This old dilapidated house in Hosston, Louisiana once belonged to my grandparents,
Willie and Bessie Sessum. It may have been a little shabby when they lived there,
but it was "shabby chic." They raised chickens and cows on the land (about 35 acres)
and raised worms in the barn. More on that later. The house no longer belongs to anyone in the Sessum family, but the memories sure do live on.
Thanks to my cousin, Bessie, for driving by there and taking this photo of the former Sessum
home earlier this week. Notice the mudhole? It used to be a pond. It is a lot smaller now than
we all remember it. Some of us cousins were reminiscing on Facebook yesterday about all the
fun we used to have there... skipping stones, catching crawfish and tadpoles,
trying not to get our shoes wet.
But we remember it looking like this......
Photo from 1958..... 60 years ago.
Notice the magnolia tree on the left in the previous photo is not there yet in 1958.
Back in the good old days this old house looked so majestic up on that hill.
Not sure how many of the seven Sessum siblings lived there. I know Mama and Uncle
Sam and Uncle Bubba did. The house was purchased around 1940, maybe a little earlier,
and some of the other siblings were already married.
I just realized that the front steps may have moved. I always remembered them being in front
of the door as shown above, but it looks like they may have been moved to the right,
in front of the windows. (next photo). When did that happen?
Willie and Bessie Sessum and their daughter-in-law, Joann.
Grandma on the front porch checking out the snow.
Such a beautiful scene! I can just imagine the gas heaters on in each room,
lots of quilts on each bed, and fried chicken cooking on the stove.
Then there's the barn where the worms lived in tubs covered with tin and where the kids
who could count to 50 got to help Grandpa count the worms into cups of peat to sell to the local fishermen. Black Bayou was right over yonder. Grandma did her share of counting, too.
There was a round yellow sign posted at the road with the word WORMS on it and an arrow
pointing to the house.
When doing your family history, don't forget about the houses and all the things that make it
special. I wish I had a picture of that WORMS sign. Please take pictures of the house you live in now - each room - inside, outside, and all the way around. From down the street and up in the air if you have drone, and all of the out buildings. I wish I had more pictures of my grandparents' house, but I'm so thankful to have these. Hopefully my cousins will enjoy seeing them again and remembering the good old days in Hosston, LA.
For the younger generations who never got to go there - look at what you missed out on?
The photos were taken by various family members.
