By Jessica Gorman
Near the Arizona Ash Tree, in downtown Minden, hangs the old courthouse bell. It was cast in 1905 by the Meneely Bell Company of West Troy, New York (now Watervliet) located only about 15 miles from Schenectady, birthplace of Minden’s founder, Charles Veeder.
The desire for a town clock seems to have begun in 1902. A suggestion was made to include a clock in construction of the new Minden Baptist Church. While it was noted that the church would not be interested in housing the clock in their building, it was believed that they would support fundraising efforts to provide the town with a clock. An opposing recommendation was made that the courthouse, at the center of town, would be a more appropriate location. However, the condition of the courthouse did not make it a suitable candidate for the financial investment necessary to add a clock.
Three years later, a new Webster Parish Courthouse was built in downtown Minden. The new courthouse included a town clock that marked the time by the striking of a bell. This clock served the people of Minden until the 1920s. When the courthouse was constructed, it was understood that the town would be responsible for maintenance of the clock. By September 1926, the clock was not working and had not been for some time. The council had been approached about the issue, but it had taken no action. It was said that “it gives the city a dead appearance to have to note that its town clock has stopped.”
Several more years went by without repair to the clock. The dome of the courthouse leaked and was also in need of repair. By January 1933, to keep costs to a minimum, the police jury had come to the decision to simply remove the dome, leaving the courthouse with a flat roof. The people of Minden protested this plan. The following poem, written by Estelle Rosemonde Dunn, appeared in the Signal-Tribune on 17 January 1933.
The Town Clock Speaks
Dear City of Minden, where from my birth
I have tolled with my hands in this dome
I plead and beseech you men of earth
Destroy not my palatial home.
For years I have served and wasted no time
I have passed it faithfully along.
I have worked as a guide, with unswerving pride
To the rich and poor, both weak and strong.
Nights I have tolled as well as by day
While my dome with its beacon of lights
Inspired faith and hope, with warnings so true
To the travelers passing through nights.
My hands are strong, but my dome is weak
It will need much repairing, they say.
Please give me strength that I earnestly seek
Let me live with you longer I pray.
Each day new faces are raised to me
I am the old city fathers’ pride.
Please don’t say I was a good clock once
But I took cold from the leaks and died.
Dear People of Minden, pals since my birth
I have tolled with my hands in this dome
I plead and beseech you men of earth
Destroy not my palatial home.
The police jury conceded to the pleas of the people to repair the dome instead of removing it. However, the clock was in bad condition. The bell had been removed and, for a period of time sat in the middle of the sidewalk next to the courthouse. Consideration was made to replace the old mechanical clock with a new electric one, but in the end, the clock was replaced with windows.
It was feared that the bell would be sold and melted down. Instead, it remained in storage until 1935. At that time, the police jury gifted the bell to St. Paul’s Catholic Church. A belfry was built to house the bell and there it remained until the church moved to its current location on Fincher Road. The bell was sold to James Powell and subsequently donated by the Powell family to the city.
In 1993, the old courthouse bell was placed in its current location in downtown Minden, nearly at the same location where it hung in the dome of the 1905 Webster Parish Courthouse.
(Jessica Gorman is Executive Director of the Dorcheat Historical Association Museum, Webster Parish Historian, and an avid genealogist.)