Merchants, Patriots, and a Family Divided by War

Edward Goode McQuie arrived in Louisiana in 1824, when the young river town was home to only about 250 people. A native of Kentucky, he witnessed Louisiana’s earliest years and became one of its most successful merchants, operating a business here for nearly fifty years. His success allowed him to build one of Louisiana’s finest homes at 405 North Third Street, a landmark that still stands today as a reminder of the community’s first great era of prosperity.

McQuie was fascinated by the region’s earliest history. He recalled seeing numerous ancient burial mounds on the hills south of town and recorded local Native American traditions that told of an even earlier civilization that had built them centuries before. His observations remain among the earliest written accounts of Pike County’s prehistoric landscape.

The Civil War brought hardship to the family. Edward’s daughter, Fannie, married Confederate officer Pembroke S. Senteny. Although Louisiana remained under Union control, Fannie repeatedly crossed military lines to visit her husband and carry clothing, letters, and supplies to Confederate soldiers. Her actions drew the attention—and criticism—of Union authorities stationed in Louisiana.

Pembroke Senteny was killed during the Siege of Vicksburg on July 1, 1863. Fellow soldiers remembered him as “a brave soldier and an accomplished gentleman,” deeply respected by the men he commanded.

Despite personal loss, the McQuie family remained woven into the fabric of Louisiana for generations. Their story reflects the growth of a frontier settlement into a prosperous river town, while also reminding us that the Civil War divided families and communities as much as it divided a nation.