Legend held dear in Jefferson says that in the year 1854 the famous
Meneley Bell Foundry of Troy, N. Y., was called upon to cast a silver
bell for the Methodist Church. To assure a silvery tone, 1500 Mexican
silver dollars were raised and sent to the foundry to be melted down and
cast into the bell. That bell hangs in the belfry of the Methodist
Church today.
Some of the present citizens of Jefferson tell that the 1500 silver
dollars were the gift of one man, famous and beloved in this section,
Mr. F. A. Schluter, and that the date was 1858 since that is the date on
the bell.
The bell was brought by water down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to
New Orleans, then back up the Mississippi and Red Rivers to Shreveport
and through Caddo Lake and the Cypress to Jefferson.