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My name is Ellis C. Cuevas, and now I will be addressing ^ou as my grandfather Wilson Victor Cuevas and his family.
I was born in Hancock County on July 31, 1871 and died in Waveland on Dec. 16, 1939.
My family worked in the lumber mills along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, primarily in Hancock County. I was married to Ardell Ealy, who was of strong Indian decent, of Long Beach and we had three sons and one daughter.
A logger was my occupation. We cut down trees and moved they by mule and oxen to the railroads which were throughout the county to be shipped to the mills. My family lived in ?mobile homes? - we would clear a section of timber and , move our homes on skids to our next area of cutting.
Our children were the late James Victor Cuevas of Waveland, Monroe Frank Cuevas, Bay St. Louis and Robert Ellis Cuevas, Waveland; and daughter, Jessie Cuevas Bernard, W?aveland.
My grandfather was Raymond Cuevas, who moved to Shieldsborough (Bay St. Louis) from Cat Island in 1849. He was the youngest son of Juan Cuevas, an early settler of Cat Island.
My father was James A. Cuevas, who was blind in his later years resided at Beauvoir the Confederate Soldiers home in Biloxi. He joined the Shieldsborough Rifles on June 29, 1861 and served in Company F of the Third Mississippi Infantry.
My father told me of a party given at Cat Island by my great-grandfather Jaun Cuevas in 1844. Great preparations were made with the stuffing and baking of chickens, geese, ducks, pigs, fine liquors, whiskey, cakes, candies and fine things.
The party lasted eight days and eight nights. They danced and danced, backs-tep, frontstep, fandago, reel, cotilliom, waltz, polka, two-step polka.
People came from Old Chimney, Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian and Rotten Bayou, about six boat loads. My great-grandfather was from the Province of Andalucia Spain and married Marie Helene Ladner in 1795, she was a daughter of Christian Ladner.
Tradition says Cat Island was given to my great-grandfather for his support to Andrew Jackson in the Battle of New Orleans.
While talking about Rotten Bayou Cemetery, did you know my grand-uncle Francois Cuevas? decendants deeded the 40 acres of the cemetery to the county.
They danced by fiddle, and when one set of musicians tired, others took their place. No one got drunk.
Cat Island had a great shipyard, and my grandfather had a sloop built there of 45 foot keel, it cost $3,000.
My great-grandfather grew a lot of produce, cattle, chickens, etc. at Cat Island, along with seafood he would ship boat loads to New Orleans.
You see those two crepe myrtle trees on my family?s gravesite, I planted them
here some 70 years ago. My daughter lost two children and I planted them in their memory.