A Legacy in the Soil: Effie Gordon Yancy’s Landownership

Dr. Saundra Yancy McGuire
Researching Land Record at the St. Helena Parish Clerk's Office
Photo Credit: Dr. Antoinette Harrell

When Dr. Saundra Yancy McGuire first contacted me about researching her paternal family lineage and history, one subject immediately stood out: the land. She spoke about property in St. Helena Parish, Louisiana, that had been owned by her ancestors and remained connected to her family for generations. The history of that land had been preserved largely through oral tradition, passed down from one generation to the next. But Saundra wanted to go beyond the stories. She wanted to find the records that could document what her family had long known.

As we developed our genealogy research agenda, I knew that a visit to the St. Helena Parish Clerk of Court’s Office was essential. Our mission was to search land records, conveyance records, deeds, and vendor and vendee indexes for evidence of the Gordon and Yancy families’ landownership.  Seeing the smile on her face put a smile on my face. Just knowing that I had helped her on her genealogy journey.

Saundra already knew that her paternal grandmother, Effie Jane Gordon Yancy, had owned land. What she wanted to discover was how Effie acquired the property, when she acquired it, and what the official records might reveal about her business affairs and the family’s history on the land. I took Saundra to some of the oldest conveyance books and showed her how to search the handwritten indexes for the surnames Gordon and Yancy. We carefully turned through pages containing transactions recorded nearly a century ago. Then we found it.

There, preserved in the parish records, was documentation showing that Isaac Gordon sold land to Effie Jane Yancy in 1927. The expression on Saundra’s face said more than words could capture. This was no longer simply a family story passed down through generations. She was looking at a historical record documenting a land transaction between her ancestor Isaac Gordon and his granddaughter Effie Jane Gordon Yancy. The discovery connected generations of her family through a piece of land and a document that had survived for almost one hundred years.

One challenge was deciphering the old cursive handwriting. Fortunately, years of historical and genealogical research have given me a keen eye for reading difficult handwriting and recognizing words that can be nearly impossible to make out at first glance. But Saundra was determined to learn for herself. She quickly began understanding how the indexes and conveyance books were organized and how to navigate the records independently.

Before long, she made another discovery. She located a record indicating that a man with the surname Phillips sold land to Centerville School. Her excitement was immediate. Each discovery opened another door into the history of her family and the community in which they lived. But perhaps the most powerful moment of our genealogy journey could not be found inside a courthouse book.

We traveled to the land connected to Isaac Gordon, Saundra’s ancestor, whose life reached back into the era of slavery in St. Helena Parish. Standing on that ground transformed our research from names, dates, deeds, and faded handwriting into something deeply tangible. Saundra was not simply researching an ancestor. She was walking the land connected to his life.

That moment demonstrated why genealogy is about far more than constructing a family tree. Genealogy can reconnect people to places, property, communities, and stories that might otherwise disappear. Oral history gave Saundra the foundation. The courthouse records provided documentary evidence. And walking the land allowed her to experience a physical connection to the history she had come searching for.

From Isaac Gordon to Effie Jane Gordon Yancy and the generations that followed, the land became more than property. It became part of the family’s historical record—a testament to survival, ownership, continuity, and legacy.The records were written on paper, but the family’s history was written on the land.

Dr. Saundra Yancy McGuire
St. Helena Parish, Louisiana and the Mississippi State Line.
Photo Credit: Dr. Antoinette Harrell

Picking the Past: Edwin Temple Remembers Amite’s Strawberry Fields

Six Pints Strawberry Carrier
Photo Credit: Antoinette Harrell

Edwin Temple vividly recalls the days of planting and picking strawberries during his youth in Amite, Louisiana. Long before he climbed aboard the yellow school bus that traveled the route along Bennett Road, Edwin had already begun his day in the strawberry fields.

In the early morning hours, the fields were covered with a blanket of cool morning dew, glistening across the rows of strawberry plants. All around him were the sweet, ripe fruits waiting to be carefully picked. For a young boy, the work was part of everyday life—a childhood shaped by hard work, family, and the land.

Between February and March, Edwin would make his way into the strawberry fields carrying a wooden  handmade carrier fitted with small green nine pints. He carefully picked the bright red strawberries, one by one, placing them into the containers. The work required patience and determination, but it was also a part of a way of life that connected him to the land that he still calls home. 

Some of the strawberries Edwin picked did not simply disappear at the family table. His grandmother, Aline Vining Temple, preserved them, turning the harvest into something that could be enjoyed long after the strawberry season had ended. Through her hands, the fruits of Edwin's labor became part of the family's food traditions and memories.

Edwin's recollections offer more than a glimpse into strawberry farming—they take us back to a time when children learned the value of hard work at an early age, when family members worked together, and when the changing seasons shaped the rhythm of everyday life. His memories of those dew-covered fields, the red strawberries, the wooden berry carrier, and his grandmother's preserving hands remain a living connection to Amite's agricultural past and to a childhood that should never be forgotten. 

Edwin Temple is reminded of the old days, when life seemed much simpler and hard work could put a little money in your pocket. As a young boy, after getting out of school, Edwin would often head to the strawberry fields to work. Before boarding the yellow school bus that traveled the Bennett Road route in Amite, Louisiana, he had already spent part of his day working in the fields. After school, he would return to picking strawberries, earning money for his labor.

One of the farmers Edwin remembers working for was Paul Jake Cozzo. Edwin recalls that Paul had four
strawberry fields. One of those fields was located near the home of Peter Richardson. Behind Paul Cozzo’s old wooden white house was a strawberry field that stretched all the way toward what is now Interstate 55.

Edwin remembers that the Cozzo family had Italian ancestry and was among the many Italian families in the area who planted strawberries. Strawberry farming provided employment for many Black families in the surrounding community, and Edwin remembers seeing numerous Black workers in the fields, including members of families who lived near the Cozzo farm.

Among the families living near the farm were  the Jackson, Morris, Zanders, McCoy, Magee, and Curry families. Edwin specifically recalls members of the Zanders family picking strawberries on Paul Cozzo’s farm.  For many families, strawberry picking was more than just seasonal work—it was a way to earn money and help provide for their households. Edwin’s memories offer a glimpse into a time when strawberry farming was an important part of the local economy and community life. The fields were places where generations of families worked side by side, and where children like Edwin learned the value of hard work at an early age.

The Cozzo family’s connection to farming reaches back another generation. According to the 1930 United States Federal Census, Paul’s father, Cipriano Cozzo, was listed as a truck farmer. His occupation reflects the agricultural roots of a family whose livelihood became intertwined with the strawberry-growing community of Tangipahoa Parish.

Through Edwin’s memories, the strawberry fields are more than just farmland. They represent a chapter of local history—a time when the fields were filled with workers, families depended on seasonal harvests, and a young boy could finish a day of school, pick strawberries in the afternoon, and earn a little money from the work of his own hands.