The Alfred Family can trace its roots to Southern Louisiana. Our patriarch, John Alfred Sr. was born into slavery around 1845, in Ville Platte, Louisiana, and was named Alfred John. His progressive mind catapulted him into politics.

Alfred John was vehemently opposed to slavery and became an early fighter for civil rights. Hence, shortly after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed and the slaves were freed, he changed his name from the slave name, Alfred John, to John Alfred.

John Alfred Sr. was the father of ten boys and four girls. They were: Albert (“Re-Jill”), Eli (“Be-Bear”), Emily (“Dune”), Ferdinand, Henry (“Geet”), Jill, John Jr. (“Demau”), Louis (“Pop”), Marcelite (“Teet”), Maymell, Olibay, Ophelia, Reme, and Renee. Many of the children are known even today by their nicknames and not by their “good names”. John’s organizational activities with Negroes and his quest for civil rights soon resulted in confrontations with the Klan. Although, he was warned by the local Klansmen to withdraw from the race for Alderman, he refused and was killed in his front yard in full view of his children. This cruel act ended the short but fruitful life of John Alfred Sr.

Shortly after the death of John Alfred Sr., his adult sons, Louis Sr. and Olibay, felt the pioneering spirit and went out in search of a better way of life. They left Ville Platte and settled in Morrow, Louisiana on a large area of uncleared, fertile land. In this small rural community of Morrow, Louisiana, Louis Sr. and Olibay postponed marriage and kept some of their younger brothers: Eli (“Be-Bear”), Ferdinand, Henry (“Geet”), John Jr. (“Demau”), Reme and Renee. Their remaining brothers and sisters Albert (“Re-Jill”), Emily, Jill, Marcelite, Maymell and Ophelia remained in Ville Platte. The sons of John Alfred Sr. were religious men who embraced the Catholic Church. In Ville Platte, the Blacks (Negroes) had their own Catholic Church. However, in Morrow, Blacks were expected to sit on the back seats of the (White) Catholic Church. The Alfred brothers found this to be an undesirable situation. In the summer of 1892, in the village of Big Burns, a small group of Blacks journeyed from the home of V. Nash to the home of Adolph Brady Sr. to form a congregation and establish the Little Rock Baptist Church. The Alfred brothers later joined these Christians and began to worship as Baptists, rather than bend their spirits and sit in the back of the (White) Catholic Church. The Little Rock Baptist Church was incorporated September 18, 1892, and the signature of “O. Alfred” appears among the incorporaters.

The lives of the Alfred Family remain intrinsically tied to this beautiful, little white church flanked by a well-kept cemetery. The church was not only a place of worship but also the educational center for the community. Near the turn of the century, John Jr. (“Demau”), Louis (“Pop”), Olibay, Reme, and Renee married and started families. They purchased land, cleared the forest, and built homes in Morrow. Today, the public school in Morrow is located on land once owed by John Alfred Jr. In 1910, Ferdinand and Olibay moved to Oklahoma.


The rest of the family remained firmly settled in Louisiana until 1928 when Henry, followed by John Jr. (“Demau”), and Reme; moved to Crosby, Texas. However, during the middle thirties, John Jr. (“Demau”) returned to Morrow where he remained near his older brothers and sisters. The fourteen children born to John Alfred Sr. are all deceased, but their descendants are good solid citizens who have spread their talents and expertise across these United States, from New Orleans to San Francisco, from Miami to New York, and into foreign countries. And now, through family reunions started in 1979, and held in Louisiana, Texas, and California, we are fulfilling what must have been a dream of John Alfred Sr.

Walter Alfred Sr.