, cashmeres, and also hoopskirts. Some of the silk mamma took out of the store was preserved, and I used it when I made my wedding clothes.

Photo from Wikipedia. Belle’s dad read Godey’s to her mamma at night. Perhaps her mamma couldn’t read?

My two older brothers, Eugene and Hector belonged to Harrison’s cavalry–Joined late in the war.

The Townsends lived in Montgomery, and Gertrude and I visited them twice.  We also visited the Watson’s. Oscar was a young man of the Watson family, and one morning he met me around the corner of the house with an ax, and told me he would chop my head off if I did not tell him I loved him.

On that visit we had a great deal of fun rowing on the river, fishing and dancing. Then was when I first read St. Elmo.

The last visit we made there, the water was very high, and the horses fell through the bridge over the Duglamona bayou.  They had to be cut loose from the carriage to swim ashore.  That night we spent at a farmhouse near Winnfield, there was no lock on the door and the hounds came in and got on the bed with us nearly scaring us to death.

Captain (?). G. Cobb was a young cavalry officer who had clerked for my father before the war; mamma’s business got in bad shape and he, knowing more about it than anybody else, persuaded her to marry him so he could look after it for her (1865).  She did not tell any of us about it until the day came.  We girls were very much distressed and cried bitterly; the three older boys were furious. Captain Cobb was of very common family, and was ten years younger than mamma. Coarse and unrefined as he was, he was always kind to me.  The marriage was not a happy one. I know, because I remember how mamma was always in tears.  The older boys resented his authority, and there was always trouble in the home.

He mis-managed the estate, and what was once a fortune of $50,000 was soon all gone.

When I was sixteen years old, the school teacher named Chapeli, made love to me, and I begged mamma until she consented for me to stop school.  That was the end of my schooldays.

The social life in old Vienna was very delightful.  It was just a small town but all the young people knew eachother and were congenial.  We could get up a dance at a half hour’s notice.  We went here and there to weddings, infairs, picnics, funerals.  Zeke Holland, Andrew Madden, Tom Stuart, Jeff Stuart, Harry Stevens, the Mayfield boys, Kate Slaton, Lizzie Mays, Mary Holland, Petty Gibson, Ollie Shepard, and the Mayfield girls were among my closest friends in those old days.  I was Ollie’s bridesmaid in December before my own marriage in February.  I had been bridesmaid before that to Miss Mary Armstrong and Dr. Stevens, and to Kate Slaton and Dr. Manning.

My trousseau consisted of linen chemises, flounced petticoats, and nightgowns made of jaconet, a glazed material which rattled like paper,–all made by hand.  My wedding dress was white cashmere made with a little tight short basque xxxxx skirt with train, and a wide lace flounce. I wore a veil and xxxxx too. My second days dress was love colored cashmere. Besides these, I had a green pla(xx) silk (saved from my father’s old merchandize stock), and a dark red cashmere trimmed with black velvet edged with white.  This was the prettiest one of all my dresses to me.

After our marriage, we set up housekeeping the second day in a five room house. We lived there one year, then moved to Capt. Cobb’s farm.  Ed lived out there with us.  In ’73 our first child, Minnie, was born. We went to mamma’s for the event, and later went back to the first house we lived in.  Here, eighteen months later, Rochester was born.  When he was about two years old, we moved to the country, where in 1878, Mary Gertrude was born. We were in very reduced circumstances at this time, and your papa worked very hard; we had a few conveniences and many privations, but we all were well, and were happy in spite of financial losses.  When the baby was four months old, we moved back to Vienna to a little house known as the Ray place, turned over to us by my brother for debt.  It was a poor little three-roomed house with a big front and back yard. The back sloped down to a branch which gave the children infinite pleasure.  They waded in it, dammed it up, caught tadpoles and crawfish out of it, and never missed a day playing there.  We lived here about four years, then went to live with Ma Mayfield while your papa helped to establish Mays and Holland’s business in Ruston.  Your papa began building a home in xxxxx when it was partially finished, we moved down to be with him, living in the kitchen and pantry, while the rest was being finished. One Saturday afternoon in May, I was getting things ready for the Sunday dinner-had just dressed a turkey hen-when a big rain and wind storm came up.  All the children, except Gerty, were at xxxxx of the neighbors.  The wind caught the unfinished part of the house and turned it off the foundation. We were both bruised badly, but not seriously injured.  While the house was being rebuilt, we rented a room at one of the neighbors, and lived there until the house was entirely completed.

The three younger boys were born in the new home;

Irving Hall—–1885
John Hulvatus—-1891
Alvan Howard—–1897

Alvan died of diphtheria on August 27, 1898.

And that’s where the autobiography ends.  The last page is torn off about one-fourth of the way down. I’m certain there’s more to be found and hopefully it’s somewhere still tucked away in the cottage and yet to be discovered.

One extremely interesting point…One of Belle’s good friends was Mary Holland.  I introduced you to my sweet friend, Karrie, who’s family lived in the cottage back in the 1970’s.  Karrie’s sister, Whitney, named her daughter…Mary Holland!  How cool is that!?

Here are a few details Jessica Stewart Gorman dug up and shared on Facebook:

“After a quick check of Ancestry and FindAGrave, she is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Ruston. Her parents were Huptial Hulvatus Howard and Jane Stribling. She married Ainsley Hall Mayfield in 1871 and had the following children: Minnie, Roy Lester, Mary Gertrude, Irwin Hall, John Hulvatus, and Alvan Howard. At the time of her death, in 1937, she was residing in Webster Parish. In 1920 and 1930, she was living in Shreveport and prior to that she lived in Lincoln Parish.

It appears that her connection to Minden is through her daughter, Mary Gertrude who was married to Samuel Wood Brown and lived in Minden. He died in 1937, the same year as Belle. In 1940, Mary Gertrude was living with her daughter Edith in Monroe.”

I am fascinated by history and the discovery of this autobiography has captivated me!  If ANYONE out there can tie Belle Howard Mayfield to the Simply Southern Cottage, please be sure to reach out.

What do you think?  Any ideas of how this letter ended up hidden away in the floor joists?  I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below! 

 

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  1. Stephanie giddens says:

    I’m pretty sure Samuel brown was my great great (great? I’ve lost count) uncle. My great grandfather was Clyde brown of Minden. This is a very interesting find. Thank you for sharing it.

  2. Lisa Simmons says:

    I always find it fascinating that there truly is “nothing new under the sun”…. people, lived, laughed, loved and made mistakes much the same as they do today. It both gives me hope and causes despair… Hope because “life goes on” and despair because the human condition doesn’t really change that much if at all…just different different devices/methods of love/hate.

  3. DAVID "DAVE" jAMES says:

    Hello Sara, Simply Southern Cottage blog is a pleasure to read. My Great Grandmother Mary Howard Davidson

    (Mrs John H Davidson) was the younger sister of Belle Howard Mayfield (Mrs Ainsley Hall Mayfield), your

    autobiography subject. Mrs Mayfield’s daughter, Mary Gertrude Mayfield Brown (Mrs Samuel Wood Brown), was a

    very interesting person I met as “Cousin Gertie Brown” many years ago. My parents took me to meet her when she

    was living in her later years in an upscale Catholic retirement home in Monroe. Her daughter, Mrs Edith Brown

    Rodriguez, was both a cousin and friend of my parents. I was approximately 12 at the time so the year may have

    been Fall or Spring of 1949 or 50. (I will be 79 in September 2017.) Cousin Gertie Brown was the first female

    graduate of the Louisiana Industrial Institute (now LA TECH) in Ruston. Our mutual Cousin Harry Howard was first

    male graduate. The Rev Samuel Wood(s)(?) Brown was a minister who served in Minden either (?) in a Baptist or

    Presbyterian Church. There is an unknown to me connection between the Treat House and the Brown Family.

    Mrs Helen Brown Treat (Mrs Frank B Treat Sr), one of whose granddaughters, Margaret Baird Evans (Mrs Bobby

    Evans, lives in the Treat House, was a daughter of the Brown Family whose house is diagonally to the right from

    the Treat House. Not long before she died at almost 100 years of age Mrs Helen Brown Nelson (Mrs J H Nelson)

    told me that her family and Mrs Treat’s family were not related but that her (Mrs Nelson”s) family built the Treat

    house. Maybe somewhere there is a connection with the Fitzgerald Family that built your cottage. I believe you have

    been in contact with one of the Fitzgerald daughters, whose brother James “Jimmy” was a classmate of mine. The

    Fitzgerald grandfather who built their grand house was in Minden because of the huge Minden sawmill he managed.

    I believe the Fitzgerald house was built of wood from that mill. Originally I am from Ruston but went the last three

    years of H S in Minden. From LA Tech I graduated in 1960. Please contact me any time it’s convenient by email, and

    if you would like, maybe we can exchange more detailed information. Thanks. Take Care.

    • Simply Sara says:

      Dave! This is FANTASTIC information!!! Thank you SO SO much for sharing this! Just curious, how did you come across my blog? I love that you took time to share this with us. My uncle is a genealogy expert so I would love to connect him with you so we can track down how this autobiography ended up tucked away in my cottage. I sincerely appreciate you! Let’s do keep in touch to try to unravel this mystery! 🙂 So fascinating!

      • Julie Philippi Edwards says:

        Hello, Sara!
        am also a descendent of Huptial Hulvatus Howard and Nancy Jane Kinchloe Stribling. Several members of this family are buried in the old Vienna cemetery. In fact, my grandparents met at a dance in Vienna, so the social life must have been delightful as is stated in the above account. I have a picture of my great-great grandmother and Captain Cobb, who I always heard was a scoundrel. I also have a picture of her daughter, Mary Howard Davidson (Mrs. John Hawthorne Davidson) who was my great-grandmother. The family used the same first names for generations, as was the custom then, so there are many ladies named Mary! I am also a cousin of David James, and the information he gave you is wonderful. If there is anything I can do to help, let me know.

        • Simply Sara says:

          Oh my goodness! I’m just now seeing this! Thank you so much for sharing! I am trying to confirm that Belle passed away in my cottage. Do you have any information about that?

  4. Brenda says:

    Thank you for sharing this – what an awesome find! I so hope that you are able to piece more of the story together!

  5. Maggie Terry says:

    Oh my gosh this story is so fascinating to me! My passion is for history, historic buildings and homes! First I LOVE that you rescued this home and I would have been so excited and obsessed with the find of this letter/autobiography. One of the things that I love about historic homes and buildings is imagining when they were new, the families and people who lived and worked there and the stories! This blog, Instagram page has taken me away from work for hours now but so worth it! Would love to know if you ever found anything else out about this story???

    • Simply Sara says:

      Hi Maggie! So sorry for my delayed response! I have a few leads I need to track down; I just haven’t had time. I will definitely write a follow up post once I have more information. Thank you so much for your comment!

  6. John Mayfield says:

    Sara: I just learned of your discovery. I am John Hulvatus Mayfield III. Belle and Ainsley Hall Mayfield were my great grandparents. Ainsley was called “Sam”. Their son, John Hulvatus Mayfield was my grandfather. I will send a picture of them to your email. While I can’t connect Belle to the cottage, I am totally blown away by the diary. Thank you for publishing it. I live in Portland, Oregon now but visit Shreveport frequently. My sister Margaret E. Mayfield Gouras lives in Vicksburg., and she may know more.

  7. Peggy Mayfield Gouras says:

    Hi Sara, My name is Peggy Mayfield Gouras. Belle Howard is my great grandmother. My brother, John Hulvatus told me about you and finding Belle’s autobiography in your cottage. My grandmother, Josephine Mabry Mayfield was married to John Hulvatus Mayfield Sr. (Belle’s son)and kept beautiful scrapbooks. I have found several photos of Belle along with a family history that you might find interesting. Please let me know the best way to get this information to you.

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