Stephen Richard Yancey
(1879-1930)
HISTORY OF LOUISIANA
AUTHOR/COMPILER: HENRY E CHAMBERS - PUBLISHED IN 1925
S. Richard Yancey. Among the citizens of Catahoula Parish who are
contributing to the
welfare of their various communities, one who has made himself well
known by reason of his long and honorable connection with mercantile
affairs is S. Richard Yancey, the proprietor of a prosperous mercantile
enterprise at Sicily Island. During the greater part of his career, ever
since the completion of his education, he has been identified with matters
pertaining to the handling of merchandise, although he also had an
experience as a stockman, and his progress has been consistent and
attended by success.
Mr. Yancey was born [17 Aug 1879] at Jonesville, Louisiana, and is a son
of Richard Edwin (Captain Dick) and Josephine (Swayze) Yancey. His
grandfather was Rev. E. W. Yancey, who came from Tennessee, and who was an
itinerant minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, but would never
accept emoluments for his ministerial work. He was twice married and the
father of a large number of children. Richard Edwin Yancey was born at
Summerville, Louisiana, in 1843, and had few advantages in his youth, as
he was one of a large family in modest circumstances. However, he managed
to pick up an education, and for a short time taught at Aimwell, Catahoula
Parish. Previously he secured
employment at the Meyers store at Harrisonburg, where his duties
included sweeping out the store, waiting on customers and keeping the
books. He was a man of small stature, weighing but 125 pounds and standing
five feet, seven inches, but was possessed of remarkable courage, and when
the war between the states came on enlisted in the Confederate army and
served six months. When his military services were over he became a
merchant on the Black River, fifteen miles below Jonesville, and also
operated small boats on the Tensas and Little rivers, making connections
with the larger boats in the New Orleans trade. In 1872 he moved to what
was then Troy's Point, where he built the first store at the place, the
name of which was subsequently charged to Troyville, and finally to
Jonesville, where he remained in business until his death, February 7,
1907. Captain Dick, as he was affectionately known by a host of friends,
was a Mason Jonesville. He was chairman of the Democratic: Executive
Committee of the parish for many years, but the only public office which
he would accept was that of member of the levee board. He was possessed of
some planting interests. His wife, Josephine, who was a daughter of
Benjamin Swayze, died in 1910, when sixty-one years of age. The Swayze
family was an old and prominent Southern family, having early settled at
Woodville, Mississippi. Benjamin Swayze became a prosperous farmer near
Manifest, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana, and in the Civil war he served in
the Confederacy as a soldier in Logan's Battalion, upon his retirement
from which one of his sons took his place therein. His son William
sacrificed his life in the cause of the Confederacy, as he was killed in
battle. The son Benjamin, who took his father's place in Logan's
Battalion, attained to the venerable age of seventy-five years, and was a
resident of Catahoula Parish at the time of his death. Joseph Swayze, a
younger son of the family, died in 1910, at the age of sixty years. James,
a planter and stockman, died at the age of forty years. Jedediah, resides
in Baton Rouge and is a steamboat man on tributaries of the Mississippi
River. Alice is the wife of Bruce Hodges, of Jonesville, Louisiana. Mr.
and Mrs. Yancey were the parents of ten children, of whom four survive: S.
Richard; Levia, the wife of Dr. E. R. Yancey, of Monroe, Louisiana; C. W.
and F. S. Eloise, who was the wife of J. H. Morrison, district attorney at
New Roads, Louisiana, left two children: Virginia, the wife of William
Seibert, of New Roads; and J. H., Jr., a student at the Louisiana State
University. The other children of Captain Dick and Josephine Yancey died
young.
S. Richard Yancey went to the public schools at Jena and Harrisonburg and
the Boys' High School at New Orleans, where his teacher in history was H.
E. Chambers, the well-known author. He practically grew up in his father's
store, where he was, associated with the elder man and his brothers until
the time of their father's death, in 1907, when he became a stockman at
Highland, on the Tensas River. During the following five years he bought,
sold and shipped stock, with some measure of success, but eventually
answered the call of the business in which he had been reared, and in
1912, in association with his brother, F. S. Yancey, opened a store at
Sicily Island. In 1924 he became sole owner of this establishment, which,,
conducted along modern lines, is proving a profitable enterprise with a
large patronage. Mr. Yancey is a member of the Board of Directors of the
Bank of Sicily Island, and is accounted one of the substantial men of his
community. From 1905 until 1908 he was a member of the police jury. In
politics he maintains a nonpartisan stand.
On February 6, 1907, Mr. Yancey was united in marriage with Miss Laura
Wood, daughter of Gillam Wood, of Tensas Parish, and they have four
children: Richard, Clarence, Fred and Eloise. Mrs. Yancey and the children
belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Death Certificate of Stephen R Yancey